Oliver Evans Edwards

He was born in Spartanburg , grew up in Georgia, and returned to Spartanburg when he was grown, and was a lawyer there.

In 1850 he was elected colonel of the 36th Regiment of South Carolina Militia, which his father had commanded for many years before. Prior to his promotion he was a Captain. In 1854 he was appointed Brigadier General of the 9th Brigade, South Carolina Militia (SCM), which position he held for many years before the war.

He was elected to the state House of Representatives from the Spartanburg district in 1856, 1858, and 1860. While he was in the legislature, the State called for the convention which adopted the famous ordinance of secession.

Sometime after June of 1861, he joined the 5th Regiment of South Carolina Volunteers and was present at the First Battle of Manassas. After this battle, he returned home and helped organize 5 companies of Spartanburg County men for service in the CSA, which became part of the 13th Infantry. He was commissioned their Colonel.

He commanded the regiment in Maryland.

He was mortally wounded at Chancellorsville, VA on 3 May 1863; he lived until the 21st of June of 1863. His wife had come to Virginia and was transporting him by train back to Spartanburg when he became so weak that he was taken from the train at Goldsboro, NC, and carried to a friend's house where he died on 21 June 1863.

Basic information from Dr. John Belton O'Neall Landrum's, The History of Spartanburg County (1900), online from the Library of Congress; it is the source also of his photograph. His gravesite is on Findagrave.

11/09/1819; Spartanburg District, SC

06/21/1863; Goldsboro, NC; burial in Willow Dale Cemetery, Goldsboro, NC