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The Battle of Congaree Creek
February 15, 1865
By
Wayne D. Roberts
It was cold and rainy as the day dawned on February 15, 1865 in
Lexington County, South Carolina. The rain had commenced
at 3:00 P.M. the previous
afternoon. It was very muddy and boggy, making the advance for Sherman’s
Right Wing slow and arduous. The official name of the Right Wing was the
Army of the Tennessee. Major General O. O. Howard commanded this army.
Major General John A. Logan was the commander of the XV Corps of the Army
of the Tennessee. The XV Corps had encamped in the Sandy Run community
in Lexington County the night before. On this wet, dreary day they resumed
their march along the Old State Road toward their objective—Columbia;
the capital city of that hotbed of secession—South Carolina.
Leading
off for the XV Corps was its 1st Division under Brevet Major General
Charles R. Woods. Woods had once tried to reach South Carolina
over four years earlier. He was in command of troops aboard the ship
Star of the West that tried to relieve Union forces in Fort Sumter before
she was turned back by fire from the Citadel cadets’ battery. Colonel
Robert F. Catterson’s 2nd Brigade moved out on the Old State Road
toward Columbia, leading the advance of the 1st Division. Within one
mile they discovered Confederates in their front. These were 9th Kentucky
troopers from Brigadier General George Dibrell’s Division, Williams’ Brigade
of Lieutenant General Joseph Wheeler’s Cavalry Corps of the Confederate
Army of Tennessee. These troopers were dismounted. Dibrell’s division
also included his old brigade, now commanded by Colonel William S. McLemore.
This brigade was composed of the 4th Tennessee Cavalry, the 13th Tennessee
Cavalry, and Shaw’s Tennessee Battalion of Cavalry.
Catterson deployed four companies
of the 40th Illinois Infantry as skirmishers and began driving the
Kentucky troopers back.
At Little Savannah Creek
the Confederate forces made a stand. Catterson brought up four additional
companies of the 40th Illinois and the Confederates began to yield ground
again. The Kentucky troopers were pushed back across Thom’s Creek
and Dry Creek. They continued to yield ground until they reached the
vicinity of Congaree Creek.
Extensive earthworks had been
erected at the point where the Old State Road crosses Congaree Creek.
These defensive fortifications
consisted
of two main parts. A tete-de-pont was located on the south side of Congaree
Creek. This was an arc shaped “temporary breast-works of rails” as
described by General Dibrell. Two cannons were manned at the tete-de-pont.
A strong earthwork was located on the north side of Congaree Creek. This
consisted of a strong point with three additional cannons near the Old
State Road Bridge over Congaree Creek. The earthworks here represent
a massive salient about 350 feet long. A large, broad moat, 25 feet wide,
was excavated in front of a broad, tall earthen parapet. It is 10 feet
from the top of the parapet to the bottom of the moat. This moat was
not designed to hold water, but to hold back attacking men. The earthen
parapet at the salient is 25 to 30 feet thick and 10 to 15 feet wide
at the top. The top of the parapet is about five feet higher than the
ground on which it rests. To the east and west of the salient, the earthworks
consist of an earthen parapet about three feet high and five to 10 feet
wide with a trench about three feet deep and up to 10 feet wide. The
entire Confederate earthworks measure about one-half mile in length.
Manning these works were the cavalry troopers of Dibrell’s Division
as well as infantrymen of Confederate Major General Carter L. Stevenson’s
Division.
The two guns at the tete-de-pont opened fire checking the Union advance.
Catterson moved the 46th Ohio up on his right flank and moved them forward
until he discovered well-entrenched Confederates across Congaree Creek.
At this pint Catterson sent word to his commander Woods advising him
of the situation.
Brevet Major General Charles
R. Woods devised a plan of battle using only his troops of the 1st
Division. He held the 1st
Brigade under his
elder brother, Brevet Major General William B. Woods in the center. They
were under fire from the Confederate artillery but did not move forward,
remaining in reserve. The 2nd Brigade, under Catterson was sent to the
right against the Confederate left, downstream from the bridge. The 3rd
Brigade, under Colonel George A. Stone, was sent to the left against
the Confederate right, upstream from the bridge. The Confederates withdrew
their artillery from the tete-de-pont as the Union 2nd and 3rd Brigades
moved forward and began to outflank them. Dibrell withdrew his Confederate
cavalry across Congaree Creek, firing the bridge as he went. Dibrell’s
troopers joined the infantry in the trenches along Congaree Creek.
Stone pressed the 3rd Brigade forward and sent the 4th Iowa around the
left to find a crossing beyond the Confederate right flank. -Four companies
of the 4th Iowa plunged into a swamp and moved upstream of the Confederate
right flank. The 9th Iowa was ordered to follow in reserve of the 4th
Iowa. The 4th Iowa was ordered to cross Congaree Creek on a log. Stone
intended to wait until the 4th Iowa, 9th Iowa, and one other regiment
had crossed before launching his attack. However, as soon as a few
companies of the 4th Iowa were across, they pressed forward until the
Confederates spotted them. At that point they attacked. The Confederates,
realizing the enemy was in their rear, spread the alarm and began to
withdraw.
The Confederate rear guard was able to hold off any Union advance as
they moved into Columbia, burning the bridges over the Congaree and Saluda
Rivers behind them. The fighting had begun in the early morning hours
near Sandy Run and was over by 4:00 in the afternoon at Congaree Creek.
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