On July 10, 1863, Union troops seized the southern tip of Morris Island. The island was crucial to the defense of Charleston Harbor. General Beauregard, commanding the port city’s defenses, made a frantic call for reinforcements. Clingman’s Brigade was ordered to proceed to Charleston immediately. The 51st North Carolina was the first of Clingman’s regiments… Continue reading Colonel McKethan’s Dispatches from Charleston, July 1863
Tag: Defense of Charleston
The John J. Wilson Letters: A Summary
The Letters Private John James Wilson enlisted in Company B of the Fifty-First North Carolina on April 19, 1862. The 19-year-old Duplin County native listed his occupation as a farmer when he signed up for the war. Over the next year, Private Wilson regularly wrote to his mother, Amanda. Twenty of his letters survived; they… Continue reading The John J. Wilson Letters: A Summary
War of Words: The Surgeon vs. the General
Background The 51st North Carolina arrived in Charleston on July 11, 1863. The next day, the regiment was ferried across the harbor to Morris Island, where the soldiers garrisoned Battery Wagner. Six days later, on the 18th of July, the Fifty-First fought off a furious Federal assault on the small fort. The Tar Heels left… Continue reading War of Words: The Surgeon vs. the General