April 14

1861Fort Sumter

The salute that killed two men

Anderson marched his garrison out on the fourteenth, drums beating and colors flying, after firing a salute to the flag he was lowering. A gun burst or a premature discharge killed Private Daniel Hough instantly and mortally wounded Private Edward Galloway. They were the first deaths of the American Civil War, and they happened after the fighting had stopped.

Official Records, Series I, Vol. 1

1862Lowcountry

Reconnaissance on Seabrook Island

A Federal reconnaissance under cover of the gunboat Pocahontas went onto Seabrook Island and pushed to within a mile of Rockville. The report noted ground never visited before — the sea islands south of Charleston were being learned, one creek at a time.

Official Records, Series I, Vol. 6

1865Fort Sumter

The same flag, the same man, four years later

Robert Anderson — now a major general, and frail — returned to the ruin of Fort Sumter and raised over it the identical garrison flag he had hauled down on 14 April 1861. Henry Ward Beecher gave the oration; William Lloyd Garrison was in the crowd; Robert Smalls brought a boatload of freedpeople out from the city. That night, in Washington, Lincoln was shot.

Official Records of the Navies, Series I, Vol. 16

Entries are dated from the War of the Rebellion official records, the naval official records and contemporary Charleston sources. Browse the whole year.