Charleston Harbor

We have still to thread our way through the narrow channels which this surge has hollowed out amongst the sandbanks.

the captain takes a south-west course rounding the lighthouse at the corner of the fort the sails are closely trimmed the last sandy point is safely coasted and at length at seven o'clock in the evening we are out free upon the wide atlantic the chancellor is a fine square-rigged three-master of nine hundred tons burden and belongs to the wealthy liverpool firm of laird brothers she is two years old is sheathed and secured with copper her decks being of teak and the base of all her masts except the mizzen with all her fittings being of iron she is registered first class a one and is now on her third voyage between charleston and liverpool As she wended her way through the channels of Charleston Harbor, it was the British flag that was lowered from her masthead, but without colors at all, no sailor could have hesitated for a moment in telling her nationality.

For English she was, and nothing but English from her waterline upward to the truck of her masts.

I must now relate how it happens that I have taken my passage on board the Chancellor on her return voyage to England.

One fort mattered out of proportion to its size.

Fort Sumter sat on a low island in Charleston Harbor.

The garrison inside wore blue and counted barrels of flour with care.

The cannons outside wore gray crews and waited for orders.

Some posts fell with ceremony.

Others fell in silence.

A few remained in Union hands, among them Fort Pickens near Pensacola and a low stone island in Charleston Harbor called Fort Sumter.

In Charleston, Major Robert Anderson commanded the small garrison.

Now, National Weather Service in Charleston has actually first chosen to put this on a timeline, which I think is excellent, because these are the areas that we know flood on a sunny day.

And to f- Charleston Harbor in the downtown area, their greatest risk for flooding comes Saturday morning and Saturday evening.

It's a moderate risk, so it's up to a one foot of saltwater inundation, and they are closely monitoring Saturday morning for the potential that there could be major flooding to occur.

So not just moderate, but major could occur if we see over one feet of saltwater inundation.

It appears from Anderson's own statement that his hands were tied, and no one that knew him would ever doubt his veracity.

Yet if he really desired to retain possession of Charleston Harbor for the government and Floyd's orders stood in his way, why did he not, after the latter fled to the South, make a plain statement to the new secretary Judge Holt, whose patriotism was undoubted, and ask for fresh instructions? It looks to me very much as if he accepted the orders without question because he preferred the policy of non-resistance.

I shall have occasion to refer to this subject again in the course of my narrative.

We had frequently regretted the absence of a garrison in Castle Pickney, as that post, being within a mile of Charleston, could easily control the city by means of its mortars and heavy guns.

Had they temporized or even used conciliatory language on this occasion, it is possible the South might have still preserved the ascendancy it had always held in the councils of the President.

Fortunately, they assumed an air of injured innocence, and required Mr. Buchanan to humble himself before them for the past and give guarantees for the future by immediately ordering Fort Sumter to be vacated.

That is, by surrendering to the State all public property in Charleston Harbor which had not already been stolen.

For once the President, whose personal integrity was called into question, was thoroughly roused, and made the only answer which suited the circumstances.

He ordered First Lieutenant and Brevet Captain John G.

Foster, of the Engineers, to repair to Fort Moultrie, and put that and the other defenses of Charleston Harbor in perfect order.

The reason privately assigned for this was that we were drifting into complications with England and France with reference to Mexico.

For one, I gave the Honorable Secretary very little credit for this proceeding, inasmuch as he had just previous to this forwarded to South Carolina the means of arming and equipping 17,000 men against the United States.

It is not at all improbable, therefore, that some one of the messengers who actually joined the enemy may have been the bearer of a treasonable communication.

It appears from Anderson's own statement that his hands were tied, and no one that knew him would ever doubt his veracity.

Yet, if he really desired to retain possession of Charleston Harbor for the government, and Floyd's orders stood in his way, why did he not, after the latter fled to the South, make a plain statement to the new Secretary, Judge Holt, whose patriotism was undoubted, and ask for fresh instructions? It looks to me very much as if he accepted the orders without question because he preferred the policy of non-resistance.

I shall have occasion to refer to this subject again in the course of my narrative.

And we have a brick on the floor where the names of the soldiers that signed their name to go on to be part of the Civil War right here in New Bedford.

And also during the Civil War, of course, there's something called the Stone Flakes, right? Where over 24 or so warships were bought from New Bedford to be sunk at, I think, Charleston Harbor, right? To prevent travel, to prevent supply.

So these are the two most important roles that New Bedford played in the Civil War.

They gave men and also used some of the warships as blockade on Charleston Harbor.

After the Civil War, we get past maybe the peak of the whaling industry.

What starts to cause the decline of the whaling industry in New Bedford?