Abstract
The results of Global Positioning System (GPS) mapping and Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis of Civil War earthworks in Beaufort and Jasper counties, South Carolina, are presented. Most earthworks were part of a defensive system built by Confederate forces over the course of the war to protect the Charleston to Savannah railroad, which itself was part of a vital supply line allowing rapid transport of men and materiel throughout the Confederacy. For most of the war, Union forces were deployed at Port Royal Sound less than 40 km from the railroad. The Confederates met this threat through fixed defenses at strategic locations combined with rapid movement of troops by rail. This strategy and these tactics are understandable within the geographic context provided by GPS/GIS technology and a military context provided by a detailed campaign history.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Clement, Christopher Ohm, Stephen R. Wise, Steven D. Smith, and Ramona M. Grunden 2000 Mapping the Defense of the Charleston to Savannah Railroad: Civil War Earthworks in Beaufort and Jasper Counties, South Carolina. Report to the National Park Service, American Battlefields Protection Program, from the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina, Columbia.
de Vauban, Sebastien LePrestre 1740 A Manual of Siegecraft and Fortification. Translated by and with an introduction by George A. Rothrock. Reprinted in 1968 by University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor.
Duane, J. C. 1864 Manual for Engineer Troops. D. Van Nostrand Co., New York, NY.
Freeman, Douglas Southall 1951 R. E. Lee. 2 volumes. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, NY.
Kovacik, Charles F., and John J. Winberrry 1987 South Carolina, A Geography. Westview Press, Boulder, CO.
Lord, Francis A. 1960 They Fought for the Union: A Complete Reference Work on the Federal Fighting Man. Bonanza Books, New York, NY.
Mahan, D. H. 1836 A Treatise on Field Fortifications, 3rd edition in 1861 by John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY.
Mills, Robert 1825 “Beaufort District” in Mill’s Atlas of South Carolina. Reprinted in 1965 by Robert Pearce Wilkins and John D. Keels, Jr., Columbia, SC.
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (ORA) 1899–1901 War of the Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Series I, 128 volumes, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies (ORN) 1901 Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. Series I, 32 volumes, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
Robinson, Joseph M. 1950 The Defense of the Charleston and Savannah Railroad 1861–1865. Master’s thesis, Department of History, University of South Carolina, Columbia.
Rowland, Lawrence S., Alexander Moore, and George Rogers, Jr. 1996 The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina: Volume 1, 1514–1861. University of South Carolina Press, Columbia.
Sherman, William Tecumseh 1892 Memoirs of Gen. W. T. Sherman. Vol. 2. Charles L. Webster & Co., New York, NY.
South, Stanley, and Michael Hartley 1980 Deep Water and High Ground: Seventeenth Century Low country Settlement. Research Manuscript Series 166, Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, Columbia, SC.
United States Army Corps of Engineers 1943 Okatie Quadrangle (1:62,500). War Department, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army.
United States Geological Survey (USGS) 1918a South Carolina, Yemassee Quadrangle (1:62,500). U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Geological Survey, Washington, DC.
United States Geological Survey (USGS) 1918b South Carolina, Green Pond Quadrangle (1:62,500). U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Geological Survey, Washington, DC.
United States Geological Survey (USGS) 1961 Ridgeland Quadrangle, South Carolina, 7.5 Minute Series (Topographic) (Photorevised 1979). U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Geological Survey, Washington, DC.
United States Geological Survey (USGS) 1962 Laurel Bay Quadrangle, South Carolina, 7.5 Minute Series (Topographic). U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Geological Survey, Washington, DC.
United States Geological Survey (USGS) 1988 Coosawhatchie Quadrangle, South Carolina, 7.5 Minute Series (Topographic) (Provisional Edition). U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Geological Survey, Washington, DC.
Viele, Egbert L. 1885 The Port Royal Expedition 1861: The First Union Victory of the Civil War. Magazine of American History, XIV: 329–340.
Wise, Stephen R. 2000 Port Royal Civil War Fortifications. In Mapping the Defense of the Charleston to Savannah Railroad: Civil War Earthworks in Beaufort and Jasper Counties, South Carolina. Report to the National Park Service, American Battlefields Protection Program, from Christopher Ohm Clement, Stephen R. Wise, Steven D. Smith, and Ramona M. Grunden, South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina, Columbia.
Wright, David Russell 1982 Civil War Field Fortifications: An Analysis of Theory and Practical Application. Master’s thesis, Department of History, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Smith, S.D., Clement, C.O. & Wise, S.R. GPS, GIS and the Civil War Battlefield Landscape: A South Carolina Low Country Example. Hist Arch 37, 14–30 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03376608
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03376608