#45: The Old Citadel, the Hunley submarine, and a "plants in history" spring break program
For South Carolina history lovers far and wide! Enjoy weekly SC history and upcoming SC historical events
Dear reader,
Welcome to Newsletter #45 of The South Carolina History Newsletter! I’m so happy you’re here.
I hope you enjoy today’s newsletter, and as always, please feel free to reply to this email with your ideas and suggestions on South Carolina history you’d like to learn more about. I’m only a click away.
Additionally, please join us & keep the conversation going by becoming a member of our SC History Newsletter Facebook Community here! I can’t wait to meet you.
And now, let’s learn some South Carolina history!
Yours truly,
Kate
(Writing from Greenville, SC)
➳ Featured SC History Event
Please enjoy our featured SC History Event below, and click here to visit my SC History Events Calendar that organizes all the upcoming SC history events I have discovered. Please let me know if you’d like to add an event to the calendar! Reply to this email or send me a note at schistorynewsletter@gmail.com.
Wednesday, April 3rd from 1:00 - 3:00 pm | “Plants in History - Spring Break Program” | Lexington County Museum | Lexington, SC | FREE & Open to the public
“Looking for something fun and educational to do over spring break? Bring your children to the Lexington County Museum on Wednesday, April 3, 2024 for a program on the native plants and trees and their role in SC's history. This program starts at 1 PM with a guided tour of our gardens and the grounds to learn about native plants and trees. The children will then make their own seed-starter pot to take home and plant in their own garden. The program is best suited for ages 5 and up. The program is free of charge. We hope to see you there!”
➳ SC History Fun Facts
I.
Did you know that the original South Carolina State Arsenal is now an Embassy Suites Hotel in downtown Charleston?
The South Carolina State Arsenal, more commonly known as the Old Citadel, was built in the early 1830s in response to the 1822 uprising of enslaved Africans led by Denmark Vesey. The alleged uprising never came to fruition and Vesey was publicly hanged in 1822, but the event struck terror in the heart of the white population of Charleston and beyond. Should another uprising occur, the white citizens were aware that they were outnumbered. The 1820 census reported “enslaved Blacks as a majority, some 51%, of the South Carolina population.” Enslaved people outnumbered whites by more than 20,000, a significant sum in a state with only 500,000 people.
As a result, soon after Vesey’s hanging, the South Carolina State Legislature passed an “Act to Establish a Competent Force to Act as a Municipal Guard for the Protection of the City of Charleston and its Vicinity” which created a “municipal guard” of up to 150 men serving for 5 years to protect the city and “carry into effect the laws of the State and the city ordinances, for the government of Negroes and free persons of colour” but which notably also had “no military power over the white inhabitants of the state.”
Under the provisions of the Act, a well-known Charleston architect Frederick Wesner was hired to design the arsenal building: “a simple two-story brick construction, with bricks laid in the English bond style, featuring supportive interior arches that faced an open courtyard and topped by a wooden parapet.”
In 1826, during the building’s construction, another famous Charleston architect, Robert Mills, described the process:
"An extensive citadel, or fortified arsenal and barracks, is now erecting at the upper end of the city, on the site of the old Tobacco inspection, where the principal stand of arms, etc. will be kept. The works will be guarded by bastions at the four angles, on which cannon will be mounted — the whole surmounted by a high wall."
The structure was completed in 1829.
In 1842 the South Carolina Military Academy, a liberal arts military college, was established by the state legislature. The new Academy took over the arsenal the following year, and the school soon became known as “The Citadel” in reference to the fortress-like appearance of the building.
Many Citadel alumni fought in the Civil War. Cadets remained at the school but were periodically ordered by the governor to support the Confederacy, and helped drill recruits, manufacture ammunition, protect arms depots, and guard Union prisoners. Citadel cadets were responsible for firing the first shots of the Civil War, January 9, 1861, at the Union relief vessel approaching Fort Sumter.
From 1865 to 1881, during Reconstruction in Charleston, Federal troops occupied the Citadel and the school was closed. Classes resumed at the Citadel in 1882, and continued here until the school was relocated to a campus on the banks of the Ashley River in 1922.
Charleston County used the original State Arsenal building for government offices during much of the 20th century. Then in 1994, a local development firm renovated the building for use as a hotel, and today it is the Embassy Suites. The hotel is apparently haunted, especially the top floor. Visitors have "reported waking to find a young man standing at the foot of their bed. The complete top of his head is missing, exposing his brain. Visitors here have dubbed him the Half Head Man.” Google reviews also confirm recent visitors have experienced hauntings of “dark figures in the corners of their room,” “sleep paralysis,” and “objects falling from tables” for no reason at all. Spooky!
II.
Did you know that during the Civil War, the CSS Hunley was the first combat submarine to sink a warship?
Named for her inventor, Horace Lawson Hunley, the CSS Hunley was a submarine of the Confederate States of America that played a small part in the American Civil War. (Note that the CSS stands in the submarine’s name stands for “Confederate States Ship”) She was taken into government service under the control of the Confederate States Army at Charleston, South Carolina.
CSS Hunley demonstrated the advantages and dangers of undersea warfare. It was built in Mobile, Alabama. The entire vessel was nearly 40 ft long. The hull of the ship is estimated to originally have been 4 feet 3 inches in diameter. The two hatches, accessible by means of “conning tower,” located in the forward and aft of the vessel, are estimated to have originally measured at 16.5 inches in width and 21 inches in length.
The small sizing of the hatches and the cramped quarters made “entering, exiting, and maneuvering about the ship remarkably difficult.” CSS Hunley was designed for a crew of 8 men — 7 to turn the hand-cranked ducted propeller at about 3.5 horsepower, and 1 to steer and direct the boat. At the height of its speed, Hunley could reach 4 knots.
The CSS Hunley was shipped by rail on August 12th, 1863 to Charleston. On August 29th, the CSS Hunley sank during a test run, killing 5 members of her crew. She sank again on October 15th, 1863, killing all 8 of her second crew, including her inventor Horace Lawson Hunley himself, who was aboard at the time, even though he was not a member of the Confederate military. Both times the CSS Hunley was raised and returned to service.
On February 17th, 1864, the CSS Hunley became the first combat submarine to sink a warship, the 1,240-ton United States Navy screw sloop-of-war named the USS Housatonic. However, CSS Hunley was not completely submerged at the time of attack and, following the incident, was lost in Charleston harbor, along with her crew of 8 men before she could return to base. In total, 21 crewmen died in the 3 different sinkings of CSS Hunley during her short career.
Finally located in 1995, Hunley was raised from Charleston Harbor in 2000. Amongst the silt and sand that covered the interior of the vessel, the first artifacts recovered were buttons from the crewmen's uniforms. Examination in 2012 of recovered Hunley artifacts suggested that the “submarine was as close as 20 ft to her target, USS Housatonic, when her deployed torpedo exploded, which caused the submarine's sinking.”
The CSS Hunley is currently on display in North Charleston, South Carolina, at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center on the Cooper River. She is placed in a 75,000-gallon tank designed to soak out the corrosive salts that became embedded in her materials during her 136 years under water.
Here is a fun video from the American Battlefield Trust that takes the viewer through the museum’s exhibits:
➳ Quote from an SC historical figure
I.
“In the Spring of 1864 I built the 3rd boat, having abandoned the artificial motive power as not attainable in our situations. I modeled her, and built expressly for hand power. This boat was of an eliptic shape, with modeled ends, and looked similar to surf, or whale boats, placed one on top of the other. She was built of iron 3/8 inch thick, 40 feet long top & bottom, 42 inches wide in the middle, & 48 inches high, fitted with cranks geared to her propeller & turned by 8 persons inside of her. And although she was a beautiful model boat, and worked to perfection just like her predecessors, the power was too uncertain to admit of her venturing far from shore. This boat was taken to Charleston, SC, and destroyed the sloop of war Housatonic. Myself nor the Sub Marine's gallant commander who lost his life in demonstrating her [illegible, possibly "success"] considered there was any danger in going out and destroying any vessel, but the danger was in having sufficient power to bring the boat back (McClintock Narrative, PRO, Adm. Series 1/6236, File 39455).”
—Excerpt from writings of James McClintock, business partner of H.L. Hunley and builder of the CSS Hunley
Sources used in today’s newsletter:
I always want to improve my work. Answer the poll below to give me your review of today’s newsletter. I also welcome your suggestions for new content! Simply reply to this email with your ideas. Thank you!