Torn in Two: The Confederate bombardment and Union surrender of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, April 12-13, 1861, marked the beginning of the Civil War. Since the city remained under Confederate control throughout the war, it continued to be an objective of Union military strategy. Appealing to a northern audience following the Union army’s attempts to regain South Carolina’s primary port, Boston publisher Louis Prang issued four undated variations of this map. Each focused on Fort Sumter, surrounded by concentric circles at half-mile intervals, as if marking it a target for Union aggression. Published in 1863, this version documented Union operations from April to September, which included the heroic but disastrous assault on Fort Wagner by the Massachusetts 54th, the African-American regiment led by Robert Shaw, on July 18.
Shows fortifications, street pattern of Charleston, vegetation, and a few soundings.
Insets: Castle Pinckney. 7 x 5 cm-Fort Sumpter [sic]. 7 x 6 cm-Fort Moultrie. 5 x 6 cm.
Description derived from published bibliography.
Variant showing the earthworks on James Island curving from near the coast to the Batt. Royal and includes additional sites and military information.
Notes (exhibitions):
Exhibited: "Torn in Two: The 150th Anniversary of the Civil War" organized by the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library, 2011.
IIIF Manifest