All 4 menfolk
in the family of William A. and Mary Fowler Lyles saw
service in South Carolina Confederate units. Two of them
lived. Two of them died.
At least 9 other
Lyleses from the western Pickens District, now Oconee
County, also joined the army. Four of them, sons of Hugh
Isham and Jenny Lyles, also died.
William
A. Lyles, who served in the 1st South Carolina State
Troops, Company E, left this fact recorded on his
tombstone. The 1st SC State Troops was 6-month unit
active from 1863-1864. He was given a medical discharge,
though, in October 1863 because of what was diagnosed as
tuberculosis.
James Turner
Lyles belonged to Company F of the S.C. Cavalry 2nd
(Barnett's) Battalion Reserves, which formed in spring
1864 at Sandy Springs in the Anderson District. The unit
was formed as infantry, but the men decided to turn
themselves into a cavalry unit. According to Abner
Clickscales of Company F, they engaged General Sherman
through South Carolina and into North Carolina. On April
11, 1865, they got word that Lee had surrendered, so they
turned around and rode home.
Our James Turner Lyles
also may have been the J.T. Lyles who enlisted at
Pendleton, S.C., and appeared on the muster rolls of the
1st South Carolina (Butler's) Infantry, Co.G, in February
1861 and May 1861 but was gone from the rolls in June
1861. Our James Turner Lyles was just
short of 15 years old at the
time.
Robert Martin Lyles
and younger brother Obadiah Coleman Lyles
belonged to Company F of the 1st South Carolina Regiment
of Rifles, better known as Orr's Rifles. Orr's Rifles was
part of A.P. Hill's division in the summer of 1862. In
June of that summer, Oby died shortly after the Battle of
the Seven Days. And a month and a half later, Robert died
at the Second Battle of Manassas.
Also in Company F of
Orr's Regiment were two sons of Hugh Isham and Jenny
Liles--James M. Lyles and John W. Lyles,
both of whom enlisted with our Robert Lyles. John W.
Lyles died at Sullivan's Island, S.C., March 25, 1862.
James M. Lyles was killed at the Battle of Gaines' Mill
on July 27, 1862, leaving behind his widow, Elizabeth
Dancy Lyles.
John J.
Vissage, the first cousin of Robert and Oby Lyles,
was also in Company F. And family friend H.W. Mongold
belonged to Company C and lived long enough to meet James
R. Lyles, Jr., and Joseph H. Lyles in the
1920s.
Joseph Liles, Jr.
(1819-1900), who may have been the oldest son,
enlisted in the 2nd SC Rifles, Company C, in November
1861, despite his 42 years and chronic asthma. In January
1862, he was discharged from service because of his
asthma, which the company surgeon pronounced "incurable."
He lived for almost 4 more decades.
Jonah (Jonas)
Liles (1846- ?) joined the 2nd SC Rifles, Company C
late in the war--in May 1864. He was the eldest son of
Joseph, Jr., and Letty Ann Liles. Jonah Lyles was
parolled at Appomattox on April 12, 1865.
Several sons of H.
Isham Liles and Jenny Lyles served in Company C of the
South Carolina 2nd (Moore's) Rifles.
Hugh I. Liles
(c.1822-1863), a son of H. Isham and Jenny Liles,
also served in the 2nd SC Rifles, Company C. Wounded in
the right foot, he was captured at the Battle of Lookout
Mountain, October 25, 1883. He died in the prison
hospital at Nashville on November 18, 1863.
David Lewis
Liles, another son of H. Isham and Jenny Liles,
(c.1829-before 1879) joined the 2nd SC Rifles, Company.
In April 1862, he was given a discharge from the army for
a disability of his left elbow and side. He married
Martha Ann Mason.
William B.
Liles (1842-1864) enlisted in November 1861 in the
2nd SC Rifles, Company C. He too was a son of H. Isham
and Jenny Liles of Oconee County. On May, 17, 1864, he
was killed at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia, leaving
his widow Caroline Matilda Broome Lyles and two young
children.
Two other sons of H.
Isham and Jenny Liles served in other South Carolina
units. Joshua Y. Liles (1841- ) enlisted at
Walhalla in the 1st (Butler's) SC Infantry, Company G and
was discharged in September 1861. Samuel O. Liles
enlisted in June 1861 and served in the 1st S.C. Cavalry,
Company F.
David Ashbury
Lyles (born about 1830) and James W. Lyles
(born about 1839), sons of Wesley and Elizabeth Jane
Lyles, probably served together in the 1st (SC) Palmetto
Sharpshooters, Company B. Their brother George W.
Lyles was likely in Company A of the 18th SC
Infantry.
