behind AotW

I’ve spent the afternoon down something of a rabbit hole – learning a little about the Catawba Tribe of north-central South Carolina and how they are remembered.

I dove in chasing a Private in the 12th South Carolina Infantry listed as John Harris (Indian) in the State Roll.

So now I know of 4 Catawbas who were in Maryland in 1862, all wounded there. John and his brother Jim of the 12th South Carolina, and Jeff Ayers and Bill Canty of the 17th. They were among 19 men of the tribe – probably the entire military age male population – who enlisted in the Confederate Army.

Another story about Antietam soldiers I’d not heard before now.

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The picture at the top is of the Catawba Memorial (1900) in a park in Fort Mill, SC.