GEORGETOWN, SC — Georgetown residents are traveling to Charleston this week to help celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first shots fired over Fort Sumter.

Vernon Parker, commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said he will be in Charleston early Tuesday as the events to commemorate the beginning of the Civil War take place.    

“The shot will be out of a mortar, just like the one that fired the first shot,” Parker said. “The first shot was a signal shot. There were batteries all around Fort Sumter and this was a signal to start firing.”            

Local Civil War reenactors will also be in hand in Charleston to help fire cannons.

Georgetown residents Bob and Elizabeth Wolf, who dress as Confederates, will fire a cannon on Tuesday morning around 7:30 a.m.

The couple was preparing to leave for Charleston by Friday afternoon. Drilling was on the schedule for the weekend, Bob Wolf said.

On Tuesday, the pair will participate in the actual reenactment of the firing on Fort Sumter.

“We will be firing long range shells, even though we are just firing blanks,” Wolf said.

Bob Wolf said he will participate in other events in Charleston and oversee the safety of the big guns that are coming into town.  

Many different troops from out of state are coming to the event, he said.

Wolf and others said the remembrance of history is a good idea.

“It’s part of history, and we are just celebrating when South Carolina said heck no to Washington, just like today,” Wolf said. “We had someone 500 miles away, telling us what to do and taxing us.”

Georgetown resident Paige Sawyer, who attended a similar event in 1961, said the events are also a good way to remember history.

“I think it’s a good commemoration of a memorable event in American history,” he said.

Other events to mark dates relating to the Civil War will be held in Georgetown later this month.

Parker said the celebration of Confederate Memorial Day will take place May 14 at the old Baptist Church cemetery in Georgetown.

Culpepper’s Battery will attend as well as the Waccamaw Light Artillery. Ed Westbury, past division chaplain, will speak at the event.

According to the Post and Courier numerous events are planned next week to mark the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, which began April 12, 1861.

Some of the events are:

Monday

“Voices from the Civil War," featuring Jay Ungar, Molly Mason and The Family Band with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Sean Newhouse, guest conductor; CSO Spiritual Ensemble & Mount Zion AME Spiritual Singers

9-10:30 p.m., White Point Garden at The Battery. Admission is free

Tuesday events

“When Jesus Wept,” a sunrise concert, will be held in remembrance of the moment the first shots of the Civil War were fired. Music for Brass Ensemble & Military Drums; a short candlelight concert featuring hymns by Colonial American composers including William Billings and others.

The event takes place from 4:30 to 5 a.m. at White Point Garden. Admission is free

Also on Tuesday, groups around the Charleston area fire cannons throughout the day to mark the sesquicentennial of the Civil War.

The commemoration starts with a 10-inch mortar cannon fired at 6:45 a.m. from Fort Johnson.

The following other locations will immediately start firing after the first round for about 45 minutes. Sporadic firing will occur from these locations, and there will be another 45-minute barrage at 7:45 p.m.; Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant, Pitt Street Bridge, Mount Pleasant, Alhambra Hall in Mount Pleasant, Breach Inlet on Sullivan's Island, Station 22 on Sullivan's Island, Fort Johnson on James Island, Carolina Yacht Club (between 7 and about 9 p.m.)

Traffic closures

East Battery and Murray Boulevard from South Battery to King Street will be closed from 8:30 a.m. Monday until midday Tuesday, according to the Post and Courier. Residents or guests with valid identification will be allowed to travel to their residences.

By Kelly Marshall Fuller

Kfuller@gtowntimes.com