Drayton's Brigade

Welcome to the steam group for Drayton's Brigade!


Brigade Members:

15th South Carolina Infantry

3rd Battalion South Carolina Infantry

50th Georgia Infantry

51st Georgia Infantry

Phillips' Georgia Legion


History:

With the coming of war, Jefferson Davis, the new President of the Confederate States of America, appointed Drayton as a brigadier general in September 1861 and placed him in command of the military district at Port Royal, South Carolina. Drayton subsequently used "Fish Hall Plantation", which his wife owned, as headquarters in the defense of Hilton Head Island until 1861. Drayton assigned many of his own 102 slaves on the island to construct defenses and do other work to support the Confederates.

At the Battle of Port Royal later that year, troops under his command at Fort Beauregard and Fort Walker came under attack by ships of the Union Navy, including the USS Pocahontas, commanded by his brother, Percival Drayton. Thomas Drayton's son, Lieutenant William Drayton, also fought with the Confederates in defense of the forts. After a lengthy bombardment, both forts fell to the Union attackers, who subsequently occupied much of the region. They gained their first deepwater port in coastal Carolina.

In 1862, Drayton was assigned command of an infantry brigade composed of the 15th South Carolina Infantry, the 3d Battalion S.C. Inf. and three Georgia infantry regiments, the 50th and 51st and Phillips' Georgia Legion, which became part of the Right Wing of the Army of Northern Virginia under Lt. Gen. James Longstreet. Drayton's Brigade fought at the Second Battle of Manassas. Defending Fox's Gap at the Battle of South Mountain, Drayton suffered high casualties. His much-depleted brigade also saw considerable action at Sharpsburg.

War of Rights[www.warofrights.com]