Travels with Kelli

DESTINATION AWAITS:  A few weeks ago I went to Sullivan's Island not just for the beautiful sunset but to find out if Edgar Allen Poe really was stationed there. ANSWER: yes but I was disappointed that he didn't have a bigger presence there. Fort Moultrie is one of the oldest forts in US history. ADDRESS: 1214 Middle Street, Sullivan's Island, SC JUST THE FACTS (BRIEF HISTORY): *First fort was constructed of Palmetto logs and sand. It had the effect of cannons and bullets bouncing off of the walls At this time it was known as Fort Sullivan. It was built to protect the Charleston Harbor. *First British attacked was June 28, 1776 before the fort was completed. Battle last 9 hours before the British retreated *Fort was named for the colonial who saved Charleston. He is buried across the street from the fort. *After war it neglected but in 1791 congress authorized 1st nationwide coastal fortification. This included 22 forts along the Atlantic Coast *Again it fell under disrepai...

Miles Brewton was born in 1731 in Charleston. His father was a goldsmith and was associated with the city's banking and financial circles in town.  Miles Brewton gained the property at 27 King Street through as they say "by a good marriage" to Mary Izard.  Since I will not sugar coat history, he was south Carolina's biggest slave trader, owning 8 trading ships, and wealthiest man in the area. In 1765 he started construction on the Georgian Palladian brick home. By the time of the beginnings of the Revolutionary War he owner several indigo and rice plantations. Miles was a highly successful merchant and plantation owner of the era and was elected to the second congress in 1775. Sadly, he and his family were lost at sea when the ship they were traveling on when down during their trip to the north to Philadelphia.  His sister, Rebecca Brewton Motte inherited the home. She herself would also make a name for herself during the revolutionary War.  Rebecca was a strong supp...

  First stop was National Military Park but its all about the Vicksburg battle. I will say its like a small scale Gettysburg. The best part of the park was that you had signs for Union and Confederate stands on the hill. There were a few areas that were closed, like  Grant’s Headquarters area and where Thayer’s Approach area.  I took tons of pictures of the monuments but will not post them all.  Now on to the history - the battle of Vicksburg. The siege started on May 18, 1863 but it really started in October 1862 when Major General Ulysses S Grant was ordered to clear the Mississippi River of Confederate resistance. President Davis knew that  Vicksburg was “the nailhead that holds the South’s two halves together.”  Vicksburg was the South’s lifeline. Lt. General John C Pemberton with 50,000 widely scattered confederate solders was expected to keep the river open.    In December Grant begins maneuvers good for both land and water that should force...

  After visiting Fort Towson the employee sent me to Fort Towson Cemetery and he told me to go over the stone wall and down the path, this is where the last confederate general surrender his command. He couldn’t remember what his name was but that was easy to find out, thank you google. General Stand Watie, a Native American, realizing he was fighting a losing battle, he surrendered his unit on June 23, 1865. The men where Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, and Osage Indians.  Born in 1806 to a Cherokee father and mixed race mother (half-Cherokee, half-European). He was born with he given Cherokee name Degataga which means “stand firm.” But later his father was baptized in a Moravian church as David Uwatie, and his father changed his name to Isaac S Uwatie. Growing up Stand went to Moravian school. But Isaac combined both his names to become Stand Watie.  David became a wealthy planter and who also owned slaves.  Stand joined the south more for the fact that the Union was th...