|
Attention Civil War Buffs!
As the Buyers’ agent in the sale of a
property on James Island just 8 miles from the Historic
District I became fascinated by its history and thought you
might be too.
The property includes perhaps the only
privately owned earthen Fort in the US, with surrounding moat,
constructed by Gen. Robert E. Lee while he was an architect
for the army during the ‘Recent Unpleasantness’ as locals here
refer to the War between the States.
The property comprising some 9 acres sits
on the Stono River. Fort Pemberton, as it is called, was
constructed as a result of the Battle of Secessionville at the
instigation of General Pemberton who was concerned that the
many Union troops who were in Hilton Head and Beaufort would
invade by way of the Stono River or via the ocean and Folly
River, not 10 miles away.
Shortly after the Fort was completed,
Pemberton went on to Vicksburg and General
Beauregard took command of the Charleston fortifications.
Cannon and mortar emplacements were installed from the Fort to
nearby Elliott’s Cut and rifles were used to cover the area
going the other direction all the way to what is now the
Municipal Golf Course.
History goes on to tell us a unique event
happened close by. The Union gunboat, the Isaac P. Smith, was
firing at Battery White. Some of Pemberton’s men went to
Grimball’s Farm, hid artillery under the hay stacks and when
the time came that the gunboat fired again, they fired back
and caught the boat in the cross fire. This is believed to be
the only time that land troops have seized a waterborne boat.
The Isaac P. Smith went on to serve as a blockade runner.
(You will notice when you come here that Charleston scores
very high on “uniques” and “firsts”!)
Apparently, a soldier writing home to his
family described the water in South Carolina as being awful,
with the exception of the water at Fort Pemberton which is “as
sweet as a mountain stream”. This is the same well water that
still springs fresh and sweet today.
The local family who bought the property
plan to keep it as is, a beautiful, historic, lush spot on the
river that will be around for generations to come.
Charleston is full of wonderful surprises
and unique places that one discovers slowly over the years.
| 
