Strangers in a Strange Land

If the state of South Carolina disestablished itself from the U.S. Government, what was to become of the U.S. troops who had been stationed in Charleston? Should they stay or should they leave? These were the questions U.S. Army Major Robert Anderson asked himself - and his superiors in Washington, D.C. (He and his men were stationed at Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island near Charleston's harbor - a fort held by the U.S. Government for nearly 100 years.) Anderson was told to basically hold down the fort (Moultrie, that is) until he felt the men's safety was at risk. But when the state actually seceded, he felt that may be the case. So six days after the state's secession, he packed up his men and they rowed out into the harbor to Fort Sumter, a not-yet-completed structure built on a sandbar at the harbor's entrance, and awaited further instructions. And waited. And waited.

To Small to be a Republic; Too Large to be an Insane Asylum

South Carolina had been questioning the authority of the U.S. Government since the 1830s. So talk of secession was nothing new in 1860. Former Vice President John C. Calhoun had even offered a proposal years earlier that there be two presidents of the United States - one hailing from the north and one from the south - in hopes of keeping the country together. But he also predicted that the union would eventually be disolved. Finally, in December, 1860, the state of South Carolina severed itself from the United States and briefly became a republic, or a sovereign nation. One Charleston opponent of the decision uttered the words, "South Carolina is too small to be a republic and too large to be an insane asylum," when he was told of the action. Over the next two months, six other southern states also left the union and formed a coalition, or a confederacy, with one another. The Confederate States of America was born on February 8, 1861. Two months later, the war began.

A Layman's Guide to the Civil War in Charleston

This topic can be a bit overwhelming to many people. Ten years ago, I wrote my book, "The Civil War Walking History Book," to help readers learn the basics and, since then, thousands of them have. So now, in the age of the blog, I will continue my goal of breaking down the subject into manageable bites for the history-phobic majority. You'll learn about a man nicknamed "the Father of Secession." You'll read that the first shots of the war actually came three months before Fort Sumter was shelled. And you will find out about the real "Rhett Butler." So sit back and relax. History doesn't have to be only for historians.