Historical Sketch And Roster Of The South Carolina 1st Regiment Charleston Guards

Book excerpt: Following its Secession from the Union in December, 1860, South Carolina militia seized Castle Pinckney and the Charleston Arsenal and their supplies of arms and ammunition. On January 9, 1861, Citadel cadets fired upon the merchant ship Star of the West as it was entering Charleston's harbor. The ship had been sent by the Buchanan administration with relief supplies of men and material for Ft. Sumter's small garrison. As the new Confederate States of America came into being late that winter, old and abandoned forts were revamped around Charleston to focus upon the massive, though not completed, Federal fort. This book is the story of the men who fought in Charleston until its fall, then participated in the Carolina's Campaign to its bitter end.