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South Carolina C.S.A.
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South Carolina C.S.A. |
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The Story of Young Norman Philip Henning In April of 1861, virtually every man in South Carolina was volunteering to protect his state, a state, which was viewed as sovereign, and a state that felt it had been greatly wronged. The election of Lincoln by less than a majority of the voters and his unwillingness to return property to the state had resulted in a situation that was viewed as beyond toleration by most South Carolinians. These men were not men of the late twentieth century, men so violated by their system that they were unwilling to take up arms to be free; in fact just the opposite was the case. An editor in Greenville, Colonel Elford, was forming a regiment, the Sixteenth South Carolina. The premier unit of Greenville, The Butler Guard, was already going to war and other units were forming almost daily. A young boy working in a print room and his father who ran an inn both heard and answered the call. The young boy would be returned home as the fighting got tougher in the east (See Notes Below). Yet he would feel so strongly driven by his deep patriotic feelings that he would enlist to serve on the coast with the Sixteenth South Carolina. Leaving Northern Virginia and the Butler Guard in May of 1862, by January of 1863, he would find himself in the Sixteenth. He would camp and soldier with them from Wilmington, North Carolina to Missionary Ridge, Tennessee. When Longstreet’s Corps separated from the Army of Tennessee, following the victory at Chick, young Norman would go with them and fight from Campbell’s Station to Bentonville with the gallant Butler Guard. At Bentonville, the Second South Carolina would be heavily involved in the attack of the Confederate Army. The Second South Carolina would be exceedingly lucky that day. The casualties were light in this the last major engagement of a dying army, except for the color guard. Sergeant Dubose Eggleston was struck in a pocket Bible he carried in his left breast pocket. William Johnson received a cut over the bridge of his nose and the cheek under his left eye from a shell fragment. Most tragic of all, when the colors went down they were grabbed quickly by Sergeant Major Norman P. Henning who no more than picked them up, only to be struck down and killed by virtually the last bullet of the last major battle. Sergeant Henning, boy printer, who went to war in 1861 and knew little else, was dead in a soldier’s grave at twenty, killed because his honor and his life demanded that he do no less. A beautiful letter of tribute survives in the hands of Dr. Steve Musgrove and although much lamented, his loss was not in vain. It inspired and touched others and continues to do so, even as we approach a time when only wonder is felt for the kind of life he lived. Hennings full service record and his life has been recorded carefully by Dr. Steve Musgrove and the facts are all found below. His death is well recorded in full tribute by Mac Wyckoff in The History of the Second South Carolina, but there is more here, much more. A History of the Second S.C. Infantry 1861-65, Wyckoff - ISBN # 0-9632137-3-3, page 149 Notes from Dr. Musgrove: N.P. Henning served his full one-year enlistment from April 13, 1861, and was discharged in July 1862 due to his age -- the Confederate Congress having recently passed a law establishing the minimum age for military service as "18." So he was effectively forced out of the service because he was just 17, but as soon as he could, he reenlisted in a reserve unit, where minors were allowed to serve. There are apparently no records extant to verify his exact date of birth, but since his parents were married in late November of 1843 he was probably born late in 1844 (given his age as reported in various documents). Click to thank Dr. Musgrove. |
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Furnished with Excellent Comentary by Dr. Steve Musgrove Proximate text of a handwritten letter drafted by Elizabeth (?) to Margaret Cam[ ]. Note Due to the archaic style of penmanship, coupled with the deteriorated condition of the paper and ink, the text of the original letter is very difficult to read. Thus, the transliteration offered below is the best approximation of the original that can be offered, given the fragile condition of the paper(s), folds and tears which run through the text, the faded status of the ink, and various smudges, stains, and other problems which occur throughout. Therefore, in order to avoid confusion, the following methodology is employed in this presentation: Square brackets [ ] surround those transliterations of entire words, or of parts of words, which are either unknown, unclear, or questionable. The transliterations are presented in a page-for-page, line-for-line format, which best represents the original. Odd spacings or marks are represented graphically. (Please note that I was unable to write the HTML to support Dr. Musgrove's wonderful and painstakingly typed copy, I apologize to all concerned, Steve) The Envelope The badly stained and frayed envelope is made of a single, unglued, folded piece of broadsheet paper, which appears to be comprised of a combination rag pulp and wood pulp (i.e., celulose). On the exterior front surface of this envelope, the name Margaret Cam[ ] appears in archaic, cursive handwriting, in a faded brown ink. An indistinct, unidentified watermark appears in the middle of the left side flap of the envelope, comprised (it appears) of a modified, upper case, Olde English style G encompassed by a circle. Fragments of a red wax seal adhere to the back of the envelope. The Letter The text of the letter proper is written on four full sheets of a fragile, yellowed, (apparently) high-pulp-content paper, which appears to have a screen texture (as opposed to laid-and-chain, et cetera). An extremely faint watermark may run longitudinally down the middle of the last page. On these four pages the following personal missive is inscribed in archaic cursive lettering, in a faded brown ink. Sunday 26th Dearest Margaret, Your latest has arrived by Mrs. Kennedy, and we are stricken to learn that you are suffering with the Influenza. We shall pray for you most earnestly, and Mother proffers her well proved receipt, than an efficacious remedy is to drink a plenty of Barley Water, sweetened with Brown Sugar, and strongly impreg nated with Indian Sage, or, failing that, Angelica, boiled together, to which you must add a drop or two of Turpentine to each cupfull to size. Mother also suggests Camphor should any be available, and adjures you to keep your windows tightly shuttered, most especially at eventide, to guard against the Miasma. We pray that you may yet have all need full things at hand, and that this will find your condition much improved. Tho you were well, yet would it be with heavy heart that we write this sad Sabbath eve, for we are recently informed that Norman Philip Henning was slain while bearing the colors, near Bentonville, on the 19th inst. He was his Mother’s pride, an noble (page 2) Christian lad, and, alas, but 20 yr of age. Soldier rest, thy warfare o’er, Sleep the sleep that knows no break ing, Dream of battlefields no more, Days of danger, nights of waking. How much more must we suffer this dreadfull war we do not know, but we have naught left to sacrifice on the sacred altars of Freedom. Our gallant men are gone now every one, and the Armies have plundered nearly every usefull thing, til there is little or no remaining on which we may rely. Even our utensils are lost to us. Of our stock we have but one lame mule, no hands for the fields. All is ruination roundabout. It is quite unsafe to occupy our beds at night. The loft does better service. Several pitiable women in the neighborhood have been badly misused, of late, and p[ ]er still, it was rumored at Meeting than a gang is soon to be parolled at Columbia, and march herethrough under a flag of truce. Thus, for the sake of security and comfort, Mother and I are departing with A[ ], so as not to venture the greater risk. I shall carry Father’s double for protection. (page 3) We shall hope to stay with Mary, if the mule can stay his course, whereat the complexion is, by reports, more tolerable. We shall attempt to get a proper letter to you as soon as we are situated there. The Rev. Caruthers is setting out as well. He has kindly offered to carry this to you, as he will be passing by your home on his return &c. With him we also send a small packet, within you will find two pistols. These were taken from the person of Gen. Ferguson, at Kings Mountain, one by our Grand-father Thomas, and the other by a Union soldier of Militia, of whom he thence delivered it. As several of your kinsmen served the cause of Liberty in this connexion we deliver these c[onnect]ed relicks to you for safe keeping, trusting that you will eer prize them. We also include a cockade, fashioned from the ribbons out of which we sewed up Williams standard, as you may wish it for a remembrance. We can offer little else, save a favored verse, and our continual suplications for your preservation. All else here is forfeit. (page 4) Were your family not well aquainted with the Rev. Caruthers, we should vouch safe his exceeding good character, and ask a nights lodging of you on his behalf. He is a right staunch Man of God, been staid further than his pledge, supplied much good comfort to the women here. Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in Health, even as thy Soul prospereth, and so I remain, Sincerely, your Sister in Christ, “ Elizabeth ” |
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Dr. Stephen Musgrove Isaac L. Henning and Mary Arnold were married on November 21, 1843. Isaac L. Henning was the son of David and Mary Henning, who were married in 1814. They owned and operated a hotel in Greenville, the Kentucky and Tennessee Inn. David also served as Sheriff of Greenville County from 1838 to 1840. Mary Arnold was the daughter of Ira Arnold and Mary “Polly” Saxon, who were married in 1813. Ira Arnold served as the Justice of the Peace in Laurens, S.C. Mary Henning, Sr. (wife of David) died in 1847, when Norman P. Henning was three years old, after which his parents, Isaac and Mary, took over operation of the Inn. They managed a succession of boarding houses, and (according to Census records) Norman grew up in a house filled with several brothers and sisters, along with teachers, stage coach drivers, clerks, drovers, and peddlers. In addition, Isaac L. Henning owned and ran the Pumpkinville Stage in lower Greenville County, and he served as the town Marshall of Greenville during the 1850s and 1860s. When Norman was 17 years old (1862) he was described as being 5 feet 3 1/2 inches tall, with a fair complexion, gray eyes and light hair. He worked as a printer prior to the Civil War, probably at the offices of Greenville County’s weekly newspaper, The Greenville Mountaineer . (Greenville was a small village in those days, and it is reasonable to assume that it could support only one printing company.) On April 13, 1861, the day that the Yankees surrendered Ft. Sumter, 16-year-old Norman Philip Henning enlisted as a private in the South Carolina Militia, which was soon absorbed into the army of the Confederate States of America. That same day, his father, Isaac L. Henning, enlisted as a Corporal in the militia. Norman Philip Henning was killed on March 19, 1865, during the Battle of Bentonville, the last battle of the Civil War. It is assumed that his body in buried along with 315 of his comrades in a mass grave of Confederate Unknown Dead at Bentonville. Second (2) (Palmetto) S.C. Volunteer Infantry Regiment; Company B (Butler Guards) Mitchell’s Ford, Virginia 18 July, 1861 1st Manassas, Virginia 21 July, 1861 Lewinsville, Virginia 25 September, 1861 Held Yorktown Line, Virginia mid-April – 3 May, 1862 Sixteenth (16) South Carolina Infantry Regiment; Company A Wilmington, North Carolina 31 January, 1863 Charleston Harbor, South Carolina January-July, 1863 Jackson, Mississippi 5-10 July, 1863 Siege of Jackson, Mississippi 10-16 July, 1863 Assault on Jackson, Mississippi 12 July, 1863 Chickamauga, Tennessee 19-21 September, 1863 Siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee 24 September – 23 November, 1863 Second (2) (Palmetto) S.C. Volunteer Infantry Regiment; Company B (Butler Guards) Campbell Station, Tennessee 16 November, 1863 Knoxville, Tennessee 18 November, 1863 Fort Sanders, Tennessee 29 November, 1863 Bean Station, Tennessee 14 December, 1863 Wilderness, Virginia 6-7 May, 1864 Spotsylvania, Virginia 8-21 May, 1864 North Anna, Virginia 23-25 May, 1864 Cold Harbor, Virginia 1-12 June, 1864 Petersburg, Virginia 18 June, 1864 Deep Bottom, Virginia 27-28 July, 1864 Charlestown, West Virginia 26 August, 1864 Berryville, Virginia 13 September, 1864 Hupp’s Hill, Virginia 13 October, 1864 Cedar Creek, Virginia 19 October, 1864 Held Salkehatchie Line January-February, 1865 Averasboro, North Carolina 16 March, 1865 Bentonville, North Carolina 19-21 March, 1865 Dr. Steve Musgrove provides the following, "I checked, and it is the Family Bible of Mary Arnold Henning, mother of Sgt. Norman Philip Henning, CSA, whose story I researched last year. The Bible transcript lists Norman Philip Henning as being born November 30th, 1844; and his DOB was the last outstanding bit of vital information, so now we have a complete picture. If you'd like to see the information, it is posted in the Bibles section of the Greenville County Gen Web Site." |
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