From Emmitsburg to South Carolina; Local Man Travels Far to Support the Southern Cause

By John A. Miller

Featured in the Catoctin Banner's August Edition

Recently, I have been researching the Confederate soldiers who are from Northern Frederick County. It has been the hardest task that I have done to date. These men enlisted through out the South Land while a good portion of them served in many of the Maryland units.

I recently had the chance to travel to Charleston, South Carolina to follow in the same footsteps as Emmitsburg resident Charles A. Donnelly. I also followed the unit he enlisted with through North Carolina after Donnelly transferred to Virginia. So who was Charles Donnelly? Charles Donnelly was a resident from Emmitsburg and was 13 years old during the 1850 Census. His father Charles Sr., was a native from Ireland and was a school teacher in the area. By 1860, the last time Charles A. Donnelly was listed on the Census, he was still listed as living in Emmitsburg.

Before the first shots of the Civil War at Charleston, South Carolina were fired into Fort Sumter, several South Carolina recruiting officers made their way through the South recruiting manpower for the upcoming war in South Carolina. Recruiting men from different states was not uncommon practice during the Civil War.

In December of 1860, South Carolina had sent a recruiting officer to Baltimore, and he recruited, according to the Confederate Military History by Bradley T. Johnson, more than 500 Maryland men. Charles A. Donnelly was among those 500 men. These men would become part of Lucas' Battalion of South Carolina and Rhett's First South Carolina Artillery. The men who enlisted would witness the bombardment of Fort Sumter in the Charleston Harbor in April of 1861.

Charles A. Donnelly enlisted into the Confederate Army at the age of 24 on April 6, 1861, in Lucas' Battalion of Infantry at Castle Pinckney, which is located in the Charleston Harbor of South Carolina. Lucas' Battalion of South Carolina was made up with approximately 90 men from Maryland who enlisted in Company B at James Island, South Carolina in April.

In July of 1861, Lucas' Battalion was designated "Heavy Artillery" with two companies. Company C, which many Marylanders transferred to was organized on November 15, 1862. It served in the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and was active at Fort Sumter, Morris and James Islands.

On one Muster Roll, Charles Donnelly was noted as absent for the months of March and April. He was absent in confinement in Charleston jail. Once he was out of jail, he served from May through August as the Company Clerk. He was engaged in the following battles: Charleston Harbor (August through September, 1863), capture of the U.S.S. Isaac Smith, Fort Pemberton (January 30, 1863).

On April 29, 1864, Donnelly along with many Marylanders transferred to the "Maryland Line", serving the rest of their 5 year enlistment in Virginia.