Joseph Evander Knotts

Oldest son of wealthy planter William Knotts (1804-1871), in 1860 he was a 25 year old farm manager living with his parents, 5 siblings, and more than 50 slaves on the family plantation at Bull Swamp in the Lexington District, SC. He enrolled at Summerville, SC on 20 July 1861 and mustered as First Sergeant of Company B (later K), First South Carolina Infantry. He as appointed 2nd Lieutenant by October 1861 and elected Captain at the reorganization of 12 April 1862.

He was in command of his company in Maryland. In the combat of the afternoon of 17 September 1862 at Sharpsburg he was briefly in command of the regiment as senior officer present after Lieutenant Colonel Livingston was wounded (or fell out from the heat), but he left the battlefield to help his wounded brother William to a field hospital.

He was accused of "ingloriously abandoning his post" at Sharpsburg and resigned his commission on 13 November 1862; in forwarding the resignation, his brigade commander Micah Jenkins wrote

Capt. Knotts being totally useless as an officer, it is recommended that his resignation be accepted, & he be allowed to join the ranks.

By 1870 he was farming on his own at Bull Swamp and in 1880 in Elizabeth Township, Orangeburg County.

His service from his Compiled Service Records,1 online from fold3, with Campaign detail from the Memoirs.2 Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1860-1880. His memorial is on Findagrave.

He married Sarah Ann Elizabeth Shingler (1841-1912) in November 1872 and they had 3 children.

He could be confused with another Joseph E Knotts, probably of the Greenville District, who served as a Private in Company K, 2nd SC Cavalry (1861-64) and Company F, 2nd Confederate Engineers (1864-65).

12/24/1834; Lexington District, SC

08/18/1883; burial in Bull Swamp Cemetery, North, SC