Fire Eats (part of) Charleston

Some of ruins from December 1861 fire

On the night of December 11 – 12, 1861 a large portion of Charleston, South Carolina burned. The Richmond Daily Dispatch of December 14, 1861 printed Jefferson Davis’ reaction, in which the CSA president urged Congress to appropriate some money to Charleston to help deal with the loss. Apparently the Confederacy was in debt to its member states anyway, so sending some money to the ravaged city would be sort of an early (partial) repayment to South Carolina:

The Great fire in Charleston.

…To their [?] of the Confederate States.

The calamity which has laid in waste a large portion of the city of Charleston, calls for our sympathy, and seems to justify the offer of and in the manner hereafter suggested. The State of South Carolina will no doubt desire to assist the people of Charleston in their hour of need but, as her resources are now to the utmost in resisting the invasion of her soil, the prompt intervention of this Government may not be deemed unsuitable to the occasion. The State of South Carolina, in common with the other States was made liberal advances on account of the war and this Government is unquestionably largely her debtor. With the existing pressure upon her resources, it is probable that her desire to aid the suffering city of Charleston may be restrained by other demands upon her available means. Under such circumstances. may we not exhibit our sympathy with her people by an offer to place at the control of the Legislature of the State, now in session, a portion of the sum we owe her? The magnitude of the calamity affords the reason for making an exception in her favor; and promptness of action will manifest, in the most appropriate manner, the sincerity of our regard for the people of that gallant State, and our entire sympathy in all that concerns them. I recommend, therefore, that Congress make an appropriation of such amount as may be deemed sufficient for the purpose proposed, to be placed at the control of the authorities of the State of South Carolina. Jefferson Davis.

Still ruined over three years later

Mr. Kenner offered the following resolution to make an advance to the State of South Carolina on account of her claims against the Confederate States:

Resolved, That the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars be and is hereby appropriated as an advance on account of any claims of the State of South Carolina upon the Confederate States and that the same be paid to such person as may be authorized by the Legislature of South Carolina to receive the same.

The resolution passed unanimously.

The New-York Times of December 18, 1861 has a good recap of the fire and its aftermath. It finishes with a paragraph comparing Charleston to Manhattan and then concludes, “The leaders of the rebellion were themselves going to fire the town on the approach of the National forces; so the present destruction only forestalls their action.” Union forces have had a presence in the Port Royal area since November 7th and seem to be gradually fanning out.

Thanks to the Son of the South you can read the Harper’s Weekly December 28, 1861 account of the fire and see a lot of images of pre-conflagration Charleston.

If you go to this page at Historic Charleston Foundation and put a check in “1861 Fire” you can see where the fire raged.

And it’s only about eight days until South Carolina would be celebrating one year of independence from the United States.

Secession Hall in ruins