Re-enactment of Sumter bombardment

Several hundred folks were at Patriots Point before dawn to witness the re-enactment of the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter. (click photos to enlarge)

In 1861, the gunfire began around 4:30 a.m. The launch time in 2011 was a more comfortable 6:43 a.m.

As I write this, I can hear the occasional thump of atillery fire a couple miles from our hotel.

Enjoying a fresh breeze at the Battery

Tonight, as we sat on chairs and enjoyed the breeze rippling through the Battery in Charleston, I felt peace about our nation's reflection on the Civil War.

We attended a concert that featured military songs and music from the Ken Burns Civil War series of PBS.

Speakers talked of things likely skipped over in the Civil War centennial -- race, slavery and the role of U.S. Colored Troops in the Union army.

Tomorrow we are up before dawn for a memorial concert of sorts and then on to Patriots Point to watch the bombardment re-enactment.

Earlier Monday evening I attended a program entitled, "A Troubled House."

Historian Emory Thomas talked about how each side thought the war would be over quickly and little blood would be shed. That was before they knew the impact of deadly rifles, disease and casualties from mass troop formations.

"They believed the war would be short because the enemy was full of absolute cowards," Thomas said.

Fort Sumter is bathed in alternating red and blue, a beam of light soaring into the sky.

Image: The Flag of Fort Sumter, The Museum of the Confederacy

On the eve of war -- Sumter anniversary

Fort Moultrie, sadly, is little known by most Americans.

Compared to Fort Sumter, Moultrie appears to be an anonymous neighbor.

But it has a richer history -- defending Charleston from the Revolutionary War through World War II.

I always enjoy visiting, in part due to the beautiful beach and Victorian homes also on Sullivan's Island.

Today, we watched a drill and spoke with a few of the couple hundred living historians encamped at Moultrie.

On April 12, 1861, guns from several batteries and forts along the harbor fired upon the Union garrison at Fort Sumter. Moultrie was one of the closest.

Ironically, Union troops were garrisoned at Moultrie before slipping away to Sumter.

A strange fog hung over the city this afternoon, making Sumter difficult to see from the ramparts.

An artillery team explained to a flock of visitors how the 32-pound guns on Moultrie operated. Each person has a specific role during the firing.

Ken Buckey of North Carolina portrayed a surgeon of the 1st South Carolina Rifles.

I asked if the surgeon expected to be busy Tuesday.

"I think the other people [Federals] are going to have that problem," he replied. Ready for batle? "Of course, as all Southern boys should be."

Members of the 26th North Carolina drilled Monday afternoon in the grassy field between Fort Moultrie and the harbor. They are portraying the Meagher Guards, a Charleston militia unit that provided security during bombardment of Sumter.

We're eating in downtown Charleston tonight and will attend a sesquicentennial program tonight at a park in the Battery, the very tip of the peninsula.

It's called "Voices from the Civil War," and features the Charleston SymphonyeOrchestra, Sean Newhouse, guest conductor; CSO Spiritual Ensemble & Mount Zion AME Spiritual Singers.

Video: Troops at Fort Moultrie, S.C.

Our second stop in Charleston was Fort Moultrie. Here, the 26th North Carolina drills as the Meagher Guards of Charleston, which served at the fort for the April 12, 1861, bombardment of Fort Sumter. About 300 troops were encamped over the weekend, fewer today. Sorry I could not get better video resolution.

Here she is: Gun that fires first Tuesday

We hit the mother lode on our first stop in Charleston today.

Members of the Bachmann Battery unloaded the 10" mortar that will fire the first shot at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor during Tuesday morning's re-enactment cannonade. (click photo to enlarge)

This is a real piece that was cast well before the beginning of the Civil War on April 12, 1861.

A 6:45 a.m. Tuesday, at Fort Johnson on James Island, Steve Riggs and the other 10 or so members of the crew will fire the bombardment signal shot.

Re-enactors around the harbor will follow suit.

"We'll be dressed to beat the band," said Mike Keller of Greenville, S.C.

The sea coast mortars, during the conflict, were set behind earthworks and below a parapet.

In action, the 100-pound shell would have been lobbed 2,100 yards or so the Union fort's interior. Gunners would have used string and trigonometry to figure the distance and trajectory.

"This is one of the defining moments of American history," said Riggs, of Charleston.

The mortar is on loan from Paulson Brothers Ordnance Corp., which makes guns for re-enactments.

Descendants of the officer who fired the first round on Sumter will be on hand Tuesday for the event, which includes, the Pledge of Allegiance and a memorial to Confederate and Union troops who died in the war.

"It's exciting," said Doug Bostwick, of James Island, head of the events at Fort Johnson. "We've been working on this two years."

The mortar weighs nearly 1,900 pounds. Crews poured about 10 pounds of powder. Two men lifted a ball with a pole and another wiped the barrel clean.

Maj. Robert Anderson, who commanded the Union garrison, before the war wrote an artillery manual, Riggs said.

"He gave us the instructions on how to use it," Riggs quipped.

When the solemn moment comes Tuesday, a nearby tube will fire a round that will produce a starburst shell effect over Sumter. Blue and gray light beams will soar above the fort.

Picket says 'yellow' from South Carolina!

Up this morning and stopping first at Fort Johnson, where an opening salvo was fired at Fort Sumter one hundred and fifty years ago tomorrow. Then on to Fort Moultrie for living history, encampment and living histories. Tonight, a sesquicentennial concert at the Battery in downtown Charleston. Yesterday afternoon, saw this beautiful field of collards gone to seed near Greensboro, Ga.

Then-and-now photos of Charleston siege

Smithsonian.com has produced this fascinating collection of then-and-now photos for Charleston, S.C. Photographs from the 1860s reveal how the Union bombardment and a blazing fire during the Civil War devastated much of the city, as show in this Library of Congress photo. • Photos

Bridge burning re-enactment planned

Union sympathizers burned the Hiawassee River railroad bridge in Charleston, Tenn., during the Civil War, and there are plans in the works to do it again at an event this fall. • Article

College of Charleston sets conference

Professor and Civil War historian James McPherson will give the keynote lecture at the College of Charleston’s “Civil War—Global Conflict” conference. The lecture is part of a three-day (March 3-5, 2011) conference that considers the war in a global context, and is the academic kickoff for a series of commemorative events marking the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. • Article

Today's secession observance in S.C.

Today marks the 150th anniversary of South Carolina's secession from the United States, and several groups and organizations plan events in Charleston, including an NAACP protest. • Article
• The State's ongoing coverage, with columnists, news and video

'History Detectives' looking into cannon

Does a vial of metal shavings in fact contain metal from one of the Confederacy's most famous guns? That's the question that the cast and crew of PBS' "History Detectives" television series are trying to answer during their visit to Charleston, S.C. A cannon known as "Old Secession" was fired on Dec. 20, 1860, to mark the state's new Ordinance of Secession, and an antiques dealer asked the series to determine if his shavings came from that gun. • Article

Web exhibit brings you the war in 3-D

It is a portal into the past, but unlike most photography that conjures a bygone era, "Post Civil War Images of South Carolina" is in 3-D. It's all courtesy of Web designer Buff Ross of Sullivans Island and the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia. The exhibit features "anaglyphs" of 53 steroscopic images taken by Sam Cooley and two others. • Article

Palmetto State has opportunity, risks

South Carolina can claim a huge chunk of the Civil War anniversary tourism dollars if it is first out of the blocks in December and does it right, state leaders were told. But unless the state is aggressive in marketing itself over the next five years, it could lose out to celebrations elsewhere, such as Virginia, as "the" go-to site for Civil War remembrances. • Article

Charleston seeks funding for 2011 events

The City of Charleston is expecting a quarter of a million people to come to the Lowcountry next April with events stretching from White Point Gardens to Marion Square to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the firing on Fort Sumter, the first shots of the Civil War. The city is estimating the cost for its sesquicentennial events at $90,000. • Article

This summer in history: Morris Island

Union forces spent the summer of 1863 trying to dislodge Confederates around Charleston, S.C.

Two attacks focused on Fort Wagner. The one made famous by the movie "Glory" took place on July 18, when the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, made up of African-Americans, tried in vain to take the fort.

On Aug. 1, the Union began a prolonged bombardment of entrenchments, according to Georgia's Blue and Gray Trail. Confederates fired back on Morris Island on Aug. 11, starting a barrage between the enemies that lasted four days.

Confederate-held Fort Sumter took fire beginning Aug. 17. The shells caused heavy damage but the Union made no assault. Federal assaults continued off and on until September 1864.

54th re-enactors honor black troops

Black re-enactors from as far away as Florida and Washington, D.C., gathered Friday near Charleston, S.C., to commemorate the 54th Massachusetts' heroic charge on Confederate Battery Wagner and an earlier Civil War skirmish that gave the famed regiment an early taste of battle. • Article