Company B 22nd Regiment Sketches of Newberry Men

Colonel Isaac F. Hunt Issac F. Hunt was born in Newberry county, South Carolina, on November 16, 1833. He was the son of Jacob H. Hunt and Hannah Herbert. Colonel Hunt's grandfather on his father's side was a patriot in the American Revolution. As a boy, he was sent to a private preparatory school in the mountains of western North Carolina; and later received military training at the Citadel military academy. When the war first broke out, he enlisted as a private in Company B of the First South Carolina Regiment. There, he was on duty during the siege of Fort Sumter. Later, he helped form Company D of the 13th Regiment. He commanded his company in 1862 in the battles of Richmond, including Mechanicsville, Ellison's Mill, Gaines' Mill, and Cold Harbor. He was wounded at Cold Harbor and was disabled for thirty days. He rejoined the regiment just before the battle of Cedar Mountain, and was promoted to the rank of Major. He was present at Chancellorsville and was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel. In this capacity, he participated in the battles of Gettysburg, Hagerstown, Falling Waters, and Snicker's Gap. After the death of Colonel Benjamin Brockman, he became the Colonel of the Thirteenth Regiment. On August 16, 1864, he was seriously injured but after a brief recovery, he returned to his command. He was present at Appomattox at the surrender, and its said that he planted his battleflag before his line and told the Federal officers that they could now have what he had defended so long as ordered by his general. In a letter to his wife, Dr. Spencer G. Welch, surgeon of the 13th, wrote on May 2, 1865, that shortly after the surrender Colonel Hunt, Lieutenant-Colonel Lester, Captain Copeland, and himself started out for South Carolina. He writes that they had a little fly tent that they slept in at night. After three weeks time, they reached South Carolina. Upon Hunt's return home, he went into business in Charleston, South Carolina. He tired of living in Charleston and in 1878, he moved to Greenville, South Carolina. He was married to Harriet Austin, the daughter of Dr. Manning Austin. He is buried in Newberry county. Dr. Spencer Glasgow Welch Spencer Glasgow Welch was born in Newberry county, South Carolina, on March 12, 1834, and was the son of William Welch and Mary Glasgow Welch. Dr. Welch attended the schools in Newberry until he was old enough to go to Furman college. After attending Furman, he entered Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, and graduated from said school. Later, he did medical work at Castelton, Vermont. He then returned to his home in South Carolina. On February 13, 1861, he married Cordelia C. Strother of Edgefield county, South Carolina. He joined the Confederate army and was assigned as assistant surgeon to the 13th Regiment of South Carolina Volunteers. He went to Virginia with the regiment in 1862, and was with them from the 2nd Battle of Manassas until the surrender at Appomattox. Prior to the surrender, he had been promoted to surgeon of the regiment. Dr. Welch, Col. Hunt, Lt. Col. Lester and Capt. Caldwell, left Appomattox shortly after the surrender and it took them 3 weeks to return to South Carolina. He is most remembered for his letters he wrote to his wife throughout the war. These letters describe in detail the actions of the 13th Regiment. They were published in 1910 in a book, " A Confederate Surgeon's Letters to his Wife." Adjutant James Wood Davidson James Wood Davidson was born in Newberry county, South Carolina in 1829. Adjutant Davidson joined the Regiment at the start of the war and on June 15, 1863, became seriously ill and had to be sent to The General Hospital in Richmond (No. 4), where he remained for one month. He resigned his office in the field to accept a desk job with the Confederate War Department. The following obituary appeared in the "Yorkville Enquirer," at his death: A telegram has just been received that James Wood Davidson died at Chattahoochee Hospital this morning. He was a resident of this section, having come to Lake Worth in 1884, and was elected as a member of the Legislature from Dade County in 1886, going from Tallahassee to Washington, where he held a Government position till failing health obliged him to return here. He was born in Newberry County, South Carolina, in 1829, making him 76 years of age at the time of his death. He leaves a widow, who is present a resident of this city. The body will be interred at the hospital till further and more definite arrangements can be made for its final resting place - West Palm Beach, Fla., News, June 23, 1905. Mr. James Wood Davidson will be remembered by many of the older readers of the Enquirer as a former contributor to this paper. For several years previous to the war he was a member of the faculty of the South Carolina College, and each week he had a column in the Enquirer especially devoted to the literary developments of the day. He was a particular friend of the poet, Timrod, and was on very intimate terms with all the ante-bellum writers of the day. He was the author of several books, "The Living Writers of the South," and "Poetry of the Future" among them. His books were characterized by much ability and patient research, and had it not been for the changes brought about by the war they would no doubt become recognized masterpieces of Southern Literature. As it has been their sale has been confined to the North, especially since the war. Mr. Davidson was also the author of the first school history of South Carolina, and subsequent authors of South Carolina history have followed this work closely. At one time Mr. Davidson was the American correspondent of leading London newspapers, including the Times, and was for several years associate editor of the New York Evening Post. He was one of the editors of the Standard Dictionary, and from whatever standpoint, was one of the most scholarly South Carolinians of his day.