Marching Through Georgia
Castle Pinckney
On December 27, 1860, one week after South Carolina seceded from the Union,
the State of South Carolina forced the Sergeant manning Pinckney to surrender it
and join Maj. Anderson, who had relocated the federal garrison to two days
before. This makes Castle Pinckney the first Federal Fort taken over by a
Southern Government. The change of command was orderly, but represented the
first time a Southern Government received the surrender of a Federal Military
Position
Early in the war, the Fort was garrisoned by members of the Charleston Soave Cadets, who wore gray uniforms with red trim, not the more exotic soave outfits of other units. The young soldiers were photographed with the walls and parapets of the fort rising behind them.