Controlling this area meant access to charleston, South Carolina, an important confederate port city. This was part of the emerging civil war blog symposium. Its 50 minutes. Its my honor to present our next speaker who currently serves as a primary and secondary educator with the Public School district in northeast ohio. Previously dan was the Education Programs coordinator for the Gettysburg Foundation and also continues to serve as a seasonal park ranger at Gettysburg National military park. Dan received his bachelor of arts from Youngstown State University where he studied instrumental music education, particularly in the french horn, which i understand is pretty much means learning how to play on the upbeat for anything that souza has composed. Dan provides a valuable service here for emergence civil war, something you receive every month. He solicits all the news and notes for the merging civil war newsletter. And its certainly a tasking, thankless job. For as much as we love to write about history, we dont like to write an email a whole lot in response. So, sorry for not providing anything for the july newsletter. Dans a great guy, member of the emerging civil war organization. Its my pleasure to welcome here to the stage. Dan welch, ladies and gentlemen. [ applause ] well, good afternoon everyone. When we think about civil war charleston, we think about the hot bed of the Secessionist Movement, the early or first Secession Convention as the war is on the horizon. We think about battery wagner. Since Denzel Washington wasnt available to give you a presentation today, were going to be talking about an aspect of civil war charleston that has been forgotten, and that is the battle of secessionville or as i would like to term it today the forgotten door to charleston. There have been federal operations in the area for them. Following those naval actions, federal general Brigadier General would take island. But despite the early successes with federal operations in the area, washington, d. C. Became impatient with the tempo of the am can pampaign that thomas she had been taking and would replace him with Major General david hunter in april of 1862. General hunter, upon his appointment, would bring henry benham with him, a Brigadier General to the operations. At the time of the battle of secessionville, benham is 48 years old. Hes a west point graduate and graduated first in his class. He graduated from the corps of engineers. He became a skilled officer in his first ten years of service and served with distinction in the mexicanamerican war being wounded in action. I tell you that all today because i want you to give to give you a little idea of who henry benham was pictured on the second from the left on the screen in the american civil war. Many did not hold such high esteem for his early precivil war resume. Brigadier general Isaac Stevens who was involved in these active operations in the vicinity of Charleston Harbor, quote, an ass. He was a dreadful man of no earthly use except as a nuisance and obstruction. They described him as imby sill. I believe general rose krants was not far from wrong when he charged him with cowardice, drunkenness, and lying. If we take charleston, it will not be his fault. This is rather bitter. But it is a shame to put such men in command. Henry taft will describe benham as a coward. This assessment will further foreshadow the events of 1862. Despite these observations within two weeks upon the arrival of the theater, they reduced fort polaski. This was at a period when federal strategy was still focusing honesties much like the drive against richmond and now the drive against charleston. Now, there had already been plans in place but upon his arrival he decided he would like to plan his own campaign and hes going to dismiss all of those earlier proposals including the ones that stevens had worked on. Benham instead proposes massing a federal division under Brigadier GeneralHoracio Wright on the island halfway between hilton head and charleston, have them cross johns island. Meanwhile, stevens division on Port Royal Island would embark on a fleet of transports and steam directly inland. General benham believed it would only take a matter of days after that for the fall of those defenses to get to Charleston Harbor. But the timetable that generals hunter and benham envisioned for this campaign would radically change as they learned new intelligence about the confederate numbers and strengths in the area by an escaped slave by the name of robert smalls. Smalls had stolen a confederate ship and would share his knowledge of the confederate defenses with hunter. Hunter would give benham the okay to begin executing his plan of operations in the area. Now, as the federal campaign against charleston began in june of 1862, the relationships in the confederate high command in the theater was strained at best. The previous commander in the department of South Carolina and george, perhaps someone youve heard of before in virginia, robert e. Lee had left months earlier for richmond and he had been since replaced by pimm ber ton. Pemberton would clash with everyone including rip lee pictures on the screen. Riply was unable to get along with or work with pemberton. And he began petitioning to be transferred out of the district. To replace ripley, pemberton would rise through the ranks. As all of these shifting of officers would occur, letters began pouring into richmond to lead requesting someone, anyone, to replace john c. Pemberton. William miles, former United States congressman wrote a letter begging him to replace b pemberton as he does not possess the confidence of his troops and the people. He would even rk mend the abandoning of fort sumpter in Charleston Harbor fulfilling an earlier design of strategy that robert e. Lee laid out before leaving for richmond. This suggestion of abandoning these forts was the last straw for confederate officials in South Carolina including governor pickens who blew his top upon hearing this. And pickens would now join a whole chorus of those begging richmond for a new Department Commander. Now, contrarily to all the problems the confederate high command were having in this theater, those officers and men that were in the ranks, those that were stationed in the trenches, those manning the guns as they say were performing quite well. They were working together to strengthen these defensive positions including a fort known as tower battery. Now, as the campaign would begin, general benhams plan would go into action when the invasion of james island began in the early hours of june 2nd, 1862. General wrights division would begin their move to the causeway to johns island. What is supposed to be a daylong movement per general benhams instructions would take wrights men days as the high heat, rains turning roads to mud slowing their progress. Finally on june 5th, three days later, the leadment wills of wrights division reached their assigned destination. Edwin metcalf, a member of the third rhode island heavy artillery would recall the march during this period. He said our army was floundered. I saw the heartiest of my command proud sit down and cry like children while they cut off their shoes and dragged themselves along to shelter. As wrights men were struggling to get to their assigned destination per benhams plan, stevens division had been on the east bank for three days. Stevens division had landed on june 2nd and crossed over to the island. Other new camp in the area of operations, james c. Stevenson of the 100 pennsylvania volunteer infantry also known as the round heads wrote this. He said the island was low in marsh, nearly covered with vines, brush, and timber. It was with difficulty we could find dry ground to sleep on. Mosquitos bled us day and night. William todd also recalled the irons when he wrote quote we found ourselves in the most unpleasant and uncomfortable camp we ever occupied. It was surrounded by swamps and the thick enough to cut with a knife. How sour and moldy. Everything smelled. You could imagine the conditions of setting up this new camp against this backdrop and this environment. The following day, however, stevens men would push out from their new camp on the island. As they did so, the loss of three confederate guns during a retreat of the previous day by Brigadier General states rights would bring these units into combat. States rights had determined to recover these guns that had gotten stuck as the locals called it pluf mud of the vicinity. They would order four companies of the 24 South Carolina under the command of Ellison Capers to get the job done. Capers decided to engage pickets operating in the area of the abandoned guns before recovering them. Thus, as the two sides began to collide, the fire would become general and capers would engage men from the 100th virginia and 79th masses ma. The force would break the squirmish line, capture 20 men of the 100th pennsylvania, the first soldiers to be captured in the campaign. Not long after this engagement started, federal naval guns would open up. It would drive capers force into the nearby woods. Despite capers success of breaking the squirmish line, he failed in his plan to get the abandoned guns. He didnt rescue any of them. As the confederates pulled out, members of the 79th new york would push forward and retrieve two out of the three abandoned pieces. Following the squirmish, stevens men would spend the next few days consolidating their defenses and organizing their regimens. Pressure on james island and the confederate defenses there were building. As the pressure was mounting and stevens and wrights divisions were spreading out, the army of the potomac continued to move up the virginia peninsula, applying pressure on the defenses around the confederate capital of richmond. With mcclellans army moving daily, numerous calls across the many theaters of this conflict begging for reinforcements of those that were not currently under imminent threat of attack. Thus on june 5th, richmond would contact pemberton. Pemberton in response would send a brigade of troops then stationed in savannah, georgia to rich nond mondmond. One against during this campaign a departure of an officer would cause yet another shifting of new commands in the face of enemy. William smith pictured right on the screen would take command of the Confederate Forces on james island making his ed headquarters at the village of secessionville. One of the sessions when i talk about secessionville is how did the place get its name. The name of secessionville is rooted in very deep mythology and legend. It was originally known as riversville and the exact reason as to why the name was changed is a mystery. Historians can make several conjectures. One of the reasons is they became known as such as planters of the planter class would secede in the summertime to this small village. Another story goes that two youths in the area seceded from their elders and would establish a residence in the area and name it secessionville. Most historians point to the abortive 185152 Secessionist Movement as why riversville became secessionville. As duncan smith became commander of the of the defenses, he would quickly implement a new force and new tactic in the department, a new tactic and force that he would call, quote, advanced forces which would be a mobile unit that could be moved or shifted quickly to any areas along the defensive line very quickly. He would also implement three forward bases for the confederate defense of james island, something his predecessors in command of the forces had not done. Over the coming weeks as smith is working on strengthening the defenses on james island, through june 6 to june 10 grimble plantation became the focus of a growing defensive line and the confederate probes of it. E Isaac Stevens men would perform reconnaissance north ward and a second reconnaissance of the left and center of the rebel line itself in the area on june 8th. Meanwhile Horacio Wrights men had begun exploring the proper and on june 8th they had gotten a toe hold there and began transferring position to that property the following day on june 9th. By night fall on the 9th, they had an occupied and armed camp. As the arrival of stevens and righ wrights men and their growing position. In command of forts known as tower battery, officers there were monitoring the development of these federal operations. The officer in charge of the day was a man by the name of colonel thomas lamar. He had developed into an aggressive leader. He had been born to a prominent plantation family and he was a planter himself until he was elected to the state General Assembly in 1860 where he was a strong supporter of the Secessionist Movement. When the war broke out in 1861, lamar would receive appointment to serve as a staff officer on the governor of South Carolinas staff. But he very quickly found himself bored and he petitioned for a field command which he would finally get and he would rise through the ranks following his shift in assignment. Colonel thomas lamar at battery tower, tower battery, excuse me, was begin to construct their camp on june 9th, ordered his gun inside the battery to open fire. Lamar would keep his guns firing hour after hour after hour for nearly 24 hours until people be pemberton would send an order to stop firing, conserve your ammunition. Lamar ignores the order and decides to not order them to stop firing, just slack it, their rate of fire. The following day on june 10th, pember ton, perhaps inspired by lamars aggressive action, would order general Williams Smith to probe a new union line and defense perimeter that had been established. The reconsons would koconnaissa given to the mobile forces. As the first South Carolina 47th georgia and 4th louisiana battalion pushed towards the northwest defensive line of Horatio Wrights position, companies of the 47th new york, 45th p. A. , and 97th pennsylvania would push outside of their defenses and engage colonel johnsons command. Captain William Williams of the 47th georgia bringing his men into battle line, yelled above the growing din of the battle. Now then, boys, give them hell. And the battle would begin. The confederate reconnaissance were quickly decimated with combined federal, naval, infantry and artillery. Firing into the advancing confederate lines it would break johnson haggoodes determine to continue the reconnaissance. He would later report to general smith that the operation had failed. Not only had it failed, but it failed to gain any valuable information on these new union positions. By june 10th, general hunter is now preparing to leave james island. The Department Commander decides to head back to his headquarters at hilton ed, noting matters afecting the safety of the command and other portions of the department called for his presence. What hunter doesnt say in those official words is that what was demanding his presence was his wife who was quite bored at headquarters in hilton head and looking for something other to do. So hunter is going to go make his way back to headquarters in hilton head. Before he leaves, he was going hell send two different directives with specific orders in writing on june 10th and june 11th of what benham could do and not do while hunter was gone at hilton head. Here is what hes instructed benham to do, the words are important in understanding the outcome in the battle of secessionville. Quote, you will make no attempt to advance on charleston or to attack fort johnson until largely reinforced or until you receive specific instructions from these headquarters to that effect. You will, however, find for a secure entrenched encampment where your front can be covered by the fire from the gunboats from the stono river on the left and the creek from Falling River on the right. In essence benham is not allowed to make any sort of offensive action. But hes allowed to provide for the defense of wrights and stevens divisions that are in camp on james island. Remember those descriptions of benham . About that stevens made, imbecile, vasilytory, not fit to command . Benham, upon receiving the orders from hunt, will ignore them in the coming days. Benham believes a Quick Movement towards tower battery could be successful with minimum casualties. It would allow those men to push forward, attack fort johnson and could bring charleston within their grasp just in the days time. Benham will make this fateful decision on june 15th. By this time, colonel lamars guns at tower battery had been hitting near the federal camps at grimballs plantation. Since hunter said benham had to protect the camps, he felt an attack was within his orders. He ordered his command to get ready and called his sbo subordinates ready. General steven and wright expressed reservations about the plan. But benham ordered it done anyway. Following the counsel, he would write his wife and say this, we are now attempting an enterprise for which our force is entirely inadequate. The want of a proper commander is fearful. We shall try to prevent any disaster occurring. This is all i can say at present. Foreshadowing in stevens words are omnipresent. Benham will tell his officers that the attack is necessary to capture or destroy tower battery and the floating battery next to it and it is of his opinion there is no alternative. Since those batteries covered their mens camps. Furthermore, if these positions were lost, the eventual movement on fort johnson and charleston would b