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"The Battle
of Cheraw" has proudly been hosted by the 12th and 26th SC for 23
years running now. The event recognizes, through a daytime
battle and nighttime lantern tour, the March 3, 1865
skirmish fought on this site between Sherman's Advance and Hardee's Rear Guard. It is held
annually on grassy
fields rising high above the banks of the Pee Dee River, in
Cheraw, SC. This historic area at the edge of the Pee Dee
was once known as Kershaw's Ferry and was the landing for
many steamboats and barges of the time long before and after
the War Between the States. During the War a covered bridge
once stood here crossing the Pee Dee. The bridge was set
ablaze and destroyed by the Confederate Army as they
retreated toward Fayetteville, NC. under protective cover of
the Confederate gun boat "Pee Dee". The "Pee Dee" was
scuttled at Mars Bluff less than two weeks later to keep it
from falling into enemy hands, never having been anywhere
except Cheraw. The successful burning of the bridge meant
that Sherman's forces had to remain in Cheraw until pontoon
bridges arrived, providing a means to safely cross the river
and continue their northward advance. This area of Cheraw
and the location of the Battle of Cheraw reenactment is now
known as Riverside Park.
Invitation From
the 26th SC
The 26th SC
extends an open invitation to you and your unit to participate with us
in the Battle of Cheraw
event. Make plans now to come join us in a exciting weekend
of history and camaraderie.
Event
Updates
Campsites:
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Camps will be located on your right
at the end of Church St. upon reaching the river's public parking
area. Camps will stretch out along the river bank and the wooded area
away from the river.
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Before leaving the event site Sunday please remove and
discard
all trash in proper containers and extinguish
camp fires by back filling
pit with dirt.
Morning Tactical:
Battle
Reenactment:
Reenactor
Supper:
Candle
Light Tours:
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All reenactors are
encouraged to participate in the candlelight tours
scenarios.
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The planned hospital scene
inside St David's Church will require many volunteers.
Those needed will be hospital stewards and ladies about
town who can help with the wounded soldiers. Those
soldiers wishing to perfect the realism of their wounds
can prepare at home any bloodied bandages they desire to
use. Opened wounds can be simulated using a slab of meat
visible from a tear in clothing or bandaged to ones leg,
arm or torso.
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lanterns
will be needed to help guide spectators to and from each
scene in the church cemetery. If you have them please
bring them.
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Candle Light Tours will begin at dusk.
Church
Service:
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Service will begin
Sunday morning at 10:00 am at old St. David's Church
with Tony Purvis officiating, This service is open for
reenactors and the public to attend. The church balcony
will be available for overflow. Afterwards it is
customary for everyone to meet outside in the cemetery
at the Confederate monument for a word of prayer and end
with the singing of Dixie.
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General Event
Rules
Participants must adhere to all approved Palmetto Battalion
Safety Regulations and
Field Orders during this event.
Event Contact
Tony Purvis,
26th SC
Email
tdjm1234@hotmail.com
Phone: 843-537-9810
Event Location Map
( Use mouse to move map and
to zoom in and out -
View Larger Map )
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Event Site
Location: |
The Battle of
Cheraw, SC - April 3-4, 2010 |
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Map Key -
Historic Points of Interest
View Larger Map
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Battle of Cheraw
Event Site - (1 Church St, Cheraw, SC 29520)
Event Contact:
Tony Purvis, 26th SC
Email:
tdjm1234@hotmail.com - Phone: 843-537-9810 |
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Riverside Park
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(East end of
Church Street)
This
park was the site of Cheraw’s first ferries, bridges
and steamboat landing. It was the site of the
skirmish for the Pee Dee River bridge, gunboat Pee
Dee engagement, and the ravine holding gunpowder
whose accidental explosion killed several Union
soldiers and destroyed Cheraw’s business district in
1865. |
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A)- Old St. David’s
Church, c. 1770
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(East end of
Church Street)
Used as a hospital by both
armies,
St. David’s
Church also survived use by both armies
during the American Revolution. There are marked
Confederate graves in the cemetery and unmarked
Union and Confederate ones. All of Sherman’s troops
marched by this site to cross the pontoon bridges at
the end of Church Street. |
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B)- Confederate Monument, c. 1867
- (Church Cemetery)
Erected in St. David’s Cemetery by the women of
Cheraw, this is the oldest
Confederate Monument in
the US. The inscription is taken from Stonewall
Jackson’s last words. “We have crossed over the
river…”. |
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A)- Cheraw Town Hall , c.
1858 -
(Town Green Market Street)
The Town Hall and Opera
House served as a Confederate hospital, one of many
in Cheraw. Gen. Hardee was forced to abandon the
hospitals when he retreated. |
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B)- Cheraw Lyceum, c.1820
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(Town Green Market Street)
The
Lyceum served both Union and Confederate
quartermasters, and was also the telegraph office.
The Lyceum’s library was stolen by Union soldiers
whose path into North Carolina could be traced by
abandoned books. This was later the occupation army
headquarters during reconstruction. Now Cheraw’s
museum, the Lyceum contains several exhibits
pertaining to the Confederate War in Cheraw. |
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Inglis-McIver Law
Office, c. 1830
- (Town
Green Market Street)
One of
the sole surviving buildings from the explosion that destroyed
the business district in 1865, this building was
moved to the Town Green in 1940. It was the two room
office of John Inglis who introduced the resolution
that South Carolina secede and chaired the Ordinance
committee and his law partner, Ordinance signer
Henry McIver. |
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The Merchants Bank (1st Citizens
Today)
- (232
Market Street)
The
Merchants Bank was one of the official gold
depositories for the Confederate States of America,
and was one of the last banks to honor Confederate
currency. The vault is still intact.
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The Teacherage, c. 1780
- (230
Third Street)
This
is thought to be the oldest house still standing in
Cheraw. For most of the 19th century this was home
to the Malloy family who sent six sons to war. All
of these boys returned, although one later died of
his wounds. The magnolia trees in this yard were
planted in honor of these boys; the house survived
an attempt to burn it. |
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The Henry
McIver
Home, c. 1790
- (143 McIver Street)
The
home of Henry McIver, signer of the Ordinance of
Secession, and captain in the Confederate Calvary,
was the personal headquarters for Gen. William T.
Sherman for several days in March of 1865.
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Enfield , c. 1815 -
(145
McIver Street)
The
personal headquarters of Sherman’s second in
command, Gen. O.O. Howard in March , 1865.
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The Matheson House, c. 1810
- (612
Kershaw Street)
The
official Union Army headquarters were located in and
around this house. Accounts written by a family
member describe the soldiers dancing to a music box
taken from the house next door and the destruction
of a carriage on the property.
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St. Peter’s Catholic
Church, c. 1840
- (602
Market Street)
Saber
marks on the outside columns and a burn mark on the
floor inside bear testimony to Sherman's occupation
of Cheraw. The interior furnishing were destroyed,
not to be replaced until the turn of the century.
The current pews came from the Duke of Westphalia’s
private chapel. |
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The
Christopher Pegeus House, c. 1825
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(320 Market Street)
The
Union Army used the raised basement of this home as
a guard house during their time here.
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Boxwood Hall, c. 1822
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(317 Market Street)
A
cannon ball hit the porch of this house. A ham
hidden in the attic left a grease spot on a ceiling
that is still difficult to keep paint on.
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First
Presbyterian Church, c. 1832
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(Market Street)
Union
soldiers made the pulpit area into a bandstand and
danced in the interior. The Confederates had used
the church as a hospital. |
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Historic Saint David's Episcopal Church
Location of Sat. evenings
candle light tours and Sun. mornings church service.
The Pee Dee River and campsites
are located behind church at end of Church St.
In 1768 by an act of the General Assembly of the Province of
South Carolina, St. David's Parish was established to serve
both the religious and civic needs of a growing population.
The parish included the lands that later became
Chesterfield, Marlboro, and Darlington Counties and portions
of Florence and Lee.
During the colonial
period, the Anglican Church was the established church in
South Carolina, and the Vestry was as much a political body
as a religious one. The wardens and commissioners were
responsible for the roads, the poor, orphans, voting and
collecting taxes in addition to their church duties.
This last parish to be established under
King George III was named for David, patron saint of Wales.
The first major Settlement in the Old Cheraws was the Welsh
one near present day Society Hill, and the "Welsh Neck" made
up a large portion of the new parish.
On February 22, 1770 the Commissioners
contracted the building of a church with Thomas Bingham,
carpenter. The building was to be located on the southwest
side of the Pee Dee River on land granted for that purpose
by Ely Kershaw, who owned most of what is now the downtown
area of Cheraw. The church was in use by 1772, but was not
actually completed until 1774.
During the
Revolution, St. David's was used by the South Carolina
militia as quarters on several occasions, and in the summer
of 1780, the 71st
Highlanders (British) also used the church for quarters and
a hospital. The Highlanders were a regiment of Lord
Cornwallis' Army under the command of Colonel Campbell. A
number of them became ill, probably with small pox, died and
are buried in an unmarked mass grave at the front of the
church. The officers were buried individually in graves
covered by brick mounds.
The first
"settlement" clergyman was the Rev. Andrew Fowler who came
in 1819. He also founded a mission in Wadesboro NC. Later
rectors founded the Episcopal churches in Society Hill
(1834) and Bennettsville (1863). Two Episcopal Bishops were
rectors of Old St. David's. The Rt. Rev. Alexander Gregg was
the rector from 1846-1859. He also authored A History of the Old Cheraws. The Rev. Gregg was called to be the
first Episcopal bishop of Texas where he named a number of
parishes "St. David's" after his former church.
During the War Between the States, Old
St. David's was used as a hospital by both armies. There are
two drawings showing the church with rows of tents among the
graves. The church was slightly damaged in the munitions
explosion that destroyed most of the business area at that
time.
In the surrounding cemetery lie soldiers
from all of America's wars. The first Confederate Monument
(1867) ever built is there, as well as the graves of famous
steamboat commander Moses Rogers, the first man to cross the
Atlantic by steamship, and Alexander Gregg, rector of St
David's.
While the old portion of the cemetery
belongs to the Episcopal Church, people of all faiths are
buried here, and there is even a Catholic section.
Confederate Soldiers Monument, Cheraw, SC c. 1867
The first monument ever dedicated to the memory
of fallen
Confederate soldiers.
Confederate Memorial Day - May 10, 1900
Erected in St. David’s Cemetery by the
Ladies Memorial Association of Cheraw, this is the oldest
Confederate Monument in the US. The inscription on it's
facing is taken from Stonewall Jackson’s last words. “We
have crossed over the river…”.
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USC Archaeologists to Raise
Confederate Cannons from Pee Dee
River
News
Release
Published: March 11, 2009
A team of
underwater archaeologists from the University of South
Carolina will begin work to locate and raise three
Confederate cannons – each weighing upwards of 5 tons – from
the silty sediment at the bottom of Mars Bluff on the Pee
Dee River.
Led by state
underwater archaeologist Dr. Christopher Amer, researchers
from the university’s S.C. Institute for Archaeology and
Anthropology will use remote sensing technology, including a
magnetometer that identifies the presence of iron, to survey
the Confederate Mars Bluff Navy Yard on the Pee Dee River
and locate the the four and one half, five and seven and
one-half -ton cannons. The Navy Yard is on the east side of
the river in Marion County.
The survey is
set to begin April 30, with location of the cannons and
excavation of the Naval Yard taking place in late May to
mid-June. Once located and verified, the cannons, also
called gun tubes, will be raised as early as this fall. The
project is funded in part by a $200,000 grant from the Drs.
Bruce and Lee Foundation in Florence.
The Mars
Bluff Naval Yard was one of seven Confederate naval yards
that were located inland so gunboats and support vessels for
the war could be built and protected from Union forces. Mars
Bluff was chosen for its inland location, proximity to the
railroad, water communication with Charleston via Georgetown
and the abundance of ash, oak and pine lumber.
The cannons
to be located and recovered are from the 170-foot gunboat
C.S.S. Pee Dee, which was constructed at Mars Bluff and
launched in January 1865. The Pee Dee’s career was cut short
when Gen. William T. Sherman’s Union troops advanced
northward, leading to the destruction of the naval yard and
the scuttling of the Pee Dee on March 15, 1865.
Historic
records indicate the C.S.S. Pee Dee had two Confederate
brooks rifled cannons and one captured Union Dahlgren,
smooth-bore, nine-inch shell cannon on board at the time of
the ship’s sinking.
The
University of South Carolina archaeology project includes
collaboration with East Carolina University and Francis
Marion University. ECU’s Maritime Studies Program will
conduct a field school at Mars Bluff in May and June to
support Amer and his team’s research and excavation work.
Once the guns are recovered, they will be conserved at FMU.
Plans call for the cannons and artifacts associated with the
Naval Yard and wreck ultimately to be exhibited at the
Florence County Museum.
SCIAA, part of the College of
Arts and Sciences, was established in 1963 as a University
of South Carolina research institute and a cultural resource
management agency for the state of South Carolina. To learn
more about SCIAA, its research projects and outreach
programs, visit the Web site—http://www.cas.sc.edu/sciaa/—or
call 803-777-8170.
Article from
SCNow.com -
http://www.scnow.com
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