Pineville, a historic refuge
Part 23: The Burning of Pineville, Part 2
By Warner M.Montgomery Warner@TheColumbiaStar.com

Col. Robert Shaw commanded the colored troops of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Calvary Company. Photograph from Library of Congress.

Dr. Peter Gaillard Gourdin II wrote the following letter from the field hospital in Adams Run to his wife, Ella Palmer Gourdin, in Pineville on February 6, 1865:

Dear Ella,

Since my letter of the third the

turn of military events have

been so suddenly menacing

that I write again to ask you

to begin whatever preparations

you think necessary for

a move if the move has been

decided on. I am afraid that

the advance into our sections

of the enemy if not unexpected

These troops served in the 107th U.S. Colored Infantry. Photograph from Library of Congress.

to me, checked, will not be

delayed as long as is commonly

believed. At any rate,

raiders may penetrate even

though the bulk of Sherman's

army does not advance

immediately upon

Charleston. Our country may

be raided over long before its

fall.

Your loving husband,

PGG

Sherman had taken Savannah and was moving toward Columbia. Char-leston had evacuated. Dr. Gourdin feared for the life of his wife and children who were living in Pineville while he served in the medical corps at Adams Run. He asked them to flee north before the Federal troops raided his home.

Colored troops such as these served in the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Calvary Company. Photograph from Library of Congress.

In W. Mazyck Porcher's account of the Burning of Pineville, he reported that General E.E. Potter's troops, who had already raided Pineville twice, furnished arms to the newly- freed plantation Negroes. Twenty- five Negroes organized themselves into squads of six or eight and assembled in the village, marching about and firing their guns.

Potter's officers under the command of Col. Charles Van Wyck went to Mount Pleasant and returned Saturday, March 25, with a large supply of ammunition in boxes. Desiring the weapons, the Negroes threatened to "hang two gentlemen and burn their houses the next morning as a beginning…and then put in order all who held their heads high in Pineville."

The next day, during the Sunday church services, the Negro squads were put upon by four men from Ferguson's Brigade who had been sent to Pineville to ascertain the situation. After a brief skirmish, two Confederates were wounded. Forty men under CSA Lieutenants McGee, Pettus, and Humphries came to the rescue and, after a sharp battle, killed 18 or 19 of the Negroes and the rest fled.

Colored troops of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Calvary Company pick up bones after the Battle of Fort Wagner. Photograph from Library of Congress

In the church, the anxious old men, women, and children prayed for the souls of the dead and grieved over the "dreadful fate of their once faithful and devoted slaves, deceived and seduced into crime by those wicked white men to introduce the serpent of discontent and malice to despoil the Eden of their contented and happy minds."

Porcher blamed General Potter for endangering the safety of a peaceable village of women and children, and leading astray to their violent end a number of ignorant Negroes.

A colored brigade under Gen. A.S. Hartwell of the 55th Massachusetts that was rebuilding bridges over the Santee River burned by retreating Confederates joined troops of Col. E.A. Kozlay of the 54th New York in Pineville to "avenge the murder of Negroes by guerrillas." They were met by a gentleman who explained the facts of the tragedy and General Hartwell decided not to burn the remaining homes in the village. He did, however, allow the soldiers to pillage the homes in "search of Rebs" in bureaus and drawers.

Following the ransacking, General Hartwell instructed the Negroes on their rights and privileges and listened to their grievances. A treacherous old man of the village informed the general that Confederate soldiers were holdup at Mexico Plantation under the protection of Mazyck Porcher and his overseer, Mr. Foxworth. With that information, the whole force of over 1,000 men started off in the direction of Mexico to capture the owner and soldiers said to be there.

(Next week: The Sack of Mexico)