Henry William Ravenel, 1814-1887: Private Journal 1861:Page 201

Nov. 1861 Pooshee

Aiken on Monday for Charleston. I will therefore not go down tomorrow, but wait till then 

W. 13 William & Ellen left us this morning for the city. William is still quite unwell from his cold but hopes to be able to move on to join his company now at Beaufort. The town was totally abandoned & only a few negroes left. The Rutledge M. Riflemen & a Savannah troop are keep order & preserving property until it is taken possession of by the enemy 

Th. 14 I rode down to the Depot yesterday afternoon to bring up Maria, who arrived from Charleston She te1ls us of the state of panic in which the people of Charleston have been since the appearance of the Yankee fleet. Where street rumours are listened to, alarm will always prevail, - & in every community there are plenty of panic-mongers, who delight in retailing the marvellous, & communicating their own fears to others. I think this panic is disgraceful to our citizens, unmanly & calculated to injure that confidence which we should feel in the justice of our cause & its ultimate success Col. E M Seabrook came up yesterday with the rest of his negroes. He informs me that large gangs of negroes on the islands have refused to leave the plantations & on Edisto there are still about 6000 that have remained. They are unwilling to leave their homes, & moreover have been told that no harm would come to them if they stayed. The planters of the islands have generally burned