020-620616-[H]Secessionville.20 - WDS Forgotten Campaigns

(Historical 20 minute turns) The first major battle in the first campaign to regain Charleston was fought against orders. BrGen Henry Benham was positively ordered not to attack while his boss, MajGen David Hunter, was out of town! The Confederate positions on James Island were the forward part of the defensive network surrounding Charleston. From their footholds at the Grimball plantation on James Island and on Sol Legare Island the Yankees were only five miles from the city. MajGen John Pemberton, who would later command at Vicksburg, is the Confederate commander. Benham, essentially wanting to make a name for himself, plotted a pre-dawn surprise attack on Fort LaMar, aka the Tower Battery. Reference: "Secessionville" by Patrick Brennan