Rebel Bastion in Charleston Harbor

Castle Pinckney, at Charleston, is a place little known to most students of the Civil War. Roberts, an historian of 42nd Georgia and a board member of several historical organizations, and Locke, “Guardian of Castle Pickney,” in support of archeologists, historians, and conservationists, seek to correct that with this history of the castle and its role in the war.

The book opens with a chapter on the early history of Shute’s Folly, an island in Charleston Harbor, were a fort was built during the American Revolution and later during the Quasi-War with France. There follows a chapter on the construction and early history of the masonry fort (1807–1828). Two chapters deal with Pickney’s role during the Nullification Crisis, when it served as a major Federal post, and the years of rising sectional tensions (1828-1859).

Seven chapters cover Pinckney’s role during the secession crisis and the Civil War (1860-1865). Occasionally housing Union prisoners-of-war, including some men from the 54^th Massachusetts, the castle’s primary mission was in support of the defense of Charleston. The works were continuously upgraded, based on lessons learned during the war. Because it was situated inside Charleston harbor, however, the castle was never under direct threat, but played a role in supporting the defeat of the Union naval attacks of April 7, 1863, and September 8, 1863.

The final three chapters cover the story of Castle Pinckney since the end of the Civil War. Long obsolete as a coastal fortress, postwar it was for many years the site of a light house, and later essentially abandoned and eventually sold. Today owned by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, although not open to the public, it’s a national historic site, and there are tentative proposals for its preservation.

Roberts and Locke offer a good look at how the castle was build and wartime efforts to improve its defenses, offering insights into how Confederate fortification engineers applied the lessons of recent combat.

The book has a number of appendices, including nominal roles of several units garrisoned there and of Union troops imprisoned there, an inventory of the castle’s armament, and several newspaper and personal accounts of the post.

Although perhaps not the most important post in the Civil War, Holding Charleston by the Bridle gives us some interesting insights into America coast defense engineering and life in a coastal fort during the Civil War. Useful for those with an interest in the defense of Charleston or in Civil War fortification. 

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Our Reviewer: David Marshall has been a high school American history teacher in the Miami-Dade School district for more than three decades. A life-long Civil War enthusiast, David is president of the Miami Civil War Round Table Book Club. In addition to numerous reviews in Civil War News and other publications, he has given presentations to Civil War Round Tables on Joshua Chamberlain, Ulysses S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the common soldier. His previous reviews here include, A Fine Opportunity Lost, The Iron Dice of Battle: Albert Sidney Johnston and the Civil War in the West, The Limits of the Lost Cause on Civil War Memory, War in the Western Theater, J.E.B. Stuart: The Soldier and The Man, The Inland Campaign for Vicksburg, All for the Union: The Saga of One Northern Family, Voices from Gettysburg, The Blood Tinted Waters of the Shenandoah: The 1864 Valley Campaign’s Battle of Cool Creek, June 17-18, 1864, Union General Daniel Butterfield, We Shall Conquer or Die, Dranesville, The Civil War in the Age of Nationalism, “Over a Wide, Hot . . . Crimson Plain", The Atlanta Campaign, Volume 1, Dalton to Cassville, Thunder in the Harbor, All Roads Led to Gettysburg, The Traitor's Homecoming, A Tempest of Iron and Lead, and The Cassville Affairs.

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Note: Holding Charleston by the Bridle is also available in paperback & e-editions.

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