South Carolina
State Troops
Seed Corn Units
1864-1865

  Under a call of order of Milledge Luke Bonham, the Governor of this State, the remaining units of the militia were mustered at Hamburg, SC, July 1864, and there organized into Companies.

The officers of the 8 Battalions and most of the Company officers were men of mature years or had been retired from the regular Confederate Army for various disabilities.

After the muster at Hamburg, SC, units of 17 year old boys and men over 44 were formed into 8 battalions (often referred to as Senior Reserves).
        Battalion Information

They were formed into a brigade and placed under the commande of Brigadier General James Chesnut, a political officer with no field command experience. Those under that age were allowed to return to their respective homes.

The numbered battalions were mustered into CSA service and South Carolina was again left without troops under her direct control. By order of the same said Governor, the youngest troops were again assembled at Hamburg, 26 November 1864, and were duly armed and equipped, and formed into 4 regiments (often referred to as Junior Reserves and also State Militia) and ordered into active service. From Hamburg, they were ordered to Honey Hill, arriving at that place just after the battle of that name.
        Regiment Information

The units served until the end of the war, most ending up in Spartanburg, where they were disbanded in April 1865.

The following are the articles I have accumulated on these units:
3rd Battalion
Letters from the Front, Thomas J. Eccles, 2d Lieutenant, 3rd Battalion, Co D
PostWar Recollections of Private O. M. Buzhardt , 4th Battalion, Co A
Death of Sergeant Joe King, 7th Battalion, Company A
1st Regiment
1st Regiment, Company H
The Arsenal, Columbia, SC
3rd Regiment, Company F
3rd Regiment, Company F
3rd Regiment, Company I
3rd Regiment, Company K

Note:
The names, units, service and personal information comes from various different sources. I feel that each man (boy) listed did serve The Cause. What I can not be positive of is that they served in Senior (Battaliuons) or Junior (Reserves). These two terms seem to be used interchagable by these troops and often called them "State Militia".
Before you quote or reference this data for a particular soldier, you should drop me an email and I will tell you the source of it for your own review.

My Choice:
The boys of the South Carolina Military Academy served thru out the War so they did not need to be called up in 1864. I have included them on this page because they were boys led by men:
The Citadel, Charleston, SC

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Thu., 8 Dec 1864:
The Charleston Daily Courier
We must repeat--and repeat--and continue to repeat--as long as evidences of the fact appear--our deliberate and well settled conviction in reference to the various proposals put forth for "grinding our seed corn," and sacrificing our yearlings, that the great evil and defect has not been want of men so much as the want of discipline and order and vigor in putting and keeping in active service the men nominally liable.


If you have any information about these troops or these units, please

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