About the Event
Join us on the first of a series of Sesquicentennial Faith & Freedom Tours hosted and conducted by Vision Forum Ministries’ Historian, Bill Potter.
Our tour will begin at 12:00 at Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston, the burial site of many famous South Carolina statesmen and generals. We will visit the grave of Robert Barnwell Rhett, one of the fathers of secession and learn about the arguments and events leading to the birth of the Confederate States of America. We will visit the gravesite of Captain George Dixon, the commander of the submarine H.L. Hunley, the first sub in history to sink an enemy ship in combat. Hard fighting Confederate General Arthur Middleton Manigault and Micah Jenkins are both buried here and Bill Potter will relate interesting stories of God’s providences in their lives.
From Magnolia we will drive to the H.L. Hunley Museum and view the submarine that took two crews to their death before sinking the USS Housatonic in Charleston Harbor. We will hear the stories of heroes and actually see the very artifact that has proven to be one of the most important treasures of American history. Bravery, sacrifice, and boldness will be the themes of the day.
After supper on our own in Charleston, Bill Potter will lecture on Secession and the Civil War at the North Charleston Inn beginning at 8:00pm.
We will begin our tour at 9:00 a.m. at Ft. Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island, site of an earlier gallant defense of Charleston in the War for Independence. It later became part of the fort system built to defend Charleston harbor before the War of Secession. Ft. Moultrie played a crucial role in the capture of Ft. Sumter in 1861, and in the defense of Charleston throughout the war. Because of its close association with the original war of secession from Great Britain, it is an unique artifact connecting the principles of ‘76 and those of ‘61
Who has not heard of Fort Sumter, the Providential site of the first shots of the War Between the States? We will tread the very bricks and mortar of the bastion where the fateful shots were fired in April, 1861, one hundred fifty years ago. We will study the men whose names became household words across America—Major Robert Anderson and General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard and their 
commanders Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis. We will ride the ferry across the same waters of Charleston Harbor over which shells arched for four long years. After the fall of Ft. Sumter, the new Confederate garrison held out to the very end of the war, repelling marine attacks and shelling by the Union blockading fleet till the post was reduced to rubble.
To complete the tour we will visit one of the premier antebellum plantations in the South, Boone Hall. We will discuss the third rail of Civil War studies, slavery in the United States, and visit one of the most beautiful settings of the old south. Although the tour will officially end at 5:00, for those who wish to stay, there will be a starlight pops concert at Boone Hall after supper.
For those who stay over into Sunday, the Potters will be worshipping at the historic Huguenot Church in Charleston and for those interested, will give a lecture Sunday afternoon on the Huguenot migration to America and their impact on the South.
The cost for this tour is $80 per person for those 6 years of age or older and includes $40 worth of admissions to all venues and boat tickets to Ft. Sumter. To aid larger families, we are charging full price for only the first 5 members. Any additional family members will only pay for admission fees ($40).
We have secured a block of nonsmoking rooms at the North Charleston Inn at a special rate of $74.95 for one to four people in the room. Make sure to ask for the Vision Forum Faith & Freedom Tour rate. Reservations must be made by Friday April 15th to qualify for this rate. Hotel information is below:
North Charleston Inn
2934 W. Montague Avenue
North Charleston, South Carolina 29418
Phone: 843.744.8281
Register for the tour now! For questions, please contact Kevin Turley via e-mail at: kturley@visionforum.com.
