Soldier, Engineer, Artisan · Confederate

John H. Houston

A private of the engineer detail at Fort Sumter who set and recovered the obstructions on the exterior slopes, under fire, for more than a year.

He is named in Johnson's narrative and nowhere else so far consulted. Two men named Houston appear in the 1852 Charleston directory, a builder and a tailor; neither has been connected to this soldier by any evidence, and no address is claimed for him here.

Charleston

Houston was one of the detailed mechanics at Fort Sumter, chosen to set and recover the obstructions on the exterior slopes — spiked plank, wire entanglement and sections of fraises — placed below the crest every evening at dusk and taken in again every morning before daylight, under fire, for more than a year. He was on the slope with Captain Harleston when Harleston was hit on 24 November 1863, and he is the man who was ordered into a service magazine that appeared to be smoking, with twelve others, to carry the powder out.

Service

  1. Second Lieutenantcommissioned2nd Engineer troops, engineer · Confederate armydate not establishedJohnson 1890
  2. PrivateenlistedEngineer detail, 25th South Carolina volunteers, engineer · Confederate army1863 to 1865Fort SumterJohnson 1890

Each rank is the rank held at the time described. A later promotion is shown only in its own dated entry.

Places

  • Stationed at Fort Sumter

    1863 to 1865 · confirmed

    TodayFort Sumter National Historical Park, Charleston Harbor, SC
    EvidenceOne of the detailed mechanics of the engineer party, setting and recovering the exterior obstructions nightly for more than a year.

    Johnson 1890

Burial

Not yet documented.

What is established, and on whose authority

  • verifiedPrivate, engineer detail, 25th South Carolina volunteers, at Fort Sumter; afterwards second lieutenant, 2nd Engineer troops.Johnson 1890
  • verifiedSet and recovered the exterior obstructions at Fort Sumter nightly, under fire, for more than a year.Johnson 1890
  • verifiedWas with Captain Harleston on the eastern slope when Harleston was mortally wounded on 24 November 1863.Johnson 1890
  • verifiedWas one of thirteen men ordered into a service magazine that appeared to be smoking, to carry the powder out.Johnson 1890
  • not establishedDates of birth and death.no source
  • not establishedBurial place.no source

Identity: probable. Last checked 31 August 2026.

Corrections to this record are welcome through the publisher.