Micah Jenkins

Micah Jenkins (born December 1, 1835 on Edisto Island , South Carolina , † May 6, 1864 during the Battle of the Wilderness ) was Brigadier General of the Confederate Army during the War of Civilizations .

Before the civil war

Micah Jenkins was the third son of John Jenkins III. and his wife Elizabeth, a wealthy cotton grower on Edisto Island. In 1851, his parents enrolled him for training at the elite Citadel Military Academy in Charleston, South Carolina, from which he graduated as top of the class in 1854. Jenkins, with the help of his classmate and friend Asbury Coward, founded the Kings Mountain Military School in Yorkville , South Carolina in January 1855, which prepared students for study at the Citadel. When John Brown attacked Harpers Ferry in 1859 , Jenkins raised a militia company in Yorkville called Jasper Guards or Jasper Rifle Guards , and was elected to be their boss. In 1860 the company was named Jasper Light Infantry . She formed from 1861 the core of the 5th South Carolina Infantry Regiment, which grew up mainly of men from the South Carolina Piedmont and was put into service on April 14, 1861. Micah Jenkins was appointed commander of the 1,200-strong regiment and Colonel promoted the volunteers.

At the age of 20, Jenkins was confirmed in the Episcopal Church in Yorkville. He remained deeply religious throughout his life. He always carried the Bible and his prayer book with him; and whenever he found the time, he read them. Jenkins married 19-year-old Caroline Jamison of Orangeburg , South Carolina, daughter David Flavel Jamison, on July 3, 1856 , and had five children with her.

Civil war

The regiment was placed under Brigadier General David Rumph Jones' brigade . The regiment received the baptism of fire on July 21, 1861 during the First Battle of Bull Run . It was deployed on the right wing and had little contact with the enemy. End 1861 Jenkins was entrusted with the leadership of this Brigade and Division Major General Richard Heron Anderson assumed.

After the one-year commitment period, the 5th South Carolina Infantry Regiment was dissolved on April 13, 1862, Jenkins was still in command. He was commissioned to set up a sniper regiment by the name of Palmetto Sharpshooters , of which he was commander. Again Jenkins was put in charge of the brigade. He led them during the Battle of Williamsburg . Jenkins also led the brigade at the Battle of Seven Pines , in which he was injured in the knee, and during the Seven Day Battle . On June 27th of the same year he looped around the enemy flank during fighting on the Chickahominy River and attacked the 16th Michigan Regiment in the fog, which he decimated with a large contingent of soldiers and captured its flag. For this masterpiece, Jenkins was given the Secretary of War's declaration of consent to present the captured regimental flag to the Governor of South Carolina. On July 22, 1862, after further skirmishes, he was appointed brigadier general and led his brigade in the Second Battle of the Bull Run . He was injured in the stomach during a battle and had to take a two-month break. After recovering, he was marginally involved with his brigade in the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 14, 1862 , this time under Division Commander George Edward Pickett . Later, from April 16 to May 3, 1863 he was involved in the siege of Suffolk and stayed there with his brigade during the Battle of Gettysburg . He was later ordered to Tennessee along with James Longstreets' I. Corps and the Army of Northern Virginia , where they were involved in fierce fighting against outnumbered Union forces on October 28, 1863 . Jenkins also successfully led his men when they were attacked from behind by large enemy formations. He was even able to successfully withdraw his force. Again together with Longstreet he marched to East Tennessee, where he played a decisive role in the leadership of the right wing in the battle of Campbell Station on November 16, 1863 and finally also participated in the siege of Knoxville between November 17 and December 4 . On the march back, Jenkins' new division commander became General Charles William Field .

On May 5, 1864, the battle began in the Wilderness , a dense jungle in northeastern Virginia. First, Longstreet left Jenkins on the right flank with his brigade in reserve. At around 10 a.m. on May 6, General Martin Luther Smith and other officers were dispatched to check the enemy's position. Upon their return they reported that the enemy was expanding their left flank. The enemy flank was then attacked from the front and behind and successfully pushed away. Longstreet ordered the advance for all troops and set off at the head of a column. Jenkins and other staff officers rode by his side. Micah Jenkins is said to have said that they would have pushed the enemies back across the river by night. As soon as it had ended, the brigades appeared that had previously carried out the flank maneuver and were now positioned around 50 meters parallel to the path. Some of these troops fired a hail of bullets at the column, because they had taken them to be enemy troops. When they stopped the fire, dead and wounded men were lying in the street. Including Longstreet, who was seriously injured, and Micah Jenkins, who was shot in the head. Major C. Haskell, a member of Long Street's staff, recalled that Jenkins had spurred his men on and implored them to sweep the enemy into the river. After a while he became too weak to continue speaking. Half awake and barely noticing the men around him, he died about six hours later at sunset in the infirmary. He left his wife, Caroline Jamison, with four young children.

The brigadier general was buried in Summerville, South Carolina, but then moved to Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston in 1881.

Commemoration

The South Carolina Military Academy erected a granite memorial in honor of Micah Jenkins with “Jenkins” written on the front. In front of the monument is the grave of the general and his wife Carolina.

Web links

• English biography about Micah Jenkins
• Pictures by Micah Jenkins
• Official reports of the Battle of the Wilderness
• Micah Jenkins in the database of Find a Grave (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Training content
2. ↑ Regimental history
3. ↑ Short biography
4. ^ Marriage and children