News from Around the South 5/12 – 5/19

by | May 19, 2014 | Archive, Southern Partisan | 0 comments

 

 

SOUTH CAROLINA: Civil War Ship Stolen by Slaved  Found

The wreck of a ship once commandeered by slaves and sailed to freedom during the Civil War has very likely been found.
The shipwrecked Planter almost certainly rests beneath 10 to 15 feet (3 to 5 meters) of sand and water off Cape Romain between Charleston and Georgetown, South Carolina, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced this week. The ship went down in 1876, 14 years after its enslaved captain and crew ran it out of Charleston Harbor and turned it over to the U.S. Navy.
View of south end of Cape Island in Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge in South Carolina. The remains of the Civil War-era steamer Planter are located within sight of an 1857 lighthouse. (Photo: Steve Hildebrand)

View of south end of Cape Island in Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge in South Carolina. The remains of the Civil War-era steamer Planter are located within sight of an 1857 lighthouse. (Photo: Steve Hildebrand)

The story of the Planter is one of heroism. The ship was completed in 1860. The next year, an enslaved young man named Robert Smalls came aboard as a deck hand. Smalls had more freedom than most slaves, and was allowed to keep some of his pay and move around the Charleston waterfront with some autonomy. (Smalls may have been his owner’s son, according to his descendants. Smalls’ mother was a slave in the home of a man named John K. McKee, and the family suspects that McKee’s son Henry, who inherited the pair of slaves in 1848, fathered Smalls.)
Audacious plan
Smalls worked his way up to the position of wheelsman — the person who steers the ship. During the Civil War, the Planter was rented to the Confederates and used as a supply, transport and dispatch ship, running cannons, soldiers and other wartime necessities along the coast. Most of the crew were enslaved African-Americans.
The idea of commandeering the ship started as a joke, Smalls would later tell Harper’s Weekly magazine. But soon it turned quite serious: The nine African-American men of the crew met in secret at Smalls’ house and planned their escape. They put away provisions in the hold and waited for their chance.
Robert Smalls

Robert Smalls

It came on May 12, 1862. The ship had just returned to Charleston Harbor after picking up some cannons from nearby Cole Island. The plan was to deliver the weaponry to Fort Ripley the next day. That evening, however, the white men in the crew went ashore for a soiree. Smalls and his crew jumped at the opportunity, first steaming to pick up their relatives in the North Atlantic wharf and then sailing right out of the harbor. Smalls blew the ship whistle at the Confederate checkpoints, convincing those guarding the harbor that the ship was simply getting an early start on the day’s deliveries.
“Once out of range of the rebel guns the white flag was raised, and the Planter steamed directly for the blockading [Union] steamer Augusta,” Harper’s explained in June 1862.
Heroism and loss
Smalls delivered the Planter and the 16 escaped slaves on board to the U.S. Navy. He then piloted the ship in action against the Confederacy, and was later transferred to pilot other ships in a new post in the U.S. Army. He’d have another brush with heroism in 1863, again on the Planter. The ship was moving supplies along Folly Island creek near Charleston when it came under heavy shelling from Confederate guns. The captain of the ship ordered that the ship be beached and abandoned his station. Smalls instead piloted the Planter to safety. As a result, the ship’s captain was dismissed, and Smalls promoted. He was the first African-American to become a ship captain in the U.S. military. [Shipwrecks Gallery: Secrets of the Deep]
After the war, the Army sold the ship to a private company, which turned right around and sold it to its original owner in South Carolina, John Ferguson. The ship soon went back to its pre-war duties delivering supplies up and down the South Carolina coast. Smalls went on to represent South Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In 1876, the Planter was attempting to tow a ship that had run aground at Cape Romain up the coast from Charleston. In the process, the Planter hit a shoal and sprung a leak. The captain beached the ship in hopes of repairing the hull, but a storm blew in and battered her beyond repair. The crewsalvaged everything they could, including pistons, life boats, engines, cabin doors and even blankets and mattresses.
Rediscovery
Shifting sands have long covered the remains of the Planter, and the site of the wreck was lost. NOAA’s Maritime Heritage Progam set out to find the wreck, reviewing original accounts of the accident and historic charts of the shoreline as it was in 1876. Once a likely location was pinpointed, NOAA researchers used a magnetometer towed beneath the water in search of large quantities of iron.
The found one such cluster 9 feet (3 m) below the ocean bottom, near where the shore would have been when the Planter wrecked. The area is environmentally sensitive (Cape Romain, up the coast from Charleston, is home to a national wildlife refuge), so attempts to uncover the wreck will need to be taken with care, NOAA reported. What’s more, the Planter is likely fragmented from the relentless beating of the waves. The state of South Carolina will decide whether to excavate the ship’s remains or to simply mark the spot in remembrance of this storied vessel.

-Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience

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TENNESSEE: Civil War Trust Protects Sights

The Civil War Trust, the nation’s largest Civil War heritage group, will focus on Middle Tennessee battles during the Civil War, including the battles of Franklin and Nashville, when the group holds its annual conference in Nashville on May 28-June 1.

Ethan Boyles, 9, left, and Mark Boyles, 11, sit by a fire at the Carter House during a re-enactment event in November 2010 to commemorate the 146th anniversary of the Battle of Franklin. The Boyles are the great-great-great-grandsons of Civil War Capt. James A. Sexton of the 72nd Illinois Infantry of the Union Army. (Photo: Shelley Mays / File / The Tennessean )

Ethan Boyles, 9, left, and Mark Boyles, 11, sit by a fire at the Carter House during a re-enactment event in November 2010 to commemorate the 146th anniversary of the Battle of Franklin. The Boyles are the great-great-great-grandsons of Civil War Capt. James A. Sexton of the 72nd Illinois Infantry of the Union Army.
(Photo: Shelley Mays / File / The Tennessean )

The four-day conference features exhibits such as Civil War-era photography; walking tours of various battlefields, including the Battle of Nashville and the Battle of Franklin; and lectures from nationally known historians and writers, including Edwin C. Bearss, historian emeritus of the National Park Service, and novelist Jeff Shaara.

This year marks the 150th anniversaries of the Battles of Franklin (Nov. 30, 1864) and the Battle of Nashville (Dec. 15-16, 1864).

The conference hotel is the Renaissance Nashville Hotel at 611 Commerce St. in downtown Nashville. Conference registration fees are $585 a person with online registration or $595 a person by phone or mail. Anyone can register, and the fee includes tours, tour guides, coaches, conference program, name tags, breakfast, lunch and a Saturday banquet. Fee does not include hotel registration.

For more information, contact Bonnie Repasi at 800-298-7878, ext. 7229, orbrepasi@civilwar.org, or visit the Civil War Trust’s website at www.civilwartrust.org.

-Tennessean.com

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MARYLAND: Hiking and Learning on Civil War Battlefields

FREDERICK, Md. — About 150 years after the “Battle that Saved Washington,” journalist and Civil War buff Keith White leads a dozen friends on a tour of the farmland south of here where Union forces led by Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace were credited with delaying the Confederate advance toward the nation’s capital.

The group will spend nearly three hours hiking many of the half-dozen or so miles of trails at the Monocacy National Battlefield, listening as White relays details of the July 9, 1864, battle, which resulted in more than 2,000 casualties in a Confederate victory.

“It’s not just a hike, but there’s something additional,” he says in an interview later. “You can go to a battlefield and get a little sense of that history.”

There are more than 300 miles of trails to explore in the 24 national parks designated as significant battlegrounds of the Civil War, according to figures provided by the National Park Service. The Manassas National Battlefield in Virginia, for example, has more than 40 miles of trails; Pecos National Historical Park in New Mexico has just two.

The 24 battlefields drew nearly 10 million visitors last year.

“Each one is unique, yet the vast majority share things in common,” says Mike Litterst, a National Park Service spokesman. Most have a visitor’s center and a museum to help put the site in context. Many have park rangers or volunteers who give walking tours.

And these aren’t the only preserved Civil War battlefields. Others are under state, local or private jurisdiction.

“Some 10,500 armed conflicts occurred during the Civil War, ranging from battles to minor skirmishes,” the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission said in a report to Congress in 1993. Of those, 384 were determined to be “principal battles” that had a significant impact on the course of the war. Those battles occurred in 26 states.

“The war really did touch pretty much every corner of America,” said Mary Koik, deputy director of communications for the Civil War Trust, an organization that works to preserve the battlefields. “You have battles fought from Pennsylvania all the way out through New Mexico.”

Some people may use the battlefields for fitness or recreation, a place to walk the dog or take a stroll with the kids and be out in nature.

The Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park near Atlanta is historic, but also “quality outdoor space,” Koik said.

Surveys done by her group, however, indicate that most park visitors are interested in the history.

Before visiting a battlefield, White recommends reading up on it. You can get information about the battlefields on the Civil War Trust and National Park Service websites, or pick up brochures and maps at the visitor center. “It’s also good to sit down and talk to a ranger,” White said.

Markers along the way will point out historical spots on the battlefield and give you a snapshot of what occurred there.

“By visiting these in succession, in the right order, you’ll see how the battle unfolded,” Koik said.

Before his tours, White does research on the battle fought there and prepares a script. “Usually, time permitting, I will go up and walk the trail before I lead the tour so I’m not caught unaware.”

White became interested in the Civil War after learning that he had ancestors on both sides of the conflict. He also volunteers at the site of the Battle of Chancellorsville, part of the Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park in Virginia. He plans to lead friends on a tour of two additional battlefields this year.

“The more you learn, the deeper you get into it,” he said. “There are so many people and so many story lines involved.”

The National Park Service and the Civil War Trust also have free GPS-based smartphone apps that will act as tour guides for some of the parks.

“We think the most important thing is to get people out to see these places,” Koik said.

-fosters.com

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MISSISSIPPI: Museum Rolls Out Civil War History

HOUSTON, Miss. – The men and women who fought in the Civil War in Chickasaw County are long gone, but their photographs, letters and history live on at the Chickasaw County Museum.

The Museum unveiled its new Civil War display last week and is urging the community to come by and see if they know some of the people shown in this exhibit.

“We’ve got letters, diaries, artifacts and of course lots of old photos of those we know were involved in the war,” said Jan Dyson, of the Chickasaw County Historical and Genealogical Society. “If you have relatives who lived around here during the Civil War, we probably have information on them.”

James Clark, on left, and Janis Dyson, of the Chickasaw County Historical and Genealogical Society, stand with letters, diaries and photos that are part of a new exhibit at the Chickasaw County Heritage Museum. (Floyd Ingram / Buy at photos.chickasawjournal.com)

James Clark, on left, and Janis Dyson, of the Chickasaw County Historical and Genealogical Society, stand with letters, diaries and photos that are part of a new exhibit at the Chickasaw County Heritage Museum.
(Floyd Ingram / Buy at photos.chickasawjournal.com)

The exhibit also displays everything from wedding bands and pistols to a sword and drum.

“The wedding bands were found near the old Okolona Hospital and they guess they came off of soldiers who died,” said Dyson. “We have been fortunate to have a lot of people come forward with some of these treasures and let us display them.”

The pistol was unearthed near Macedonia Cemetery in the 1930s. The sword is a cherished family possession and the drum is part of a private Civil War memorabilia collection.

“But I like the letters and the diaries the best,” said Dyson. “They tell the day-to-day stories of the Civil War and show what it was like live in that day and age. Some of the letters are so emotional and you realize how hard the war was on everybody.”

The Museum has photocopied the letters and the public can turn the pages and read those letters written in the flowing cursive script of the 1800s.

And then there are the more than 50 photos that make up four large wall exhibits. Those exhibits list the names of those men from Chickasaw County who served in the Civil War. They also tell the history of a local Civil War spy and a slave who went off to war with his owner and saved his life after he was shot.

James Clark a founding member of the Chickasaw County Historical and Genealogical Society said the exhibit focuses on the rich local history of the Civil War.

“We did this to coincide with the 150th Anniversary of the War Between The State,” said Clark. “People probably don’t realize how much of the war passed through Chickasaw County.”

The exhibit points out the war repeatedly swept through Chickasaw County from 1862 to 1865. The Black Paririe was known at the breadbasket of the South and Union raiders road south about once a year to burn and destroy.

“We are proud of this display and feel it is a good representation of our history,” said Clark. “We really do have a lot of artifacts and documents on display. People need to come by and check it out.”

The Chickasaw County Heritage Museum is located at 304 East Woodland Circle in Joe Brigance Park. The Museum is open most day and can be reached by visiting their website at www.chickasawcountyhistorical.com.

In 1979 the Chickasaw County Historical and Genealogical Society was formed to preserve, catalog and share local history.

Historical family research has been a keystone in building the current facility. From the beginning the Historical Society has sought to preserve county records, post office and cemetery locations, land maps, letters, family histories and the little bits of information that help people research their roots.

The Historical Society has embarked on a three-phase building project for the site on Woodland Circle in Joe Brigance Park.

The first phase saw the construction of a 2,000-square-foot Ag Museum to houses farm equipment and ag-related items with historical significance. Phase Two saw the construction of a 1,600-square-foot building that houses research and historical records as well as artifacts and exhibits. Phase Three will be an additional 800-square-foot exhibit area.

The Historic Society has also built a blacksmith’s shop and recently unveiled the old Parkersburg Depot.

Plans have also been discussed to highlight the community’s musical heritage and create a permanent exhibit depicting the history of the Chickasaw Indian nation.

This spring the Museum earned the coveted Frank E. Everett, Jr. Award, the state’s top award for protection and display of local history, from the Mississippi Historical Society.

-Chickasaw Journal

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