Charleston, SC in the Civil War
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Charleston, South Carolina, was a hotbed of secession at the start of the American Civil War and an important Atlantic Ocean port city for the fledgling Confederate States of America. The first shots of the Civil War were fired at a Federal ship entering Charleston Harbor. Later, the bombardment of Fort Sumter triggered a massive call for Federal troops to put down the rebellion. Although the city and its surrounding fortifications were repeatedly targeted by the Union Army and Navy, Charleston did not fall to Federal forces until the last months of the war.
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[edit] Early war years
Charleston ranked as the 22nd largest city in the United States according to the 1860 census, with a population of 40,522. Long feared as a target for foreign invasion, the harbor was ringed with a series of forts, bastions, and floating batteries to protect it from an enemy fleet.
On December 20, 1860, the South Carolina General Assembly made the state the first to ever secede from the Union. They asserted that one of the causes was the election to the presidency of a man "whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery."
On January 9, 1861, Citadel cadets fired the first shots of the Civil War when they opened fire on the Union ship Star of the West entering Charleston's harbor. It had been sent by the Federal government with relief supplies for the garrison of Fort Sumter. On April 12, shore batteries under the command of General Pierre G. T. Beauregard opened fire on the Union-held Fort Sumter in the harbor. After a 34-hour bombardment, Major Robert Anderson surrendered the fort.
Throughout much of the war, cadets from the Citadel, South Carolina's military institute, continued to aid the Confederate army by helping drill recruits, manufacture ammunition, protect arms depots, and guard Union prisoners.
[edit] Later war years
As many Southern port cities has been closed off by the Union blockade, Charleston became an important center for blockade running. Repeated attempts by the U.S. Navy to take Charleston and/or batter its defenses into the ground proved fruitless, and the city resisted occupation for the majority of the war.
Charleston Harbor was the site of the first successful submarine warfare on February 17, 1864, when the H.L. Hunley made a daring night attack on the USS Housatonic.[1].
In 1865, Union troops finally moved into the city, and took control of many sites such as the United States Arsenal (which the Confederate army had seized at the outbreak of the war).
After the eventual defeat of the Confederacy, Federal forces remained in Charleston during the city's reconstruction.
[edit] References
- Rosen, Robert. A Short History of Charleston. University of South Carolina Press, March, 1997. ISBN 1570031975.
[edit] Notes
| U.S. cities in the Civil War |  |
|---|---|
| North: Cleveland - New York City - Romney, WV - Washington, D.C. Border states: Baltimore - Louisville - St. Louis South: Atlanta - Charleston - Mobile - Nashville - New Orleans - Petersburg - Richmond - Selma - Wilmington |
