After the Union victory at the Battle of Port Royal on November 8, 1861, the Federals had succeeded in their goal of establishing a deep water recoaling base for the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. A large infantry camp was established on Hilton Head Island under the command of General Thomas W. Sherman (no relation to General William Tecumseh Sherman). By early March of 1862, however, the War Department was disappointed with Sherman’s efforts to cut off Savannah, Georgia, and replaced him on March 15th with Major General David Hunter and his chief subordinate Brigadier General Henry Benham. Hunter arrived on Hilton Head on March 31st. Less than 2 weeks later on April 11th Fort Pulaski, a large masonary fort that protected the Savannah River, surrendered hampering the ability of blockade runners to access the city. Hunter would be credited with a success that was planned by General Thomas Sherman, who had directed Captain Quincy Gilmore to build 11 batteries on Tybee Island using newer rifled artillery. These new guns would be able to penetrate the brick walls of the fort, expose its magazine, and result in its surrender.

Hunter and Benham would now focus their efforts on Charleston and Benham was tasked with designing the campaign. Sherman and one of his brigadiers, Isaac Stevens, had already formulated a strategy to cut the Charleston and Savannah Railroad, blocking reinforcement from the south, and advancing overland against the city but this plan was now rejected by Benham and replaced with a much more complicated one shown below.

Benham planned to mass a division on Edisto Island under Brigadier General Horatio Wright which would then cross to Seabrook Island, march across Seabrook and Johns Islands to Legareville across the Stono River from Battery Island. After transport across that river they would combine with Stevens division for an attack to overwhelm Confederate forces on James Island, capture Fort Johnson and control Charleston harbor, in the process avoiding all the defenses lining the harbor entrance. In addition, control of the Stono River, on the left side of the map below, meant that a naval force could steam up the river through Wappoo Cut (Elliott’s Cut) and Wappoo Creek and enter Charleston Harbor adjacent to the city. In effect they would be attacking Charleston through the back door. Stevens’ division would board transports on Hilton Head and steam directly to the Stono Inlet and up the river to Battery Island. General Hunter had misgivings about the plan because he thought he would face a force of at least 25,000 Confederates on Johns Island. A map of James Island is shown below.

That would all change on May 13th with the daring exploits of a slave named Robert Smalls covered in the post at the link. In order to appease Stevens, Benham would also approve a quick day long raid with one regiment on the Charleston and Savannah Railroad at Pocotaglio on May 28th, which will be covered in a future post.

On the morning of the 13th Robert Smalls commandeered the Confederate steamer Planter from Charleston’s Southern wharf on the Cooper River and piloted it past Fort Sumter and out to the blockading Union fleet. Later that evening Smalls would be on Hilton Head Island and he had valuable information to convey to the Union high command there. The previous day Smalls had loaded four cannons on the Planter from batteries on Coles Island at the mouth of the Stono River (shown below) that were to be transported to Fort Ripley in Charleston harbor. Smalls brought the cannons with him when he left Charleston for Union lines which verified his claim that the Confederates had abandoned their defenses at the mouth of the river. Smalls also reported that large numbers (about half) of Rebel soldiers had recently been transferred to Virginia and Mississippi. The Union fleet could now transport Stevens division up the Stono River without fear of being fired upon by Confederate batteries and when the two divisions were assembled they would outnumber the Rebels defending James Island. The Union Navy would spend the next several days scouting and mapping the Stono River in preparation for the campaign. The naval reconnaissance convinced Commander Marchand and Flag Officer Du Pont that they could control the Stono River as far upriver as the Grimball plantations.

The Confederate defenses on Coles Island are nicely described on the SC Battleground Preservation Trust website- “Fort Palmetto was a circular fortification of tabby construction believed constructed for the War of 1812. The fort was built on Coles Island, between Folly and Kiawah Islands, and designed to command the Stono Inlet and the entrance to the Folly and Stono Rivers. In 1861, Confederate troops established seven batteries on Coles Island, oddly numbered Battery # 4 – Battery #9. Fort Palmetto was Battery #7. In a controversial move in March 1862, General Pemberton chose to abandon these batteries, moving their artillery pieces to more defensible positions further inland in the direction of Charleston and out of range of the guns of the Federal gunboats. Confederates removed sixteen pieces of heavy artillery from all batteries at Coles Island. Federal Troops soon occupied the Island and remained there until 1865. Much of Coles Island was destroyed in the hurricane of 1911, leaving Fort Palmetto standing in the marsh just south of the remnants of the island. The tall tabby walls are still extant, though they have collapsed into the surrounding marsh. The Fort Palmetto site is preserved by the South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust through a permit issued in 1992 by the South Carolina Coastal Council. The site is accessible only by boat at high tide. The remnants of the circular tabby wall are only visible at low tide.”

While the Federals were preparing their assault plans the Confederates were having problems of their own. Robert E. Lee was reassigned to Western Virginia in March and was replaced by Major General John C. Pemberton. Over the next several weeks Pemberton was ordered to send: a brigade of Tennesseans to Corinth, MS; three SC regiments to northern Virginia; and Brigadier General Maxcy Gregg and the 13th, 14th, and 15th SC to Virginia. Pemberton clashed with local authorities regarding how the city was to be defended. He dismantled the Stono Inlet defenses and also wanted to abandon Forts Sumter and Moultrie. Governor Pickens complained to the Confederate War Department asking that Pemberton be removed. In addition, Pemberton was at odds with two of his four district commanders Brigadier Generals Roswell Ripley and Nathan “Shanks” Evans. His relationship with Ripley worsened to the point that Ripley requested and obtained a transfer to Virginia on May 27th. Ripley had overseen the design of earthworks that ran diagonally across James Island. The northern terminus was along the Stono River at Fort Pemberton. The line ran southeast as a series of redoubts and artillery positions ending at the Tower Battery, built by Colonel Lewis Hatch, on the Secessionville peninsula. Hatch also built a causeway from the tip of the Secessionville pensinula across Clark Sound to near White House plantation, the home of Ephraim Clark. This served as an escape or reinforcement route should the peninsula be blocked. Despite the dysfunction of the upper level Confederate command structure the next level of command was strong and included: Brigadier General States Rights Gist (James Island), Colonel Johnson Hagood (1st SC), Colonel Clement Stevens and Lieutenant Colonel Ellison Capers (24th SC), Lieutenant Colonel Peter Gaillard (Charleston Battalion) and Colonel Thomas G. Lamar (1st SC Artillery). At the end of May there were only 3,925 Confederate soldiers on James Island. Pemberton had increased those numbers to 6,500 by mid-June. He had about 10,000 men in the entire Charleston area.

The James Island defensive line is shown below.

Fort Pemberton- Pictures taken from the road. The site was recently purchased by the city of Charleston and will be opened as a park in the future.

From the SC Battleground Preservation Trust website– “Fort Pemberton, a large five-sided Confederate earthwork on the James Island side of the Stono River, was one of the largest forts constructed by Confederate authorities for the defense of Charleston. Construction on the pentagonal earthwork was initiated in 1861 by the order of Confederate Commander Brigadier General John C. Pemberton for which the fort is named. Completed in 1862, the fort was 400 feet by 350 feet with an additional rampart 700 feet long. The earthen walls are 10 to 12 feet high and 20 feet wide at the base. The fort was initially armed with twenty guns of various calibers and built to keep Union gunboats from approaching Charleston from the Stono River. Fort Pemberton also included two powder magazines and a hot-shot furnace. Some of the fort’s guns faced inland to defend a land assault as well. Once Battery Tynes and Pringle were constructed downstream in 1863, Fort Pemberton was of less strategic importance. In June 1864, Fort Pemberton was manned by Company B, 15th Battalion, South Carolina Heavy Artillery, commanded by Captain Guignard Richardson. Its armament at that time was two 32-pounder banded rifled guns and two 32-pounder smoothbore cannon. The fort was described in February 1865 by Union troops as “a large well-built work, heavily armed.” Fort Pemberton and the rest of Charleston’s defenses were evacuated on February 17, 1865. A home was built on top of the earthen fort in 1948. The surviving 8.5 acres was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The property owner whose home is built atop the earthworks conveyed a conservation easement on Fort Pemberton to the South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust in 2009. The city of Charleston recently purchased the property to establish a park here.”

Elliott’s or Wappoo Cut- 32.7666218, -80.0009109

Redoubt #3

Redoubt Number 3- 32.726555, -79.93815. From the SC Battleground Trust website– “Redoubt #3 was one of six Confederate earthwork fortifications constructed during 1861 and 1862 across the center of James Island from a tributary of James Island Creek on Croskey Royall’s Plantation, south to Stiles Mellichamp’s Plantation on Clark Sound. In November 1863, it was armed with one 24-pounder smoothbore cannon. These earthworks were collectively known as the East Lines. They were designed, with other earthworks located to the west, to protect Charleston from a Federal attack originating from the Stono River. In late 1863, when the stronger and better placed “New Lines” were constructed nearer the Stono River, the East Lines became obsolete. This redoubt and the rest of Charleston’s defenses were evacuated on February 17, 1865. Ownership of Redoubt Number 3 was conveyed to the South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust in 2008.”

One can see from the LiDAR and slope maps below that the redoubt is relatively well preserved with the exception of the southwest corner which was destroyed in the process of creating two parking spaces for the housing complex.

Benham gave approval for Union troops to move on May 28th. The invasion began on June 2nd when Brigadier General Stevens’ division left Port Royal for Stono Inlet and General Horatio Wright’s men were ferried from their Edisto Island camps to Seabrook Island. A short march would bring them to a causeway where they crossed to Johns Island. Temperatures were near 100 degrees and when a transport damaged the Edisto Island wharf the march was halted with only a third of the men on Johns Island. A heavy rainstorm struck the next day and it would not be until the 4th when all the men were across and the march resumed. It rained again on the 4th and it would take until 8:00 AM on the 5th for the leading elements of Wright’s force reached the Stono River. Stevens’ division had come ashore on Battery Island (shown below) on the 2nd and crossed over to Sol Legare Island the same day.

Sol Legare Public Boat Landing- 32.6683485, -79.9972272

The Confederates aware that the Union was coming, sent Captain Charles Edward Chichester with about 70 members of the South Carolina Heavy Artillery company known as the Gist Guards to Sol Legare Island to deploy four 42-pounder carronades (a short large-caliber cannon) to a previously built earthwork near Legare Point where they intended to fire on the unsuspecting Union ships. On crossing Rivers Causeway to the island from James Island they lost the first of their four carronades around 10:00 PM when it fell into the marsh mud. The next day on June 2nd the battery engaged in fire with Union ships in the Stono. At 3:00 PM Stevens’ division began to land. After landing Colonel Morrison conducted a reconnaissance across Sol Legare Island. They encountered Rebel pickets near the causeway. After dark Captain Chichester quietly began moving the three remaining guns back to safety. In the process he lost two of them in the mud. On the June 3rd General Gist ordered Colonel Ellison Capers and 4 companies of the 24th SC to retrieve the cannons. Capers was warned by his pickets that there were Yankees just across the marsh on the other side of the causeway. Capers attempted to clear the area before trying to extricate the cannons. The Union soldiers were members of the 100th PA, 79th NY and 28th MA. They were the first three regiments that had come ashore. Captain Stephen Elliot of the 79th NY was in charge.

Today the Rivers Causeway is largely on private property except for the west and east ends. The west end of the Rivers Causeway- 32.6896606, -79.9685658, which Capers men were traveling east on. Picture taken on Battery Island Drive looking east.

The action that occurred is shown on the map below.

Colonel Morrison halted his men near the Legare plantation house and slave quarters at the intersection with the Old Sol Legare Road and ordered the 28th MA forward. The intersection (32.6810165, -79.9674027) is shown below.

East End of River’s Causeway- 32.6804569, -79.9700908. The Old Sol Legare Road that the 28th MA were marching west on is shown below. The road continues onto private property. The Rebels were on the other side of the causeway.

The 28th MA were driven back by the Confederates and the two sides settled down to a long-range firing duel. When Lieutenant Colonel Peter Gaillard arrived with most of the 1st SC (Charleston Battlion) Capers decided to attack. Capers attacked the Union center and Gaillard the Union right. Twenty two men from the 100th PA became isolated and were captured. Union ships in the Stono River began firing into the Rebel ranks and they retreated leaving the cannons behind. It then began raining heavily. Two companies of the 79th NY retrieved two of the cannons shortly thereafter. The 8th MI would get the third one the next day. Over the next few days it rained heavily as Stevens organized his camps, consolidated his defenses, and got the 8th MI and 46th NY ashore while waiting for General Wright to arrive. On June 6th and 7th Wright began moving the 3rd NH and 7th CT across the Stono River to Sol Legare Island. General Stevens was sending reconnaissance missions out toward the Grimball Plantation to the west and toward Secessionville on the 8th. Unfortunately none of the reconnaissance conducted by the Federals revealed the condition of the ground around the Tower Battery, which would be a crucial problem in the upcoming battle. On three consecutive days from June 7-9 a balloon reconnaissance was conducted of James Island by John Starkweather from Sol Legare Island that also did not apparently provide information regarding the unique topography of the Tower Battery location on the Secessionville peninsula. By the 9th Wright had his men across the river and in the area of the Grimball plantations shown below. Through much of the 9th Colonel Lamar began shelling the Union camps on Battery and Sol Legare Islands. The bombardment was stopped by General Pemberton in order to conserve ammunition for a likely upcoming battle.

Intersection of the Grimball Farm Lane and Robin Rooke Lane at the bend where the Farm Lane turns east and becomes a dirt road (32.6998952, -79.9829139).

Wright’s camps were down the farm lane shown below.

Pemberton ordered Brigadier General William Duncan Smith, who had assumed command on James Island on June 5th, to attack the Federal left flank near Grimball’s on the 10th. Johnson Haywood would lead the 1st SC, 4th LA Battalion and the 47th GA. The troops gathered near the Presbyterian Church and moved forward after a midday artillery bombardment (see map of the battle below).

The terrain was difficult and the 47th GA advanced ahead of their comrades. They met the 47th NY, and 45th and 97th PA and were repulsed. As the other two Confederate regiments came up they were fired upon by the 3rd RI Heavy Artillery and gunboats on the Stono River. Hagood quickly retreated back to the Church and reported his failure to General Smith. The Confederates suffered 60-70 casualties with the Federals burying 16 of them on the battlefield. Three men from the 97th PA were killed and about a dozen wounded.

Field shown below where the battle was fought- 32.7031161, -79.9773044.

The same field but the picture was taken from Sea Water Drive- 32.7042669, -79.9784551

Smith accosted his commanding officer General Pemberton for ordering the attack and Pemberton considered placing him under arrest but subsequently relented. The attack, however, did have one positive repercussion for the Confederates in the effect it had on the Union commanding officer General Hunter. Hunter did not see the assault as a Rebel failure but rather as an example of their strength. He felt that they would not have risked such a bold attack unless they had superior numbers. Hunter met with Benham on the 11th and then inexplicably returned to Hilton Head on the 12th. Before he left he gave Benham the following instructions: “You will make no attempt to advance on Charleston or to attack Fort Johnson until largely re-enforced or until you receive specific instructions from these headquarters to that effect.” He did, however, also go on to state that you will provide for a secure entrenched encampment.

On the 12th Pemberton ordered Brigadier General Nathan Shanks to bring his 2 regiments from Adams Run to Charleston. On the 14th the 79th NY mounted three guns near the eastern tip of Sol Legare Island and named the site Battery Stevens, which was about about 2,000 yards from Confederate guns at Fort Lamar on the Secessionville peninsula. A nearby battery was also set up and called Fort Williams. The areas of both are shown below.

Stem Point Cemetery Stevens Battery location- 32.6873654, -79.9561251

Location of Battery Williams- 32.6882168, -79.9615082

After the Battle at Grimball’s plantation both sides spent the next several days fortifying their positions. On June 15th Pemberton ordered Brigadier General Evans and his men to James Island from Adams Run. Later that evening on the Union side Benham summoned Generals Stevens and Wright and Colonel Williams to meet with him and Commander Drayton aboard the Delaware. Around 9:00 PM he informed them they would attack at dawn the next day. Drayton would later recall that none of the three subordinate officers were in favor of the plan. Benham felt that his attack on the Tower Battery on the Secessionville peninsula did not violate Hunter’s orders since he would not be attacking Charleston or Fort Johnson and that his purpose was to ensure the safety of his camps. However, Hunter had also given Benham permission to withdraw to Hilton Head if required, which would have better ensured the safety of his men. They would attack the next day at 4:00 AM.

Next- The Battle of Secessionville- Part 2

Sources

The Battle of Secessionville, Yankee Debacle at Charleston, South Carolina Blue and Gray Magazine Winter 1999.

Six Miles from Charleston Five Minutes to Hell Emerging Civil War Series by James A. Morgan.

Secessionville, Assault on Charleston by Patrick Brennan.