Confederate Charleston

Confederate Charleston recounts the dramatic Civil War experience of the city that witnessed some of the conflict's most noteworthy events. Presenting a multifaceted view of the diverse military and civilian population that flowed through Charleston before, during, and after the Civil War, Robert N. Rosen includes biographical sketches of P. G. T. Beauregard, Robert Barnwell Rhett, Angelina Grimké, and Robert Smalls. Additionally Rosen enumerates the wartime contributions of women, Jews, African Americans, and others, as well as the experiences of Clara Barton, Frederick Douglass, and various other notable individuals.

Known as the birthplace of the Confederacy, Charleston hosted the tumultuous Democratic Party National Convention of April 1860 as well as the secession convention in December of that year. In addition to serving as a testing ground for unprecedented warfare tactics, the port saw the commencement of hostilities, the Battle for Battery Wagner and Morris Island, and the longest siege of the war. Rosen devotes chapters to these episodes, approaching them from both Northern and Southern perspectives and incorporating commentaries gleaned from diaries, letters, and newspapers. Adding to its significance, Confederate Charleston features more than 150 drawings, photographs, and paintings, many of which have never been published before.