McGowan's Brigade - Spotsylvania Court House VA
N 38° 13.396 W 077° 36.021
18S E 272371 N 4233784
A monument to McGowan's South Carolina Brigades stands at the Bloody Angle on the Spotsylvania Court House Battlefield in VA.
Waymark Code: WM9431
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 06/25/2010
Views: 5
For two weeks in May 1864, battle raged at Spotsylvania Court House, VA. The longest hand-to-hand combat of the Civil War took place at a muleshoe salient on May 12. It lasted for twenty hours. The Confederate troops fought to maintain control of earthworks on the field, but were overwhelmed by the Union soldiers. Brigadier General Samuel McGowan led his five South Carolina regiments to help reinforce the defenses at what would be known as the Bloody Angle of the muleshoe and the Confederate troops held their line. McGowan's Brigade suffered heavy losses and Gen. McGowan, himself, was wounded when he was shot in the arm.
145 years later, the McGowan's Camp 40 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans raised enough money to erect a monument in commemoration of the SC brigades at the Bloody Angle on the Spotsylvania Court House Battlefield in Virginia. On May 9, 2009, the monument was unveiled and dedicated. The 8' polished granite monument with a SC palmetto tree sits on a concrete base and was designed by Lee Dorn, a member of SCV Camp 40.
Inscriptions:
Front:
South
Carolina
McGowan's Brigade
Brig. Gen. Samuel McGowan
1st S.C. Infantry
Col. Comillus W. McCreary
Orr's Rifles
Lt. Col. George McD. Miller
12th S.C. Infantry
Maj. Thomas F. Clyburne
13th S.C. Infantry
Col. Benjamin T. Brockman
14th S.C. Infantry
Col. Joseph N. Brown
Back:
"THE BLOODY ANGLE"
In the rainy gloom of May 12, 1864, Brigadier
General Samuel McGowan's brigade of South
Carolinians battled their way into the disputed
earthworks here, near the apex of the Muleshoe
Salient. For eighteen hours the 1,300 South
Carolinians defended these works against
relentless attacks by thousands of Federals,
sometimes engaging in hand-to-hand fighting.
By battle's end, 451 men of the brigade were
killed, wounded, or missing. The slight angle in
the works they defended would forever be
known as the Bloody Angle.
To the brave and heroic men of
McGowan's Brigade
this monument is dedicated.
Erected by the State of South Carolina and the
Brig. Gen. Samuel McGowan Camp 40
Sons of Confederate Veterans of
Laurens County, South Carolina, 2009
The Spotsylvania Court House Battlefield is part of the Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park. The Park and battlefields are open daily dawn to dusk. There is no admission.
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