"S" is for Stoneman’s Raid (May 1865)

"S" is for Stoneman’s Raid (May 1865). This minor cavalry raid through the South Carolina upstate occurred in the weeks following the assassination of President Lincoln and the flight of Confederate president Jefferson Davis and his cabinet from Richmond, Virginia. In mid-April 1865 General William T. Sherman ordered two brigades of General George Stoneman’s federal cavalry under the command of Colonels W.J. Palmer and S.B. Brown into South Carolina to search for Davis and the fugitive Confederate government. Palmer’s brigade entered South Carolina in May and moved toward Spartanburg, which fell with little resistance. Moving on to Greenville, Palmer’s brigade was joined by Brown’s. Greenville was occupied and portions of the cavalry headed to Anderson where they met sharp resistance. Anderson was evacuated the day after its capture and Stoneman’s brigades were ordered back to Tennessee.