This day in Charleston

September 11

2 entries · 1863–1864

1863The lines

A new front, facing the other way

With Morris Island lost, Charleston’s defense was reorganized to face guns that were now inside the harbor’s mouth. Fort Sumter became an infantry post, Sullivan’s Island and James Island became the main line, and the city itself became a target. The siege lines did not move again for seventeen months.

Journal of Operations in Charleston Harbor, OR I, 28, Pt. 1

1864Fort Sumter

A hundred and forty shells in a day

“One hundred and forty Parrott shells fired at the fort to-day, of which 28 missed. No casualties.” A day's fire that would have destroyed most forts, absorbed without a single man hurt.

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.