The History Press

In 1864, six hundred Confederate prisoners of war, all officers, were taken out of a prison camp in Delaware and transported to South Carolina, where most were confined in a Union stockade prison on Morris Island.

They were placed in front of two Union forts as ""human shields"" during the siege of Charleston and exposed to a fearful barrage of artillery fire from Confederate forts. Many of these men would suffer an even worse ordeal at Union-held Fort Pulaski near Savannah, Georgia, where they were subjected to severe food rationing as retaliatory policy. Author and historian Karen Stokes uses the prisoners' writings to relive the courage, fraternity and struggle of the ""Immortal 600.""

Author D. Michael Thomas presents the previously untold story of the Iron Scouts for the first time.

Serving from late 1862 to the war's end, Wade Hampton's Scouts were a key component of the comprehensive intelligence network designed by Generals Robert E. Lee, J.E.B. Stuart and Wade Hampton. The Scouts were stationed behind enemy lines on a permanent basis and provided critical military intelligence to their generals. They became proficient in "unconventional" warfare and emerged unscathed in so many close-combat actions that their foes grudgingly dubbed them Hampton's "Iron Scouts."

Discover the true accounts of South Carolinian's as they recount General Sherman's march through the Palmetto State during the Civil War.

During the fateful winter and spring of 1865, thousands of civilians in South Carolina, young and old, black and white, felt the impact of what General William T. Sherman called ""the hard hand of war."" This book tells their stories, many of which were corroborated by the testimony of Sherman's own soldiers and officers, and other eyewitnesses. These historical narratives are taken from letters and diaries of the time, as well as newspaper accounts and memoirs. The author has drawn on the superb resources of the South Carolina Historical Society's collection of manuscripts and publications to present these true, compelling stories of South Carolinians.

A pivotal moment in American history, as told by our forefathers

On October 7, 1780, American Patriot and Loyalist soldiers battled each other at Kings Mountain, near the border of North and South Carolina. With over one hundred eyewitness accounts, this collection of participant statements from men of both sides includes letters and statements in their original form - the soldiers' own words - unedited and unabridged. Rife with previously unpublished details of this historic turning point in the American Revolution, described as the war's "largest all-American fight," these accounts expose the dramatic happenings of the battle, including new perspectives on the debate over Patriot Colonel William Campbell's bravery during the fight. Robert M. Dunkerley's work is an invaluable resource to historians studying the flow of combat, genealogists tracing their ancestors and anyone interested in Kings Mountain and the Southern Campaign.

From the rocky slopes of Kings Mountain to the plains of Hannah's Cowpens, the Carolina backcountry hosted two of the Revolutionary War's most critical battles

On October 7, 1780, the Battle of Kings Mountain utilized guerilla techniques - American Over Mountain Men wearing buckskin and hunting shirts and armed with hunting rifles attacked Loyalist troops from behind trees, resulting in an overwhelming Patriot victory. In January of the next year, the Battle of Cowpens saw a different strategy but a similar outcome: with brilliant military precision, Continental Regulars, dragoons, and Patriot militia executed the war's only successful double envelopment maneuver to defeat the British. Using firsthand accounts and careful analysis of the best classic and modern scholarship on the subject, historian Robert Brown demonstrates how the combination of both battles facilitated the downfall of General Charles Cornwallis and led to the Patriot victory in America.

Join author M. Patrick Hendrix as he follows the tumultuous lives of the men who fought to control the most revered monuments to the war.

In 1829, construction began on a fort atop a rock formation in the mouth of Charleston Harbor. Decades later, Fort Sumter was near completion on December 26, 1860, when Major Robert Anderson occupied it in response to the growing hostilities between the North and South. As a symbol of sedition for the North and holy ground for the South, possession of Fort Sumter was deemed essential to both sides when the Civil War began. By 1864, the fort, heavily bombarded by Union artillery, was a shapeless mass of ruins, mostly bermed rubble and sand with a garrison of Confederate soldiers holding its ground.

Major General William T. Sherman's march from Savannah, Georgia, to Columbia, South Carolina, was marked by a battle with an unrelenting enemy: the swamps of the Palmetto State. For more than two weeks, Sherman's veterans faced an unforgiving quagmire, coupled by daily skirmishes with gallant bands of outnumbered Confederates. Along the way, a ruined countryside and wrecked towns marked the path of an army unlike any since the days of Julius Caesar. It would take an army as adept with the axe as they were with the rifle to tame the rivers, tributaries and swamps of the South Carolina Lowcountry. Join historian Chris Crabb as he traces the steps of Sherman's sixty-thousand-man army in its amphibious march from Beaufort to Columbia.

On a pleasant morning in June of 1848, writer and historian Benson J. Lossing was traveling by carriage between the towns of Greenwich and Stamford, Connecticut. Along the path, Lossing happened upon an elderly veteran of the Revolutionary War. Although quite old, the man was thoughtful and pleasant, and he spent the afternoon regaling Lossing with tales of his experiences in the war. The veteran turned out to be General Ebenezer Mead, a former soldier of both the Connecticut militia and the Continental army. For Lossing, the experience was profound. He realized at once that very few men and women who had lived through the days of the Revolution were still alive, and that soon, if he did not act, their stirring stories would be lost. His mind was made up, his mission clear: "I felt an irrepressible desire to seek and find such mementos of the great conflict for freedom and independence, wherever they might exist, and to snatch their lineaments from the grasp of Decay before it should be too late." Before reaching Stamford, Lossing commenced drawing plans for an epic pilgrimage across the United States to seek out and interview these few surviving Americans who had born witness to the start of our great nation. These are the fruits of his labor. First published in 1889, this intriguing volume preserves for the ages the stories of a wide variety of Americans who lived through these tumultuous times. Included is the story of Rebecca Motte, a heroine from South Carolina who helped Francis Marion's soldiers set her own house ablaze to drive out British troops. Also present is the account of Uzal Knapp, the last remaining veteran of General George Washington's Life Guards. Lossing goes to great lengths to capture the tales of Americans from many walks of life, including that of Eleanor, one of Washington's many slaves, and Frances Slocum, who was abducted and raised by a tribe of Delaware Indians. This fascinating collection, with a new, insightful introduction by Michael C. Scoggins, is a triumph of preservation and a treasure for history-conscious

Join Charleston historian Doug Bostick as he traces the political turmoil of 1860 and early 1861, when the firebrands of secession in Charleston were pushing the South to act together in a decisive way. The Union Is Dissolved chronicles the face-off between professor and student--Robert Anderson and Pierre G.T. Beauregard--and the firing on Fort Sumter, signaling the beginning of the American Civil War. Featuring many historical images and first-person accounts found in period newspapers and family papers, this fascinating volume offers a concise introduction to our nation's greatest struggle.

The coast of South Carolina was a hotspot for the Civil War since its beginning. Some of the stories have not been told until now.

In Defending South Carolina's Coast: The Civil War from Georgetown to Little River, area native Rick Simmons relates the often overlooked stories of the upper South Carolina coast during the Civil War. As a base of operations for more than three thousand troops early in the war and the site of more than a dozen forts, almost every inch of the coast was affected by and hotly contested during the Civil War. From the skirmishes at Fort Randall in Little River and the repeated Union naval bombardments of Murrells Inlet to the unrealized potential of the massive fortifications at Battery White and the sinking of the USS Harvest Moon in Winyah Bay, the region's colorful Civil War history is unfolded here at last.

Join historian Doug Bostick as he tells the story of the siege of Charleston, the longest siege of the Civil War.

Charleston was the prize that the Union army and navy desperately sought to capture. Union General Halleck, in writing to General W.T. Sherman, declared, Should you capture Charleston, I hope that by some accident the place may be destroyed. However, despite bringing to bear the full firepower of the U.S. Army and Navy, Charleston would not relent. The defense of Charleston employed every tool available to an outmanned Confederate army. Yet after 567 days of constant attack by infantry, gun batteries and the Union fleet, Charleston would not surrender. Only after the evacuation of the Confederate forces to reinforce General Joe Johnston in North Carolina did the Federal government gain control of the city.

Experience the personal accounts of Marine Corp recruits as they recall their experiences of their time and training at Parris Island in South Carolina.

Here, for the first time, author and former Parris Island drill-instructor Eugene Alvarez records the training and tough physical and mental challenges that have helped to churn thousands of Marines out of Parris Island, South Carolina for nearly a century. Drawn from first-hand accounts of recruits themselves, the memories and recollections in these pages are humorous, sad, profane and enlightening--describing a training program that, on first encounter, often appears insane. But the results are clear: a disciplined Marine with a proud history that he or she carries proudly in peace time or war.

In December 1860, when the State of South Carolina desired to secede from the Federal Union, Major Anderson, of the 1st Regiment of U.S. Artillery, was in command of the forts of Charleston harbor; and, with his company, was stationed at Fort Moultrie, on Sullivan's Island. He saw the spreading commotion; and--as a Sea-Captain, in stormy weather, glass in hand, sweeping the horizon with his eye, uninterested in natural wonders or scientific questions, is wholly engrossed with the care and management of his ship--he thought not of political affairs, but studied only his duty as a servant of the Republic--an officer of the American Army. Situated as he then was, he found himself utterly weak in case of an attack--his fort was insecure, his garrison was small--he, therefore, petitioned Government for more troops; but received for reply that, as the movement would increase disaffection, the Administration preferred not granting his request unless necessitated. He now looked round him, with a view to strengthening his position, as best he could. On a point of James Island, facing Fort Moultrie, west by south, stood Fort Johnson, and between these, nearly mid channel, an artificial Island had been raised, on which a fortification was built, now in course of completion; and here, with the waters to wall him in, and the shores all round the bay under range of his guns, Major Anderson decided to concentrate his little force.

In so many words, General Lee laid out the challenge of defending the young Southern Republic and two of its key cities: Charleston and Savannah. While in the Lowcountry, Lee acquired the two most famous trademarks of his wartime career. Long hours in the saddle prompted Lee to grow his signature beard and, while at Pocotaligo, he acquired his beloved equine companion, Traveller. Charleston historian Danny Crooks examines Lee's first year serving the Confederacy, a year of confusion and convoluted loyalty. Using Lee's own words and those of his contemporaries, Crooks helps the reader to understand why Lee, and only Lee, could bring order to the early chaos of the war.

Forgotten tales of Charleston's Civil War history have been collected into this new compendium for today's history lovers.

In a city as old as Charleston, it's only natural for some stories to become less well-known over time, but the Palmetto State's history should never be forgotten entirely. Author Margaret Middleton Rivers Eastman recounts some of Charleston's amazing Civil War stories that have faded from memory, including the shady story of how an association of Charleston elites conspired to push South Carolina toward secession in 1860, and the Stone Fleet of old whaling ships that were sunk in Charleston Harbor in an attempt to choke out Confederate blockade runners, as well as a cast of real-life characters such as Amarinthia Yates Snowden, William Richard Catheart, and Tom Lockwood, just to name a few.