Battle of Aiken

Before the battle, on February 1, General Sherman began to invade South Carolina.[2] During the invasion he ordered Hugh Judson Kilpatrick and his cavalry corps from the Fifth U.S Cavalry to march through South Carolina.[2][3] By February 5, he crossed into Aiken County where he would engage in battle with Joseph Wheeler's cavalry corps. Kilpatrick didn't expect that there would be any resistance to his army.[3] Wheeler moved to defend the city of Augusta from the Union army. His army was stationed between Benjamin Franklin Cheatham and James Argle Smith's forces. Specifically 204 Park Avenue.[3] at Under Wheeler's command was the Aiken Home Guard and Wheeler's cavalry.[2] Wheeler planned to defeat Kilpatrick by forming his cavalry into a "V" shaped formation. With some skirmishers deployed above the formation. When Kilpatrick charged attacked the skirmishers, they would retreat into the center of the "V." Once Kilpatrick entered the formation the tips of the "V" would collapse, thus encircling Kilpatrick.[2] On February 11, the battle started. Wheeler's plan would have worked if had not been for a single Confederate soldier who fired his gun prematurely.[2][3][4] This resulted in Wheeler ordering all of his soldiers to attack the Union forces.[2] The armies engaged in hand-to-hand combat all across the town.[2] During the fighting, it was reported tat a Confederate soldier ran up to Kilpatrick and attacked the general with his pistol. However the pistol did not go off.[2] Kilpatrick had still lost the battle, so he retreated back to his defenses at Montmorenci. For the rest of the day Confederate and Union soldiers skirmished. This was until the two commanders signed a truce and agreed to collect the bodies.[2] Later, on February 13 Kilpatrick retreated and rejoined Sherman.[2] Despite all of this, Kilpatrick declared himself victorious.

According to the general Kilpatrick, he had killed 31 Confederate soldiers, wounded 160, and captured 60. This would result in the Confederates taking 251 Casualties.[2] However general Wheeler states that he had suffered 50 casualties and that he had killed 53 Union soldiers, wounded 270, and captured 172.[2] This totals to 495 Union Casualties.[2]