JOHN HILLARY GARY, the son of Thomas R. Gary and Mary A. Porter, was born at Cokesbury, S.C., Aug. 17, 1838. He was prepared at Cokesbury and entered from Abbeville county. He received the degree of B.A. in 1861, having been a member of the Clariosophic Society. He left the college as captain of the cadets and was afterwards captain in the regular army. He was a captain in Lucas' Battallion of Artillery and was wounded while in command of Battery Wagner, Aug. 13, 1863. After his death, which occurred at Charleston, Aug. 17, 1863, a battery was named in his honor. (South Carolina College in the War, Date: Sunday, May 5, 1907, Paper: State (Columbia, SC), Issue: 5904, Section: Part II, Page: 20


Confederate army officer, brother of Martin Witherspoon Gary (q.v.) and brother-in-law of Nathan George Evans (q.v.); South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina), Class of 1861; Capt., South Carolina College Cadet Company, December 1860-1861; 1st. Lt., then Capt., Company A, 15th Battalion (Lucas's Battalion) S.C. Artillery, 1861-63; mortally wounded at Battery Wagner, Morris Island, near Charleston, 13 August 1863, and died 17 August 1863; Battery Gary, a Confederate floating artillery battery near Mount Pleasant, was named after him when it was built

-Daniel W. Hollis, University of South Carolina,Volume I: South Carolina College (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1951), Volume 1, pp. 212-14; Randolph W. Kirkland, Jr., Broken Fortunes: South Carolina soldiers, sailors, & citizens who died in the service of their country and state in the War for Southern Independence, 1861-1865 (Charleston: South Carolina Historical Society, 1995), p. 127; National Archives Microcopy M267, Roll 89, Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of South Carolina: 15th (Lucas') Battalion Heavy Artillery, A-G (Washington: National Archives Microfilm)