I apologize for the long silence but I’ve been busy researching a new topic. I am pleased to announce that I am transitioning to a Facebook page under Jo Ann Daly Carr to share information about my new project.

Members of the Company, the story of the women of the federal garrison in Charleston Harbor in 1860-1861, will be published by Savas-Beatie late in 2026.

My book will detail the experiences and sacrifices of the wives and children of the enlisted men as they were forced to abandon their homes on Sullivan’s Island and, when life at Fort Sumter became untenable, again abandon their cherished belongings when they were sent to Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, New York on February 3, 1861. For three long months, they waited with the remainder of the nation for the situation in Charleston Harbor to be resolved. When Fort Sumter was bombarded on April 12-13, 1861, these women and children had to wait for six agonizing days to know if their husbands and fathers were alive or dead, wounded or well, captured or free. After a much too short forty-six-day reunion, the families once again said farewell to their soldiers who marched off to defend the Union. Since the families’ quarters at Fort Hamilton were needed for new recruits, the women and children were once again forced to find new lodging, this time in a city with no family or support. Over the next four years, they waited, some in vain, for their soldiers to return.

The wives and children of the officers left Charleston on January 6, 1861. Upon arrival in Washington, Mary Moale Foster, the wife of Captain John G. Foster, was visited by General-in-Chief Winfield Scott, who sought her insights and advice on the situation in Charleston. Within days of taking office, the new President Abraham Lincoln, rushed to the Willard Hotel to consult with Mary Doubleday, the wife of Captain Abner Doubleday. Meanwhile, Eliza Clinch Anderson, wife of the garrison commander Major Robert Anderson, used her connections with the New York press to keep the Fort Sumter story in the eyes and heart of the nation.

If you look carefully at the image above, you will see a child’s cradle in the ruins of Fort Sumter. This cradle, left behind by one of the dozen families who lived at Fort Sumter in January 1861, symbolizes the losses they experienced. Please visit my Facebook page, Jo Ann Daly Carr, to learn more about the story of the women of Sumter and look for Members of the Company later this year.