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South Carolina Secedes from the Union
On this day, a secession convention meeting in Charleston, South Carolina, unanimously adopted an ordinance dissolving the connection between South Carolina and the United States of America. The convention was called by the governor and legislature of South Carolina once Lincoln's victory was assured. Its action made South Carolina the first state to secede. Support from the union was negligible. -
Commissioners sent to Washington, D.C
Two days after leaving the Union, South Carolina sent commissioners to Washingnton, D.C., to negotiate for the delivery of federal property, such as forts, within the state. -
Shots Fired
On this day in 1861, a Union merchant ship, the Star of the West, is fired upon as it tries to deliver supplies to Forth Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. This incident was the first time shots were exchanged between the North and the South, although it did not trigger the Civil War. -
The Firing on Fort Sumter
On this day, General Beauregard, in command of the Confederate forces around Charleston Harbor, opened fire on the Union garrison holding Fort Sumter. -
The Union Blockade of Charleston
The blockade was part of the overall Union strategy to defeat the Confederacy by cutting it off from the rest of the country and the world. At the onset of the Civil War the aging and infirm General Winfield Scott set out a plan for land and sea forces to surround and constrict the South. Dubbed the “Anaconda Plan” after the powerful snake, it looked easier on paper than in practice. Cutting off Southern trade seemed an obvious goal; doing it with the ships and men on hand was another matter. -
The Exploits of Robert Smalls
Robert worked as an enslaved man on the CSS Planter in Charleston along with three other enslaved men. The Union Navy had blockaded Ft. Sumter, and Smalls and the three other enslaved men could see the Union ships from the Charleston Harbor.That night all of the white crew had gone ashore for the evening. Smalls eased the ship into the current and headed out of Charleston Harbor. By dawn, Smalls surrendered th ship to the Union and they were free at last! -
The Significance of the Hunley Submarine
The Hunley moved so close to Housatonic that the warship’s 12 cannons were useless. The crew fired their rifles and shotguns in a futile attempt to halt the approaching vessel, but the bullets merely bounced off Hunley’s armor as a spar torpedo mounted at the end of a 16-foot rod that protruded from the Submarine's bow struck the warship.Housatonic took on water immediately, and within minutes it was a loss.The Submarine never returned to port and was discovered later at the bottom of the ocean. -
General Sherman's March through South Carolina
Gen. Sherman's march through South Carolina began in early January, 1865. By March 9th, his troops had passed out of the state into North Carolina - leaving behind a path of total destruction 100 miles wide and extending the entire length of the state.
