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Morris
Island, located south of the entrance to Charleston Harbor,
is one of a series of barrier islands guarding the South Carolina
coast. The last Ice Age about 20,000 years ago caused glaciers
to creep down as far south as northern New Jersey and dropped
sea levels some 300 to 400 feet below their present levels.
The shoreline of South Carolina was 50 to 60 miles out into
ocean from its present position. Most barrier islands were
formed during the slowly rising sea level of the last 7,000
years. From the results of core testing on nearby islands,
Morris Island is at least 4000 years old. We know that barrier
islands are not stationary and at times, especially under
the influence of major storms, can change rapidly. In the
mid-1800s,evidence of an ancient marsh was exposed along the
Morris Island shoreline, a clear indication that the island
was once located seaward of its position at that time.
In
the earliest charts of the region, what is now Morris Island
was actually three separate islands - Middle Bay Island, Morrison
Island, and Cummings Point. Another name associated with the
island in the 1700s was Coffin Island. This name may have
been linked to the use of the island as a burial ground for
sick and contagious passengers arriving by ship. The name
would have well suited the island during the Civil War when
hundreds of soldiers, both North and South, were buried there.
Around 1800 the shallow inlets were filled in and formed one
long island that became known as Morris Island.
Another,
better-documented use of the island was as a base for navigational
aids. Three hundred years ago, a ship could not come directly
into harbor because of a series of underwater sand bars across
the mouth of Charleston harbor extending about two miles off
the shoreline. Early explorers found a natural opening in
the bar opposite the inlet between Folly Island and Morris
Island. Ships would cross the bar at the deepest point, then
sail north along Morris Island and turn into the harbor about
two miles in front of Fort Sumter. Because of its proximity
to the natural deep water entrance into Charleston, from the
very earliest days of European settlement some form of light
marker was kept on the island. The early wood fires and burning
pitch markers later evolved to more permanent lighthouses.
The earliest permanent structure dates to 1767. The 1767 structure
was replaced in 1838 by a brick tower 102 feet tall with a
revolving beacon that could be seen 12 miles out to sea. In
1858 Capt. G. W. Cullum, while he was supervising construction
of Fort Sumter, installed an improved second order lens and
light. A powerful hurricane in 1854 washed away the light
keeper's house, and in 1858 a stronger house on a raised foundation
was built for the light keeper and his family. Other than
the lighthouse and keeper's house, the only structure of note
built on the island was a pest house or quarantine station.
The structure was built in 1834 and was said to have had 40
beds. From records at the beginning of the Civil War, this
complex may have consisted of a hospital and two smaller out
buildings.
At the time of the Civil War, the island looked much different
than it looks today. A series of large sand dunes 30 to 40
feet high lined the length of the island, and the island was
thickly forested. The dunes were much higher on the Southern
end than on the region nearer to Fort Sumter. Vincent's Creek
bordered the land face of the island for about a quarter of
its length and provided access to the back of the island from
the harbor.
The Civil War caused many changes to the island as both the
Confederacy and the Union realized its importance. Confederates
recognized the strategic value of the island to the defense
of Charleston and later the Union saw it as a base for capturing
the city. A number of historic firsts in American history
are associated with Morris Island as both Confederate and
Union troops fought to control the island and take Fort Sumter.
Two major campaigns involve Morris Island: the "first
shot" (1861) and the Siege of Charleston (1863-1865),
including the assault on Battery Wagner (July 1863).
Between
South Carolina's December 1860 secession and the outbreak
of hostilities on April 12, 1861, Confederate forces erected
a series of 11 to 12 hastily constructed batteries along the
shores of Morris Island, including the first iron-clad land
battery used in warfare. The purpose of these batteries was
to besiege the federal forces occupying Fort Sumter and to
protect against attempts to reinforce the garrison. On January
9, 1861 young Citadel cadets manning a battery on the island
fired on the Star of the West, a merchant vessel sent to resupply
the federal forces. During the opening bombardment of the
Civil War, the first shots to hit Fort Sumter were fired by
the Palmetto Brigade from the iron-clad battery on Cummings
Point on the north end of the island. After the Federal forces
surrendered the fort on April 14th, the first Confederates
to enter the fort were troops from Morris Island.
The
lighthouse was destroyed by the Confederates at the beginning
of the Civil War to prevent Union warships from using the
marker, and the pest house was disassembled. The batteries
constructed for the Confederate siege of Fort Sumter were
replaced by stronger fortifications built from sturdy timbers
and sand. These included Battery Wagner and Battery Gregg,
two large works on the northern end, and a series of ten detached
positions on the south end. As the war progressed, almost
all of the trees on the island were cut down to allow unobstructed
fire down the island. The light keeper's house was gradually
stripped of its timbers during the Union occupation of the
island.
Battles
fought on Morris Island in the summer of 1863 were heroic
for both challenger and defender. and they influenced the
outcome of the war in ways far beyond the conquest of the
tiny island. The Siege of Charleston began on July 10, 1863
when Union forces landed on the south end of Morris Island.
On July 18, 1863, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry,
an African-American regiment, led a fateful assault against
Battery Wagner and earned itself a place in the history of
this nation. One result of their courage in battle was the
recruitment of 200,000 African American soldiers and sailors
by Union forces. The assault failed to take Battery Wagner
and resulted in 246 deaths, 880 wounded and 389 captured.
Thirty four of the deaths and 146 of the wounded were from
the 54th Massachusetts. Ninety-two soldiers of the 54th were
captured. In 1900 Sergeant William Carney of the 54th Massachusetts
became the first African American soldier awarded the Medal
of Honor for his bravery during the Wagner assault. In the
summer of 1863 Morris Island was a virtual killing field as
stubborn defenders met a determined challenger.
Confederate
defenders held Battery Wagner for two months before evacuating
the island on the night of September 6. In the words of Maj.
Robert Gilchrist, one of the defenders, "seven hundred
and forty men were driven out of a sand hill by eleven thousand
five hundred. Two months to advance half a mile toward Charleston."
For years afterward, West Point cadets studied the tactics
used in the siege following the July 18 assault with a model
of Battery Wagner. After the Confederates evacuated the island,
Federal forces strengthened and modified many of the abandoned
fortifications. At one point, to deter the Confederate practice
of housing Union prisoners in parts of Charleston then under
bombardment, Federal forces built a stockade for 300 prisoners
was built several hundred yards north of Battery Wagner in
response to Confederate housing of from Federal positions
on Morris Island. A large supply base and wharf were built
on the south end of the islands. With as many as 10,000 men
stationed there during part of the war, observers reported
that the island looked like a tent city.
The
587-day siege from Morris Island made Fort Sumter the most
heavily bombarded site in North American warfare. Not only
was this the longest siege in U.S. history, but it involved
the largest number of siege cannon and was the first time
that rifled cannon were used in an American battle. It was
also the first firing of an artillery projectile of over four
miles. The sustained firing by U.S. troops on a civilian target
(Charleston) was also a controversial first. The initial battery
designed to fire into the city, the" Swamp Angel,"
can still be seen in the marsh just behind the island..
For a few years after the war, Morris Island remained under
U.S. Army control, but hurricanes soon washed away most of
the works constructed there. Even ten years after the war,
the U. S. Army captain in charge of the island reported that
he would gather wagon-loads of human bones to be reburied
after every major storm. By 1885, storms had cut the island
in two and over-wash had filled in Vincent's Creek, which
had formerly bounded the land face of the island, but the
outline of Battery Wagner was still recognizable. A new lighthouse
and keeper's house complex was completed in 1878; but was
rendered virtually obsolete in 1896 by the construction of
jetties and the dredging of a new harbor entrance. Ships now
enter Charleston harbor directly from the sea.
The
jetties, storms, and a rising sea level have played havoc
with Morris Island. Over the last 100 years the island has
been eroding at a frightening rate. The 1878 lighthouse, originally
built 1200 feet from the shoreline, is today at least that
far out to sea. Efforts are underway to preserve this historic
structure. Much of the Civil War battlefield has also been
covered by the sea, but the region nearest Fort Sumter retains
characteristics from that period. The remains of earthworks
can be found on the marsh side of the island. Civil War artillery
fragments and projectiles are frequently found along its shores
and beneath its sands. The noted geologist Dr. Orin Pilkey
has warned that development on this island is extremely dangerous
due to the instability and rapid erosion of the island. The
island is privately owned and has been threatened with development
projects several times in the last few years.
Written
by Russell Horres.
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