Gregg's Brigade  "Let Us Die Here"

The upcountry of South Carolina provided Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia with a five-regiment brigade of infantry that fought fiercely and served faithfully throughout the war. Ably led by by Gen. Maxcy Gregg, a prominent Columbia lawyer, intellectual, and amateur scientist, the brigade served in A.P. Hill's celebrated Light Division and found itself in the middle of the hottest action on several of the war's battlefields. The brigade was formed in spring 1862 and participated in the Seven Days' battles, where it sustained 971 casualties out of the 2,500 men engaged.

Gregg's Brigade marched with Gen. Stonewall Jackson in his great raid behind Union lines that destroyed the supply depot at Manassas Junction. On the first day of the 2nd Battle of Bull Run, the brigade was positioned behind a railroad cut on the left of Jackson's line and was subjected to repeated federal assaults that pushed them back several times but never succeeded in breaking their line. The brigade ran out of ammunition, endured fierce hand-to-hand fighting, and suffered more than 600 casualties that day. Gregg strode up and down his line, determinedly rallying his men to hold on. "Let us die here, my men. Let us die here." Later, replying to a message from Gen. A.P. Hill, Gregg said, "Tell General Hill that my ammunition is exhausted, but that I will hold my position with the bayonet!"

At Sharpsburg, MD., Gregg's brigade arrived with A.P. Hill's division from Harpers Ferry in time to help save Lee's army from the federal assault on the Confederate right flank. While repulsing a breakthrough in Jackson's line during the December 1862 Battle of Fredricksburg, Maxcy Gregg was killed at the age of 48, Samuel McGowan was made commander of the brigade, which was then known as McGowan's Brigade for the rest of the war.

Fascinating Fact:  When the brigade was first formed, there were more than 5,000 members on its rolls. The diseases that swept through army camps at the beginning of the war reduced the effective strength to about 3,000.


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