During the Civil War era Valentine’s Day cards were popular among the lonely soldiers and their waiting wives and sweethearts. The country had many plants that manufactured cards, targeting soldiers away from home. Some of the cards showed sweethearts parting and others pictured battlefield tents. Other Valentines were more creative, such as a heart split in two, reflecting the absence of their loved ones and the soldiers longing for their homes.

Troops encamped in tents made window Valentines with flaps to reveal a soldier inside waiting for his sweetheart with open arms. Another popular novelty during the Civil War was a Valentine containing a lock of hair from a girlfriend or wife far away, which the soldiers treasured. Something known as a Puzzle Purse was invented during this time as well. These were formed by folding the four corners of a square envelope inward and writing a message on the inside of each flap. Many times the puzzle contained a piece of jewelry or a lock of a lover’s hair.

Remember your loved ones on this special day and put some thought into doing Valentine’s Day the old fashioned way; write a nice poem or make a handmade card from you to your dearest.

Christmas is upon us once again and everyone is busy preparing food for the Holiday feast or doing last-minute shopping at the mall or online. It’s hard to imagine the soldiers during the Civil War, spending Christmas away from their families.

Many holiday traditions we enjoy today became commonplace during the Civil War, including Christmas trees, Santa Claus, gift-giving, caroling, and holiday feasting. Christmas was celebrated in both the United and the Confederate States but the day didn’t become an official Federal holiday until five years after the war ended in an attempt by President Ulysses S. Grant to unite the north and south.

One of the most popular Christmas traditions, the Christmas tree, had become popular in the years leading up the war, and in the early 1860s, many families started to decorate them. Many families spent lonely Christmases during the war but most of them still had a Christmas tree, which became the centerpiece for the home. The trees were often small and sat on a table, adorned with homemade decorations such as strings of dried fruit, popcorn, pine cones, colored paper and silver foil. It was only a matter of time before the Christmas tree made its way into military camps, decorated by the soldiers with salt pork and hardtack.

Christmas, however, also made the pain of being separated from loved ones more acute. As the Civil War dragged on, bountiful meals were replaced with deprivations and familiar faces were missing from the family dinner table. Soldiers were scavenging for firewood and singing drinking songs around the campfire instead of caroling in church. Children in the devastated South received fewer presents, many of them homemade such as carved toys, cakes or fruits. Children worried about the Union blockade stopping Santa Claus on his way south and excuses for the lack of Santa included one where the Yankees had shot him.

Christmas carols, hymns and seasonal songs were sung during the period both at home and in the camps. Some of the popular ones such as “Silent Night”, “Deck the Halls”, “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” are still sung today.

Given our present day technology, it’s hard to imagine how difficult it must have been for soldiers and their families to be separated during Christmas. So this year, no matter how much eggnog Uncle Ken has had or how ugly the sweater your mother-in-law gifted you is, let’s all take a moment to appreciate our loved ones during the Holidays!

No one ever knew for sure how the fire started. One account has the fire starting from a cooking fire lit by slaves for their master, who had fled before the Union soldiers advancing in the coastal islands. Mysterious fires were often blamed on slaves during the Civil War era, but the Great Fire of 1861 was believed to have started from that cooking fire at Russell and Company’s Sash and Blind factory on Hasell Street. The fire spread quickly, fueled by a windy Nor’easter and an endless supply of wooden buildings—and because most of the city’s firemen had left to join the army. Many people were able to save some of their belongings, but few could stop the fire from destroying their homes.

It took weeks to tally the city’s losses, but in the end the burned area covered 540 acres and over 500 hundred buildings. Locals estimated the damages at the time to be $7 million dollars.

With the city in shambles, the people of Charleston turned out to help. Business was suspended and planters sent produce into town for the needy. “Soup houses” were opened to feed those left homeless and relief committees were established to house the homeless and to raise money for the victims. Even the Georgia legislature sent money.

For the remainder of the Civil War Charleston lay in ruins. The effects of the fire were long lasting and rebuilding was slow in the decades following the Civil War. Damages caused by the fire often came to be associated with damages from the war and photographs of the burned city were often misrepresented as damage caused by Union guns. In reality, however, the Great Fire of 1861 did more damage to our city in one night than the “Lincolnites” could have ever hoped for.

As we near the 2011 holiday season, I often wonder what Christmastime was like for Charleston residents in the midst of the Civil War. One way to explore this is to take in “Christmas 1860,” an event at the Edmondston-Alston House on December 2 and 9. The historic home will be decorated in a similar fashion to the way it was in 1860, and historians (dressed to the nines) will tell stories about the Holy City during the Civil War period.

This event will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. both dates, and it will save you a few bucks to purchase tickets in advance ($17.50, versus $22.50 at the door).

In the meantime, we still have Thanksgiving to get through… but I’m always thinking ahead!

For more information about Christmas 1860, visit www.edmondstonalston.org.

See you out there… and bundle up! It’s getting chilly.

Downtown Charleston during the Civil War

A lot of people are surprised to learn that the atmosphere in downtown Charleston today isn’t necessarily that different than during the Civil War. If you walk down to King Street today, I bet you’ll see hundreds of folks strolling amongst the restaurants and shops. And back then, you’d see the same thing. The shops and stores were open, and there was really a sense of normalcy that most people wouldn’t expect to exist during a time of war.

So while Charlestonians were dealing with war, most of the time they were going about their normal activities. They still had dreams, they still had goals, and yes… they still went shopping.

Which brings up the question, was eating out a popular pastime during the Civil War in Charleston?

In the 1860’s, there weren’t many restaurants in town. And frankly, people didn’t go out to eat much. Instead, meals were enjoyed at home around the dinner table, an activity that has become much less prevalent today. While residents and visitors in the Lowcountry have hundreds of choices for meals out on the town, the options during the Civil War were much more scarce.

A family could dine at the restaurant in the Mills House Hotel on Meeting Street for about $1.50. This fine dining experience was a luxury, as that amount was a big price to pay back then. If you stayed overnight at the Mills House Hotel, $3 would probably get you lodging and dinner at the restaurant.

Another restaurant was Nicholas Fehrenbach’s Teetole Restaurant, which was adjacent to the Circular Congregational Church. Fehrenbach, who served in the Confederate army at age 30,  was known for importing fine cigars to the area.

So it was slim pickins for those looking for a nice meal back in the 1860s, but that didn’t matter much since people simply stayed home. But that doesn’t mean you should stay away from Charleston fine dining today, especially during Restaurant Week! After all, we have some great food in our city.

Eat up, and I’ll see you out there.

In light of the birthday of yours truly yesterday (thank you, thank you), I started thinking about how Charlestonians may have celebrated their own birthdays during the Civil War.

Nowadays, there may be parties, festive dinners out, and gifts. Back then, there were also get-togethers, but they usually consisted of just immediate family members. Sometimes, there was a cake. And if the family approved of drinking alcohol, there was usually a bottle of Madiera, the best bottle of wine you could find at the time.

For men, typical birthday gifts may have included a homemade shirt, or possibly an embroidered hankerchief, while family members sang a few rounds of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.” Rarely would someone give a store-bought wardrobe item as a birthday gift. Family members took pride in making things for their loved ones.

Women probably received a pair of gloves (after all, you can’t go wrong with a pair of gloves) or the latest book by Charles Dickens.

Birthdays then, like now, were a time to celebrate family and make your loved ones feel special. The celebrations may have been a little more reserved back then, but they still held the same meaning.

Happy Birthday to anyone celebrating today!

See you out there.

From the website:

This collection from Historic Charleston Foundation consists of B&W photographs of buildings and other properties located in Charleston County that were destroyed, relocated, or otherwise modified because they were in the right-of-way of where roads were being constructed or widened. Building and dwelling types include houses, apartment buildings, freedman’s cottages, mobile homes, commercial and industrial buildings, churches, schools, gas stations, restaurants, grocery stores and corner markets, garages, sheds, outhouses, and other outbuildings.

Visit http://lowcountrydigital.library.cofc.edu/collections/rightofway/

See you out there!

http://www.civilwartraveler.com/EAST/SC/Charleston.html

CIVIL WAR – CHARLESTON

Few places are more closely associated with early Civil War history than Charleston.

Many know the story of the secession fever that gripped the state and the city, resulting in the signing here on Dec. 20, 1860, the document that took South Carolina out of the Union. And most can tell the story of the first shots fired at Fort Sumter a few months later. But Charleston’s Civil War story didn’t end in the spring of 1861.

Many serious Union attempts were made to capture or cut off the city, which became one of the leading ports for blockade runners. Battles on land and sea were fought within a few miles of the city’s famous waterfront. But the Confederates managed to hold Charleston until February 1865, suffering periodic shelling from long-range Union guns.

Despite the bombardment and a great wartime fire, much of the city’s historic fabric remains. The old neighborhoods in Charleston offer one of the best walking experiences in the country. Streets are lined with antebellum homes and historic churches, most having some association with the city’s Civil War history. Fort Sumter is always visible from the waterfront promenades where, more than 140 years ago, people watched the war begin.

Charleston Visitor Center
375 Meeting St, Charleston SC 29403
800-774-0006
 ROAD MAP 
Begin your visit at the main visitor center. It’s open 8:30 am–5:30 pm (closing 30 minutes earlier during the winter). Pick up walking tour and other information there. Catch one of a variety of paid tours and shuttles waiting at the center.

Fort Sumter National Monument

Liberty Square Visitor Education Center
Liberty Square, Charleston SC 29401
Located in downtown Charleston next to the South Carolina Aquarium at the eastern end of Calhoun Street
843-883-3123, www.nps.gov/fosu
 ROAD MAP 
Years of sectional differences and months of high drama finally boiled over when, during the early-morning hours of April 12, 1861, Confederate gunners fired the first shots of the Civil War at this Union bastion in the middle of Charleston Harbor. After 34 hours of pounding, the fort’s commander, Maj. Robert Anderson, surrendered. The victorious Confederates occupied, using the strategic location to keep the Union navy from the harbor and to protect blockade runners. After an unsuccessful Union attempt to bypass the fort by water, Union land-based guns were brought within range, eventually pounding Sumter into rubble.
The advance of Union Gen. William T. Sherman forced the Confederates to evacuate the fort Feb. 17, 1865.
To visit: The fort lies more than 3 miles from downtown in Charleston Harbor, so it can be visited only by boat. Catch a National-Park-Service-authorized shuttle to the fort. The two-hour, 15-minute, cruise includes a tour of the harbor and a one-hour visit to Fort Sumter. The tour boats leave three times daily from each of two locations during the summer months, with a more limited schedule during the winter. Round-trip tickets are $16/adult, $10/child. Details: www.spiritlinecruises.com or call 800-789-3678.
To get the most from your one-hour visit, catch the Sumter shuttle at the new downtown Education Center. A large parking deck is available a block away. Exhibits at the Center examine the growing national crisis and the increasingly strident arguments over slavery that led to secession and the first shots. Bookstore. The Education Center is open 8:30 am–5 pm daily and is free.
The Sumter shuttle also leaves from Patriots Point in Mt. Pleasant. Private boats also may be used.

Fort Moultrie
1214 Middle St, Sullivan’s Island SC 29482
843-883-3123, www.nps.gov/fomo
 ROAD MAP 
   One of the key spots guarding Charleston Harbor, forts have been located on this site since the Revolutionary War. Deemed indefensible, the Union garrison abandoned Fort Moultrie after South Carolina seceded in December 1860, moving to Fort Sumter. A few months later, Confederates occupying the fort joined in the bombardment that opened the Civil War. Self-guided tours. Open 9 am–5 pm daily. $3 adults. Administered by the Fort Sumter National Monument.

The H.L. Hunley

On Feb. 17, 1864, the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunleyslipped into Charleston Harbor, its crew hand-cranking the cigar-shaped vessel toward Union ships blockading the port. Later that night the Hunley managed to spear the USS Housatonic with an explosive device, sinking the huge Union warship. Mystery surrounds what happened next.
After signaling toward shore, the Hunley disappeared, not to be seen again for more than 130 years.
Author Clive Cussler discovered the Hunley in 1995. It was raised carefully amid much ceremony and celebration in 2000. Today, the famous Confederate sub is undergoing painstaking conservation in Charleston. Many artifacts and remains of the eight-man crew have been removed.
All three crews who manned the Hunley are buried in Magnolia Cemetery (see listing below).

Seeing the Hunley

Warren Lasch Conservation Center
1250 Supply St, North Charleston SC 29405
(Located in a former U.S. Navy base north of Charleston)
www.hunley.org, 843-744-2186
Tickets: 877-448-6539 or www.etix.com
 ROAD MAP 
The public is invited to view the Hunley (weekends only, 10 am–5 pm Saturday, noon–5 pm Sunday) as it undergoes conservation. Visitors to the Conservation Center see exhibits and films describing the history of the submarine and its recovery. Objects recovered from the wreck include the $20 gold piece carried by Lt. George Dixon, commander of the Hunley. A large shopping area features Hunley-related clothing and other items.
Admission is $12 plus a service fee, and reservations are strongly recommended. It’s well worth it. A few walk-up tickets may be available. Review dates for the timed tours, get directions to the Lasch Center and learn about the history and recovery of the Hunley at the website. For more information, contact the Friends of the Hunley, 1250 Supply St., Building 255, Charleston SC 29405.

There is more information about the Hunley, including full-sized models, at both the Charleston Museum and the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia. See also Magnolia Cemetery below.

Charleston Museum
360 Meeting St, Charleston SC 29403
(across from the main Charleston Visitor Center)
843-722-2996
 ROAD MAP 
Founded in the 1700s, this museum features exhibits covering a wide variety of Charleston and Low Country history including an excellent Civil War section. The Civil War exhibit, “City Under Siege,” examines the crisis that led to South Carolina’s secession (decided in Charleston) and the subsequent firing on Fort Sumter. Using maps, artifacts and illustrations, the displays also outline Charleston’s troubled journey through the rest of the war as Confederate defenses were tested by various Union attempts to capture the city. The bombardment of the city by Union batteries is described. A special section on the CSS Hunley is offered, and a life-sized model of the submarine is located near the museum’s front entrance. This is an excellent place to get oriented to a Civil War visit to Charleston. Open 9 am–5 pm Monday–Saturday, 1–5 pm Sunday. $10 adults.

Fort Lamar Heritage Preserve
(Battle of Secessionville)
Near James Island, Charleston SC 29412
 ROAD MAP 
    Union forces attacked Charleston’s outer defensive line on James Island June 16, 1862, hoping to capture the island’s forts and gain favorable positions for bombarding the city or even capture it. Confederates at this strongpoint at Fort Lamar managed to repel the attack. A short self-guided walking tour covers the remains of the fort and the battle history. The site is open daily dawn to dusk.
 To get there: From Charleston, take Route 17 to James Island then south on Folly Road. Look for the Fort Lamar sign, turn left onto Grimball Road. Turn right after sign on Secessionville Road, then left at sign onto Fort Lamar Road. Entrance to the site is 0.8 miles on left.

Magnolia Cemetery
70 Cunningham Ave, Charleston SC 29405
843-722-8638
 ROAD MAP 
Beautiful 1850 cemetery with plenty of atmosphere is the location of the graves of more than 2,200 Civil War veterans, 14 signers of the Ordinance of Secession, and 84 Confederate soldiers moved here from the Gettysburg battlefield. The crews of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley — now including the men from the sub’s final mission — are located in a special section. Pick up a useful map at the office during business hours. Gates open 8 am–5 pm daily. Office hours: 9 am–4 pm Monday–Friday.

Confederate Museum
188 Meeting St, Charleston SC 29401
843-723-1541
 ROAD MAP 
Located in the stately 1841 Market Hall, this museum takes an old-fashioned and uneven approach to the display of some incredible items such as the first Confederate flag to fly over Fort Sumter and the first “secession” flag to fly over the city. Items from the Secession Convention and uniforms and other artifacts are also on display. Atmosphere alone is worth the admission fee. Open 11 am–3:30 pm Tuesday–Saturday. $5 adults.

Other Charleston sites with Civil War content

Citadel Museum
On campus at 171 Moultrie St.
843-792-6846
Tells the story of the famous institution from its founding in 1842. One exhibit highlights the Citadel Cadets who fired shots at the USS Star of the West, turning the ship back as it attempted to resupply Fort Sumter in January 1861. Open Sunday–Friday 2–5 pm; Saturday noon–5 pm. Free.

The Battery
Historic artillery pieces located in White Point Gardens Park at the foot of Meeting Street
An array of authentic Civil War guns marks the spot where Confederate cannon were mounted on the downtown waterfront. The guns here constituted the city’s last line of defense. The distant Fort Sumter was out of range from here, so the guns here were not used in the bombardment. Union artillery on Morris Island was able to reach downtown Charleston and caused much concern and damage in this area during the last two years of the war.

Aiken-Rhett Mansion
48 Elizabeth St.
843-723-1159
Grand mansion built in 1817 has strong Civil War connections. Confederate Gen. PGT Beauregard used the house as headquarters when Union bombardment forced him from the central city in 1864, and Confederate President Jefferson Davis visited here in 1863. Maintained by the Historic Charleston Foundation. Open 10 am–5 pm Monday–Saturday; 2–5 pm Sunday. $10/adult.

City Hall
Broad at Meeting Street
Gallery of historic paintings here includes portraits of Confederate Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, who directed the bombardment of Fort Sumter and later commanded the Confederate defenses here. Open during business hours.

What about Battery Wagner?

Located on Morris Island at the entrance to Charleston Harbor, Fort Wagner was key to the Confederate defense of the city. Union forces began a series of attacks against the fort in July 1863 that featured a furious night assault that included the 54th Massachusetts Infantry black soldiers made famous in the movie “Glory.” The Confederates held the fort itself, but Union gunners were able to maneuver close enough to bombard both Sumter and the city effectively. The most famous weapon used by Union gunners here was the “Swamp Angel” that fired 36 huge projectiles into the city.

A historical marker on Morris Island locates the site of the “Swamp Angel.” However, the site of Fort Wagner has been washed away into the Atlantic Ocean, and access to Morris Island is limited and only by private boat.

Tours

Harbor tours: Sandlapper Water Tours offers narrated cruises of Charleston Harbor. Tours depart from the Charleston Maritime Center near the South Carolina Aquarium. For reservations, call 843-849-TOUR or visit the website.

Walking tours: A variety of Civil War-oriented guided walking tours is available. Check at the Charleston Visitor Center for specific information.

What a great group we had for this morning’s Civil War Walking Tour! Twelve curious souls joined me for a stroll through history, and the group asked so many great questions, which makes it so much fun for me.

First of all, almost every single person this morning was from the North! One Summerville native was there, but the rest hailed from New York and Boston. One of the first questions asked was about the confederate flags still seen around town. The gentleman wondered if waving a confederate flag was a reference to slavery and racism.

It was a great question. As I told him, I believe more of the confederate flag-waving today is a southern pride agenda. Good ole’ southern roots don’t equal racism. And I would venture to guess that many people who hang confederate flags don’t even know what it truly represents. True, during the Civil War, slavery existed.

The bottom line is, the South lost. Done.

Later, as we strolled down the streets of historic Charleston, I pointed out several structures like this:

These sharp metal points above the fencing were designed in case of a slave riot. As you can see, it could do some major damage to someone trying to invade. And if it didn’t stop them, it would slow them down enough to where the resident could retrieve his shotgun and take care of the intruder.

The kids on today’s tour thought these things were pretty cool, so I made sure to point out many that we passed during the walk.

All in all, I consider today to be a success. It was a bit warm, but these people were troopers and I hope they enjoyed this morning’s tour as much as I did!

See you out there.