3rd Infantry Battalion [also called Lauren's Battalion] was organized in November, 1861, at Camp Hampton, near Columbia, South Carolina. It contained four companies, with three additional companies joined the unit at White Point. Most of the men were from Laurens County, and a few were recruited in Richland and Fairfield counties. After serving in South Carolina, it was ordered to Virginia and assigned to Drayton's, Kershaw's, Kennedy's, and Conner's Brigade. The unit served with the Army of Northern Virginia from Second Manassas to Gettysburg, then fought with Longstreet at Chickamauga and Knoxville. Returning to Virginia it participated in the conflicts at The Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor, moved with Early to the Shenandoah Valley, and ended the war in North Carolina. It lost 1 killed and 8 wounded at Chancellorsville and twenty-two percent of the 203 at Gettysburg. In its last battle at Bentonville 1 man was wounded, and on March 23, 1865, the battalion totalled 129 men. It surrendered on April 26. The field officers were Lieutenant Colonels George S. James and William G. Rice, and Majors George M. Gunnels and Daniel B. Miller.
