New York City's Defenses During the War-- Part 2

Twice during the early part of 1861, relief expeditions were sent to Major Anderson's troops at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor from  Fort Columbus (Fort Jay).  The Army secretly dispatched troops in the steamer Star of the West the first time but the ship was turned back by the cadets from Charleston's Citadel.  The second attempt resulted in the firing on Fort Sumter and the start of the war.

Once hostilities commenced, Fort Columbus was used as recruitment center and a hospital.

Confederate Major General William H.C. Whiting died of dysentery at the fort in February 1865 while being held prisoner at the base hospital.  He had been captured at Fort Fisher on January 15, 1865 and was the highest-ranking Confederate officer to die as a prisoner of war.

--Old Secesh

Things Heating Up Back in January 1861-- Part 2

The clerk from the Engineer Corps in Savannah alerted US Army Captain W.H.C. Whiting, Corps of Engineers, in charge of both Fort Pulaski and Fort Clinch in Florida about a movement by Georgia state troops to occupy Fort Pulaski, even though the state had not yet seceded.

Whiting, who later resigned and became a Confederate general (who helped design and defend Fort Fisher), proceeded quickly to Savannah and made this report to his superiors in Washington, DC:

"...This morning I proceeded to Fort Pulaski, which I found occupied by Colonel John Lawton. I was received with great civility, and informed by him that he held possession of all the Government property for the present, by order of the governor of the State, and intended to preserve it from loss or damage.

He requested a return of the public property, both Ordnance and Engineer, which I have given as existing January 1..."

Col. Alexander Lawton, the commander of the 1st Georgia Militia, had led a force of 150 men from the Savannah Volunteer Guard, Oglethorpe Light Infantry and Chatham Artillery aboard the steamer Ida and taken possession when Whiting arrived.

Lawton later became a Confederate brigadier general in charge of the defense of Georgia's coast. He later commanded a brigade in Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign, the Seven Days Battles, Second Bull Run and was seriously wounded at Antietam. After a lengthy recovery, he became the Confederacy's second Quartermaster General.

In 1880, he became US senator from Georgia.

January 8th-- Possible first shots of the war fired at Fort Barrancas on Pensacola Bay, Florida.

January 9th-- The steamer Star of the West, under the employ of the US government was fired upon while approaching the besieged Fort Sumter garrison under Major Robert Anderson.

Hot Time in the Old Fort Tonight. --Old B-Runner

Opening Action of War: The Star of the West Fired Upon

From the Jan. 9th NJ Today.

The commander of the Star of the West, the vessel sent by Lincoln to relieve the beleaguered garrison at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor in the months leading up to the war, Captain John McGowan, is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Hillside, New Jersey. The state's Sesquicentennial Committee hopes to restore his tombstone.

Cadet troops from Charleston's Citadel manned the guns that fired on the Star of the West. They were under the command of Major P.F. Stevens who credited Cadet George Edward Haynesworth for firing the first shot.

Stevens (1830-1910) is buried at Charleston, South Carolina's Magnolia Cemetery. Cadet Haynesworth (1841-1887) went on to become a judge in Sumter, SC, and was killed by gunfire in his court room. He is buried at the Sumter Cemetery.

Other persons with Civil War connections buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Hillside, NJ, are Stephen Crane (1871-1900) who wrote the book "The Red Badge of Courage" and two Medal of Honor winners: Rufus King and James Drake.

King won his Medal of Honor for action at White Oak Swamp Bridge, Virginia in 1862. Drake got his for bravery at Bermuda Hundred, Va., in 1864.

New Jersey's Evergreen Cemetery at Hillside. --Old B-R'er