[721] military preparations of the State, and organized a company, of which he was elected captain, known as the Palmer Guards. This was attached to the Twelfth regiment, South Carolina volunteers, as Company A. He soon was made the major of the regiment, and later was promoted to lieutenant-colonel. He was with his command on the coast during the early part of its service, engaged in various minor encounters with the enemy, and was then sent to Virginia, in the brigade of Gen. Maxcy Gregg, of the famous light division of A. P. Hill. There he took part in the great victory of Second Manassas, and was slightly wounded, but continued on duty and participated in the engagement at Ox Hill, or Chantilly. Going into Maryland he was with Hill and Jackson at Harper's Ferry and reached the field of Sharpsburg at 3 p. m. of the 17th of September. His regiment alone made a gallant charge upon the enemy, the situation at that moment demanding heroic sacrifice, and suffered heavily from a fire in front and on both flanks. Again and a third time they charged, and were finally successful, but Col. Dixon Barnes and many others were killed. Major McCorkle then took command, and was in charge of the regiment in the subsequent fight at Shepherdstown. During the winter of 1862-63 his health became greatly impaired, and in the following spring his disability compelled him to tender his resignation. During the remainder of the war he served in the commissary department at Columbia. His career since the restoration of peace has been one of honorable prominence in his community. In 1889 he was elected probate judge and has been retained in that office by subsequent re-elections. He has two sons, Robert and Paul, and one daughter, Mrs. B. N. Moore, by his marriages, in 1849 to Margaret Robinson, and in 1860 to Elva Dixon.
Colonel Edward McCrady
Colonel Edward McCrady, of Charleston, is a native of that city, born in 1833. He was graduated at Charleston college in 1853, and two years later was admitted to the practice of law. As major in the State militia he rendered efficient service from 1854 to 1859, and subsequently was one of the commissioners appointed to revise the militia laws. In 1860 he was elected captain of the Meagher Guards, of Charleston, and in December his company and two others took possession of Castle Pinckney.
