Death of Maxcy Gregg

General Maxcy Gregg fell mortally wounded near this spot on December 13, 1862. Fiery and uncompromising on the issues of slavery and states’ rights, the South Carolina lawyer had been an early and ardent proponent of secession. When war came, Gregg, like many pre-war politicians, sought a place at the head of his state’s troops. Having voted to take his state out of the Union, he was willing to fight and die to keep it out. When, at midday on December 13, Union troops broke into the woods in front of him, Gregg at first misidentified them as Confederate pickets. He ordered his South Carolinians, atop this ridge, to hold their fire, a fatal mistake. A Union bullet struck Gregg in the side, piercing his spine. Two days later he died, having assured the governor of his state, “I yield my life cheerfully, fighting for the independence of South Carolina.”

Virginia · United States