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23rd SC Infantry

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Palmetto Battalion, Co. B
Florence, South Carolina

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Brunson Obituary

Material from Nelson McLeod.  "The following obituary was copied from a newspaper clipping belonging to Uncle Hugh Brunson."

One By One They Are Passing Away

To the memory of D. Oscar Brunson who departed this life last Friday at his home at Davis Station

It is with a sad heart that Clarendon records the death of this noble man but more than all will be it to the comrades of his who followed the fortunes of Robert E. Lee in the shifting victories and defeats, suffering and privation which none know but those who followed the Southern Cross, with numberless odds of the enemy in front and suffering and starvation in the rear.

D. Oscar Brunson left Clarendon with the Sprott Guard, afterwards Company I, 23rd SCV. His genial character and gentle heart always cheered the darkest hours of a soldier’s life. He always looked upon the sunny side of life, and like the good Samaritan he was ever ready to assist the needy as a soldier. He was as brave as the bravest. The writer, who stood by his side in the front ranks of his company on the 17th day of June 1864 at Petersburg, Virginia, witnessed the grandest struggle between the North and the South, and on this line D. Oscar Brunson was seriously wounded and carried on the back of his comrade to where he could get assistance. We see him after he returns home to see his cities in ashes, his fields desolate, and every home a house of mourning. But he hastens to assist his comrades in reforming their shattered ranks, preparing and caring for the women and children of our desolate land.

"The Reaper Death has claimed our comrade and taken a prize from our midst!" But beyond these dark somber shadows, we see the smiling face of his who never errs, and in behalf of the comrades of old Company I, 23rd S. C. V., we extend a soldier’s sympathy to the family of our comrade, assuring them that his memory will ever live in the hearts of all his comrades, who assured that a few more remnants are left when,

"Not far beyond
We all shall camp
Beyond life's battle line
To join the army
Of Robert Lee
That rests beneath the pines"

St. Paul A. J. R.

The tombstone in Bethlehem Methodist Church Cemetery reads:

D. O. Brunson
Born June 17, 1835
Died April 5, 1895

He served through the late war in Co. I, 23rd S. C. Vol. He was as brave as the bravest, his genial character and gentle heart always cheered the darkest hours of a soldier’s life.

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