In 1862, Captain Levi J. Knight, Jr was detailed to take Berrien Minute Men Company C to Battery Lawton, where they joined the Brunswick Rifles manning artillery defenses of Savannah, GA. The Berrien Minute Men and Brunswick Rifles had encamped together at Brunswick. (Berrien Minute Men Company D was manning the battery at Causton’s Bluff and other posts around the city.) Battery Lawton had also been the 1861 post of the Berry Light Infantry, a company which joined with the Berrien Minute Men and other companies in the organization of the 29th Georgia Infantry Regiment.
Battery Lawton was part of the complex of Advance River Batteries supporting Fort Jackson on the Savannah River, which were under the command of Col. Edward C. Anderson.
Colonel Edward Clifford Anderson (November 8, 1815 – January 6, 1883) was a naval officer in the United States Navy, Mayor of Savannah, Georgia and a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He commanded Fort James Jackson near Savannah before its capture in 1864. He was elected mayor of Savannah eight times, before and after the war, and on December 6, 1865, he became the first mayor to be elected after the war.
Anderson had been educated at a Massachusetts prep school, a former mayor of Savannah and a former officer of the United States Navy. He had participated in numerous naval and amphibious operations in the Mexican-American War. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was sent as a Confederate envoy to England and styled himself as the Confederate Secretary of War. Upon his return he was placed in command of the Savannah River artillery,
Col. Anderson was somewhat of a stickler for military discipline. Orders for a typical day at Battery Lawton, Fort Jackson and the Savannah River Batteries as per Colonel Edward C. Anderson:
| The daily routine for the observance of this command will be as follows: | |
| Reveille | 4:30 |
| Sick Call | 5:30 |
| Breakfast Call | 6:00 |
| Preparatory Call for Guard Mounting | 6:30 |
| Battery or Siege Drill | 8:00 |
| Dinner Call | 12:00 |
| Company Drill | 6:00 P.M. (In the Summer) |
| Preparatory Call for Dress Parade | 10 Minutes before Sunset |
| Dress Parade | Sunset |
| II Immediately after Reveille, the tents and quarters will be policed & put in complete order. | |
| III Battery… Drill will be superintended by at least one Commissioned Officer | |
| IV Company drills will be attended by all the Commissioned Officers… | |
| XII No man will be allowed to go over a half mile from this post without special permission… | |
| XIII The firing of small arms is strictly forbidden & every man will be held responsible for the care of his arms, ammunition & accoutrements… | |
| XIV Bathing in the river is restricted to three times a week… | |
| Additional orders for clarification: | |
| II The sick are required to report promptly at Sick Call every morning, otherwise they will be held to duty & in no instance will any man be excused from duty except on Surgeon’s Certificate. | |
| III On occasion of Dress Parade & inspection both officers & men are required to appear in uniform with jackets buttoned up & after the command attention, will remain fixed in the position of a soldier. Moving of the body or changing of attitude while in ranks & at attention will not be allowed. Also on all inspections the men must appear in marching order with arms accouterments, etc. complete. | |
Col. Edward C. Anderson had little respect for Captain Levi J. Knight, Jr., whom he considered to be undisciplined. Anderson eventually had Levi J. Knight placed on a list of incompetent officers.
Related Posts:
- Ned Holmes and Civil War Epidemics
- Levi J. Knight, Jr on List of Incompetent Confederate Officers
- Caustons Bluff Part 2: Challenge from Tybee
- Confederate Letters of John William Hagan
Ray City History Blog 