Yesterday, (Wednesday), found us in Charleston, South Carolina. Charleston is a lovely city full of old buildings, interesting restaurants and friendly people. The city lies on a peninsula between two rivers at the mouth of the sea. Charleston is also where the Civil War began.
This is a shotgun house. A "shotgun house" is a narrow rectangular domestic residence, usually no more than 12 feet wide, with rooms arranged one behind the other and doors at each end of the house. It was the most popular style of house in the Southern United States from the end of the American Civil War (1861–65), through the 1920s. Alternate names include "shotgun shack", "shotgun hut" and "shotgun cottage".
We visited a plantation called Drayton Hall. What makes this particular home unique is that it has had very few changes made to it in hundreds of years - no electricity or plumbing, and only two coats of paint since 1738! Sort of the opposite of Savannah's Davenport house, which was interesting because of all the changes it showed over the years. Drayton Hall remained in the same family until it was sold to the state fairly recently, and the 94-year-old former owner still visits regularly.
Apparently alligators are a bit of a problem around here and are commonly spotted. We were kind of hoping to see one, from a distance, but were not so fortunate.
This is the privy, but all that's inside is a fireplace (?)
The house faces both the road and the river, since visitors could arrive from either direction. (The river is in the background of this picture.)
After Drayton Hall, we took a ferry to Fort Sumter.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Fort Sumter was commanded by Maj. Robert Anderson, who had been holed up there since just after Christmas with a tiny garrison of 9 officers, 68 enlisted men, 8 musicians, and 43 construction workers who were still putting the finishing touches on the fort —the last precarious symbol of federal power in passionately secessionist South Carolina.
The Confederates demanded immediate evacuation of the fort. However, they promised safe transport out of Charleston for Anderson and his men, who would be permitted to carry their weapons and personal property and to salute the Stars and Stripes, which, the Confederates acknowledged, “You have upheld so long...under the most trying circumstances.” Anderson thanked them for such “fair, manly, and courteous terms.” Yet he stated, “It is a demand with which I regret that my sense of honor, and of my obligation to my Government, prevent my compliance.” Anderson added grimly that he would be starved out in a few days, but the Confederates were unwilling to wait that long. At 4:30 on the morning of April 12th, the nearest Confederate garrison fired a mortar that exploded over the Fort, signaling to other the ring of Confederate garrisons that surrounded the fort to begin the attack.
After a 33-hour bombardment by Confederate cannons, in which nearly 4,000 rounds were hurled toward the black silhouette of Fort Sumter, Union forces surrendered. The first engagement of the war ended in Rebel victory.
Adapted from: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Fort-Sumter-The-Civil-War-Begins.html#ixzz2W9OUJoLd and http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fort-sumter-surrenders
The ferry.
Ft Sumter model.
Jefferson Davis and his wife, Varina. Hailey and I were intrigued by her sheer dress.
A model of the bombardment of the fort. We wondered whether these uniforms were correct. They're Confederate artillery shell jackets and kepis, but were militia units already wearing these, given that this was the first day of the war? The officers look correct in blue uniforms.
South Carolina flag.
The huge American flag that was flying over the fort at its capture.
Big cannon.
No comments:
Post a Comment