Holding Charleston by the Bridle: Castle Pinckney and the Civil War [Hardcover]

Castle Pinckney, a pivotal fort in Charleston Harbor, influenced Civil War events from its construction in the War of 1812 through Reconstruction.On the eve of the Civil War, the London Times informed its readers that Castle Pinckney has been kept garrisoned, not to protect Charleston from naval attack from the ocean, but to serve as a bridle upon the city. Located on a marshy island in the center of Charlestons magnificent harbor, the large cannons on the ramparts of this horseshoe-shaped masonry fort had the ability to command downtown Charleston and the busy wharves along East Bay Street. This inescapable fact made Pinckney an important chess piece in the secession turmoil of 1832 and 1850, and in the months leading up to the 1861 bombardment of Fort Sumter.Holding Charleston by the Bridle: Castle Pinckney and the Civil War by W. Clifford Roberts, Jr. and Matthew A. M. Locke is the first book on the subjectfrom the forts innovative design as part of Americas Second System of coastal fortifications to the modern challenges of preserving its weathered brick walls against rising sea levels. The impressive bastion was constructed as a state-of-the-art seacoast fortress on the eve of the War of 1812. Luminaries including President James Monroe and Gens. Winfield Scott, Robert E. Lee, and P. G. T. Beauregard inspected its casemates and barracks. The history of Pinckney is as impressive as its list of visiting VIPs.Defending the fort was one of Winfield Scotts major concerns during the Nullification Crisis of 1832. Seminole Indians and Africans from the illegal slave ship Echo were held there. In 1860, Maj. Robert Anderson knew Pinckney was the key to protecting his small Federal garrison at Fort Moultrie, but his requests to Washington for troops to hold it went unheeded. That December, three companies of Charleston militia scaled Pinckneys walls and seized the fort in a daring act that pushed the nation to the edge of civil war. After First Manassas (Bull Rulӈ