The Church Act of 1706 created Christ Church Parish. The first church, a wooden structure built in 1707, accidentally burned in 1725. A brick church was erected in 1726, and although the British burned it in 1782 and the interior was destroyed by Union Troops in 1865, the original walls still stand. In 1874, the church was restored and consecrated.
]]>The Mount Pleasant Battery was a two-gun battery built at the end of present-day Schweers Lane, adjacent to Pitt Street. It was armed with two 10-inch seacoast mortars. From this vantage point, the battery could fire on the three Federal fortifications at the time, which included Fort Moultrie, Castle Pinckney, and Fort Sumter.
The Mount Pleasant Battery, commanded by Captain Robert Martin, almost started the war early after firing practice shots in the direction of Fort Sumter in early April 1861. Martin was drilling his men and several shells exploded so close to Fort Sumter that shrapnel hit the walls. On April 6, Anderson sent a dispatch to Brigadier General P. G. T. Beauregard noting, “ I deem it my duty to call your attention to the fact that some of the shells fired this morning from the mortar battery at Mount Pleasant have exploded so near this work as to render the further firing dangerous to the occupants of this fort, unless the direction of the mortar is changed.” Beauregard responded the next day expressing his regret over the incident and stating that the officer of the battery had been notified to re-direct his practice shells.
The Mount Pleasant Battery participated in the firing on Fort Sumter, April 12 & 13, 1861. Afterwards, when Captain Martin submitted his report to Beauregard, he stated:
Probably you will see I fired faster than ordered. Captain Ferguson can inform you that Colonel Ripley allowed me to fire faster. The officers and men are in good condition, though much mortified at not being noticed by Major Anderson. [Anderson did not return fire on the Mount Pleasant Battery] After the forty-eighth shot the fort was seen to be on fire, and the excitement was so great no account was kept of the shots. I think we fired about ten shells more.
Actually, when the final report was filed after inventory, the Mount Pleasant Battery fired a total of eighty-one shells on Fort Sumter in the two-day attack.
The Mount Pleasant Battery was later rebuilt as Battery Gary.
]]>General Robert E. Lee was sent to Charleston in early November 1861 to oversee the design and construction of defenses for the South Carolina coast and the cities of Charleston and Savannah. Lee and his engineers analyzed the multiple possible attack points on Charleston and determined that the Federal army had three likely choices:
1. Land on James Island along the Stono River, proceed across the island to capture Fort Johnson. From that vantage point, force the surrender of Fort Sumter and place Charleston under direct threat from batteries erected along the James Island northern shore.
2. Land on Folly Island and cross Morris Island to attack Fort Sumter. After the capitulation of Fort Sumter, the Federal Navy could move to the inner harbor to force the surrender of Charleston.
3. Land at Bull’s Bay, cross into Mount Pleasant, attack Sullivan’s Island from the rear and establish batteries to fire across the harbor into Charleston.
Lee designed a defensive solution for each attack point. To address the approach from Bull’s Bay, he ordered the construction of a long continuous defensive line in Christ Church Parish starting at Butler’s Creek at Boone Hall Plantation, extending east to Hamlin Sound. The Christ Church Lines are illustrated here on a modern street map.
The Christ Church Lines were constructed using slave labor from area plantations. On December 16, 1861, Lee reported to Secretary of War J. P. Benjamin in Richmond that, “[the] branch through Christ Church Parish to the sound, are in good state of progress, . . . The works have been mostly constructed by labor furnished by the planters. I hope they will be completed this week.” On Christmas Day, Brigadier General Roswell Ripley reported that “the lines on Christ Church will be done in the course of three days, and will be quite strong; Lieutenant Blake has carried them quite down to the inland navigation, covering the landing.” Two companies of the 23rd South Carolina Infantry (also known as Hatch’s Coast Rangers) were assigned to the lines to act as lookouts.
There were several redans constructed in the line for forward infantry positions or in which field artillery could be placed. The following model is a redan in the Christ Church Lines just north of Rifle Range Road.
On the outside of the Christ Church Lines, the trees were cleared for 1 1/2 miles to provide for good lanes of fire. The felled trees were placed with the braches facing outward to create an abatis, a barricade intended to serve as an obstacle for the enemy.
]]>Fort Palmetto, a three-gun battery, was constructed at the eastern terminus of the Christ Church Lines. This strong fortification commanded both Hamlin Sound and Dewee’s Inlet. Dewee’s Inlet, located between Long Island (Isle of Palms) and Dewee’s Island, was a possible access point for Federal ships coming in from the ocean. The inlet was twelve feet deep at mean high tide and seven feet deep at low tide, enough water for a light-draft ship or barge transporting troops.
The earthwork fortification measured 160 feet long and eighty feet deep with a parapet fifteen feet tall and included a powder magazine twenty-five feet tall. It was armed with one 9-inch Dahlgren gun and two 32-pound rifled and banded guns. A company of the 20th South Carolina Volunteer Infantry served as the garrison for much of the war.
]]>On August 18, 1863, as Beauregard and his staff sought to strengthen inner harbor defenses, Lieutenant Colonel D. B. Harris, Chief Engineer, was directed to construct a new battery for “heavy guns” at the site of the old mortar battery on Mount Pleasant. This fortification was placed to cover the Hog Island Channel, the inner harbor, and the bridge leading to Sullivan’s Island. The battery was armed with two 8-inch Columbiads on barbette carriages and designed to include a powder magazine.
On August 29, 1863, Thomas Jordan, Beauregard’s Chief of Staff, issued Special Orders No. 167, which named the new Mount Pleasant battery as Battery Gary in honor of Captain John Gary, commander of Company A, Lucas Artillery Battalion. Gary was killed on August 13, 1863, while serving at Battery Wagner on Morris Island.
A report in April 1864 confirmed the placement of two 8-inch Columbiads at Battery Gary and listed the ammunition inventory as 286 8-inch shells, 57 8-inch shot, eight 8-inch grapeshot, and twenty-eight 8-inch canister shot.
Battery Gary was located at the end of present-day Schweers Lane, adjacent to Pitt Street. The battery was constructed in the same area as a Revolutionary War Patriot fortification. The battery is destroyed and the property today serves as a private residence.
]]>A two-gun battery was constructed in 1863 at Kinloch’s Landing, a ferry landing facing Sullivan’s Island. The battery was 2.16 miles northeast of Battery Gary. It was originally constructed with a powder magazine and gun positions for two heavy guns. The armament varied through the war, but it started out with two 8-inch Columbiads on barbette carriages. The battery was located to serve as a rear defense for Sullivan’s Island and to prevent light-draft boats from navigating through the inland waterway.
Kinloch’s Landing also served as the headquarters for the Confederate district which included Mount Pleasant and Sullivan’s Island. On the mainland behind the battery was an infantry redoubt and a large Confederate camp. In November 1863, Kinloch’s Land was the headquarters for Brigadier General Roswell Ripley. The troops stationed there included two companies of the 20th South Carolina Infantry.
With the close proximity to the marsh and waterway, Kinloch’s Landing Battery was susceptible to flooding at high tide. In September 1864, Major G. U. Mayo, Assistant Inspector of Artillery, inspected the battery and reported it “entirely out of order.” He noted, “It is unpleasant for me again to report the want of care which infantry guards at batteries have displayed.” Mayo urged headquarters to assign a trained artillery officer to the battery.
There are remnants of Kinloch’s Landing Battery still extant. The property is owned by a neighborhood association. The site of the infantry redoubt is privately owned.
]]>Venning’s Landing Battery was located at another ferry landing 1.37 miles northeast of Kinloch’s Landing Battery on the southeast shore of Mount Pleasant facing Sullivan’s Island. Like Kinloch’s Landing Battery, this battery was placed to protect a ferry landing, to serve as a rear defense for Sullivan’s Island, and to prevent light-draft boats from navigating through the inland waterway.
The battery was constructed for two gun positions and a small powder magazine. It was armed with two 24-pound guns on siege carriages.
The site of Venning’s Landing Battery was at the terminus of Venning Road on the marsh front at the rear of the Mount Pleasant Waterworks. The battery is destroyed.
]]>The Hibben Street Battery was located behind the Hibben House on a high bluff at the western terminus of Hibben Street in the Old Village of Mount Pleasant overlooking Charleston Harbor. The battery was constructed to serve as an inner-harbor defense for Charleston Harbor.
Hibben Street Battery was designed for two guns and a powder magazine. It was armed with two 24-pound guns on siege carriages.
Hibben Street Battery was near the location of a Revolutionary War fortification, Haddrell’s Point Battery. There are some slight remnants of an earthwork fortification at Hibben Street. It is undetermined whether these remains are Revolutionary War, Civil War, or both.
]]>Early in the war, torpedoes (mines) were placed in the Hog Island Channel to defend against Union ships that might slip past Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie. The Hog Island Battery, also known as the Shem Creek Battery, was built on the southern tip of Hog Island in 1863. The small one-gun battery was constructed with an adjoining powder magazine. Hog Island was selected as the site to provide for additional inner harbor defense and to defend the village of Mount Pleasant.
The initial armament was an 8-inch Columbiad on a barbette carriage to allow for the widest field of fire. By May 1864, the armament was a 32-pound Navy gun.
The site of the Hog Island Battery is near the 18th green on the Patriots Point Golf Course. The battery is destroyed.
]]>Beauregard returned to Charleston in September 1862 to, once again, assume command of the Department of South Carolina and Georgia for the Confederacy. Headquartered in Charleston, he quickly began working on improving the defenses of the city. Brigadier General Thomas Jordan, Beauregard’s Chief of Staff, assigned Captain W. H. Echols, Chief Engineer, with the task to construct many of the new fortifications. On October 3, 1862, he ordered, “You will examine Hobcaw Point, on the Cooper River, in the vicinity of Mount Pleasant, to determine whether or not it will afford a good position for a battery.
Echols selected the site of a former fortification, Lempriere’s Point Battery, a Revolutionary War redoubt used from 1772—1783. The battery featured two 8-inch Columbiads on barbette carriages with a large powder magazine. In mid-October, Beauregard reported to the Adjutant General in Richmond that the new battery at Hobcaw Bluff was the best position to command the Cooper River, Wando River, and Town Creek.
The Hobcaw Point Battery is destroyed. There are some slight remnants of an earthwork fortification at Hobcaw Point. It is undetermined whether these remains are Revolutionary War, Civil War, or both.
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