Battles for Control of the Charleston and Savannah Railroad Series- 1862

From the Parris IslandMuseum- From November 6, 1861 to March 5, 1862, General Robert E. Lee commanded the Confederate forces in the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Lee established his headquarters at the village of Coosawhatchie, located on the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. To protect this vital link and maintain communications within his own department, Lee began a system of fortifications designed to stop enemy strikes from the Sea Islands. Lee purchased a horse for his “long inspection tours,” naming him Traveler.

When Port Royal and Beaufort fell in November of 1861 the newly assigned commander of the Department of South, General Robert E. Lee, changed the coastal-defense strategy of South Carolina. Prior to Lee the focus was on protecting almost all of the entrances to rivers and bays. However, the overwhelming superiority of the Federal Navy made this strategy impractical. Lee decided to shift his defenses upriver where the shallower and narrower rivers made it harder for Union ships to penetrate inland. He would concentrate on protecting the inland 120-mile Charleston and Savannah Railroad with forts and batteries along the rivers downstream from the bridges that crossed them. He would be able to stop Union advances from penetrating into the state by quickly shifting troops along the railroad. In order to attack the railroad the Union would first need a way to get onto the mainland from their base in the Sea Islands. They would first need to seize control of the Port Royal Ferry.

The Battle of Port Royal Ferry