That night Russell recorded in his diary: “These people all make a mistake in referring to the events of the old war. ‘We beat off the British fleet at Charleston by the militia—ergo, we’ll sink the Yankees now.’ They do not understand the nature of the new shells and heavy vertical fire, or the effect of projectiles from great distances falling into works.... We got back by eight o’clock p. m. after a pleasant day. What I saw did not satisfy me that Pulaski was strong, or Savannah very safe.”
On April 9, a private in Company D, 1st Regiment of Georgia, wrote to his mother, “We look for a fight every day. We are well prepared, and the boys are in good spirits ‘Spilin’ for a fight.”
People in the South who were spoiling for a fight did not have long to wait. In Charleston Harbor, at 4:30 on the morning of April 12, 1861, a Confederate mortar at Fort Johnson fired a shell which arched across the sky and burst almost directly over Fort Sumter. With this shot, the tragedy of civil war began.
On May 21, Francis S. Bartow, who had opposed the seizure of Fort Pulaski and yet had served as its first commanding officer under the Georgia flag, led the Oglethorpe Light Infantry to the railroad station to entrain for Virginia. The streets were lined with cheering citizens; the band played “Bold Soldier Boy.” Two months later, in a gallant charge on the Federal batteries at Manassas, Bartow, now a brigadier, was shot through the heart.
Blockade of the Savannah River. From Harper’s Pictorial History of the War of 1861.
The Great Expedition
By midsummer, 1861, the North had already planned the strategy that led to the fall of Fort Pulaski. This plan included a naval blockade of the South and the recapture of the southern seacoast fortifications. On October 29, a combined Army and Navy expedition sailed under sealed orders from Hampton Roads. The great convoy, composed of 51 vessels, moved out to sea in 3 columns—an impressive sight that foreshadowed the amphibious movements of World War II. Twenty-five colliers under gunboat escort had sailed the day before. Army forces numbering more than 12,500 men were under the command of Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Sherman, while the naval squadron and the convoy were commanded by Capt. Samuel F. Du Pont.
At destination, the invading troops were to land in three waves by means of surf boats capable of carrying from 70 to 100 men each. These boats were to approach the beach abreast in line of battle. Infantry, light artillery, and engineers with entrenching tools and sandbags were to go in on the first wave and were expected to overcome initial enemy resistance and dig in on the beach. Heavy field artillery would move in on the second wave and reserves on the third. As soon as the landing had been effected, all boats were to report to the chief quartermaster for unloading supplies.
