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COMPANY B OF THE 22nd REGIMENT OF SOUTH CAROLINA VOLUNTEERS
Company B of the 22nd Regiment was formed from men of Spartanburg County. Many of the men came from the Holly Springs area of northern Spartanburg County. This Company was commanded respectively by Captains John Wheeler, Peyton Ballinger, Adolphus J. Foster, Robert G. Fleming and W. Alexander Benson. Sometime toward the end of the war, George B. Lake was created a lieutenant in this company, and upon the death of Captain Benson, caused by the explosion of a shell at Petersburg in 1864, he was promoted to the captaincy of the company. Not long after this occurred one of the most noted events of the war - the mine explosion near Petersburg.
At Petersburg, a regiment of Pennsylvania coal miners were carrying out a plan by General Ambrose Burnside by digging a five hundred foot tunnel beneath the Confederate lines and packing it with 8,000 pounds of gunpowder. The plan was to blow a hole in the Petersburg defenses, then rush through to take the City. This plan came to fruition on the dawn of July 30, 1864. An enormous mass sprang into the air. A mass without form or shape, full of red flames, and carried a bed of lightening flashes, mounted towards heaven with a detonation of thunder. Then everything appeared to break up and fall in a rain of earth mixed with rocks, with beams, timbers and mangled bodies. This explosion caused a great crater 30 feet deep, 70 feet wide and 250 feet long. Company B was directly over where this explosion occurred.
PHOTO OF CRATER IN 1864
Pvt. Wilson Henry Moore of Company B had just a few hours before the explosion come off of guard duty. He found his fellow soldiers lying lengthwise of the ditch for the convenience of room, he lay down crosswise of the same. He credited this position with saving his life. He was asleep when the mine exploded. His first consciousness was the falling of clods of dirt upon his head. Bee Keller, who was absent when the mine was exploded, returning, found Moore buried alive and attempted to rescue him. Keller, with Capt. Lake and Lieutenant William J. Lake, who had been dug out alive, were captured by the Federal troops as they entered the crater. Moore was dug out by the enemy troops and was too fractured to be moved. Bee Keller died a few months later in a Union prison camp. Capt. Lake and Lt. Lake returned home to Spartanburg County after the war. After the Confederate troops recaptured the crater, Moore was rescued and ultimately recovered from his wounds. He gave the above account to Dr. J.B.O. Landrum.
PHOTO OF WILSON HENRY MOORE
So only two privates at the crater survived the incident. Thirty-two men in this company were buried for eternity. Of the privates there, only Moore and Ransom Lee survived. Later Ransom Lee would be killed in action. One other private, John Gowan Clayton, survived. He was in the brig serving his time on his court martial sentence. On May 16, 1863, John Gowan Clayton and Jasper Clayton deserted while the Company was in Charleston, SC. A $30.00 per man reward was placed on them and on December 12, 1863, J.P. Peace brought them in and collected the reward. Jasper Clayton was allowed to return to the Company and John Gowan Clayton was sentenced to the brig. His fortune was to be in the brig when this happened and his cousin died at the mine explosion. Wonder how John Gowan Clayton felt when he learned of this tragedy of his fellow men in the Company. John Gowan apparently had respect for them and named one of his sons after Capt. George Lake --- George Lake Clayton. John Gowan Clayton's brother, Jeremiah Newton Clayton, was also a very lucky man. He, too, was a member of Company B. He came down with fever in late June of 1864 and was admitted to Jackson Hospital in Richmond, Virginia. On July 20, 1964, he received a thirty day furlough to recover from his sickness. This was only ten days before the fateful crater explosion. Jeremiah Newton Clayton recovered from his fever and went on to live a fruitful life after the war.
TO VIEW AN OUTLINE OF THE 22nd REGIMENT, CLICK HERE: SUMMARY OF 22nd.
HERE IS THE ROSTER OF COMPANY B OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA VOLUNTEERS. CLICK HERE TO GO TO IT: ROSTER OF CO. B
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF SELECTED LEADERS OF COMPANY B OF THE 22ND REGIMENT. CLICK HERE: SKETCHES.
TO VIEW THE OFFICIAL REPORT OF GEN. JOHNSON ON THE CRATER INCIDENT, GO TO: CRATER REPORT
If you have information on Company B of the 22nd Regiment, please contact me at: adj61@aol.com