A Defensive Engineer

Colonel David Bullock Harris died from yellow fever October 10^th 1864 at Summerville, South Carolina.

David Bullock Harris was born September 28^th 1814 at Fredericks Hall, Louisa, Virginia, the son of Frederick and Catherine Snelson (Smith) Harris.  He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, seventh in his class of 1833.  He served for two years in the artillery and as an engineering instructor at the Academy.  Resigning in 1835 as a Second Lieutenant, Harris went to work for the James River and Kanawha Canal Company as an engineer.  In 1845 he bought a plantation in Goochland County, Virginia known as “Woodville”.

When the Civil War began Harris was made a Captain of engineers for the Virginia Militia.  By July 1861 he was serving on the staff of Confederate Brigadier General Philip St George Cooke.  Following the First Battle of Manassas, where he planned and constructed works for its defense.  He moved to the staff of Confederate General PGT Beauregard.  Harris was made a Captain in the Confederate engineers, where he planned the defenses of many of the Southern port and river cities.  While with Beauregard in Charleston, South Carolina he had the defenses brought up so strong they withstood a Union siege.  On October 8^th1863 Harris was promoted to Colonel.  In the summer of 1864 he was in Virginia, where he planned the defenses of Petersburg.

Harris was sent back to Charleston where he was placed in the post of Chief Engineer of the Department of South Carolina.  It was while serving there that he contracted Yellow Fever.  Harris died October 10^th 1864 in Summerville, South Carolina.  He is buried in the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.

To Replace The National Flag

The flag adopted by the Confederate State of South Carolina on January 28^th 1861 had a white palmetto tree on a blue background.

South Carolina has had a flag since 1765 when the opponents of the British Stamp Acts carried one in protest with three white crescents on a blue background.  In 1861 the people of the state added the palmetto tree, symbolizing the use of the tree by Moultrie during the Revolution, which with sand laid over withstood British cannons.

It was decided after many designs that the Republic of South Carolina would replace the national flag.  It would have a blue background with an upward facing crescent.  The South Carolina General Assembly added a golden palmetto tree encircled by a white background.  This flag became known as the two day flag as the gold palmetto was changed two days latter to a plain white tree on January 28^th 1861.  It was this flag which was raised over Fort Sumter April 14^th 1861 when the fort surrendered to Confederate General PTG Beauregard.

The First To Leave The Senate

James Chestnut Jr a United States Senator, and Confederate General was the first Southern Senator to resign from the United States Senate on November 10^th 1860.

James Chesnut Jr was born January 18^th 1815 at the family home Mulberry Plantation in Camden, South Carolina, the son of James and Mary (Cox) Chesnut.  He was the youngest of fourteen children and the only surviving son.  The family was among the wealthiest of southern planters.  Chesnut graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1835 and opened a practice in Camden in 1837.  He married Mary Boykin Miller April 23^rd 1840 [she is well known for the diary she kept during the War].  He quickly became a rising star in southern politics, becoming a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1840, the South Carolina State Senate in 1852 and serving as its president 1856-58.

In 1858 the South Carolina Legislature voted to send Chesnut to Washington to replace United States Senator Josiah J Evans.  Although he defended states’ rights and slavery, Chesnut opposed restarting the slave trade and was not strongly in favor of secession.  Following the election of Abraham Lincoln, Chesnut felt he could no longer serve in his office as Senator.  He became the first of the Southern senators to resign their seats on November 10^th 1860.

Chesnut was at the South Carolina secession convention in December 1860 and would be elected to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America, a part of the committee who drafted the Confederate Constitution.  Chesnut gave the orders to open fire on Fort Sumter on April 12^th 1861; he was serving as the aide-de-camp to Confederate P G T Beauregard.  In 1864 he was promoted to Brigadier General and commanded a South Carolina reserve unit until the end of the war.

Following the Civil War Chesnut returned to practicing law in Camden, South Carolina.  He died at his home in Camden, South Carolina February 1^st 1885 and is buried in the Knights Hill Cemetery there.

Find The Flank

The Battle of Blackburn’s Ford, fought on July 18th 1861, was the opening of the Manassas Campaign.


Union Brigadier General Irvin McDowell marched with 35,000 troop from Washington, DC on July 16th 1861. He was moving on the Confederates concentrating near the railroad junction at Manassas. They arrived at Fairfax Court House on July 17th 1861 and looked for a place to cross the Bull Run Creek where they could flank the Confederates. The 22,000 men under the command of Confederate Brigadier General PGT Beauregard anticipated the Union movement and guarded the fords on Bull Run.

McDowell ordered Union Brigadier General Daniel Tyler on July 18th 1861 to find the Confederate left flank. Tyler moved to Centreville which he found unoccupied. In the late morning he reached Blackburn’s Ford, and looking across the stream thought the road was clear to Manassas Junction. But Confederate Brigadier General James Longstreet was hid in the wood just beyond the Ford. Tyler ordered Union Colonel Israel B Richardson to move forward. Richardson ran into resistance from the 1st, 11th and 17th Virginia Infantry. Tyler then ordered artillery and cavalry forward. Unfortunately the 12th New York Infantry began to retreat, which caused panic to spread through out the Union line. At about this same time Confederate Colonel Jubal A Early arrived on the field, which sealed the Confederate victory.

The Union failure at Blackburn’s Ford caused McDowell to decide not to make a frontal assault on Bull Run, he instead tried to cross the stream beyond the left flank of the Confederates.

A Life Long Secessionest

A wealthy planter, soldier and delegate at the Virginia Secession Convention, John Smith Preston was born April 20th 1809.


John Smith Preston was born April 20th 1809 in Abingdon, Virginia at “Salt Works” the family plantation. He was the son of General Francis and Sarah Buchanan [Campbell] Preston. Preston graduated in 1824 from Hampden - Sydney College and then studied law at Harvard. After passing the bar Preston opened a practice in Abingdon. He married in 1830 to Caroline Hampton the daughter of Wade Hampton. Preston moved to Columbia, South Carolina where he opened a law practice, and invested in a Baton Rouge, Louisiana sugar plantation. He was a member of the Democratic Party and served in the South Carolina State Senate, and as a delegate and the chairman at the May 1860 Democratic National Convention held in Charleston, South Carolina.

At the beginning of the Civil War Preston was an aide de camp to Confederate General PGT Beauregard. He latter received a commission of Lieutenant Colonel in the Confederate Army and was placed at the head of the Confederate bureau of conscription in Richmond, Virginia. In 1864 Preston was promoted to Brigadier General. His family home the Hampton - Preston House in Columbia was seized by the Union Army in 1865 and used as the headquarters of Union Major General John A Logan.

When the war ended Preston moved to England, and didn’t return to the United States until 1868. Until the end of his life Preston was a strong defender of the Confederacy. He gave a commencement speech at the University of Virginia, where he asserted the right of state secession, he also spoke at the dedication of the Confederate monument in Columbia. He died May 1st 1881 in Columbia, South Carolina was is buried the Trinity Cathedral Cemetery there.

The Corps That Built West Point

The Army Corps of Engineers was established March 16th 1802 at the United State Military Academy at West Point.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers was organized by the Continental Congress on June 16th 1775. Colonel Richard Gridley was the first chief engineer. The Corps of Engineers that we know today was authorized by President Thomas Jefferson March 16th 1802. His authorization said "that the said corps, when so organized, shall be stationed at West Point, and shall constitute a military academy." From then until 1866 the Superintendent of West Point was also the Chief of Engineers. Among these superintendents was Robert E Lee and PGT Beauregard. From the forming until 1866, all members of the Corps of Engineers where graduates of West Point, and handled all construction at the United States Military Academy.

The City Wouldn't Be Harmed

As part of Union Major General William Tecumseh Sherman’s Carolina Campaign, Columbia, South Carolina was captured on February 17th 1865.

After Savannah, Georgia fell to Union Major General William Tecumseh Sherman, during his “March to the Sea”, he turned his army north to connect with Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S Grant. Sherman planned his march to go through South Carolina to Columbia, then capture and destroy the Confederate held Fayetteville, North Carolina arsenal. Sherman split his forces sending the Left Wing toward Augusta, and the Right wing toward Charleston.

Confederate General PGT Beauregard attempted to defend both cities, as long as he could. Beauregard thought he would be able to bring his forces back together if the Union changed direction and headed for Columbia. Sherman concentrated his army faster than Beauregard had expected, and arrived at Columbia on February 16th 1865. Only a small force of Confederates were defending the city. The Union Artillery sighted their cannon on the State House and fired shells into the heart of Columbia, South Carolina. Being heavily outnumbered Confederate Lieutenant General Wade Hampton evacuated the city without a fight. The Mayor of Columbia surrendered the city to Sherman, who promised nothing would be harmed on February 17th 1865. Most of Columbia was burned in a fire on the night of February 17th 1865, thought to have been set by Confederates and fanned on by drunken Union soldiers after the capture.

Freed Up Troops To Fight

The Battle of Ware Bottom Church took place on May 20th 1864.

Confederates under the command of General PGT Beauregard on May 20th 1864 attacked near Ware Bottom Church advancing on Union Major General Benjamin F Butler’s Bermuda Hundred line. After driving Butler’s pickets back, the Confederate troops formed the Howlett Line. This line for all practical purposes stopped up the Union forces at Bermuda Hundred. This move freed Beauregard to send reinforcements to General Robert E Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in time for the fighting at the Battle of Cold Harbor in Virginia. The battle left about 1,500 casualties on both sides.

The Surrender

Fort Sumter was surrendered on April 13th 1861


Confederate Brigadier General PGT Beauregard who was in command of the provisional forces in Charleston, South Carolina demanded the surrender of the garrison at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. The commander of Fort Sumter, Major Robert Anderson refused, and the Confederate batteries opened fire on the fort on April 12th 1861. Unable to effectively return fire Anderson surrendered the fort around 2 pm on April 13th 1861. Terms were settled that evening, and Fort Sumter was evacuated the next day. The Union troops boarded a Confederate steamer for the night, before being transported the next morning the Union steamer the “Baltic”. Anderson took the flag from Fort Sumter north with him, were it became a uniting symbol for the Union.

Another good web site to check out on this subject
Fort Sumter April 12-14 1861

The Gold Took Her Down

Rose Greenhow was a heroin of the Confederacy,  she drowned  October 1st 1864, while trying to get away from a grounded ship with $ 2,000 in gold.

Maria Rosatta O’Neal was born 1817 in Port Tobacco,Maryland. She received the nick name Wild Rose at an early age. Her father John O’Neal was killed by one of his slaves when she was young, leaving her mother Eliza with a cash poor farm to manage. To help with finances, Rose was sent to live in Washington,DC with an Aunt who ran a boarding house. She married Dr Robert Greenhow in 1835, and was the toast of Washington society.  They were blessed with four daughters.

As a member of Washington’s high society Rose traveled in important political, and military circles. These connections allowed her to become a top Confederate Spy. She passed information to General PGT Beauregard regarding the Union plans for the First Battle of Manassas, perhaps changing the out come of the day. She was arrested in Aug of 1861 by Allan Pinkerton, and transferred to the Old Capitol Prison in January. Even while in the prison Rose was able to get and send information to the Confederate government. In May of 1862 Rose and her 8 year old daughter were deported to Richmond,VA.

Rose spent 1863 and 1864 in Europe, traveling through France and Britain raising sympathy for the Confederacy among European aristocrats. While in London Mrs. Greenhow wrote a book about her time in prison, which sold well in England. In September of 1864 she headed home on the “Condor”; a blockade runner, carrying $2,000 in gold sewn into her dress for the Confederacy. The ship was run aground near Wilmington, North Carolina October 1st 1864, and Rose was drowned while trying to escape in a rowboat.