Overview

Detail from stereograph of Beaufort, South Carolina. 29th Regiment from Connecticut. Image from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

• SCIWAY-Civil War
  Find out about Civil War soldiers from South Carolina, battlefields such as Fort Sumter, and more.
• The Civil War in Charleston
  Read about battles that took place in Charleston and see images taken by Civil War photographer Matthew Brady.
• Secession Era Editorials Project
  Read editorials from newspapers in the late antebellum period.

People

• Robert Moorman Sims & Appomattox
  Robert Sims was a Civil War sketch artist who recorded battlefield action with pencil and paper.
• Andrew Gordon Magrath
  Andrew Magrath was a federal judge and later governor of South Carolina during the Civil War.
• Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts Fifty-Fourth Regiment
  This memorial recognizes the black Massachusetts Fifty-fourth Regiment that help assault Fort Wagner in Hilton Head.
• Private Edgar W. Cherry
  See the surgeon’s drawings and photograph of a surgery to repair the damage done to Edgar Cherry’s face by a bullet.

Black Soldiers in the Civil War

• Army Life in a Black Regiment
  Hear the recording of the recollections of a soldier in the First South Carolina Volunteers, the first slave regiment mustered into the service of the United States.
• Black Soldiers in the Civil War
  Read about the recruitment of black soldiers, their white commanders, and a recruitment poster calling black men to military duty.
• Black Soldiers in the Civil War
  Find out more about the contribution of African-American troops to the Union war effort.

War & Battlefields

Battle of River's Bridge: Watch this video where Confederate soldiers made a stand at Rivers Bridge on the Salkehatchie River against General William Tecumseh Sherman.

• Newspaper accounts of the Battle of Fort Sumter
  See a newspaper account of the Battle of Fort Sumter from the Milwaukee Sentinel.
• The Big Picture-H.L. Hunley
  Watch this video about this early submarine built by the Confederates which sank off the coast of Charleston. The submarine was raised for preservation in 2000.
• Sherman’s March on Columbia
  Read the transcript or watch the video about Sherman’s March to Columbia in 1865, which was burned and destroyed.
• Plan of the Naval Attack And Capture of Port Royal
  See a map of the naval attack on Port Royal on November 7, 1861.
• Susie King Taylor Assists the First South Carolina Volunteers, 1862–1864
  Read these remembrances of a black woman who went with the First South Carolina Volunteers as a laundress, cleric, and nurse.

Culture

• SC Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum Videos
  Watch these videos to see an up-close view of many artifacts from the Confederate War, including bibles, rifles, treasury notes, and more.
• Music of the Civil War
  Soldiers and civilians both composed and sang songs to boost morale, celebrate victories, and express sorrow.
• Godey’s Lady’s Book
  Women read the Godey’s Lady’s Book for poetry, recipes, fashion advice, helpful hints, and other articles marketed specifically for women.
• Hearts at Home: Southern Women in the Civil War
  What were the women in the Confederacy doing while the men were away from home?

Pieces of History

• Ordinance of Secession, 1860
  The Ordinance of Secession was signed at a state convention in Charleston, stating that South Carolina repealed the United States Constitution and its amendments.
• Regulations for the Medical Department of the Military Forces of South Carolina
  This book shows forms and directions for military doctors in South Carolina.
• New South Newspaper, 1862 - 1866
  Read issues from the Union-held newspaper printed in Port Royal and Beaufort.
• Unusual Civil War Weapon in the SCCRRMM Collection
  Watch this video showing a Civil War pike ordered by Gov. Joe Brown of Georgia to arm soldiers.

Images of the War

Charleston Harbor, S.C. Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren standing by a 50-pounder Dahlgren gun on deck of U.S.S. Pawnee. Image from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

• Ft Wagner Civil War Images
  See stereographs of the interior of Fort Wagner, which covered the southern approach to the Charleston harbor.
• Ruins of the Charleston Lighthouse, Morris Island South Carolina, 1863
  This photograph was perhaps taken at the conclusion of the battle for control of Morris Island. Notice the covered bodies in the foreground.
• Historic Images of Fort Sumter
  Explore the pictures and drawings of Fort Sumter made during the Civil War.
• Bernard’s Photographic Views of the Sherman Campaign
  View the photographs taken by George N. Barnard of Civil War sites and a studio portrait of Sherman and his generals.
  • Biography of George N. Bernard

Explore with DISCUS*

* Requires access to the DISCUS databases. Learn more here.

• Nullification
  Read about the tension between Southern states and the federal government, leading to an Ordinance of Nullification by South Carolina that allowed Southern states to nullify federal laws that were considered unconstitutional.
• Freedom fighters: Major General David Hunter wanted to make Yankee soldiers of former slaves
  General David Hunter worked to arm former slaves to fight for the Union army.
• Doing “Good Brave Work”: Harriet Tubman's Testimony at Beaufort, South Carolina
  Harriet Tubman was known for her work on the Underground Railroad, but she also served as a Civil War spy and nurse at Beaufort from 1862-1865.