Roberts Jr., W. Clifford/Locke, Matthew A. M. Holding Charleston by the Bridle

Castle Pinckney and the Civil War

On the eve of the Civil War, the London Times informed its readers that Castle Pinckney was not occupied to protect Charleston from attack from the sea, but to keep the city under control. Located on a marshy island in the middle of Charleston's magnificent harbour, the large cannons on the ramparts of this horseshoe-shaped fortification could control downtown Charleston and the busy quays along East Bay Street. This irrefutable fact made Castle Pinckney an important pawn in the turmoil surrounding the secession of 1832 and 1850, as well as in the months leading up to the bombardment of Fort Sumter in 1861. Now available in paperback, Cliff Roberts and Matthew Locke's book is the first work on the subject. It covers the innovative construction of the fort as part of the Second System of American coastal fortifications, right up to the modern challenges of protecting the weathered brick walls from rising sea levels. The impressive fort was built on the eve of the War of 1812 as a state-of-the-art coastal fortification. President James Monroe and Generals Winfield Scott, Robert E. Lee and P. G. T. Beauregard inspected its casemates and barracks. Pinckney's history is as impressive as the list of its prominent visitors. The defence of the fort was one of Winfield Scott's main concerns during the Nullification Crisis of 1832. Seminole Indians and Africans from the illegal slave ship Echo were held there. In 1860, Major Robert Anderson knew that the fort was key to protecting his small federal garrison at Fort Moultrie, but his pleas to Washington for troops to defend the fort went unheard. In December of that year, three companies of the Charleston militia stormed the fort and captured it in a daring action that brought the nation to the brink of civil war. After the first battle of Manassas (Bull Run), 156 captured officers and soldiers from the Northern states were brought to the island, and in 1863, members of the famous 54th Massachusetts Regiment were held there as prisoners of war. Massachusetts Regiment were held there as prisoners of war. The fort's guns helped defend the city during the longest siege of the war. By 1865, the old fort had been converted into an earthen barbette battery with a rifled Brooke gun and three huge 10-inch Columbiads. During reconstruction, the castle became an American Bastille for Southerners accused of crimes against the government. Roberts Jr. and Locke draw on extensive primary research and archaeological finds to tell the castle's story in full for the first time. Given its significance in American history, this is a long overdue reappraisal.