Morris Island

On January 9, 1861, the first shots of the American Civil War were fired from cannons by cadets of The Citadel at the Star of the West as the ship tried to resupply Fort Sumter.

[1] Morris Island had heavy fighting during the Union Army's campaign to capture Charleston, and is perhaps best known today as the scene of the ill-fated assault by the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, an African-American regiment.

The others were utilized as human shields in an attempt to silence the Confederate artillery at Fort Sumter; in reaction to what the Confederacy did with POWs in Charleston to deter Union ships from firing on the city.

[2] Huffman had waged a number of battles with the local development agencies to increase the zoning, which limited construction to five homes, but claimed to have grown tired of fighting and just wanted to sell.

[3] In 2003, when a builder announced his plans to build houses on the tract, for which he had an option to buy, the Trust, local preservationist Blake Hallman and others formed the Morris Island Coalition, generated media attention and support for preservation and defeated the effort.