Part of Civil War @ Charleston Website
This page provides updates on the preservation and developement of the Ft. Lamar Heritige Preserve, site of the central portion of the Battle of Secessionville on June 16, 1962 during January of 1997. Updates will be posted as the project progresses and linked to the main Battle of Secessionville Page.
Details on the historic June 1862 battle, Including narrative accounts, maps and bibliographic references can be found on Civil War @ Charleston's Battle of Secessionville Page.
From the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
The first clearing of the Fort Lamar Heritage Preserve will take place on February 15, 1997 from 9:00 am--4:00 p.m. (weather permitting). If the weather is questionable, a message will be placed on Chris Judge's voice mail at (803) 734-3753 by 8:30 am.
Tools: Volunteers are asked to bring one or more of the following: machete, loppers, iron rake, weed whips, or bush hooks. Some tools will be available for those who do not have access to these tools. Long sleeve clothing and gloves are recommended.
Parking: Parking is limited. Please make arrangements to car pool. Please do not park on Fort Lamar Road. Some on-site parking will be available. Enter via the left hand gate on Fort Lamar Road.
Lunch: Lunch will be on your own bring some with you or plan to hit the Mom and Pop store on Folly Road which has sandwiches, hot dogs, etc.
Questions: Please contact Chris Judge at (803) 734-3753 or at SCDNR PO Box 167, Columbia, SC 29202 or Email Christopher Judge's at judge@cirrus.dnr.state.sc.us
Website Editor's Note:
Our Mapquest Interactive Atlas Link pinpoints Battery Lamar on an interactive landscape that allows the user to zoom in and out. Location Map - Fort Lamar Heritige Preserve. Due to computer mapping limitations, the Battery is slightly further up the road than indicated.
On Friday, Jan. 17, I attended a meeting between the Heritage Trust Program and the James Island community regarding the recent purchase of Ft. Lamar. The HTP plans to modestly develop the area by removing small vegetation, planting vegetative barriers between private land and Ft. Lamar, putting in a small parking lot, developing historical trails and a means to convey the story to the public. Monuments and such are not out of the question.
William Hamilton's written suggestions included below were handed up. The Washington Light Infantry of Charleston and several reenactment groups offered to help clear the site, which will be done by hand to reduce damage. The South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust offered to assist with planning and development using the years of research, surveys and planning they have accumulated on the site.
Interim plans were for a small circular trail surrounding the earthwork. Later it is hoped to convert the trail to a boardwalk. All planning is being done with an eye to avoiding disturbing the ground so as not do degrade the future archeological value of the site which the state regards as being banked until better technology and funds are available for archeological investigations. All plantings will utilize native species
Volunteers are being sought for three different roles at the site. Help is needed hand clearing the ground this winter. A stewardship group is needed to help provide guides and tours when necessary and to help maintain the site. Lastly all interested people are encouraged to monitor the site for possible relic digging and vandalism, which continue to be a problem. Electronic surveilance possibilities were discussed, including closed circuit night vision, infa red and radar monitoring for protecting the site at night. Neighbors in the area pledged to keep a lookout and experienced Battleground Preservationists helped them develop strategies for catching looters. Department of Natural Resources Personel are situated nearby, monitor the site on an irregular, daily basis and have solicited the assistance of local law enforcement. As a state preserve, those removing artifacts from the site now face heavy state penalties including the forfieture of equipment, including metal detectors and vehicles.
Daytime living history use and occassional ceremonies and programs will be possible at the site. The first planned is scheduled for June 16, 1997, the 135th. Annaversary of the Battle. This leaves only four months to clear and prepare the site for its public opening.
The site has been examined closely. The underbrush is very dense with larger trees spotted about the Battery. The area of the bombproofs, behind the Battery is quite wet. Plans are to clear the underbrush and minor trees, while leaving the large trees to stabalize and protect the earthwork.
Persons present at the meeting asked if flags would be flown on the site. They noted the Confederate 1st. National flown during the battle has not been controversial and that flags of both sites fly at other historic locations in Charleston. No answer to these questions was available.
Input on plans for development of the preserve is still being accepted by the Department of Natural Resources. Please contact:
Chris Judge
Email
judge@cirrus.dnr.state.sc.us
Tel. (803) 734-3753
or Postal Mail at:
SCDNR PO Box 167
Columbia, SC 29202.
The Battery Lamar site should be preserved and made available to the public for educational and historic uses by providing a way to view the area from the top of the parapet, the use of a low powered radio transmitter to provide interpretive material and the placement of an appropriate monument, signs and visitor accommodations.
Experience at other earthworks in the area has shown that the public will inevitably climb the work to experience the site from the perspective of its defenders during their visit. Unless accommodations are made for this worn paths on the work will cause erosion and reduce the durability of the work. The placement of a small, unobtrusive stairway and platform on the back side of the earthwork would allow visitors to climb to the top, where the fiercest fighting early in the battle took place between the members of the 25th. SC and Charleston Battalion and the advance elements of the 1st. wave of Steven’s Division. Visitors could then imagine the view James Campbell had when he fired back at the attacking federals with the guns of their own dead, knowing his brother Alex Campbell was somewhere before the fort. A stairway and platform would also allow visitors to see the surrounding marshes, including the historic military positions on Morris Island across the sound, from which Battery Lamar was bombarded later in the war.
A low powered radio transmitter would provide an unobtrusive way to provide an audio interpretation of the site, including appropriate sound effects. Such a transmitter can be hidden from view and will broadcast the story of the battle to ordinary radios located within a few hundred yards of its location such as those almost all visitors will have in their cars. These transmitters are now fully digital and have no moving parts. By placing such a transmitter is a secure metal or concrete kiosk or shelter, it would be secure from vandalism. A sign on the site and in visitor’s material could provide the frequency. Such transmitters have been used with great success by the national park service and along the Lee retreat route in Virginia. The recording can be changed when necessary. Eventually other sites in the Charleston area could be interpreted in the same way such as the recently preserved Battery 1 earthworks on James Island.
Of course an appropriate monument and markers should be placed on the site. The original Secessionville monument placed in the early 1900’s and later removed to a James Island Church yard could be reinstalled. Small signs marking the positions of military units participating in the battle would also be appropriate. Reenactment units of the 8th. Michigan and 79th. New York are among those interested in assisting in this work. To avoid clutter and simplify maintenance, these markers could be flush with the ground, allowing visitors to stand where the men who fought at secessionville stood. Commonly used at graveyards, such markers can be mowed over.
I believe it is important for the site to be available for occasional living history events. While it is too small for reenactment battles, it would be appropriate for small history demonstrations, ceremonies and commemorative events. For the first several years, these could be focused around the development and installation of interpretive signs, monuments and facilities on site. If the site is purely passive, local residents, to whome the site should matter most, will have little occasion to visit it and local understanding and appreciation for its historic significance will taper off.
It should be made clear that this site is sacred in the memory of many people in the North as well as the South and commemorating what happened there honors not only a Confederate victory but a heroic federal sacrifice in three desperate charges. Aid in this work will come not only from those Southerners who remember, but from the increasing numbers of people in the North and around the world whose ancestors fought and died there.