Fort Sumter

During our trip to Charleston SC we took a trip to Fort Sumter, the target of the first shot of the American Civil War. The fort is well away from the city and its guns could not reach the city, but the fort guarded the harbor entrance and if the Confederacy was to use the harbor, the Union had to give up the fort.

The fort, which was three stories high, was hardly damaged by the initial bombardment. As the fort was not yet completed, it was not active and not fully manned. None of the 85 Union soldiers died during the bombardment. Major Anderson (later General Anderson) surrendered the fort when they ran out of food and when the barracks caught fire.

The fort we see today is a shell of the original. The top to layers are long gone due to Union bombardments later in the war. The Union shelling over months crumbled the top two levels and the rubble surrounded the lower. Though heavily shelled the Union did not conqueer the fort.

During the Spanish American War a two gun battery (12.5 range guns) were installed in the center of the fort upon a concrete platform (today painted black). Following are some pictures I took at Fort Sumter. First is the flag that flew over the fort at the start of the Civil War.

Above is the fort. Note the black concrete of the battery built during the Spanish American War that was built onto the parade ground.

Charleston can be seen in the distance. Below is the parade ground with the remains of the officer's quarters on the left (the quarters caught fire during the Confederate bombardment).

Note Union fire shell damage. In the first picture you can see the remains of a Union shell and below it to the left a hole created by another. In the last you can see several shell holes....the brickwork was five to eight feet thick.