Laura’s First Family

When the cadets from the Citadel fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor, it ignited one of the costliest conflicts in the history of the United States
The patriotism of the Southern youth was exceeded only by their confidence in an ultimate Southern victory. Indeed, many promised to bring the North to its collective knees in a matter of weeks.
The First South Carolina Regiment of Cavalry was formed in 1861 using the SC 1st Infantry Battalion as its nucleus. The men comprising the regiment were from Charleston and the counties of Abbeville, Allendale, Chester, and Georgetown.
Brian Pinckney was one of ten Pinckney brothers from Pinckney Hall Plantation near Charleston. A graduate of the Citadel in Charleston, he volunteered for the 1st South Carolina Rifles, and was elected to the rank of captain in the unit. His unit’s first action was the defense of Fort Sumter and following that, they were transferred to Lee’s Army of Virginia.
Over fifty percent of Bryan’s unit was killed, or wound-ed. Badly wounded, he was captured and remained a prison-er of war until Lee’s capitulation at Appomattox.
As an officer, he lived in luxury compared to the men had commanded. While those men he were dying in battle, he was living a fairly comfortable life as a captured field grade officer.
Unable to face the relatives of the men who had died, Brian decided to move west after attending his brother Brent’s wedding in San Antonio.