Honoring our Veterans

History of Veterans my family by Hollis Frances

Word count 1,016

As with most if not all peoples, I have a long list of war veterans on both my paternal and maternal sides. I wonder sometimes, what the conversations would be if they could all gather in one room to see the results from hundreds of years of life. Especially those that fought on opposite sides of the US civil war.

The earliest mention for my paternal family of military veteran is Guy Swete of Train Manor, Modbery, Devonshire England. He was granted a Coat of Arms, Crest and the Traine Manor itself by King Edward the fourth in 1473.

SWET, SWETE, SWETT COAT OF ARMS (swett-genealogy.com)

"Almost certainly, Guy Swete earned this award by fighting for York in the Wars of the Roses."

Interestingly, by the early 1600's my paternal family (John Isaac Sweet SR (1579-1637) fled England because of persecution by the Church of England. My family at that time were Quakers. The Quakers admonished slavery, fought for equal rights of women and believed there should be no intermediary between God and man. They also were conscientious objectors. He was later granted by the courts to be a "freeman". Which likely meant he had to borrow money for the trip and therefore work to pay off the loan (indentured servant) before he could own property or vote.

Below is a listing of my Paternal Veterans of War

William "of Hunt's Bluff" Sweat, 1732-1783-7^th Great Grandfather Patriot

William "of St Peters" Sweat, 1757-1790-6^th Great Grandfather Patriot

Reverend William K Sweat, 1812-1881 (Pvt. SC 4^th Cavalry and POW), 3^rd Great Grandfather**

Henry William Sweatt, 1830 - 1888 (Pvt, SC 4^th Cavalry), 2^nd Great Grandfather**

Hollis Rodell Sweatt, 1929-1998, Cpl, US Airforce WWII, England, Father

I do not have as much details on my maternal side of the family. Only two.

William H Tyler 1827-1884 Civil War Unit D. 7^th Battalion Washington D.C. Infantry my 3^rd Great Grandfather

**History of the South Carolina 4^th Cavalry;

4th South Carolina Cavalry Regiment Confederate Regiments & Batteries * South Carolina The 4th South Carolina Cavalry Regiment lost over 260 men killed, or died of wounds or disease, the most of any South Carolina Cavalry unit.¹

4th South Carolina Cavalry Regiment

Confederate Regiments & Batteries * South Carolina

The 4th South Carolina Cavalry Regiment lost over 260 men killed, or died of wounds or disease, the most of any South Carolina Cavalry unit.

1862
December 16	Created by combining the companies of the 10th South Carolina Cavalry Battalion with the 12th South Carolina Cavalry Battalion. They were under the command of Colonel Benjamin H. Rutledge, Lieutenant Colonel William Stokes, and Major William P. Emanuel. Six companies were assigned to the 3rd Military District of South Carolina, Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Four companies were assigned to the 1st Military District of South Carolina, Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
1863
April 9	Destruction of the George Washington near Beaufort
June 2	Combahee River
June 4	Expedition from Fort Pulaski to Bluffton (Company B)
August-September	Assigned to the 5th Sub-division, 1st Military District of South Carolina, Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
September 13-14	Lowndes's Mill
September	Company K assigned to the 1st Military District of South Carolina, Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
November 24	Near Cunningham's Bluff
December-March	Company K assigned to the 5th Military District of South Carolina, Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
1864
May-January	Moved to Virginia and assigned to Butler's Brigade, Hampton's Division, Cavalry Corps, Army of Northern Virginia.
May 5-6	Battle of the Wilderness
May 8-21	Battle of Spotsylvania Court House
May 23-26	Battle of North Anna
May 28	Haw's Shop From May 28 to June 12 the regiment woud lose more then 280 casualties.
May 30	Battle of Matadequin Creek,
June 1-3	Battle of Cold Harbor
June	Siege of Petersburg
June 28	Battle of Trevillian Station
October 1	Vaughan Road
1865
January-April	Moved by railroad to South Carolina and assigned to Butler's Brigade, Butler's Division, Hampton's Cavalry Command
February-April	Carolinas Campaign
April	Assigned to Logan's Brigade, Butler's Division, Hampton's Cavalry Command, Army of Tennessee
April 26	Durham Station Less than 200 men remained with the colors when surrendered by General Johnston. According to Lieutenant Colonel Stokes, he ordered the regiment to march to Asheboro and disbanded them there rather than taking part in the surrender.

2023 Steve A. Hawks

***********

Note; The back story goes like this. My Maternal Grandmother, Frances M. Rhine 1910-2004 who worked in the Department of the Navy's budget office for 30 years said William Tyler her great grandfather was a traveling art dealer! Really? During the civil war?

William K. Rhine, 1904-1964 Sgt 44th Engr Bn Arlington Nat. Cemetery Section 43 Site 172. Added notes here is Granddaddy Rhine joined the Army when he was just fifteen years old in 1919. Therefore, he served in both WWI and WWII! I was able to spend a lot of time with him before he passed away from cancer when I was 7 years old. His nickname was "shorty". Added note here is whenever he would get promoted to Staff Sergeant, he would go out to celebrate, get drunk and get into a fight, then get busted back to Sergeant. He did this because he hated being a Staff Sergeant!

In summary; My maternal 3^rd great-grandfather fought for the Union and my paternal great-grandfathers Reverend William K Sweatt (3^rd) and Henry W. Sweatt fought for the Confederacy. I wonder if they could talk today what would they say? Another kicker is this. Reverend William K and Henry W. were black. Census says they were black but "considered" white! My lineage shows none ever owned slaves according to the available census records. At least two of my paternal grandmothers were former slaves. Both William of St Peters and my Reverend William K were married to former slave women. St Peter's Church, which is still there in Beaufort SC, was an outreach to the slaves "back in the day".

Thursday, December 21, 2023

1 History of the 4th South Carolina Cavalry Regiment in the Civil War (civilwarintheeast.com)