Bombardment of Charleston, The: 1863-1865
"At first I thought a meteor had fallen; but another awful rush and whirr right over the hotel, and another explosion beyond, settled any doubts I might have had: the city was being shelled." This eyewitness account describes the beginning of the Union army's artillery action against the heavily fortified Confederate city of Charleston. Using the latest weapons--including the eight-inch Swamp Angel, capable of hurling 150-pound shells nearly five miles--Northern forces fired day and night, destroying military and civilian targets alike. By the time the city was evacuated in February 1865, the bombardment had lasted for 545 days and set a new record for its duration. It became clear that the continued shelling served little military purpose, but was instead a Union attempt to terrorize the city's civilian population and "make Charleston pay for her sins." By quoting memoirs, military records, and vintage newspaper accounts, W. Chris Phelps recreates this little-known chapter in the Civil War.  Charleston resident W. Chris Phelps co-owns the city's largest walking-tour company. "This heavily researched and insightful volume shines a bright light into a dark corner of Civil War history: the glaringly unnecessary pulverizing of civilian targets in Charleston, carried out solely to punish the city for instigating secession." --Richard N. Côté, author of Mary's World: Love, War, and Family Ties in Nineteenth-century Charleston "The Bombardment of Charleston: 1863-1865 vividly describes the Union army's terrible artillery war against Charleston, 'the nursery of disunion' and 'the cradle of the rebellion.' Phelps expertly fills a gap in the Civil War history of Charleston." --Robert N. Rosen, author of Confederate Charleston