This day in Charleston

July 10

3 entries · 1863–1864

1863The city

The day Charleston began counting

From the Federal landing on Morris Island the Mercury ran a standing column headed “Siege Matters,” and numbered every day of it in the headline. The count starts here: 2 May 1864 is printed as the two hundred and ninety-eighth day, 13 August as the four hundred and first, 6 September as the four hundred and twenty-fifth — all of which count back to 10 July 1863. By 15 November the printed number has slipped a day behind the calendar, the paper having skipped issues along the way. Charleston kept score of its own siege, in print, for eighteen months.

Charleston Mercury, 2 May 1864, p. 2; 13 August 1864, p. 2; 6 September 1864, p. 2; 15 November 1864, p. 2 (“Siege Matters”)

1863Morris Island

The landing on Morris Island

At daylight the masked batteries on Folly opened, four monitors came in over the bar, and Strong’s brigade rowed across Light-House Inlet and carried the south end of Morris Island in about three hours. By evening the Federals held three-quarters of the island and were within rifle shot of Battery Wagner. It was the best-executed operation of the whole Charleston campaign.

Official Records, Series I, Vol. 28, Pt. 1

1864The lines

Attack on Fort Johnson and Battery Simkins

A week after the failed boat assault, Federal guns attacked Fort Johnson and Battery Simkins again — by artillery this time, from Morris Island and the marsh batteries. The James Island works held, and the lines around Charleston did not move.

Official Records, Series I, Vol. 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.