The Bluffton Expedition: The Burning of Bluffton, South Carolina, During the Civil War, Paperback

JUNE 4, 1863... As the sun began to set below the horizon across the May River estuary, smoke clouds still billowed from the burning homes and buildings of the town; when it rose on the morning of June 5, it was evident that Bluffton's antebellum way of life had vanished forever. Perhaps in an omen of what was to come for the South, the burning of Bluffton, South Carolina, in 1863 was a prelude to the farewell of the Southern plantation era and of the institution of slavery. In the years leading up to the Civil War, Bluffton had gained national prominence as a hotbed of secessionist activity. The Bluffton Movement was sparked during a fiery political gathering held under a sprawling and magnificent live oak now referred to as the Secession Oak. The movement generated a dangerous whirlwind of political rhetoric that only war and devastation would silence.

Jeff Fulgham was born in Savannah, Georgia and spent most of his early life in Bluffton, South Carolina. At age 22 he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and has since served a combined 20 years in the Navy and South Carolina Army National Guard, from which he retired in 2018. Jeff completed four deployments to the continent of Asia from the Middle East to the Far East and served in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, where as a squad leader he was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals. As a Guardsman he led disaster response teams during the South Carolina Flood of 2015 and Hurricane Matthew in 2016. With the assistance of the GI Bill, Staff Sergeant Fulgham earned a B.A. in History from American Public University and began working in the historical field. Mr. Fulgham has contributed as an editor on two South Carolina historical marker projects, has written numerous articles and is the author of Rediscovering Dr. Henry Woodward's Carolina Frontier 1665-1686.