Blue and brick washed photo of men on a civil war fort. Centered type in pale yellow. Blue and brick washed photo of men on a civil war fort. Centered type in pale yellow.

Size: 6 x 8
Pages: 224
Illustrations: 115 b&w halftones

Civil War
 paperback
 ebook
 Forthcoming
 Books
 South Carolina History & Culture

Smoke on the Battery, paperback original

Charleston and the Longest Siege of the Civil War

paperback original

Stephen R. Wise

Paperback
978-1-64336-663-0
Published: Oct 27 2026

$22.99

Hardcover

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Ebook
978-1-64336-664-7
 Published: Oct 27 2026

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OA Ebook
978-1-64336-664-7
 Published: Oct 27 2026

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The inclusion of this book in the Open Carolina collection is made possible by the generous funding of

An illustrated history of Civil War Charleston brought to life through firsthand accounts

In the predawn darkness of April 12, 1861, a mortar shell burst above Fort Sumter, igniting the Civil War and establishing Charleston's central role in America's defining struggle. The bombardment was just the beginning. Over the next four years, the city suffered through numerous travails, including enduring nearly 46,000 shells fired into the city and its defenses during the Civil War's longest siege.

In Smoke on the Battery, historian Stephen R. Wise delivers a poignant, richly illustrated account of Charleston's wartime experience. Going beyond the firing on Fort Sumter, Wise examines ironclad clashes in the harbor, the brutal fighting on Morris Island and at Fort Wagner, the crucial role of United States Colored Troops, and the toll on civilians trapped in a city under relentless fire. Firsthand accounts from soldiers, sailors, and residents add a rich dimension to the story of these momentous years and are complemented by more than one hundred historical photographs.



Stephen R. Wise is former director of the Parris Island Museum and serves on the editorial board of the South Carolina Historical Magazine. He is the author of Lifeline of the Confederacy and Gate of Hell.

"As the first study in fifty-five years of this important Civil War military operation, Smoke on the Battery provides a comprehensive and well-organized study of a defining moment in US history."—Richard W. Hatcher III, author of Thunder in the Harbor

"Written by perhaps the most knowledgeable living scholar of the subject, this volume distills a complex and pivotal series of events into an easily readable, attention-holding narrative."—Eric Emerson, Director and State Historic Preservation Officer at South Carolina Department of Archives and History