David's Blog from the Creative Coast & Carolina Low Country!

Charleston Civil War Book, Phase 3

I can finally say that we are about ninety per cent complete with our third book, the Civil War in Charleston. Most of the information has been compiled and placed in the appropriate chapters of our upcoming book. This one had many challenges, most notably the distance. It required many day or two day trips for the research and the photography.

Most of the images have peen placed throughout the book, but we are going to have to spend atleast another day in Charleston to work out the logistics of the tours and the reshooting of certain photographs. I believe this book will bring out the best of the previous two books, but will certainly be our greatest work up to date. We added a cast of characters, so the reader will not have to thumb back and forth looking to indentify a certain individual. They are divided up into Charlestonians, Union soldiers and Confederate soldiers. This was a request from a reader of my previous two books.

Another great addition was the wealth of period photographs from the Library of Congress and the Fort Sumter National Monument. These with our photographs should give the reader a better understanding about life in and around Charleston from 1860 to 1865.

I think my greatest experience was standing on the same piazza, on The Battery, that General Beauregard used to observe the bombardment of Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. The view of the harbor was incredible. Other interesting elements were how individual Confederate naval officers had new weapons; the CSS Hunley and the CSS David, technical advantages, but not enough in numbers to lift the Yankee blockade around Charleston.

The reader will also be able to digest actual accounts of the war around Charleston; Mary Chestnut racing to a roof top hearing the thunderous roar of artillery on April 12, 1861, Union officers on botched assaults at both Secessionville and Fort Johnson and Emma Holmes learning that a childhood friend had been killed at Battery Wagner.

I expect to have this book in the publisher's hands by the middle of November with a release date, sometime in the first half of 2009. Other projects include;  books on the Gettysburg and Antietam monuments and the baseball parks of the Carolinas and Georgia. 

Charleston Civil War Book, Phase 2

A few days ago, after thumbing through research of my upcoming book on Civil War Charleston, I spent a day traversing through some of Charleston's cemeteries and walking through some of the neighborhoods that survived the war.

I walked by St. Michael's Church, the steeple during the war was used by the Confederate Signal Corps to observe Union troop movements on James Island and to view Charleston Harbor. Union artillery used the landmark to lob shells into the city, the Confederates painted it black, so it would blend with the city's sky scape.

Next I visited Magnolia Cemetery, looking for the five Confederate generals that are buried there, I was able to locate them and visit the crews on the Hunley.

I paid my respects to the South Carolinians that were brought home from Gettysburg in the early 1870's. Found the monument to the Charleston Light Dragoons also.

My next destination was the Bethany Cemetery to view the German Artillery Monument, one company served in the Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida and the other with Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

I then spent the afternoon at the Citadel and was able to locate some items that will be used in the upcoming book, but I was disappointed in the choice of uniforms they used for the dress parade. They were in their newer dress whites, instead of the traditional dress grays. All in all I had a great day and very excited about the images and information that I obtained. Any ideas or thoughts would be welcome.

Charleston Civil War Book, Phase 1

I thought this would be a good venue to keep you up to date on one of my current projects, a Civil War tour book on Charleston, South Carolina. This will be the third in our series, Ben Mammina is my partner. This book will be set up similar to our first two books; Civil War Walking Tours of Savannah and Civil War Tours of the LowCountry.

Schiffer publishing wanted this new title, it was therefore, obvious, that this would be our next project. Research actually began in 2004, when I was compiling information on the Savannah book, more followed with the research of the LowCountry book. Serious research began on this book on September 15, 2007 with my first trip to Charleston, the entire day was spent with a camera for preliminary photos and a note pad. I was trying to get a feel of what was happening in that city between 1860-65.

I came across monuments to the Confederates soldiers that defended the city and who called Charleston home. Many of the homes and churches survived the Yankee shelling, but a great fire in December, 1861 caused much damage. I was able to walk along the battery and picture Confederate guns raining iron on Fort Sumter in April, 1861.

I returned to Charleston in November, to film the reenactment of the Battle of Secessionville, fought on James Island, but on that day it was at Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant. I must snapped over five hundred shots, running up and down the battlefield trying to cover different angles, plus taking some actual motion picture footage.

For the next three months I spent a few evenings a week in the library, looking at primary sources to piece my narrative of war torn Charleston. Blockade Runners were the new addition to my Civil War stories, plus the creative ways the South looked to breaking the blockade; using a submarine, torpedo boats or a Confederate Marine Corps unit training for a special operations mission.

Over the last week, myself, Ben and two other associates spent a Sunday afternoon in North Florida, filming the reenactment of the Battle of Olustee. The four of us covered different positions along the battlefield. Each one of us caught something unique and quite different, so from time to time, look at the gallery of some of the photos I have posted in my albums. We probably obtained over 900 images.

A few days later, I returned to Charleston to research Drayton Hall and found some great family history, but I need to go deeper. Later that day, I mapped out the James Island chapter of the book; Fort Johnson, Secessionville and Morris Island. That chapter is about 75 per cent complete.

I will give monthly reports on our progress. The book is due June 30th, for a fall release. I hope you enjoy and suggestions would be appreciated.

David