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Brig. Gen. Maxey Gregg
Birth_date 1815/08/01
Death_date 1862|12|16|
Birth place= Columbia, SC
Place of burial= Elmwood Cemetery, Columbia, SC
Gen. Maxey Gregg
Brigadier-General Maxcy Gregg was born in Columbia, S.C., the son of Col. James Gregg, a distinguished lawyer of that city, and was educated at the South Carolina College, where he graduated with the first honors of his class. He then entered upon the practice of law as a partner of his father. In 1846 he had his first military experience as major of a regiment of the second levy of volunteers sent to Mexico, but did not arrive at the scene of conflict in time to share in any of the famous battles. He was a member of the convention of 1860 which determined upon the secession of the State, and then became colonel of the First North Carolina regiment, enlisted for six months' service, with which he was on duty on Sullivan's and Morris islands during the reduction of Fort Sumter, and afterward in Virginia. Previous to the battle of Manassas he was stationed at Centreville, and then near Fairfax Court House, and commanded the infantry in the action at Vienna. At the expiration of the term of enlistment he reorganized his regiment in South Carolina, and returning to Virginia was stationed at Suffolk. In December, 1861, he was promoted to brigadier-general and ordered to South Carolina, where he took command of a brigade composed of the First, Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth regiments. With this brigade he was attached to the famous light division of A. P. Hill for the Seven Days' campaign before Richmond. He led the advance of the division at Cold Harbor, crossing the creek under fire made what Hill pronounced "the handsomest charge in line I have seen during the war," and during the remainder of the battle displayed undaunted bravery. At Frayser's Farm he charged and captured a Federal battery. At the battle of August 29th, on the plains of Manassas, he with his comrades of the division, fought "with a heroic courage and obstinacy almost beyond parallel," repelling six determined assaults of the enemy, who sought to overwhelm Jackson's corps before Longstreet could arrive. Hill reported: "The reply of the gallant Gregg to a message of mine is worthy of note: 'Tell General Hill that my ammunition is exhausted, but that I will hold my position with the bayonet.'" In the battle of the 30th and at Ox Hill on September 1st, he was again distinguished. He participated in the capture of Harper's Ferry, at Sharpsburg shared with distinguished gallantry in the heroic work of the Light division, which reached the field in time to save the Confederate right, and was wounded in the fight; and at Shepherdstown, after the crossing of the Potomac by the army, commanded the line of three brigades which drove back and terribly punished the enemy's forces, which had the temerity to pursue the lion-hearted veterans of Lee's army. His part in the battle of Fredericksburg we may best describe in the words of the immortal Lee. After describing the momentary success of the Federals on the right, he wrote: "In the meantime a large force had penetrated the wood so far as Hill's reserve, and encountered Gregg's brigade. The attack was so sudden and unexpected that Orr's Rifles, mistaking the enemy for our own troops retiring, were thrown into confusion. While in the act of rallying them, that brave soldier and true patriot, Brig. -Gen. Maxcy Gregg, fell mortally wounded." Again, "In Brigadier-Generals Gregg and Cobb the Confederacy has lost two of its noblest citizens and the army two of its bravest and most distinguished officers. The country consents to the loss of such as these, and the gallant soldiers who fell with them, only to secure the inestimable blessing they died to obtain." Gen. Gregg is buried in the Elmwood Cemetery in Columbia, SC
Maxcy Gregg, a native of Cola. So. Ca, was mortally wounded in the battle near Fredricksburg, Va, on the 15th Dec'r 1862 [sic, for 1861], of which wound he died on the next day. He was a prominent man in the State of his birth (So. Ca.), being an active politician and distinguished as a Military man. He was also a very trustworthy, able and upright lawyer. He tendered his services to the Gov'r of So. Ca, on the Secession of that State from the United States, and served in command of the first Regiment of So. Ca. Volunteers, for the defence of the State, in the harbor of Charleston. After the bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter, he volunteered his services for the defence of Virginia, and his, was the first Regiment which entered that State for duty, from the sister States of the new Confederacy. In consequence of his bravery, and worth as a Military man, he was soon promoted to the rank of Brigadier General in the Army of the Confederate States, in which honorable position, he received his death wound. The loss of such a man, is deeply felt by all classes of his fellow citizens, and his place among them cannot be well filled. He was a Gentlemen, a Soldier, a citizen and a Patriot, who had very few equals, and superiors, none. History will embalm his memory, when the details of this cruel, barbarous and wretched war, shall have been fathered, arranged and published. The name of Gen'l Maxcy Gregg, will have conspicuous place in the niche of the Temple of Fame, and his many friends and fellow citizens generally accord to him, the tribute of their approbation of his course during life, and of their profound sorrow at his death.
REF: Capers - Confederate Military History Vol. 5, pg. 399 Kirkland - Broken Fortunes