Remembering the Rebellion

By Barbara Doyle

“Rebels,” London writers called their Colonial American cousins reporting on the events of Dec. 16, 1773. “Rebels,” Northern papers called their Southern countrymen in the bitter election year of 1860.

Charleston’s fiery newspaper, The Mercury, made the connection between the two defiant moves toward independence when, 87 years after the Boston Tea Party, it proclaimed on Nov. 8, 1860, “Yesterday, Nov. the 7th, will long be a memorable day in Charleston. The tea has been thrown overboard, the revolution of 1860 has been initiated.”

The presidential election two days earlier confirmed that in March 1861 Abraham Lincoln would succeed James Buchanan in the White House. South Carolina, resolved to become an independent state should Lincoln win, elected 169 delegates on Dec. 6 to a Secession Convention that assembled in mid-December. Like their grandfather, Arthur Middleton, who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776, delegates John Izard Middleton and his brother, Williams Middleton, plus Williams’ brother-in-law, John Julius Pringle Smith (all nephews by marriage of Charles Alston), signed South Carolina’s own statement of independence, the Ordinance of Secession. Dec. 20, 2010, marked the sesquicentennial anniversary of that revolutionary event and its consequences.

Despite the Mercury’s prophecy, Nov. 7, 1860, has been forgotten as a meaningful date. However, beginning with last December’s anniversary of the re-enactment of the Ordinance of Secession and continuing through the anniversary of the surrender of General Robert E. Lee and the end of the Civil War in 1865, the South will remind itself and the country of the events occurring a century and a half ago that, in time, produced a more united and cohesive nation than had formerly existed.

In 1860, the Christmas season was observed with the usual celebrations, although conversation focused on politics and the status of Federal property. After Major Robert Anderson moved his Federal troops from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter the night of Dec. 25–26, the Carolina troops in Charleston quickly took over the vacated Fort Moultrie, as well as Castle Pinckney, the Federal Arsenal and Fort Johnson. On Jan. 3, 1861, the Mercury claimed that Charleston looked like an armed camp, with disciplined companies from the interior of the state arriving by railroad.

In early February, Williams Middleton wrote his sister, Eliza Fisher in Philadelphia:

“Charleston looks less like itself than you can possibly imagine it. The whole population, almost, in uniform, with military sights and preparations to be seen on every side. You would scarcely believe it were I to furnish you with the lists of ladies who are occupied from morning until night, not excepting Sundays, in sewing up cannon cartridges. Indeed the most admirable spirit pervades the whole community.”

Normally at that time of year, Williams would be directing plantation work at Middleton Place, “but a sense of duty to the members of the volunteer company which I have joined made it incumbent upon me” to come into town, he wrote. “I greatly prefer my usual country occupations to that of attending drills and parades,” but there was concern over what might or might not occur in the city since “the greatest difficulty consists in reconciling the men to refrain from assaulting the fort [Sumter].”

Nevertheless, the normal social season was under way in February, including Charleston Race Week. Williams’ children, Hal (almost 10) and Lilly (not quite 12), “made their first appearance at the race course today” and were delighted, he continued. However, the attendance was slim, “so many being kept away by military duty.”

Eliza came to Charleston at the end of March for a visit before further developments should make travel to the South difficult, if not impossible. The bombardment of Fort Sumter on April 12 and President Lincoln’s April 19 order for a blockade of Confederate harbors caused her to return to Philadelphia earlier than originally planned. Which was just as well for, as Eliza wrote a sister-in-law on April 23:

“I returned home three days ago — just in time to escape a detention on the road for the very next day the bridges for the Railway were burnt down to prevent the passage of troops sent from Boston & Phila[delphia] to protect the Capitol at Washington from the Southern Army & I should have been placed in a most unpleasant predicament if I had remained a day longer in Charleston.”

She added, “I was there during the bombardment of Fort Sumter, & a sad sight it was to me to see the War begun.” As for the blockade, it was slow in becoming effective but gradually became increasingly so, capturing a number of blockade-runners including one schooner out of Charleston named Henry Middleton.

Military enthusiasm increased as the war began. Unfortunately, in the Charles Alston family this led to a decidedly uncivil, personal war. Charles Alston’s son, John Julius Pringle Alston, and two of his friends proposed forming an artillery company to serve in the South Carolina coastal area. Julius and his companions received commissions from the Confederate government in mid-August, but somehow his double first-cousin, Charles Alston Pringle (their parents, brother and sister Charles and Mary Alston had married sister and brother, Emma and William Bull Pringle), who expected to be part of the company, failed to be named as an officer. Young Pringle’s father took it as a personal insult, blaming Julius for having deliberately ignored and snubbed his son, despite the cousins having traveled to and from the capital and roomed there together.

Ensuing correspondence, if any, between the young men is not available, but their respective fathers became vehement on the subject and exchanged heated notes causing an “unpleasant difficulty,” as one relative called it. Honor, so important to the South Carolinian, was at stake. Young Charles Alston Pringle eventually was commissioned in a different company, but not before he insultingly returned an earlier gift from Charles Alston, his uncle, godfather and namesake.

But there was little time for personal animosities in the heady excitement of late 1860 and early 1861. Like their forefathers who signed the Declaration of Independence “with firm reliance on the Protection of the Divine Providence” and pledging to each other “our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor,” the South Carolina “rebels” were buoyed by complete confidence in the merit of their cause, and optimism was the rule.

Barbara Doyle is the editor of the Middleton Place Foundation Notebook, where this article first appeared in the Winter 2010 issue. (Vol. 32, No. 3.)

Editor’s Note: Over the span of the five-year sesquicentennial observance of the Civil War, Middleton Place Foundation curator Mary Edna Sullivan will use a range of Middleton family and Alston family archival material to show the evolution of Charleston from an enthusiastic bastion of the Southern home front to a desperate member of the Southern war zone. Now through 2015, the progressively changing exhibits Secessionists, Soldiers and Slaves: The Middleton Family’s Civil War and Secessionists, Soldiers and Slaves: The Alston Family’s Civil War will be on display at Middleton Place and the Edmondston-Alston House, respectively, illustrating how the War affected these two related families.

Drayton Hall: The Odyssey Begins

By Joseph Mester
Project Assistant, Drayton Hall

As the dawn of 1861 rose on Drayton Hall, Dr. John Drayton resided in the home built circa 1738 along the Ashley River by his great grandfather, John Drayton. Dr. John’s brother, Thomas M. Drayton, had moved westward with “King Cotton” and called Texas home, and James Drayton, the eldest brother, resided in Charleston.  All three men were caught by the fervor of secession in 1860 and the idyllic opportunity for prosperity in the new Confederacy.

Two of their cousins also found themselves awash in the newly divided nation: Thomas F. Drayton and Percival Drayton, brothers.  Born in Charleston to Congressman William Drayton, Percival lived in Philadelphia and Thomas remained in the Lowcountry. Finding themselves on opposite sides of the Mason-Dixon Line, the physical divide was not the only one. Percival remained loyal to the Union after the secession of his birth state.

April 12, 1861, was a day filled with the event that split the nation asunder. With the subsiding of the thunder of cannon and the flash of mortar from the bombardment of Fort Sumter, James penned these words to his fellow Carolinians: “Your country now calls you, arm! Arm to the teeth… Up Carolinians, Up! Up! Don’t slumber no more, Drive your oppressors from the true Republican Shore.” James would enlist in the 3rd South Carolina Artillery Battalion in November for the defense of Charleston, most likely in response to the recent Confederate retreat at Port Royal — a battle in which Percival Drayton, captain of the USS Pocahontas, had attacked the Confederate fortifications commanded by his brother. Meanwhile in Texas, Dr. John’s brother, Thomas, wrote to him that, “If you go, go with a bold heart and do what you can... and if... you are to be in the number of those whose blood is to be asked for their country, you shed it in a Glorious Cause.”

As 1861 drew to a close, and his fellow countrymen wondered if it would be independence or union, Dr. John would be faced with the decision of how he would serve the Confederacy and concern over the fate of Drayton Hall.

Check out our guide to tours, attractions and what to do in Charleston.

Saffire Charleston's Oven Saffire is located in the elegant Charleston Marriott Hotel on the Ashley River, Lockwood Boulevard. Enjoy the bold flavors of Saffire’s seasonally inspired menu which reflects a belief in “the cuisine of today,”. Always healthy, always evolving. Eclectic, imaginative and unrestricted by ethnic boundaries.... Superb selection of wine. Free parking. Warm and welcoming. Tel: (843) 723-3000.

Tommy Condon's Charleston's favorite Irish Pub. Tommy Condon’s Irish Pub and Seafood Restaurant has made its name by becoming one of Charleston's favorite local spots. Try popular Lowcountry specialties such as shrimp and grits and fish and chips. A family-oriented establishment where children are welcome as they are. Serving food and fun into the wee hours of the night. Live Irish music Wednesday through Sunday nights.

Bulldog Tours Charleston's premier walking tours with exclusive access to some locations. Behind the scenes of the Holy City's graveyards, back alleyways, and dungeon. As seen on Travel Channel's America's Most Haunted Places. Ghost Dungeon, Dark Side Charleston, Ghost Graveyard Walking Tours, Haunted Jail Tour, Charleston Strolls, Walk With History and more.