William Tarlton Best

Oldest son of wealthy planter Orasmus Harden Best (1815-1887), in 1860 he was a 26 (22?) year old farmer living with his parents, 4 siblings, and 35 slaves on the family plantation at Allendale in the Barnwell District, SC. He enlisted, with his brother Richard, on 7 September 1861 at Fort Johnson, SC and mustered on 18 September as a Private in Company G (later E), First South Carolina Infantry.

He was wounded by a gunshot through his left thigh at Sharpsburg on 17 September 1862 and captured there.

He was sent to Fort McHenry in Baltimore by 14 October when he was transferred to Aikens' Landing, VA for exchange. He was admitted to a Richmond, VA hospital on 23 October and furloughed home for 35 days on 1 (or 6) November 1862. He was appointed 3rd Corporal by April 1863 and was 2nd Corporal by June 1864. He was with his company to the end of the war, and was paroled at Manchester, VA on 27 April 1865.

By 1880 he was a farmer at Bull Pond in Barnwell County, SC.

His service from his Compiled Service Records,1 online from fold3, with details from the Memoirs.2 Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census for 1860 (which has his birth in about 1838) & 1880. His memorial is on Findagrave.

He married Josephine Victoria Peyton (1837-1887) and they had 6 children between 1866 and 1878.

c. 1834; Allendale, SC

09/08/1882; in SC; burial in Swallow Savannah Cemetery, Allendale, SC