Battle of Tulifinny

Front: On Dec. 6-9, 1864, in the waning months of the Civil War, around 1,000 Confederate soldiers defended the nearby Charleston & Savannah R.R. from roughly 5,000 U.S. servicemen who landed 3 mi. SE off the Tulifinny River seeking to sever the rail line. After several skirmishes, U.S. forces reached within 50 yds. of the rails. The Confederates repulsed the advance and U.S. forces retreated on Dec. 9. Reverse: The battle saw rare Civil War combat by U.S. Marines and fighting by the S.C. Battalion of State Cadets, est. 1861 from the combined corps of the Citadel and Arsenal academies. Serving under their faculty officers, they earned praise from seasoned Confederate veterans. The defense of the rail line allowed Savannah to be evacuated prior to the advancing U.S. Army’s Dec. 21 occupation.