BLOCKADE OF SOUTH CAROLINA - Part 2 of 3   By Mike Thomas   Most blockade runners were sailing vessels at the outset of the War for Southern Independence. Trans-Atlantic voyages serviced South Carolina to and from the British Isles and ships sailing to and from the Caribbean. By Mid-1862, sailing vessels were being phased out in favor of steamships because the Union fleet’s growing numbers included many fast steamers. In late 1861, British and Confederate interests began util

CONFEDERATES ON U.S. POSTAGE STAMPS   By: Mike Thomas   The U.S. Postal Service had regularly issued War Between the States themed stamps since 1866 when the first Abraham Lincoln imaged logo was distributed. Over the next 71 years, several other WBTS related stamps were issued honoring other northern individuals. In 1937, however, at the insistence of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a stamp bearing the images of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson was issued simultaneously

CAPTAIN LYLE AND HIS CAPTURE OF 600 YANKEES   By: Mike Thomas   October 27, 1864 promised to be another day of battle for Captain Joseph Banks Lyle, 5th South Carolina Infantry. A seasoned soldier with service dating to April 13, 1861, he was in command of skirmishers for Bratton’s Brigade in Field’s Division that day. He considered himself an educator and looked forward to continuing that vocation in the future. Born in Fairfield County SC in 1829, he was a graduate of South

BEAUREGARD’S AIDE-DECAMP EXTRAORDINAIRE LT. ALEXANDER R. CHISOLM (1834 -1910)   By: Mike Thomas   Each Confederate Brigade, Division, or Corps had an assigned staff formed by appointments from the various offices in the War Department. Generals commanding these units had little to say about who served on the team since it belonged to the unit he commanded, not to him. The lone exception was the Aide-de-Camp {ADC} who was appointed by and served at the pleasure of the general.

JOSEPH P. HUGER HE WANTED TO BE A SOLDIER   By Compatriot Mike Thomas   Confederate history is full of stories about young men and their service in the army. That of Charlestonian Joseph P. Huger {1846-1864} is among those full of hope and admiration but with a tragic ending. Though barely a minor footnote in the overall study of the war, it brings to light a young man’s patriotism and desire to serve his new nation when he was under no obligation to do so.   On December 22,

SOUTH CAROLINA COLLEGE AND IT’S CONFEDERATE GENERALS   By Mike Thomas   South Carolina College, now the University of South Carolina, admitted its first class in 1809 with just 9 students. In the following years, it grew in numbers and established a reputation of being the finest college in the South, drawing students from all across that section of the country. The War For Southern Independence found its graduates serving at all levels in the Officer Corps of the Confederate