Despite the passage of the Ordinance of Secession in December 1860, portions of the State remained loyal in sentiment to the Union - counties like Greenville & Lexington were luke warm to the fiery rhetoric of the Barnwell's & Rhett's calling for the dissolution of the Union, and while the majority of South Carolinians responded to the call to Arms of their State, others chose to either remain neutral and uninvolved, or in a handful of cases traveled to occupied areas, or to the North, and enlisted in Northern units.

The question before those serving in the United States Military was also complicated, Commander Edward Middleton of Charleston wrote that: "...I did not resign my commission & offer my services to the Confederacy because I considered myself bound by my oath of allegiance to the U.S. & to defend the Constitution. I've heard that the Southern States could succeed in achieving their independence, but I could not make up my mind to assist them nor to assist in coercing them." Middleton expressed his concerns to the Navy Department, and at his request was stationed on the Pacific Coast for the duration of the War. Lieutenant Henry M. Roberts of Robertsville "...When the question arose as to whether he should go with the South or stay with the Union Army he analyzed it and decided that he owed his first allegiance to his State but that his allegiance should be to what he considered the real interest of the State rather than to the action of the authorities at the time He decided that he would do whatever he considered best for the State of South Carolina. He then considered the question of secession and came to the conclusion that the State had a right to secede, He then addressed himself as to the wisdom of such a course, and after careful consideration came to the conclusion that it would be unwise, as he felt that if the South were successful, the states forming the Confederacy would have equal right to secede from the Confederacy if its action at any later time were not in conformity with the views of the authorities of the State. He felt that if this policy were carried to its logical conclusion we should eventually have in this country a large number of independent states each maintaining its frontier posts troops and other attributes which would develop a feeling of hostility and eventually result to the disadvantage of his State as well as to all others. He decided to remain with the Union Army."

For those South Carolinians who remained in the United States Military on December 19th, 1861, the State Legislature passed a resolution that: "...whereas, In the opinion of this Legislature, it is equally appropriate to stamp the seal of reprobation upon acts of treachery and desertion, and to record the infamy of those officers who, in the hour of need, have abandoned their State, and adhered to her enemies; therefore, Resolved, That the General Assembly of South Carolina considers those officers of the navy and army who, while claiming to be citizens of this State, have continued in the service of the United States, pending the wicked and causeless war of that power against the State to which their allegiance is due, and the homes and hearth stones, the prosperity, property and lives of their fellow citizens, as false hearted traitors – false alike to the instincts of nature and political obligation. Resolved, That we record, as infamous for the execration of posterity, the names of: William Branford Shubrick & Cornelius Stribling, Captains in the United States Navy; Percival Drayton, Henry K. Hoff, John J. Missroon, Charles Steidman, Edward Middlton, Henry Rolando, Commanders in the United States Navy; Henry C. Flagg, John F. Hammond, C.S. Lovell, United States Army.

The following officers were either native born, or appointed from the State, into the United States Military, and served with them throughout the American Civil War.

The first organized bodies of United States Volunteers in the State of South Carolina were those recruited and organized in early 1862 from the recently liberated slaves on the coastal islands around Beaufort. From early 1862 to February 1864 there would be organized five regiments of South Carolina Colored Volunteers, recruited from slaves from Coastal South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, and placed under the command of officers from Northern Regiments stationed around Beaufort.

In February 1864 the State Regiments of Colored Volunteers were re-organized, and their state designations were changed to United States Colored Troops. For example the First (1st) South Carolina Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment was reorganized as the Thirty-Third (33rd) Infantry Regiment, United States Colored Troops. The following are the regiments of U.S.C.T.'s which were organized in the State of South Carolina, or were composed of a large number of South Carolina Volunteers.