Battle of Aiken

{{infobox military conflict | conflict = Battle of Aiken | partof = the American Civil War | image = | caption = | date = February 11, 1865 | place = Aiken, South Carolina | coordinates = {{Coord|33|33|33|N|81|43|18|W|type:event_region:US-SC|display=inline,title}} | map_type = South Carolina | map_size = 300 | map_relief = Yes | map_label = Aiken | map_caption = Location within South Carolina | territory = | result = Confederate victory | status = | combatants_header = | combatant1 = {{flag|United States|1863}} (Union) | combatant2 = {{flag|Confederate States|1863}} | commander1 = {{flagicon|United States|1863}} Hugh Judson Kilpatrick | commander2 = {{flagicon|CSA|army}} Joseph Wheeler | strength1 = Unknown | strength2 = 4,500 | casualties1 = 45–495<ref name="battleofaiken.org">{{cite web|url=http://battleofaiken.org/history.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041021200401/http://www.battleofaiken.org/history.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=October 21, 2004|title=Battle of Aiken|website=battleofaiken.org|access-date=2 October 2017}}</ref> | casualties2 = 50–251<ref name="battleofaiken.org"/> | campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Campaign of the Carolinas}} }}

The '''Battle of Aiken''' (also known as the '''Action at Aiken''') occurred on February 11, 1865 and was part of the Carolinas campaign.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Farmer|first=James|date=2005|title=Playing Rebels: Reenactment as Nostalgia and Defense of the Confederacy in the Battle of Aiken|url=|journal=Southern Cultures|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|volume=1}}</ref> The principal commanders were Union Maj. Gen. Hugh Judson Kilpatrick and Confederate Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler. Wheeler was able to score a minor victory over Kilpatrick. Today, an annual re-enactment is held the final full weekend in February. As of May 2022, 28 reenactments of Aiken have been held.<ref>{{Cite web |first= |date=26 Feb 2022 |title=Battle of Aiken continues Sunday |url=https://www.postandcourier.com/aikenstandard/news/battle-of-aiken-continues-sunday/article_94cc9ab8-9757-11ec-a64f-ffd78ca691a9.html |access-date=2022-05-01 |website=Post and Courier |language=en}}</ref>

== Battle ==

=== Fighting === Before the battle, on February 1, General Sherman began his invasion of South Carolina.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Battle of Aiken|url=http://battleofaiken.org/history.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041021200401/http://www.battleofaiken.org/history.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=October 21, 2004|access-date=2020-09-23|website=battleofaiken.org}}</ref> During the campaign he ordered Hugh Judson Kilpatrick and his cavalry corps from the Fifth U.S Cavalry to march through South Carolina.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2017-02-12|title=The Yellow House and the Battle of Aiken|url=https://www.aikenregional.com/about-us/aiken-history/the-yellow-house-and-the-battle-of-aiken|access-date=2020-09-23|website=Aiken Regional Medical Centers|language=en-us}}</ref> By February 5, he crossed into Aiken County where he would engage in battle with Joseph Wheeler's cavalry corps. Wheeler attacked Kilpatrick, who expected little resistance, despite having orders to not pursue Kilpatrick's cavalry.<ref name=":1" /> Wheeler moved to defend the city of Augusta from the Union army. His army was stationed at 204 Park Avenue between Benjamin Franklin Cheatham and James Argle Smith's forces.<ref name=":1" /> The Aiken Home Guard and a cavalry corps were under Wheeler's command.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last1=Reynolds|first1=Donalds|last2=Kele|first2=Max|date=1969|title=A Yank in the Carolinas Campaign: The Diary of James W. Chapin, Eighth Indiana Cavalry |journal=The North Carolina Historical Review|publisher=North Carolina Office of Archives and History|volume=46|pages=42–57}}</ref> He planned to defeat Kilpatrick by forming his cavalry into a V-shaped formation with skirmishers deployed above it. When Kilpatrick charged the skirmishers, they would retreat into the center of the "V." Once Kilpatrick entered the formation the tips of the "V" would collapse, thus encircling Kilpatrick.<ref name=":0" /> On February 11, at 9:00 AM,<ref name=":3"/> the battle started.

Wheeler's plan was prevented from coming to fruition due to a single Confederate soldier who prematurely fired their gun,<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Battle of Aiken Historical Marker|url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=10061|access-date=2020-09-23|website=www.hmdb.org|language=en-US}}</ref> resulting in Wheeler ordering all of his soldiers to attack the Union forces.<ref name=":0" /> The armies engaged in hand-to-hand combat throughout the town.<ref name=":0" /> During the fighting, it was reported that a Confederate soldier ran up to Kilpatrick and attacked the general with his pistol. However, the pistol did not fire.<ref name=":0" /> After Kilpatrick was defeated, he retreated back to his defenses at Montmorenci. For the rest of the day, Confederate and Union soldiers skirmished. This continued until the two commanders signed a truce and agreed to collect the bodies.<ref name=":0" /> Later, on February 13, Kilpatrick retreated and rejoined Sherman.<ref name=":0" /> Despite this, Kilpatrick declared himself victorious. In the aftermath of the battle, Wheeler's decision to attack Kilpatrick left the Edisto River, and in turn Columbia, vulnerable.<ref>Berg, Gordon. "Five or Ten Minutes of Blind Confusion: The Battle of Aiken, South Carolina, February 11, 1865." ''America's Civil War'', vol. 32, no. 2, May 2019, p. 59. ''Gale Academic OneFile.''</ref>

=== Casualties === According to General Kilpatrick, he had killed 31 Confederate soldiers, wounded 160, and captured 60. This would result in the Confederates taking 251 Casualties.<ref name=":0" /> However general Wheeler states that he had suffered 50 casualties and that he had killed 53 Union soldiers, wounded 270, and captured 172.<ref name=":0" /> This totals to 495 Union Casualties.<ref name=":0" />

== In popular culture == To commemorate the battle, a granite monument was erected at the intersection of Richland Avenue and Chesterfield Street.<ref name=":2"/> The people of the country reenact the battle annually on rural land located several miles away from the area where the battle was actually fought. According to the ''Southern Cultures'' journal, the residents of the city possibly reenact this battle as an attempt to score a "symbolic blow against the hated enemy of their ancestors and perhaps, against what they see as their enemies modern counterparts: The Civil Rights Movement, which intervenes in their lives in unwanted (as well as welcome) ways."<ref name=":2"/> The first reenactment of the battle happened in 1965. It was organized by John A May and Herman Boland. Both of these men were descendants of Confederate veterans. According to the ''Southern Cultures'' journal, the tradition of reenacting the battle had become "suspect." Resulting in the people of the town trying to "hold on to their 'southernerness'" by defending the practice. In 2005 Christopher Forbes and with Michael G. Hennessy directed and co-wrote ''The Battle of Aiken'', a film about this battle.<ref>{{Citation|last=Forbes|first=Christopher|title=The Battle of Aiken|date=2005-08-26|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0963973/|type=Action|others=Gabriel Baxley, Troy H. Bradley, Jerry Chesser, Tripp Courtney|access-date=2020-09-03}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== * Boylston, Jr., Raymond P. ''Battle of Aiken''. Self-published, 2003. * Jones, Wayne R. and Thomas D. Perry. ''Ten Minutes of Blind Confusion: The Battle of Aiken Kilpatrick vs. Wheeler February 11, 1865''. Create Space, 2011. * Rigdon, John C. ''The Battle of Aiken''. Powder Springs, Georgia: Eastern Digital Resources, 1998 * Vandevelde, Isabel R. ''The Battle of Aiken''. Aiken, South Carolina: Art Studio Press, 1997.

Category:1865 in South Carolina Category:Aiken County, South Carolina Aiken Aiken Aiken Aiken Category:February 1865

Battle of Aiken

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