Charleston’s Secret Blockade Running Backdoor

by DrRoger | Sep 14, 2021 | Roger Newman Author

By the latter half of 1863, the Union blockade of Charleston had matured and the majority of blockade runners who sailed under the cover of the night never returned. Looking to improve his odds, Captain Jack Holmes sailed the “Will O’ the Wisp”...

The Charleston Mercury

by DrRoger | Sep 4, 2021 | Roger Newman Author

The foundational cracks in the Union over slavery and the issue of States’ Rights were necessarily exploited by a parade of Southern nationalists promoting a narrative passionate enough to stir men to action, move them into the streets, beat the drums, shout...

Swamp Angel Rains Terror on Charleston

by DrRoger | Sep 1, 2021 | Roger Newman Author

By the fall of 1863, Charleston faced a new and unprecedented threat. With the capture of Morris Island, the Union Army constructed a long-range, two-hundred-pound Parrott rifle hidden in the Morris Island marsh grass. The cannon was dubbed the “Swamp...

Why did Charlestonians eventually succumb to the madness of secession?

by DrRoger | Aug 14, 2021 | Roger Newman Author

Then, as well as now, Charleston prefers an unhurried pace and a conservative nature. Charleston’s charms provide too many diversions from rebellious indignation. Charleston’s planter elite balanced their radical politics with an equally ardent taste for...

Union Frustration with the Phantom-like Blockade Runners

by DrRoger | Aug 10, 2021 | Roger Newman Author

The ability of the Southern Blockade runners, like the “Will O’ the Wisp” to pass undetected between them at night so immensely frustrated the Union captains in command of the Charleston blockade that they began to refer to the runners as...

Blockade Runners Sustained the South During Civil War

by DrRoger | Aug 8, 2021 | Roger Newman Author

The real hero of my new Civil War historical fiction novel is the Charleston-based blockade runner, “Will O’ the Wisp.” Constructed at the F.M. Jones Shipyard on Shem Creek by master shipwright and captain, Jack Whitesides Holmes, the “Will...

Bill Noel Reviews “Will O’ the Wisp: Madness, War, and Recompense”

by DrRoger | Aug 2, 2021 | Roger Newman Author

Bill Noel, the acclaimed author of the Folly Beach Mystery Series (“Washout”, “First Light”, “Darkhorse”, “Discord”, and “The Pier” to name a few) recently posted this review of Roger Newman’s new Civil...

Lost Southern Recipes From the Civil War Era – Lowcountry Purloo

by DrRoger | Jul 30, 2021 | Uncategorized

George Trenholm and his entourage took to the backroads and Indian trails on their way back to South Carolina from a burning Richmond. The less-traveled routes avoided Sherman’s cavalry, desperate refugees, and murderous highwaymen all searching for the millions...

Lost Southern Recipes From the Civil War Era- Charleston Turtle Soup

by DrRoger | Jul 28, 2021 | Roger Newman Author

The pinnacle of haute cuisine in pre-war Charleston was the successful presentation of a silver tureen of terrapin stew. The name terrapin itself comes from an Algonquian Indian word that translates as “good tasting turtle.” Terrapin stew had been...

Lost Southern Recipes From the Civil War Era – Palmetto Cabbage

by DrRoger | Jul 26, 2021 | Roger Newman Author

The Sabal Palmetto tree is the state tree of South Carolina dating to a Revolutionary War battle where its soft logs protected Charleston from a British Naval bombardment. British shells sank into the porous wood rather than exploding the embattlements. The inner core...