Tag Archives: fort sumter

Civil War Podcast, Episode 35

FORT SUMTER (Part the Fifth)

In which we discuss the bombardment of Sumter by the Confederate batteries, and then the fort’s evacuation by Major Robert Anderson & his men on April 14, 1861. Before the conclusion of the episode, we also answer the questions: “What caused secession?” and “What caused the war?”

Our book recommendation for this episode is actually a magazine article. In the Early Summer 2013/Premier Issue of Military Heritage Presents Civil War Quarterly (Sovereign Media), there is an article about Fort Pickens by Eric Niderost: “Second Sumter: The Struggle for Pensacola.”

Listen to Episode 35: FortSumterPartFifth

Fort Sumter Communications

Civil War Podcast, Episode 34

FORT SUMTER (Part the Fourth): “AND THE WAR CAME.”

In which we discuss the expedition President Lincoln sent to relieve Sumter, the Confederate government’s decision to reduce the fort, and the opening shot of the bombardment on April 12, 1861.

Our book recommendation for this episode is Allegiance: Fort Sumter, Charleston, and the Beginning of the Civil War by David Detzer

“A superb popular history… bringing to life the men (on both sides) who were responsible for the first shots of the Civil War.” ~ Publishers Weekly

Listen to Episode 34: FortSumterPartFourth

Civil War Podcast, Episode 33

FORT SUMTER (Part the Third)

In which we continue our discussion of the escalating crisis over possession of Fort Sumter.

Our book recommendation for this episode is P.G.T. Beauregard: Napoleon in Gray by T. Harry Williams.

First published in 1955 to wide acclaim, T. Harry Williams’ P.G.T. Beauregard is universally regarded as “the first authoritative portrait of the Confederacy’s always dramatic, often perplexing” general (Chicago Tribune). Chivalric, arrogant, and of exotic Creole Louisiana origin, Beauregard participated in every phase of the Civil War from its beginning to its end.

Listen to Episode 33: FortSumterPartThird

Civil War Podcast, Episode 31

FORT SUMTER (Part the Second)

In which we continue our discussion of the events surrounding the growing crisis over the possession of Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor.

Our book recommendation for this episode is A Great Civil War: A Military and Political History, 1861-1865 by Russell F. Weigley

“Readers will find much to debate in this book- including its interpretations of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, its implication that a superficially united Confederacy was doomed to defeat, and its affirmation that, because of emancipation, ‘the Civil War calls for a rethinking of the attitude… that war is always futile, that its rewards never match its costs, that any conflict [must be] immediately decisive and virtually without loss of American lives.” ~ Gary W. Gallagher

Listen to Episode 31: FortSumterPartSecond

Civil War Podcast, Episode 30

FORT SUMTER (Part the First)

In which we discuss the events surrounding the growing crisis over the possession of Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor.

Our book recommendation for this episode is Days of Defiance: Sumter, Secession, and the Coming of the Civil War by Maury Klein.

“Splendid… A riveting story, and Klein has retold it surpassingly well.” ~ The Washington Post Book World

Listen to Episode 30: FortSumterPartFirst