Centennial Author Series with Brian McEnany

Date: September 12, 2016
Contact: Dawn Davis, 843-883-3123, x213

Fort Moultrie's Centennial Author Series will continue with Author Brian McEnany speaking about his book For the Brotherhood and Duty: The Civil War History of the West Point Class of 1862 at Fort Moultrie on Saturday 24, 2016 at 1 p.m. Following his talk, the author will be available for signing copies of his book which are available for purchase.

In For Brotherhood and Duty, McEnany follows West Point cadets from their initiation, through coursework, and onto the battlefield, focusing on 12 Union and 4 Confederate soldiers. Drawing heavily on primary sources, McEnany presents a chronicle of the young classmates, who become allies and enemies during the largest conflict ever undertaken on American soil. Three of the cadets from South Carolina, Henry S. Farley of Laurensville; James Hamilton of Charleston; and John R Blocker of Edgefield, resigned their commissions and participated in the opening engagement of the American Civil War when Confederate forces fired onto Fort Sumter, occupied by United States troops.

McEnany graduated from the United States Military Academy with the class of 1962 and served in artillery assignments in Germany, Korea, and the United States and in combat in Vietnam. A retired lieutenant colonel and operations research analyst, he is the author of several historical articles about West Point and the Civil War. He has personal connections to Fort Sumter through his Great-Great-Grandfather Thomas McEnany and his Great-Grandfather James McEnany. Colonel Thomas McEnany was a member of the Engineer Company at West Point, and assigned to Fort Sumter by Special Order 194, November 25, 1856, "to take charge of all ordnance and other property there." He and his family returned to West Point in late 1858. James McEnany was listed as born at Fort Sumter on October 29, 1858.