PALMETTO GUARD
From Knob Knowledge
The Palmetto Guard, organized on June 28, 1851, was a volunteer company of the South Carolina Infantry Regiment, Fourth Brigade, South Carolina Militia. The Guard used The Citadel Parade Ground--now Marion Square--in front of the Old Citadel for drill and parade. In 1857 the Fourth Brigade became the joint owner of this parade ground along with the City of Charleston. At the time of the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, the Palmetto Guard manned batteries at Cummings Point.
The Company was mustered into Confederate service on May 22, 1861 as Company I, 2d Regiment, South Carolina Volunteers, and saw duty throughout the Civil War. Cadet Ranger Samuel Gourdin Pinckney served in the Palmetto Guard, 1862-1864. The Company is sometimes called the Palmetto Guards. It is not to be confused with the PALMETTO REGIMENT which fought in the Mexican War.
(Sources: Charleston City Year Book, 1883, pp. 542-544. Prioleau Room JS 13 .C33 1883; Ellison Capers, "South Carolina," Confederate Military History, vol. 5, pp. 4-5, 18-19. E484.E9; Gary R. Baker, Cadets in Gray, pp. 199-200. E470.65 .B3 1989; Alexander S. Salley, South Carolina Troops in Confederate Service, vol. 2, pp. 226-228, 248. Prioleau Room E577.3 .S72; information in The Citadel Archives; David Heisser)
