The Civil War Through the CameraElson, Henry W. (Henry William)
History
The Civil War Through the Camera
Elson, Henry W. (Henry William)
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Pictorial works
Inside Castle Pinckney, Charleston Harbor, August, 1861.--In these
hitherto unpublished Confederate photographs we see one of the earliest
volunteer military organizations of South Carolina and some of the first
Federal prisoners taken in the war. The Charleston Zouave Cadets were
organized in the summer of 1860, and were recruited from among the
patriotic young men of Charleston. We see in the picture how very young
they were. The company first went into active service on Morris Island,
January 1, 1861, and was there on the 9th when the guns of the battery
turned back the _Star of the West_ arriving with reinforcements for
Sumter. The company was also stationed on Sullivan's Island during the
bombardment of Sumter, April 12-13, 1861. After the first fateful clash at
Bull Run, July 21, 1861, had taught the North that the war was on in
earnest, a number of Federal prisoners were brought to Charleston and
placed for safe-keeping in Castle Pinckney, then garrisoned by the
Charleston Zouave Cadets. To break the monotony of guard duty Captain
Chichester, some time in August, engaged a photographer to take some
pictures about the fort showing his men. Gray uniforms with red stripes,
red fatigue caps, and white cross belts were a novelty. The casemates of
the fort had been fitted up with bunks and doors as sleeping quarters for
the prisoners. Casemate No. 1 was occupied by prisoners from the 11th New
York Zouaves, who had been recruited almost entirely from the New York
Fire Department. The smaller picture is a nearer view of their quarters,
over which they have placed the sign "Hotel de Zouave." We see them still
wearing the uniform of the battlefield: wide dark-blue trousers with socks
covering the bottoms, red flannel shirts with the silver badge of the New
York Fire Department, blue jackets elaborately trimmed with braid, red fez
caps with blue tassels, and a blue sash around the waist. Their regiment,
the famous "Ellsworth's Zouaves," was posted at Bull Run as a support for
Pickett's and Griffin's Batteries during the fierce fighting of the
afternoon on the Henry House hill. They gave way before the charge of the
Confederates, leaving 48 dead and 75 wounded on the field. About 65 of
them were taken prisoners, some of whom we see here a month after the
battle. The following October the prisoners were exchanged. At the
beginning of the war the possession of prisoners did not mean as much to
the South as it did later in the struggle, when exchanges became almost
the last resource for recruiting the dwindling ranks. Almost every
Southerner capable of bearing arms had already joined the colors.
[Illustration: THE PRISONERS--11th NEW YORK ZOUAVES.]
[Illustration: THE CIVIL WAR SOLDIER AS HE REALLY LOOKED AND MARCHED
COPYRIGHT, 1911, REVIEW OF REVIEWS CO.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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