This day in Charleston
3 entries · 1861–1865
A week after slipping his command across the harbor from Fort Moultrie, Major Robert Anderson had his men mounting guns, bricking up embrasures and rationing stores in an unfinished fort. Charleston’s newspapers demanded his removal; Washington had not decided what to do. Neither side yet meant to shoot.
Official Records, Series I, Vol. 1
During the night the Federals mounted a heavy Parrott — thought to be a 100-pounder — in the new embrasure at Battery Gregg. At 3.20 in the afternoon it and two guns at Battery Cumming opened on the city and threw twelve shells, of which only half exploded. Batteries Marion, Simkins, Cheves and Fort Johnson answered.
Journal of Operations in Charleston Harbor, OR I, 35, Pt. 1
The first shots of Sherman’s Carolinas campaign on South Carolina soil were fired near Hardeeville as Federal troops crossed from the Savannah side. Over the next fortnight the Army of the Tennessee shifted to Beaufort. Charleston watched the movement and could not tell whether the blow was aimed at the city or past it.
Official Records, Series I, Vol. 47
Entries are dated from the War of the Rebellion official records, the naval official records and contemporary Charleston sources. Browse the whole year.