Stephen Elliot Welch, Sept 22, 1862
Updated: Oct 5
From the collection edited by John Michael Priest (1994)
"Stephen Elliott Welch of the Hampton Legion"
S. Elliott Welch (1843 – 1938) enlisted in the Charleston Zouave cadets in January of 1861 and was present when the state battery on Morris Island drove off The Star of The West on January 9 of that year, as well as on Sullivan’s Island during the April 12 bombardment of Fort Sumter. On August 7 he re-enlisted in the South Carolina Zouaves, then being formed to augment the badly-battered Hampton Legion of Manassas fame. He served in Captain Cheves McCord’s Company H of The Legion for the duration of the war, initially as First Sergent, ultimately as Lieutenant, surrendering with Lee’s Army at Appomattox.
Returning to Charleston, Elliott Welch rejoined the family business (wholesale produce), married, and had several children. He served as a ruling elder of First (Scots) Presbyterian Church for 65 years, as well as on the boards of the Charleston Bible Society, the Charleston Orphan House, the William Enston Home, and the Star Gospel Mission. He died at the age of 95, the last surviving Confederate veteran of Charleston, and is buried at Magnolia Cemetery.
In the letter that follows, Elliott Welch describes the events of Sept 14 – 21, 1862, including the battle in the cornfield at Sharpsburg, on the bloodiest day in American history.
Winchester, Va
[Monday] Sept. 22nd 1862
My dear Parents,
Doubtless you have seen by the papers that I am among the wounded of the battle fought in Maryland. I believe I wrote you last just before crossing the Potomac into Maryland. We travelled on and were near Hagerstown, when we learned of the approach of the enemy. As they were between the river & ourselves we had to meet them.
Sunday, the 14th, we marched back and filed into a cross road at Boonsboro [MaryIand], where one of our batteries was firing on the Yankees but a battery of the enemy’s obtained our range & we had to move. Our next position was at the foot of a steep mountain [South Mountain], and then we had to march to the top. A caII was then made for 3 volunteer skirmishers & [Henry] Brandes, [George B.] Gelling & I stept out. Under one of the Lts. we pushed ahead and on reaching the crest of the mountain we saw a line of blue coats [51st Pennsylvania] not 30 yards from us. Fortunately they did not see us, so taking deliberate aim we fired & withdrew; it had the effect of astonishing them and as soon as possible they fired upon us in return, doing no damage, however. Not being ranked [in line of battle] we [four] lay down & the Yanks fired over us. During the night we retired & I was nearly captured, being only a qtr. of a mile off asleep.
I escaped and Monday & Tuesday we were in line of battle. Tuesday night we were under a terrific fire of shot & shell, but only a few were wounded, among them [Henry] Brandes. His wound is not serious but is quite painful.
Wednesday, the 17th, the day opened with a hail storm of shell, grape & canister shot and until 8 a.m. we had to submit to it, but we heard the order to forward and off we went. Coming to a fence we had to climb it and then additionally expose ourselves but once over like a hurricane we swept over the land. I stood near the flag and saw it fall but being hard at work loading I did not pick it up though it was raised by a color corporal [James E. Estes, Company F] before I was ready. Seeing it floating again I pressed on.
The first gun I had wouldn’t go off; throwing it down I found another when, like the first, [it] wouldn’t shoot so I had to get a third, which [at] last fired well. After firing five or six shots I feII, doubled up & lay insensible for awhile; as soon as my senses returned I felt a queer sensation on my head & found my right eye closed & ear full of blood & a pool of blood by my side; my rifle was thrown one way & hat another. Picking up my cap it bore no trace of a cut on the outside but the inside was much torn. It is really a mercy I was not torn to pieces for it appeared I never saw rain fall faster than the bullets did around us.
I fired every shot at the U.S. flags and as fast as [they were] raised they fell again. We rushed to within 50 or 60 yards of their battery and the grape & canister tore immense holes through our ranks. Our reinforcements did not come up, but theirs did & on both flanks and in front we had one continued sheet of flame. All around me the bullets whistled and from a battery far on our right the shells burst upon us. A piece of shell struck me and knocked me stupid.
Never have I seen men fall so fast and thick and in about one hour’s time our whole division was almost annihilated. The order was given for us to retreat and slowly, sullenly we fell back but as soon as our reinforcements arrived we forwarded up again and drove them back. As an evidence of that fire we had six coIor bearers shot down, the Major [J. Hervey Dingle] was kiIIed holding them up and the others were wounded.
I had to get off the field the best way I could and after hunting for several hours found the hospital where I had my head dressed. We were then sent across the Potomac to Shepherdstown [Virginia] where we almost starved but for the kindness of a lady and [a] gentleman whom we asked to cook a little meat for us; not content with cooking the meat she had some nice bread and preserves set out for us. On leaving we were requested to call again and we did so until orders for moving to this town came. Enclosed are the names of our kind friends Mr. [John] & Mrs. [Sallie] Criswell. Save the card for me.
Winchester is quite a nice town and the people are very kind to us. In the hospital our accommodations are very scant and provisions are rather scarce but some better arrangements will be made in a day or two for us. So many soldiers have passed through the various towns in Va. & Md. that the wounded can not buy anything but we manage now & then to get something.
Our Army retreated from Maryland but has again crossed into it. The Yankees did not get much of a victory. With nearly six times our force they had us almost entirely surrounded but we drove them back on the left & centre and slept on the field.
I have [not] rec’d a letter from home since early in August, but the movements of the army are so varied that we do not know one day where we shall be the next. I love the looks of Maryland and it was a pity to desolate such a beautiful country. After we left Frederick City [on the National Pike] we marched up the valley and climbed the Blue Ridge Mts. [at Turner’s Gap] from the top of which we had a magnificent view of the vale for miles. Such a sight, I never saw in any State. The beauty of the scenery charmed me & if I Iive till after the War I should like to have a farm & settle down there.
We obtained a quantity of apples of the finest sort, which were very nice indeed; we miss them now.
I am anxious to hear something of Geo. [Gelling*], have not seen anything of him or The Legion since I was wounded. I am quite well, and suffer from my head only af night. The wound is more than an inch long, on the scalp, and just touching the bone. I am thankful my life is spared, for surely it seems no one ever had a more narrow escape than myself. My spirits are up at high water mark.
Give my love to Sammie, Carrie, Henry, Theo. & kiss Robbie for me. My love to Aunt Emily , Uncle William & family as well as Mr & Mrs. M. Inness. Write whenever you have a chance
& I shall do the same. God bless you my dear parents is my daily pray.
yr. Affectionate Son
Elliott
Excuse errors & c.
*Footnote. George B. Gelling was a native of the Isle of Mann. He joined the Hampton Legion as a private, date of enlistment unknown. He saw twelve general engagements, from Bull Run to Antietam. He was wounded and taken prisoner at Antietam on May 11, 1863 and sent to Fort Monroe by order of General Robert Cumming Schenck. Gelling was soon exchanged, and continued in active service, attaining the rank of lieutenant and adjutant in January 1864. He, Capt. J. Ward Hopkins, and two fellow officers were badly wounded by an artillery shell in the Second Battle of Petersburg and taken to a nearby hospital, where he died. His cenotaph in the First (Scots) Presbyterian graveyard reads: “He fell in the Defence of Petersburg, Virginia / on the 16th of June 1864/ in the 24th year of his age.”
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