Gate of Hell: Campaign for Charleston Harbor, 1863
Study of the Union's Campaign for Charleston. The many attacks the Union attempted that summer to capture the cradle of the Confederacy. Overview of the campaign, focusing on the relationships between the Army and the Navy of the United States

Charleston Harbor
Fort Sumter
Civil War South Carolina

American Civil War
April 7, 1863


Charlestonians in War: The Charleston Battalion
The history of a Confederate unit that was central to the defense of Charleston: the 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry Battalion, usually known simply as the Charleston Battalion

In April, Major General David Hunter prepared his land forces on Folly, Cole's, and North Edisto Islands to cooperate with a naval bombardment of Fort Sumter.

On April 7, the South Atlantic Squadron under Rear Admiral S.F. Du Pont bombarded Fort Sumter, having little impact on the Confederate defenses of Charleston Harbor.

Although several of Hunter's units had embarked on transports, the infantry were not landed, and the joint operation was abandoned.

The ironclad warships Keokuk, Weehawken, Passaic, Montauk, Patapsco, New Ironsides, Catskill, Nantucket, and Nahant participated in the bombardment. 

Keokuk, struck more than 90 times by the accurate Confederate fire, sunk the next day.

Result(s): Confederate victory (Warships were repulsed.)

Location: Charleston County

Campaign: Operations against Defenses of Charleston (1863) next battle in campaign   Campaigns

Date(s): April 7, 1863

Principal Commanders:  Rear Admiral S.F. Du Pont [US]; General P.G.T. Beauregard [CS]

Forces Engaged: 9 warships

Estimated Casualties: 36 total (US 22; CS 14)


P.G.T. Beauregard: Napoleon in Gray
Beauregard often gets overlooked, he was never as beloved as Lee or Stonewall Jackson, but he was capable, the man had a sharp mind and Lee understood this, even if Jefferson Davis did not

"Panoramic View of Charleston Harbor. -- Advance of Ironclads to the Attack, April 7th, 1863"
Line engraving published in "The Soldier in our Civil War", Volume II, page 172, with a key to individual ships and land features shown.
U.S. Navy ships present are (from left to center): Keokuk , Nahant , Nantucket , Catskill , New Ironsides , Patapsco , Montauk , Passaic and Weehawken .


Don Troiani's Regiments and Uniforms of the Civil War
Individual units that earned their reputations on the battlefield and the distinctive uniforms they wore. In addition to 130 paintings of battle scenes and individual figures, the book also includes more than 250 full-color photographs of the uniforms the soldiers wore and the accouterments they carried 		South Carolina State Battle Map
State Battle Maps
American Civil War Exhibits
Civil War Submarines
Ships and Naval Battles
Confederate Naval History
Civil War Summary
Civil War Timeline
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Civil War Confederate Army Revolver

American Civil War Book Titles

Siege Train: The Journal of a Confederate Artilleryman in the Defense of Charleston

Confederate Charleston: An Illustrated History of the City and the People During the Civil War
This book has so many facts that I had never read and pictures I'd never seen. The author really went into detail about the city and pictures that I haven't found in any other book.
Ironclads and Big Guns of the Confederacy : The Journal and Letters of John M. Brooke
Information about the Confederate Navy's effort to supply its fledgling forces, the wartime diaries and letters of John M. Brooke tell the neglected story of the Confederate naval ordnance office, its innovations, and its strategic vision.
Naval Strategies of the Civil War: Confederate Innovations and Federal Opportunism
Compare and contrast the strategies of the Southern Secretary of the Navy, Mallory, against his rival in the North, Welles. Mallory used technological innovation and the skill of individuals to bolster the South's seapower against the Union Navy's superior numbers

Reign of Iron: The Story of the First Battling Ironclads, the Monitor and the Merrimack
The first ironclad ships to fight each other, the Monitor and the Virginia (Merrimack), were the unique products of American design genius
The Civil War on Hatteras Island North Carolina
New light on the experiences of Civil War soldiers stationed on the Outer Banks. It follows the crucial maritime battles along the Outer Banks and the famous Burnsides Expedition. Aa fascinating history of how one of America's most treasured islands played a significant part in the Civil War
Confederate Ironclad vs Union Ironclad: Hampton Roads 1862
The Ironclad was a revolutionary weapon of war. Although iron was used for protection in the Far East during the 16th century, it was the 19th century and the American Civil War that heralded the first modern armored self-propelled warships.
Release date Nov. 2008
The Perfect Steel Trap: Harpers Ferry 1859
Eye-witness accounts of the John Brown insurrection from people like Lee, Brown's family, and ordinary citizens. The information has been gathered by two of the raiders who escaped and live to tell about it Owen Brown and Osborne Anderson. The preparations, the raid, the trials, the executions and the aftermath of the event

Civil War History Documentary DVD Movie Titles

Halls of Honor
The U.S. Navy Museum takes you on an informed and entertaining romp through one of North America s oldest and finest military museums. The museum has been in continuous operation at the Washington Navy Yard since the American Civil War
Raise The Alabama
She was known as "the ghost ship." During the Civil War, the CSS Alabama sailed over 75,000 miles and captured more than 60 Union vessels. But her career came to an end in June of 1864 when she was sunk by the USS Kearsarge off the coast of Northern France
Civil War Combat: America's Bloodiest Battles
The violent mayhem of the hornet's nest at Shiloh, the valiant charge on the sunken road at Antietam, the carnage in the wheat field at Gettysburg, and the brutal fighting at Cold Harbor
Civil War Journal - The Conflict Begins
These four programs from the History Channel series Civil War Journal cover critical aspects of the early days of the war.

History Channel Presents The Civil War
From Harper's Ferry, Fort Sumter, and First Bull Run to Shiloh, Antietam, and Gettysburg. The most legendary Civil War battles in brilliant detail. A selection of the soldiers and legendary leaders.
The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns
Here is the saga of celebrated generals and ordinary soldiers, a heroic and transcendent president and a country that had to divide itself in two in order to become one
The Blue and the Gray
The Complete Miniseries
The Civil War proved a backdrop for this 1982 miniseries. Complete and uncut three disc set. Two families divided by the War Between the States. A Southerner caught when he becomes a war correspondent for the Northern newspaper. He finds himself  where history's in the making from the Battle of Bull Run to Abraham Lincoln's assassination
Blue Vs. Gray - Killing Fields
Relive the most vicious fighting of the Civil War, in which General Ulysses S. Grant forcibly reversed the tide of the conflict by paying with the blood of thousands. It was a desperate time for the Union

Sources:
U.S. National Park Service
U.S. Library of Congress.

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