South Carolina Research Resources: Civil War in South Carolina

The American Civil War began in April 1861 and ended in April 1865. Those four years transformed American society.

From Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History
The storming of Fort Wagner typified the poorly planned frontal assaults launched by so many Civil War commanders.

On 22 November 1864, Major General John G. Foster, Union commander of the Department of the South, reported to the chief of staff, Major General Henry W. Halleck, that the people of Charleston and Savannah were in a state of panic over the advance of Major General William Tecumseh Sherman’s army.

From Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History
In the early stages of the Union blockade of Southern ports, available Federal ships were few and spread thinly along the hundreds of miles of Southern coastline.

From Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History
Federal plans to occupy Charleston, South Carolina, in June 1862 faltered after Union troops landed on James Island.

From Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History
On 14 February 1865, William Tecumseh Sherman’s army left Orangeburg, South Carolina, headed for the state capital of Columbia.

From Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History
Having completed his March to the Sea and rested briefly, Union general William T. Sherman marched out of Savannah on 1 February, 1865, his army of 60,000 accustomed to destructive war by its systematic depredations in Georgia.

The Confederate States of America (1861-65), the government established by the Southern states of the United States after their secession from the Union.

Fortification, built 1829–60, on a shoal at the entrance to the harbor of Charleston, S.C., and named for Gen. Thomas Sumter; scene of the opening engagement of the Civil War...

From Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical Encyclopedia
As a constitutional argument to protect southern social and economic interests, the doctrine of nullification played a significant role in the debate over slavery in the United States.

From Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History
1. Secession Ordinance (20 December 1860)
AN ORDINANCE to dissolve the union between the State of South Carolina and other States united with her under the compact entitled “The Constitution of the United States of America.”

From Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History
In an American context, secession has been understood as the withdrawal by the Southern states from the Federal Union following the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency in November 1860.