South Carolina Civil War Facts
Overall
South Carolina was the 1st state to suceed from the Union on December 20, 1860. South Carolina provided 65,462 of her sons for the war effort which translates to 1.7% (ranked 22nd out of 44 states and territories) of the total men who served on both sides of the conflict. There were a total of 239 raids, skirmishes and battles in the state. South Carolina had 16 Confederate P.O.W. Camps at Beaufort, Blackstone, Camp Lunacy/Camp Asylum (Columbia), Castle Pickney, Camp Sorghum (Columbia), Charleston (6 prisons), Charleston County Jail, Charleston Guard House, Charleston Race Course, Columbia (4 prisons-Killian's Mill), Florence, Hilton Head*, Killian's Mill (Camp Maxey Gregg), O'Conner House, Richland County Jail, Roper Hospital
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Though the South Carolina state flag harkens back to the crescent worn by her troops in the American Revolution, and the palmetto tree is a reminder of the palmetto logs that stopped British cannon balls in the bombardment of Ft. Moultrie during the same war, it is still very much a Confederate flag for its current incarnation.
While the flag in some variation was adopted under the South Carolina Militia Act of 1838, the flag as shown today was not officially adopted as the state flag until January, 1861. Then it was the flag of the seceded Republic of South Carolina - the first of the states to leave the Union.
As such, it is indeed every bit as much a Confederate flag as any other pattern of Confederate flag (and there were many). In fact, the palmetto flag, as it became called at the time, was far more the symbol of secession for the South than the more famous Bonnie Blue flag - that gets far more publicity than it deserves based on an examination of the newspapers of the time (but it did have the song). I have found FAR more mentions of palmetto flags being hoisted all over the South (as well as out West and in the North) as symbols of secession than the lone star/Bonnie Blue flags.
South Carolina troops also fought under their state flag -the state providing flags to the first ten regiments raised for its defense. Other palmetto flags were issued to local military companies as well which saw early combat use.
The palmetto flag of South Carolina is, therefore, a Confederate battle flag, just like those that were created to be as such during the war by the various CSA commanders.
The Armies
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