Charleston, SC: City of Many Civil War Firsts

From the Winter 2010 Hallowed Ground magazine.

Regardless of where you believe the seeds of the Civil War were sown, back at the Constitutional Convention, in Congress, John Brown at Harper's Ferry or the 1860 election, you have to admit that Charleston is right there with the FIRST state to secede and the FIRST battle of the war.

The FIRST heroes of the war came from the Fort Sumter bombardment: Major Robert Anderson on the Union side and Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard. I remember finding the gravestone of Pierre Gustavant Beuregard Walker in a Wilmington, North Carolina cemetery and thought that was a strange name until I saw the date of birth, April 18, 1861. I'd venture I know who his parents named him after.

Some say the FIRST shots of the war actually were those fired at the Star of the West steamer attempting to resupply Fort Sumter in January 1861.

The FIRST photographs of the war were taken in the city.

Later, the H.L. Hunley became the FIRST submarine in history to sink an enemy ship.

It's About Being First. --Old B-Runner