Samuel McBride Pringle was born December 7, 1839 in Sumter County, South Carolina. His father, Elijah, and mother, Rebecca Elizabeth, were “planters of respectable fortunes” and were members of the Baptist church in Sumter.  Pringle attended Furman University in 1857, 1859-1860 and left to join the Palmetto Battalion of Artillery.  He first joined Captain Richardson’s Company K, which formed in Sumter.  About a year later, he transferred to an artillery company raised by Captain Hugh R. Garden of Sumter. While Pringle was in this company, he was named Junior 1^st Lieutenant. On September 17, 1862, Pringle was wounded at the Battle of Antietam, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, losing part of his left leg below the knee. Initially his outcome was thought to be hopeless, but Pringle was sent to Winchester, Va. to have surgery to amputate part of the leg above the knee. Pringle died on September 24, 1862 in Winchester.