Charles C. Tew
Encyclopedia
Charles Courtenay Tew was a colonel
in the Confederate States Army
and was killed in action at the Battle of Antietam
during the American Civil War
.
to Henry Shade Tew and Caroline Courtenay. Tew's paternal ancestry was French
Huguenot
and his maternal grandfather was a native of Ireland
.
Tew was one of twenty cadets initially admitted to the new South Carolina Military Academy
in 1843, now known as The Citadel. Tew graduated first in his class in 1846, becoming both the first graduate of the school and the first honor graduate. Upon graduation, he took a position as a professor at the school. He left The Citadel in 1852, when he spent a year in Europe
studying military tactics. When he returned from Europe he was made Commandant of Cadets
at The Citadel. 1857 Tew was appointed superintendent
of the Arsenal Academy in Columbia, SC
. He founded his own successful military academy, at Hillsborough, North Carolina
in 1859 called the Hillsborough Military Academy.
were Tew and D.H. Hill
. Tew was commissioned to the 2nd North Carolina State Troops, which, during the Peninsula Campaign
was attached to the brigade
of Brig. Gen. George B. Anderson
in the Army of Northern Virginia
. Tew took part in the Peninsula Campaign, the Northern Virginia Campaign
, and the Maryland Campaign
. Tew was killed-in-action at the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, while leading his regiment, the 2nd North Carolina State Troops.
Capt. Matthew Manly of Company D, 2nd North Carolina wrote -
Tew was shot through both temples, but evidently did not die immediately. His body was ostensibly pulled down into the Sunken Road after he was struck. When the Confederates were forced to retreat from the Sunken Road, Tew's body was not recovered, and was never identified or returned.
at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas
. Tew's father went to Washington
and received permission to visit the prison but he was unable to locate him. His place of burial remains unknown. In October 1874, a Union veteran, Capt. J. W. Bean, sent a silver cup, which had been taken from Tew's body, to Tew's father. Bean's letter also informed Tew's father that he had buried Tew on the field. Tew's sword (presented by the cadets of the South Carolina Military Academy and inscribed with his name) and his watch were never returned to his family.
A photograph taken by Alexander Gardner
is believed to contain an image of Tew's body. The photograph, often called "Dead at Bloody Lane" shows a Confederate officer in the bottom right of the photo, lying on his back against the bank of the Sunken Road.
Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
in the Confederate States Army
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
and was killed in action at the Battle of Antietam
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
Early life
Tew was born in Charleston, South CarolinaCharleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
to Henry Shade Tew and Caroline Courtenay. Tew's paternal ancestry was French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
and his maternal grandfather was a native of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
Tew was one of twenty cadets initially admitted to the new South Carolina Military Academy
The Citadel (military college)
The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, also known simply as The Citadel, is a state-supported, comprehensive college located in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. It is one of the six senior military colleges in the United States...
in 1843, now known as The Citadel. Tew graduated first in his class in 1846, becoming both the first graduate of the school and the first honor graduate. Upon graduation, he took a position as a professor at the school. He left The Citadel in 1852, when he spent a year in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
studying military tactics. When he returned from Europe he was made Commandant of Cadets
Commandant
Commandant is a senior title often given to the officer in charge of a large training establishment or academy. This usage is common in anglophone nations...
at The Citadel. 1857 Tew was appointed superintendent
Superintendent (education)
In education in the United States, a superintendent is an individual who has executive oversight and administration rights, usually within an educational entity or organization....
of the Arsenal Academy in Columbia, SC
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
. He founded his own successful military academy, at Hillsborough, North Carolina
Hillsborough, North Carolina
Hillsborough is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 5,653 at the 2008 census. It is the county seat of Orange County....
in 1859 called the Hillsborough Military Academy.
Civil War
When North Carolina seceded, the first two colonels appointed by Governor John Willis EllisJohn Willis Ellis
John Willis Ellis was the 35th Governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1859 to 1861.Ellis attended the University of North Carolina, studied law under Richmond Mumford Pearson, practiced law, and was elected to the North Carolina General Assembly from Rowan County. He served as a state...
were Tew and D.H. Hill
Daniel Harvey Hill
On July 22, 1862, Hill and Union Maj. Gen. John A. Dix concluded an agreement for the general exchange of prisoners between the Union and Confederate armies. This agreement became known as the Dix-Hill Cartel....
. Tew was commissioned to the 2nd North Carolina State Troops, which, during the Peninsula Campaign
Peninsula Campaign
The Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March through July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. The operation, commanded by Maj. Gen. George B...
was attached to the brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...
of Brig. Gen. George B. Anderson
George B. Anderson
George Burgwyn Anderson was a career military officer, serving first in the antebellum U.S. Army and then dying from wounds inflicted during the American Civil War while a general officer in the Confederate Army. He was among six generals killed or mortally wounded at the Battle of Antietam in...
in the Army of Northern Virginia
Army of Northern Virginia
The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...
. Tew took part in the Peninsula Campaign, the Northern Virginia Campaign
Northern Virginia Campaign
The Northern Virginia Campaign, also known as the Second Bull Run Campaign or Second Manassas Campaign, was a series of battles fought in Virginia during August and September 1862 in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. Confederate General Robert E...
, and the Maryland Campaign
Maryland Campaign
The Maryland Campaign, or the Antietam Campaign is widely considered one of the major turning points of the American Civil War. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North was repulsed by Maj. Gen. George B...
. Tew was killed-in-action at the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, while leading his regiment, the 2nd North Carolina State Troops.
Antietam
During the mid-day portion of the Battle of Antietam at the Sunken Road, Tew took command of Anderson's brigade after Anderson fell mortally wounded. Tew and Col. John B. Gordon were talking at the position of the 6th Alabama in the Sunken Road (the famed Bloody Lane) at the center of the Confederate line when both were struck down. Gordon later wrote -
"The first volley from the Union lines in my front sent a ball through the brain of the chivalric Colonel Tew, of North Carolina, to whom I was talking, and another ball through the calf of my right leg. On the right and the left my men were falling under the death-dealing crossfire like trees in a hurricane...."
Capt. Matthew Manly of Company D, 2nd North Carolina wrote -
"During the battle in this bloody lane Colonel Charles Courtenay Tew was killed, his body falling into the hands of the enemy . . . . He was shot through the head and placed in the sunken road . . . Here he was found, apparently unconscious, the blood streaming from a wound in the head, with his sword held in both hands across his knees. A Federal soldier attempted to take the sword from him, but he drew it toward his body with his last remaining strength, and then his grasp relaxed and he fell forward, dead."
Tew was shot through both temples, but evidently did not die immediately. His body was ostensibly pulled down into the Sunken Road after he was struck. When the Confederates were forced to retreat from the Sunken Road, Tew's body was not recovered, and was never identified or returned.
Tew's fate and legacy
Many conflicting stories and rumors were spread concerning Tew's fate. A prominent one was that Tew was alive and a prisoner of warPrisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas
Dry Tortugas
The Dry Tortugas are a small group of islands, located at the end of the Florida Keys, USA, about west of Key West, and west of the Marquesas Keys, the closest islands. Still further west is the Tortugas Bank, which is completely submerged. The first Europeans to discover the islands were the...
. Tew's father went to Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and received permission to visit the prison but he was unable to locate him. His place of burial remains unknown. In October 1874, a Union veteran, Capt. J. W. Bean, sent a silver cup, which had been taken from Tew's body, to Tew's father. Bean's letter also informed Tew's father that he had buried Tew on the field. Tew's sword (presented by the cadets of the South Carolina Military Academy and inscribed with his name) and his watch were never returned to his family.
A photograph taken by Alexander Gardner
Alexander Gardner (photographer)
Alexander Gardner was a Scottish photographer who moved to the United States in 1856 where he developed his profession. He is best known for his photographs of the American Civil War, American President Abraham Lincoln, and the execution of the conspirators to Lincoln's...
is believed to contain an image of Tew's body. The photograph, often called "Dead at Bloody Lane" shows a Confederate officer in the bottom right of the photo, lying on his back against the bank of the Sunken Road.
