[The following takes place during the American Civil War.]
There were those in the North who were determined that Charleston must be punished [for the Fort Sumter incident]. They included Foster and Seymour, both of whom would lead attacks on the city during the war, but mostly it was Gustavus Fox, Lincoln’s new assistant secretary of the navy, who was obsessed with Charleston.
In 1863 both the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy made determined attempts to take Fort Sumter. A whole fleet, including ironclads, attacked the fort – but those at the fort beat them back. Meanwhile, thousands of Union soldiers died trying to secure Morris Island and Sullivan’s Island. All attempts to reach the city failed.
In an act of pure maliciousness, the army brought its biggest mortar to the islands, the Swamp Angel they called her. They used her to pitch shells into Charleston from a distance, simply to kill people and cause havoc.
Source:
Detzer, David. “Mystic Chords of Memory: A Postscript.” Allegiance: Fort Sumter, Charleston, and the Beginning of the Civil War. New York: Harcourt, 2002. 315. Print.
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