Brigadier General Isaac Stevens had big plans for a multi-pronged attack on the Charleston and Savannah Railroad followed by a move up the railroad on Charleston. However, William Sherman, his superior officer, wanted to deal with Fort Pulaski first. Then Sherman was replaced by Major General David Hunter. Hunter divided his department into Northem and Southern Districts, with Brigadier General Henry Benham the commander of the Northern District, which was made up of South Carolina, Georgia, and part of Florida. Benham had little interest in Stevens plan for an attack on Charleston. This changed when Robert Smalls, the slave who sailed to freedom by stealing the Planter, reported that the Confederates had abandoned their forts at the mouth of the Stono River. When DuPont verified Smalls’ report that the waterways were clear to the upper part of James Island, Benham saw an opportunity to now attack Charleston via James Island and bypass the formidable defenses in Charleston harbor. Stevens met with Benham to pitch an attack on the railroad as part of Benham’s plan.
At 6:00 PM on May 28th, Stevens received a telegram from Benham giving him permission conduct a brigade-level strike on the railroad. Then an hour later he received another communication from Benham changing his orders substantially. The movement would now be only a demonstration, which was not to delay plans for Stevens’s brigade to embark for the Stono River and James Island. As a result, Stevens modified his plans and would now conduct a raid with a much smaller force. He would depart with the 50th PA, Company H from the 8th MI, Company E from the 79th NY, 80 men from the 1st MA Cavalry, and a section of the 1st CT Light Artillery. Colonel Benjamin Christ of the 50th PA would command a little over 300 men on the raid. Maps of the area are shown below.
Per Colonel Christ “In pursuance to orders I left Beaufort at 10.30 o’clock on the evening of the 28th with my regiment and one company of the 8th MI Volunteers, under Captain Doyle, and one company of the 79th NY Volunteers, commanded by Captain Elliott, and then proceeded to Port Royal Ferry. We succeeded in getting on the mainland by daylight (May 29th), and immediately took up my line of march for Pocotaligo via Garden’s Corners. About 2 miles from the ferry we commenced driving in the enemy’s pickets, and did so three times before we reached Garden’s Corners.” At Garden’s Corners he detached Company E of the 50th PA as a rearguard. The 1st CT Artillery was well behind the column, they had taken several hours to feed and water their horses. The artillery was so tardy that it would play no role in the battle, a significant factor in why the raid failed. Another reason was the small number of troops allotted by Union Brigadier General Benham. The 1st MA Cavalry acted as skirmishers as the column continued in the direction of Pocotaligo up the Sheldon Church Road and past the Castle Hill Plantation. They would have passed the Sheldon Church.
Confederate skirmishers forced the Union column to deploy into battle lines several times which slowed them down. The skirmishers also sent word back to their headquarters at Pocotaligo Station of the advance. Confederates in the area (Third Military District of South Carolina) were commanded by Colonel William S. Walker. However, on the morning of the 29th Major Joseph Morgan was in command. Walker was inspecting troops in Grahamville and was headed back to Pocotaligo by train. Morgan by 9:00 AM had sent orders to four companies of the First SC Cavalry Battalion, the Rutledge Mounted Riflemen (a militia group commanded by Captain William L. Trenholm), and a company of the 2nd SC Cavalry Battalion commanded by Captain Daniel Blake Heyward to head from their camps toward Pocotaligo Station where they arrived by 10:30 AM. Morgan also ordered a rider to flag down Colonel Morgan’s train and notify him that the Yankees were headed toward the railroad. By this time the Federals were approaching Old Pocotaligo.
The Confederates chose to make a stand along the Federals approach to Old Pocotaligo at a narrow causeway over Screven’s Canal that was flanked on both sides by a marsh and rice fields. Colonel Christ described it as follows “As you reach Pocotaligo, you do so over a causeway about a quarter of a mile in length, flanked partly on either side by a marsh, and through which passes a stream. About 80 yards from the end of this causeway was a bridge about 15 feet wide which the enemy had so far destroyed as to make it impassable save by passing over the string pieces, about 6 inches wide.”
Major Morgan would have very few men at his disposal to counter the Union advance but had chosen an excellent place to do so. Dismounting his cavalry he sent Companies A and D of the 1st SC Battalion to the left of the bridge, with Lieutenant R.M. Skinner commanding a total of only 38 men. He placed another 38 men from the Rutledge Mounted Rifles to the right of the bridge under Captain Trenholm. Colonel Christ deployed his men on both sides of the causeway but despite a two hour battle could not cross the bridge. His artillery still had not come up. Captain Parker commanding Company H of the 50th PA volunteered to charge the bridge. They managed to successfully cross over the six-inch-wide strings and take cover in a rice ditch to the right of the road. Captain Parker as he encouraged his men forward was shot in the head and killed. As more Federals followed over the bridge under Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Brenholtz, Lieutenant Skinner feared he would be flanked. With the Federal artillery now finally on the scene Walker withdrew his men about three-quarters of a mile to a position closer to Pocotaligo Station around 1:30 PM.
The Union advance stalled out about a quarter mile from the railroad. Running out of ammunition and concerned about Confederate reinforcements Christ made the decision to withdraw around 4:00 PM burning the wagon bridge over the Pocotaligo River. Confederate reinforcements were arriving, and more were on the way. Captain Stephen Elliott Jr. arrived with the Beaufort Volunteer Artillery, three guns, and two companies of the 11th SC. General Pemberton in command of the district headquartered in Charleston, when informed of the raid, ordered General A.R. Lawton in Savannah and General Drayton in Hardeeville to each send a regiment to Pocotaligo. The Confederates followed the retreating Federals down the Stony Point Road at a distance, except for a skirmish between the Confederate cavalry and the Union rear guard at Garden’s Corner around 10:00 PM. All the Union troops were back across the Port Royal Ferry by 4:00 AM. The Federals had traveled 33 miles in 27 hours and fought for several hours with little to show for it, with the exception of the destruction of the bridge over the Pocotaligo River and the impact of the thousands of slaves that left their plantations and followed them to freedom. The Union suffered 11 casualties- 2 killed and 9 wounded. The Confederates had 9 casualties- 2 killed, 6 wounded, and 1 missing. The Union was already moving out for their upcoming campaign against Charleston and the focus quickly shifted to James Island culminating in the Battle of Secessionville (The Battle of Secessionville Part 1) and (The Battle of Secessionville Part 2).
Sources
Vital Rails, The Charleston and Savannah Railroad and the Civil War in Coastal South Carolina by H. David Stone, Jr.
Six Miles from Charleston Five Minutes to Hell Emerging Civil War Series by James A. Morgan.
War of the Rebellion A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Skirmish at Pocotaligo. Series 1, Volume 14, pages 20-27
Rebellion, Reconstruction, and Redemption, 1861-1893, The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina, Volume 2 by Stephen R. Wise and Lawrence S. Rowland
The Civil War In My South Carolina Lowcountry by James L. Harvey Jr.