Battle of Congaree Creek

Battle of Congaree Creek Part of the American Civil War Date February 15, 1865 Location Cayce, South Carolina Result Union victory Belligerents United States (Union) CSA (Confederacy) Casualties and losses 20 Unknown

The Battle of Congaree Creek was a four-hour action that took place in the waning days of the American Civil War, fought in Lexington County, South Carolina, on February 15, 1865, just south of Columbia. The battle featured the Union's Army of the Tennessee against the Confederacy's Army of Tennessee meeting at a half-mile-long earthwork erected by Southern forces near the Old State Road Bridge over Congaree Creek.^[1] Confederate General George Dibrell's dismounted cavalry brigade, supported by infantry and artillery, manned the earthworks, but General Charles Woods' 1st Division of General John A. Logan's XV Corps pushed skirmishers ahead while one of Woods' brigades crossed upstream and turned the Southerners' right flank. Dibrell's force withdrew from Congaree Creek and then from its earthworks, retreating to Columbia. Though the Confederates set fire to the bridge, the Federals saved it and made their camp nearby that night, according to a historical marker erected at the site by the 15th Regiment S.C. Volunteer Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.^[2]

Two days later, Union General William T. Sherman's army advanced to Columbia and burned much of the city.

References

1. Battle of Congaree Creek, S.C. Military Order of the Stars and Bars, 2009 Broken or dead link, April 2016.
2. Historical Markers Associated with the Civil War, Battle of Congaree Creek at S.C. Archives and History Foundation