The Battle of Port Royal - Paperback

by Michael D. Coker (Author)

November 1861. The South was winning the Civil War. Fort Sumter had fallen to the Confederates. The Federal army was routed at Manassas. The blockade of Southern ports was a farce; commerce and weapons flowed almost as freely as before the war. There were stirrings of interest from foreign powers in recognizing the Confederacy and brokering a forced peace accord. The Federals needed to turn the tide. The largest fleet ever assembled by the United States set its sights on the South Carolina coast for this much-needed victory. On November 7, 1861, this mighty weapon of war engaged two undermanned and outgunned forts in Hilton Head in a clash called the Battle of Port Royal. Join historian Michael Coker as he tells the story of this largely forgotten battle, a pivotal turning point in the war that defined our nation.

Author Biography

Michael Coker was until recently the Visual Materials Curator at the South Carolina Historical Society, where he worked since 2000. He also works as a tour guide for the City of Charleston, with specialties in Colonial History, the American Revolution, and the Civil War. He has authored two books, A Fair Wind and Tide: The Battle for Charles Town, 1706 (Joggling Board Press 2009), and Charleston Curiosities (The History Press 2008), as well as dozens of magazine and newspaper articles, most notably for Charleston Magazine, Moultrie News, and Carolina Morning News.