History
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Company B 1863-1864
District when the South Carolina legislators changed all counties to districts. In 1828 Pendleton District was divided into two Districts, Pickens and Anderson. After the war, in 1868 the legislature decided to change the districts to counties and at the same time the western portion of Pickens was split off to form Oconee County.
Pendleton District records are now in the custody of the South Carolina Archives in Columbia, South Carolina. For detailed maps tracing the formation of South Carolina counties go to the South Carolina Archives and history center.Although a veteran of Company B may have lived in Pickens District his whole life, the changing district/county designations, for purposes of identifying locations where dates are known on the published Roster, are identified as follows;•Before 1828 – Pendleton District•1828 through 1868 – Pickens District•After 1868 – Pickens CountyThe earliest European's in the area of Pickens District were explorers and Indian traders. The British built Fort Prince George around 1753. This fort was the site of several battles in the Cherokee Wars from 1759 through 1761. The Indians sided with the British during the Revolutionary War, as a result the Cherokee town of Essenecca, near Clemson, along with numbers of other Cherokee villages, was destroyed by American troops in 1776.John C. Calhoun (1782-1850), United States Vice President, Senator, and cabinet member, made his home at Fort Hill plantation in what became Pickens District. His son-in-law, Thomas Green Clemson (1807-1888), later bequeathed the plantation to the state for use as an agricultural college, which led to the founding of Clemson University.Pickens District's gifted orator, John C. Calhoun, was a voice of moderation during the many debates over the festering issues of state's rights and slavery in the years leading up to the War Between the States. The death of Senator Calhoun in 1850 helped to effectively end any future hopes for compromise between North and South as the South lost one of its most able statesmen. As time passed, the issues began to further divide the regions and tensions reached new heights. In 1856, U.S. Representative Preston Brooks of South Carolina caned Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner on the floor of the Senate to retaliate for "slanderous" comments made by Sumner against Brooks’ uncle, Senator A.P. Butler. When the Democratic national convention was held in Charleston in April 1860, the party split due to the division over slavery. This split led to the election of Republican Abraham Lincoln in November.
South Carolina, which had long threatened secession from the Union if Lincoln were to be elected, responded to Lincoln’s victory by calling a special secession convention which passed and signed the Ordinance of Secession on December 20, 1860. With this ordinance, South Carolina became the first state to leave the Union. Four precarious months would pass between that fateful day and another: April 12, 1861.
Soon after the state had seceded, Major Robert Anderson, the commander of the Union garrison at Fort Moultrie, sensed the growing anti-Union sentiment and moved his troops to the still incomplete Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. These Union troops lived in the fort throughout the winter of 1861, but by April began to run out of provisions such as food and fuel. President Lincoln ingeniously used this opportunity to cause the Confederates to fire the first shot and this, he hoped, would inspire the states that had not yet seceded to unite in the effort to restore the Union. Lincoln declared he would re-supply the troops but promised not to send any arms or munitions. In order to send new supplies, a Federal fleet was dispatched in early April. The Confederates felt that they must take Fort Sumter before the fleet arrived, and at approximately 4:30 a.m. on April 12, the first shot was fired at the fort. The Civil War had begun.
to be continued.....Company B of the 1st South Carolina State Troops was raised in August 1863 from volunteers from Pickens District, South Carolina. Pickens District, and the subsequent Pickens County, in 1868, was named for General Andrew Pickens (1739-1817), a Revolutionary War hero.The Cherokee held this area in the northwestern corner of the state until 1777 when it was know as Indian Country. It later became part of Pendleton County in 1789 as part of the 96th Judicial District. In 1795 Pendleton was removed from the 96th Judicial District and placed in Washington Judicial District. In 1799 Pendleton County became Pendleton
Gen. Andrew Pickens
