This day in Charleston
2 entries · 1862–1864
A four-day Federal reconnaissance on Bull River and Schooner Channel. The navy was mapping a coast whose creeks did not appear correctly on any chart, and whose local pilots had mostly gone over to the Confederacy — or, increasingly, to the Union.
Official Records, Series I, Vol. 6
All colors flying in the Federal fleet and a national salute fired at sunrise for Washington's Birthday — “from the rapidity of the firing and caliber of the guns, it is almost certain that the Ironsides participated.” The Confederate garrison of Fort Sumter listened, counted the guns, and wrote it down.
Fort Sumter post returns, OR I, 35, Pt. 1
Entries are dated from the War of the Rebellion official records, the naval official records and contemporary Charleston sources. Browse the whole year.