1 - A native of Charleston, Cornelius Irvine Walker (1842-1927) joined the 10th South Carolina Infantry in May 1861, rising to lieutenant colonel in June 1864, being wounded twice. Postwar, he was a printer and prominent in veterans' affairs. Ellison Capers, ed., Confederate Military History Extended Edition, Vol. VI, South Carolina (Wilmington, N.C.: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1987 reprint of 1899 ed.), pp. 887-89 (hereinafter cited as "Extended Edition").
2 - Quoted in Gary R. Baker, Cadets in Gray (Columbia, S.C.: Palmetto Bookworks, 1989), p.34 (hereinafter cited as "Cadets in Gray").
3 - Extended Edition, pp. 15 and 17.
4 - Obituary, Charleston Mercury, September 13, 1862.5 - Sgt. S. E. Welch, "The Citadel Cadets and the `Star of the West'" (typed Ms., n.d.), pp.3-4, in the Hinson Collection, Charleston Library Society, Charleston, relates the units assigned to Morris Island. The Zouave Cadets and the German Riflemen were two companies of Col. J. Johnston Pettigrew's 1st Regiment of Rifles, South Carolina Militia. Extended Edition, p. 5. Estimates of the number of Citadel Cadets assigned to Morris Island vary slightly. See, e.g., E. Milby Burton,
6 - The Siege of Charleston 1861-1865 (Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press, fifth printing, 1987), p. 16 (40 Cadets); H. M. Clarkson, "Story of the Star of the West," Confederate Veteran, vol. 21 (May 1913), p. 235 (about 50 Cadets); and Cadets in Gray, p. 12 (roughly 50 Cadets).
7 - Peter Fayssoux Stevens (1830-1910), Superintendent of the Citadel 1859-1861, was colonel of the Holcombe Legion from November 1861 until his wounding at Sharpsburg resulted in his resignation in October 1862. Extended Edition, pp. 859-61; and Robert K. Krick, Lee's Colonels, A Biographical Register of the Field Officers of the Army of Northern Virginia (Dayton, Ohio: Morningside House, Inc., 3rd ed., revised, 1991), p. 357 (hereinafter cited as "Lee's Colonels").
8 - Sgt. S. E. Welch, "The Citadel Cadets and the `Star of the West'," p. 4. The Cadets' military training, however, may not have extended to heavy cannons. Robert Hendrickson, Sumter, The First Day of The Civil War (Chelsea, Mich.: Scarborough House, 1990), p. 107, argues that the Cadets "had never fired a 24-pounder or even seen one fired."
9 - Most authorities agree the battery included four cannons. See, e.g., Cadets in Gray, p. 12 and citations there in note 19. However, the number of guns in the battery is put at three in both Extended Edition, p. 860, and H. M. Clarkson, "Story of the Star of the West," p. 235.10 - "En barbette" refers to the position of the gun on a platform to fire over a parapet without an embrasure. Cadets in Gray, n. 20, p. 13.
11 - For recent, detailed accounts of the relief expedition of the Star of the West, see Robert Hendrickson, Sumter, The First Day of The Civil War, pp. 99-119, and Cadets in Gray, pp. 15-24.
12 - H. M. Clarkson, "Story of the Star of the West," p. 236, alleges that the "first Morris Island shot [was] fired by Capt. J. M. Whilden, . . . who was in command, and who sighted the gun and gave the order to fire." Clarkson was a former Confederate surgeon who based this account upon the "national and South Carolina State records and the testimony of eyewitnesses yet living [in 1913]." Ibid. Downplaying Dr. Clarkson's account of Cadet Captain Whilden's pivotal role on January 9, 1861, Dr. A. G. D. Wiles, an English professor at the Citadel from 1936 to 1960, nonetheless concludes: "It seems not unlikely that, for the actual firing, Major Stevens, . . . who exercised over-all command, would have put Whilden in command of the No. 1 Gun." A. G. D. Wiles, "The Boys Behind the Gun (The Citadel Cadets Who Fired the First Shot on the `Star of the West')," (n.d., n.p.), p. 5 (hereinafter cited as "Boys Behind the Gun").
13 - The Citadel Cadet battery on Morris Island is often credited with firing the first shot of the War Between the States. See, e.g., Cadets in Gray, p. 19, and Extended Edition, p. 10. However, on the night of January 8, 1861, Federal regulars stationed at Ft. Barrancas at Pensacola, Florida, fired upon and dispersed Florida state troops attempting to seize the fort's powder stores. Coming a day before the firing on the Star of the West, the shots at Ft. Barrancas were the first shots fired in defense of the Union. Robert R. Scassellati, Jr., "First Shots at Fort Barrancas," Civil War Times Illustrated, vol. XI, no. 9 (January 1973), p. 39. But the Cadets' shots on the Star of the West were certainly the first fired at U.S. colors, occurring more than three months before the firing on Ft. Sumter.
14 - Quoted in O. J. Bond, The Story of The Citadel (Richmond: Garrett and Massie, 1936), p. 51.
15 - Quoted in Walter J. Fraser, Jr., Charleston! Charleston! The History of a Southern City (Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press, 1989), p. 247.
16 . Citadel Days, p. 14.
17 . Elias Whilden, Sr. (1765-1835), a rice planter in Christ Church Parish and neighboring St. James, Santee, Parish, was among the founders of Mount Pleasant Academy. Though established to educate the poor, the academy soon became a primary school for all white children in the area. Anne King Gregorie, Christ Church, 1706-1959, A Plantation Parish of the South Carolina Establishment (Charleston: The Dalcho Historical Society, 1961), p. 68. A "good classical eduction with Latin, French, and Greek was offered to the pupils. . . ." Petrona Royall McIver, History of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (Charleston: Ashley Printing & Publishing Co., 1960), p. 35 (hereinafter cited as "History of Mount Pleasant").
18 Founded at Yorkville (now York), S.C., in 1855, King's Mountain Military School continued until 1886. Baptists reopened the school for a short time in 1894, and in 1900 new management reopened it as a boys' preparatory school. Episcopalians bought the property in 1908 and converted it into an orphanage. South Carolina: the WPA Guide to the Palmetto State (Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press, 1988, reprint of 1941 edition), p. 426. Whilden's obituary in the Charleston Daily Courier, September 10, 1862, states that he "was the first student admitted into that Academy, and that he pursued the course of instruction there, without a classmate."
19Obituary, Charleston Mercury, September 13, 1862.
20 After graduating from the Citadel in 1854, Micah Jenkins (1835-1864) helped to organize the King's Mountain Military School, with which he was connected until 1861. He was elected colonel of the 5th South Carolina in 1861 and was promoted brigadier general in July 1862. During the Battle of the Wilderness, on May 6, 1864, Jenkins was killed by the same accidental fusillade of Confederate fire that wounded Lieutenant General James Longstreet. Extended Edition, pp. 404-406.
21 . Citadel Days, p. 5.
22 . After graduating from the Citadel in 1857, Ellison Capers (1837-1908) taught mathematics there intermittently prior to the war. A field officer of the 24th South Carolina for most of the war, he was commissioned brigadier general on March 1, 1865. Extended Edition, pp. 383-85.
23 . Citadel Days, p. 5.
24 . Ibid.
25 . Citadel Days, p. 4.
26 . Official Register of the Officers and Cadets at the South Carolina Military Academies, April, 1859 (Columbia, S.C.: R. W. Gibbes, State Printer, 1859), p. 11, which records Whilden's date of admission to the class as 1858, a year later than the great bulk of his classmates. Whilden's obituary in the Charleston Daily Courier, September 10, 1862, recites, incorrectly, that "[h]e was admitted into the Arsenal at Columbia in 1857, and proceeded thence to the Citadel . . ., entering the Second Class."
27 . After completing one year of studies at the Arsenal Academy, prewar students would transfer to its sister school, the Citadel Academy, to continue their military education. Created in 1842 as separate institutions, the Arsenal and the Citadel were officially combined in 1861 to form "The South Carolina Military Academy." Cadets in Gray, pp. 2 and 28-30.
28 . Official Register of the Officers and Cadets at the South Carolina Military Academies, April, 1859, p. 11. In the five courses that made up the third class curriculum, Whilden ranked as follows: Mathematics (2nd); History (6th); Elocution & Composition (1st); French (7th); and Drawing (1st). He ranked third in Conduct. Whilden was also one of only six of the 35 third classmen to hold the rank of Cadet Corporal. Ibid.
29 . Official Register of the South Carolina Military Academy, April, 1860 (Columbia, S.C.: R. W. Gibbes, State Printer, 1860), p. 10. Although Whilden's grades in Drawing, Conduct and Mathematics ranked him near the top of the second class, poor performances in Ethics (25th among 29 Cadets) and Tactics (26th) accounted for his overall middle standing. Ibid.
30 . Ibid.
31 . Citadel Days, p. 10.
31 . Obituary, Charleston Mercury, September 13, 1862.
32 . Whilden's date of birth is recorded as July 20, 1839, in his family's Bible, which is currently in the possession of his great niece, Mary White Nettles Robinson of Sumter, S.C. and is cited hereafter as "Whilden-Nettles Family Bible." (A copy of birth entries in this Bible was made available to the author by Robert M. Nettles, Jr., of Columbia, S.C.) The Official Registers cited in notes 26 and 29 above, however, give Whilden's age at the time of his admission to the Citadel as 16 years, 9 months, suggesting he was born in 1841. But the 1839 birthyear is almost certainly correct, because the birth of Johnnie Whilden's younger brother, Robert Septimus, nearly two years later, on August 31, 1841, is also recorded in the Whilden-Nettles Family Bible and is otherwise well established. Krick also recognizes Johnnie Whilden's date of birth as July 20, 1839. Lee's Colonels, p. 391.
33 . Elias Whilden, Jr. (1799-1869), one of four commissioners who laid out the village of Mount Pleasant in 1837 and who served as its intendant (mayor) in 1857-58, owned 600 acres in Christ Church Parish in 1860. History of Mount Pleasant, pp. 31, 49 and 50; Eighth Census of the United States, 1860, Returns of Schedule 4, Productions of Agriculture in Christ Church Parish, Charleston District, S.C., microfilm, Birmingham Public Library, pp. 313-14. He also owned 33 slaves in the parish in 1850. Seventh Census of the United States, 1850, Returns of Schedule 2, Slave Inhabitants in Christ Church Parish, Charleston District, S.C., microfilm, Birmingham Public Library, p. 379. Mary Jeffords White (1806-1888), the first daughter of Christ Church Parish planter John White and his wife, Mary, married Elias Whilden, Jr. in November 1824 at the Wappetaw Independent or Congregational Church. Eliz. H. Jervey, "Marriage and Death Notices from the City Gazette of Charleston," South Carolina Historical Magazine, vol. LVIII, no. 4 (Oct. 1957), p. 268. Eleven children (eight sons and three daughters) were born of the marriage, of whom four (three sons and a daughter) died in childhood. Whilden-Nettles Family Bible. The seventh of these children, John Marshall, was named for his uncle, a wealthy Charleston merchant. Mary S. Lanneau Whilden, untitled Whilden family history (Ms., n.d.), pp. 2-3, in South Carolina General File, South Carolina Historical Society, Charleston (hereinafter cited as "Mary Whilden's Family History").
35 . John Whilden (pre-1632 - 1706) and his family were among the 52 Massachusetts Puritans who settled in 1696 in (what became in 1706) Christ Church Parish. History of Mount Pleasant, p. 24, and J. B. Morrison, "History of Wappetaw Church" (typed Ms., c. 1920), p. 1, in the Presbyterian Church Department of History, Montreat, N.C.
36 . John Whilden received a warrant for 500 acres in April 1697, and in May 1701 he received three additional warrants covering a total of 450 acres. A. S. Salley, Jr., ed., Warrants for Lands in South Carolina, vol. 3, 1692-1711 (Columbia, S.C.: The State Co., 1915), pp. 143 and 177. Respecting John Whilden's estate, see A. S. Salley, Jr., "Abstracts from the Records of the Court of Ordinary of the Province of South Carolina, 1700-1710," South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, vol. XIII, no. 1 (January 1912), p. 56. A history of John Marshall Whilden's lowcountry planter forebears is beyond the scope of this article. Briefly, we know from Mary Whilden's Family History, wills and deeds on file at the South Carolina Department of Archives & History in Columbia, and other sources that John Whilden's son, Jonathan (c.1689-1736), grandson, Elisha Sr. (1729-1790), great grandson, Elias Sr. (1765-1835), great-great grandson, Elias Jr. (1799-1869), and great-great-great grandson, Louis Augustus (1833-1864), who was also the eldest brother of John Marshall Whilden, were planters in Christ Church or St. James, Santee, Parish, prior to the war.
37. History of Mount Pleasant, p. 11. Cornelia Hancock, a New Jersey Quaker who arrived in Mount Pleasant shortly after the war to teach black children, contemptuously referred to the town as the former "summer residence of the Charleston Big Bugs." Henrietta Jaquette, ed., South After Gettysburg, Letters of Cornelia Hancock 1863-1868 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1956), p. 201.
38. Located at 236 Bennett Street near the waterfront, during the war the residence came within range of Federal artillery in Charleston Harbor. A nearby church was "partially destroyed by bombs in the Confederate War." History of Mount Pleasant, pp. 42 and 49. Not surprisingly, at some time during the war Elias Whilden, Jr. and his wife and daughters "removed to Sumter Co., and never again assumed their planting interests in the low country." Mary Whilden's Family History, p. 1. See, also, Anne King Gregorie, History of Sumter County South Carolina (Sumter, S.C.: Library Board of Sumter County, 1954), p. 259. At war's end, the former Whilden home was occupied by black Union troops. History of Mount Pleasant, p. 68.
39. J. B. Morrison, "History of Wappetaw Church," pp. 1 and 14, and Petrona Royall McIver, "Wappetaw Congregational Church," South Carolina Historical Magazine, vol. LVIII (1957), pp. 35 and 91.
40. Compiled Service Records of Organizations Raised in South Carolina for Confederate Service, National Archives, Washington, D.C. (hereinafter cited as "CSR").
41. Ibid. 42. Ibid. Krick, however, fails to recognize Whilden's second lieutenancy. Lee's Colonels, p. 391. 43. John Hennessy, The First Battle of Manassas, An End To Innocence July 18-21, 1861 (Lynchburg, Va.: H. E. Howard, Inc., 1989), p. 38. 44. The attack of Jones' Brigade is recounted in Col. W. S. Nye, "Action North of Bull Rull an Often Overlooked Phase of Battle of First Manassas," Civil War Times Illustrated, vol. 4, no. 1 (April 1965), pp. 48-49. In furtherance of Col. Nye's point, Hennessy's fine recent study of First Manassas (see note 43 above) makes no mention of the attack. 45. Ibid. Also, Col. Jenkins himself came under friendly fire, "his stirrup [being] knocked off of his foot by a shot from a Mississippian." Letter of W. S. Murray to John Jenkins, August 10, 1861, in John Jenkins Papers, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia. 46. Obituary, Charleston Daily Courier, September 10, 1862. 47. "Boys Behind the Gun," p. 8. 48. J. M. Whilden's CSR. Though popularly known as the Chicora Rifles, the company was successively designated as Captain John M. Whilden's Company; Company A and Company B, Hatch's Battalion Coast Rangers, South Carolina Volunteers; and Company B, 23rd South Carolina Infantry Regiment. Ibid.49 . R. S. Whilden's CSR. Initially enlisting (as a private) in April 1861 in Capt. Alfred H. DuPre's Coast Guards, after the break up of that company in September 1861, Robert Septimus Whilden (1841-1916) enlisted "for the war" as a sergeant in his brother's company. Elected a second lieutenant of Co. B, 23rd South Carolina, in October 1862, R. S. Whilden contracted typhoid in Mississippi in the summer of 1863, which effectively invalided him for the duration of the war. Ibid.
50 . J. M. Whilden's CSR. The 23rd South Carolina was formed November 15, 1861, by the addition of three companies to Hatch's Battalion Coast Rangers, South Carolina Volunteers, which consisted of seven companies. Ibid.
51. Ibid. Whilden receipted for the ordinance and supplies on January 29, 1862.
52 . W. J. Andrews, Sketch of Company K., 23rd South Carolina Volunteers, In the Civil War, from 1862-1865 (Sumter, S.C.: Wilder & Ward Offset Printing, n.d., reprint of 1909 ed.), pp. 4-5 (hereinafter cited as "Sketch of Company K").
53 . Sketch of Company K, pp. 5-6.
. Whilden was elected major May 24, 1862, to take rank from April 16, 1862. J. M. Whilden's CSR and Lee's Colonels, pp. 26 and 391.
55 . Both McIver and Morrison refer to Whilden as the "Boy Major." See note 39 above.
56 . Sketch of Company K, p. 6.
57 . U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 128 vols. and atlas (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880-1902), Ser. I, Vol. 11, Pt. III, p. 644 (hereinafter cited as "O.R.").
58 . O.R.. Ser. I, Vol. 12, Pt. II, p. 548. Later in the war, the 26th South Carolina was placed in the brigade. Joseph H. Crute, Jr., Units of the Confederate States Army (Midlothian, Va.: Derwent Books, 1987), p. 266.
59 . J. M. Whilden's CSR. Whilden was one of seven officers detailed for the court martial of Surgeon H. M. Lawson, a 19-day proceeding that concluded in late July 1862. Ibid.
60 . O.R., Ser. I, Vol. 12, Pt. II, p. 548.
61 . Maj. Gen. W. B. Taliaferro, "Jackson's Raid Around Pope," Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, 4 Vols., Robert U. Johnson and Clarence C. Buel, eds. (New York: Thomas Yoseloff, Inc., 1956 special ed. of 1884-88 ed.), vol. II, pp.503-505 (hereinafter cited as "B&L"). For a recent chronological account of the Battle of Second Manasses, using detailed maps, see John Hennessy, Second Manassas Battlefield Map Study (Lynchburg, Va.: H. E. Howard, Inc., 1991) (hereinafter cited as "Map Study").
62 . B&L, pp.505-507.
63 . Hood's Texas Brigade led Longstreet's advance through the gap on the evening of August 28. Col. Harold B. Simpson, Hood's Texas Brigade: Lee's Grenadier Guards (Dallas: Alcor Publishing Company, 1983, 2nd printing), p. 141 (hereinafter cited as "Hood's Texas Brigade").
64 . Maj. Gen. John Pope, "The Second Battle of Bull Run," B&L, vol. II, p. 474; Lt. Gen James Longstreet, "Our March Against Pope," B&L, vol.II, pp. 518-19.
65 . O.R., Ser. I, Vol. 12, Pt. II, p. 630. Evans' Brigade was part of a reconnaissance in force that evening, however, and, before the brigade fell back to its starting position, the Coast Rangers fired on and drove off a Union cavalry force. Sketch of Company K, pp. 11-12.
66 . Maj. Gen. John Pope, "The Second Battle of Bull Run," pp. 485-87.
67 . Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, "Our March Against Pope", p. 521.
68 . Ibid.
69 . "Being closest to Longstreet, Hood's brigade was probably the first of those units south of the [Warrenton] turnpike to receive orders to attack." Map Study, p. 334.
70 . O.R., Ser. I, Vol. 12, Pt. II, pp. 631 and 636. Hennessy concludes it was after 4 p.m. when Evans' men moved out in support of Hood, the Texas Brigade having advanced about a quarter of an hour earlier. Map Study, pp. 332 and 337.
71 . The 23rd South Carolina anchored the left of the brigade's advance, the 18th and 17th Carolina formed the center, and the Holcombe Legion was on the far right, the 22nd South Carolina having been detached and assigned to guard duty. O.R., Ser. I, Vol. 12, Pt. II, p. 631.
72 . Nearly two months after the battle, Capt. M. V. Bancroft reported that the 23rd South Carolina had carried 225 men into action. O.R., Ser. I, Vol. 12, Pt. II, p. 638. A higher headcount, 248, was noted only a few days after the battle by a medical officer of the regiment, Dr. J. J. Murray, in a letter to "Sister," September 3, 1862, in John Jenkins Papers, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia (hereinafter cited as "Dr. Murray's Letter").
73 . Sketch of Company K, p. 12. Elected colonel of the Coast Rangers at its May 1862 reorganization, Henry Laurens Benbow (1829-1907) commanded the regiment to war's end. Lee's Colonels, p. 51.
74 . John Miller Roberts (1813-1864) was elected lieutenant colonel of the Coast Rangers at its May 1862 reorganization. Unlike Benbow, Roberts never recovered from his wounding at Second Manassas, dying in early November 1862. Lee's Colonels, p. 322.
75 . Map Study, p. 365; Hood's Texas Brigade, p. 153.
76 . O.R., Ser. I, Vol. 12, Pt. II, p. 631.
77 . O.R., Ser. I, Vol. 12, Pt. II, pp. 631, 633 and 636.
78 . Obituary, Charleston Daily Courier, September 10, 1862.
79. Ibid.
80 . Ibid.
81 . J. B. Morrison, "History of Wappetaw Church," p. 14.
<A NAME="82">82 . O.R., Ser. I, Vol. 12, Pt. II, pp. 637-9. Matthew Vassar Bancroft (1839-1864), senior captain of the Coast Rangers at Second Manassas, succeeded Whilden as major. Lee's Colonels, p. 44.
83 . At least 149 Coast Rangers were killed or wounded. Dr. Murray's Letter; Map Study, p. 466.
84 . Dr. Murray's Letter.
85 . J. M. Whilden's CSR; O.R., Ser. I, Vol. 12, Pt. II, p. 819.