It has been the aim of the writer of this History not to criticize, condemn, nor make any comments upon the motives or acts of any of the officers whom he should have cause to mention, and he somewhat reluctantly gives space to Colonel Rice’s stricture of General Drayton.  It is difficult for officers in subaltern position to understand all that their superiors do and do not.  The Generals, from their positions, can see differently from those in the line amid the smoke of battle, and they often give commands hard to comprehend from minor officers’ point of view.  General Drayton was an accomplished and gallant officer, and while he might have been rash and reckless at South Mountain, still it is hard to conceive his being relieved of his command through the charge of “rashness,” especially when his brigade held up successfully for so long a time one of the most stubborn battles of the war.

At the Battle of Sharpsburg or Antietam, the little remnant of the battalion was again engaged.  On Lee’s return to Virginia, and during the last days of November or early in December, the Third Battalion and the Fifteenth Regiment were transferred to Kershaw’s Brigade, and from thence on it will be treated as a part of the old First Brigade.  At Fredericksburg, on the day of the great battle, the battalion held the railroad cut running from near the city to the right of Mayree’s Hill, and was well protected by a bluff and the railroad, consequently did not suffer as great a loss as the other regiments of the brigade.

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COLONEL GEORGE S. JAMES.

The first commander of the Third Battalion, and who fell at South Mountain, was born in Laurens County, in 1829.  He was the second son of John S. James, a prominent lawyer of Laurens, who, meeting with misfortune and losing a handsome fortune, attempted to retain it by moving to Columbia and engaging in mercantile pursuits.  This he followed with success.  Colonel George S. James received his early education in the academies of the up-country.  While yet a youth some seventeen years of age, war with Mexico was declared, and his patriotic and chivalric spirit sent him at once to the ranks of the Palmetto Regiment, and he shared the triumphs and fortunes of that command to the close of the war.

After his return to his native State, he entered the South Carolina College, along with many others, who in after years made their State and themselves immortal by their fiery zeal in the War of Secession.  At the college young James was a great favorite of all who knew him best, and while not a close student of text-books, he was an extensive reader, always delighting his friends with wit and humor.  The student life, however, failed to satisfy his adventurous spirit, and wandering away to the far distant West, seeking adventure or congenial pursuits, he received a commission of Lieutenant in the United States Army.