The Citadel - Sphinx Yearbook (Charleston, SC)

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VvVVVVVVVVVVVV VVVVVVVV VVVVVVVVS VVVV task. General Sherman, after his devastating march through Georgia, was preparing to invade South Carolina, the first state to secede from the Union, And one hundred and fifty recruits between the ages of fifteen and eighteen had to be equipped, organized, drilled, and prepared to do their part in the closing struggle of the Confederacy. On F ' ebruarv 15, 1865. Sherman ' s army Hearing Co- lumbia, the Arsenal Corps was called into active service to patrol the city streets and to prevent pillaging by desperadoes. The following day the Cadets, still under the command of the Arsenal officers, were withdrawn from the city toward Winnsboro. after having burned the bridge over the Congaree to hinder Sherman ' s advance On the night of the seventeenth. Lieutenant Sams, on seeing the city of Columbia in flames, became worried concerning the safety of his wife, who was present in the stricken city. The next day. not hearing from her. he secured leave to visit the city. Upon arriving there, he ascertained that she was safe, although a shell had destroyed part of their home. After rejoining the Cadet Corps, they proceeded northwestward toward North Carolina to avoid the advance guard of Sherman ' s Army, and then turned back toward Greenville, at which place they planned to go into winter quarters. Meanwhile. Lee and Johnston had both surrendered, realizing the futility of further combat. Therefore the encampment of the Corps was short-lived as the city was in the contemplated path of Jefferson Davis ' hurried flight, and Stoneman ' s cavalry were the pursuers. The Cadets reluctantly broke camp and turned eastward toward Columbia. Early one morning, when they were near Williamston, South Carolina, they were sud- denly attacked by a remnant of Stoneman ' s cavalry. Although surprised, they quickly returned the fire and held the enemy off. Such was the last shot fired by organized troops east of the Mississippi in the War Between the States. So Colonel Sams had the signal honor of having participated in both the first and last firing of the war. After this final encounter the Arsenal Cadets proceeded to Newberry, where they were granted a furlough from which they never returned. Colonel Sams now returned to his wife and his home — such as it was — in a city fire-swept and gutted by plunderers. Railroads and bridges had been destroyed and business was at a stand- still. To provide for his family, Colonel Sams began teaching, a profession which carried him all over the state. First he taught in Columbia, then successively in Edgefield. Greenville, and Spartanburg, and while in the latter city he, having been elected Captain of the Spartan Rifles, reorganized this company which later did its part so nobly in the Red Shirt campaigns of 1876. After this he became Co-Principal of Limestone College, which was reopened in 1881, and then served as Superintendent of the Gaffney Public School System for a great many years. On March 4. 1930. Colonel Sams suddenly died at his home in Gaffney. S. C. aged eighty- nine years. His death was entirely unexpected as he had appeared to be in excellent health until the very last. Thus ended the career of a man whom we are proud to claim as an Alumnus — soldier, educator, and outstanding citizen.

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Col. Robert Oswald Sams ' ROM the foreboding days of the Mexican War. through the heroic and gruelling events of the War Between the States and its aftermath, to the rush and noise of our own present time lived this true Gentleman of the South. who was the oldest living graduate of the Military College of South Carolina until his re- cent death. Born in 1841 and reared in the tide- water town of Beaufort. South Carolina. Col. Robert Oswald Sams matriculated at the Arsenal Academy in Columbia in 185 7. where the recruits were given their first year ' s training. He then graduated from The Citadel in April, 1861. In January of that same historic year he was one of the cadets selected by Major P. F. Stevens, then Superintendent of The Citadel, to proceed to Morris Island, at the command of Governor Pick- ens, to build a fort, mount four twenty-four pound siege guns, and prevent any reenforcements of troops, munitions, or supplies from reaching the garrison at Fort Sumter. A little later, when the Federal ship. The Star of the West, attempted to relieve Fort Sumter on January 9. 1861. she was driven off b y the batteries of the Citadel Cadets, which proved to be the first shot of that great struggle that raged for four fearful years. On being relieved by other troops, the Cadet Corps was removed to The Citadel to resume its studies. After Cadet Sams had received his diploma, he accepted a position as Military Instructor at the Military Academy of Montgomery, the early capital of the Confederate States. Then, early in April. 1862, he was elected Assistant Professor of French and Mathematics by the Board of Visitors of The Citadel, with the rank of Second Lieutenant. However, in 1863. Lieut. Sams was transferred to the Arsenal Academy in Columbia, where he had entered as a recruit six years previously. Here. too. in the fall of 1863. he first became acquainted with Miss Emmaline Dozier Roberts, the sister of one of his classmates, whom he was to marry the following year. They became engaged in a short while and were married on May 25, 1864, at the bride ' s home in Orangeburg county. After quite an extensive visiting of relatives by the young couple, the husband had to return to Columbia by the first of July for the opening of the Arsenal Academy. Shortly afterwards he was joined in Columbia by his bride. On December 4. 1864. the two Corps of State Cadets, those of The Citadel and those of the Arsenal, were ordered into the field to defend the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. On the sixth the enemy had landed at Gregory ' s Point and was ready to advance against the railroad. They were opposed by the Battalion of State Cadets, some troops from Georgia, and a battery of artillery from Charleston. After continuous skirmishing and several severe attacks. the invaders were repulsed. Near the close of the month the officers of the Arsenal were ordered back to Columbia to train the incoming recruits of January 1, 1865, who were to form the Fourth Class of the Battalion of State Cadets. Lieutenant Sams and his fellow instructors were faced with a difficult ■ ■ y ' ■ ' ■ v r ' ' v»■v ' . ' ' vv v s '

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foreword TeJithm the pages of this hook we, the authors, have sought to sholv college life as it exists at ' he Qitadel, influenced as it is by the Spirit of the Qorps, that indefinable, inspiring force Ivhich down through the years has prompted the sons of the institution to highest achieve- ments and loftiest ideals. i