This day in Charleston
3 entries · 1861–1863
With Lincoln’s notice in hand, the Confederate cabinet at Montgomery resolved that Fort Sumter must be reduced before the relief fleet arrived. Only Secretary of State Robert Toombs is said to have objected, warning that firing on the fort would strike a hornet’s nest. The orders went to Beauregard the next day.
Official Records, Series I, Vol. 1
The steamer George Washington was captured in the Coosaw River two days after the ironclad repulse — a small consolation on a coast where the navy had just been badly handled at Charleston.
Official Records of the Navies, Series I, Vol. 14
“At nine o’clock the glorious news reached the city that the double-turreted Monitor, Keokuk… had sunk just one hour before, off Morris’ Island, and about a thousand yards from the beach.” Her pumps had held her through the night and lost the race after daylight; a tug took off her crew. The same page announced that a single copy of the Mercury would now cost ten cents: “We can no longer afford to give out any copies gratuitously.”
Charleston Mercury, 9 April 1863, p. 2, “The Movements off the Bar — The Keokuk Sunk”
Entries are dated from the War of the Rebellion official records, the naval official records and contemporary Charleston sources. Browse the whole year.