This day in Charleston

January 13

2 entries · 1864

1864The siege

A shell every five minutes, and no reply

The guns shelling Charleston were finally located — light Parrotts at the foot of the scarp of the main work at Battery Gregg. The bombardment ran steadily through the day at about one round every five minutes and was still unabated at midnight: 244 shells thrown, 112 of them falling short. Not one Confederate gun answered all day.

Journal of Operations in Charleston Harbor, OR I, 35, Pt. 1

1864Fort Sumter

Old iron, and a gun waiting for a flat

Thick weather; the fourth monitor could not be found. A quantity of old iron went up to the city by steamer overnight, and a 42-pounder lay ready for shipment as soon as a flat could be sent down. Fort Sumter in 1864 was being quarried by its own garrison.

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.