Eyewitness to the Fall of Fort Sumter
The wooden steam sloop Pawnee pounded toward the South Carolina coast through heavy seas and gale-force winds in the early hours of 12 April 1861. The weather and darkness made it difficult to distinguish landmarks, but the warship’s commanding officer, 52-year-old Commander Stephen C. Rowan, recorded his arrival “as near the position assigned me as the badness of the weather would allow me to judge.” Once in position off Charleston Harbor, Rowan ordered his men to quarters and the guns loaded with shell.
