Ft Sumter is but a fragile, ragged ghost of its former imposing self. It is a special place; a monument to the people who fought and died here. We had to visit.
A scale model in the Visitors Center shows the original outlines of the Fort. It stood fifty five feet above the water line on a man made island in the center of the entrance to Charleston Harbor. Construction was begun in 1829 as part of a series of coastal fortifications built by the United States after the War of 1812. It was still unfinished when first occupied in 1860. Ironically, 85 Federal troops took occupancy of the Fort on December 26, 1860, six days after South Carolina voted to leave the Union.
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina seceded from the Union. A result of the election of Abraham Lincoln as President a month before, the secession recognized that the North had elected "a man...whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery." Within six weeks, five other southern states had joined South Carolina, and by March, 1861, when Texas joined the Confederacy, nearly all the federal forts and navy yards in the seven seceding states had been seized by the new government. Ft. Sumter remained in Federal hands.
Ft. Sumter thus became a focal point of tensions between the North and South, as command of Union troops at nearby Fort Moultrie, Castle Pickney, and Fort Johnson were secretly moved to Fort Sumter. The Confederacy occupied and fortified these installations for the defense of Charleston, and began to turn back supply ships bound for Fort Sumter. By April 4, an immediate surrender and evacuation of Fort Sumter was demanded and soon refused. At 4:30 am on April 12, 1861, a signal shot was fired high in the air over Ft. Sumter and the assault began. By 2 pm the next day, the garrison was surrendered without the loss of life on either side.
With Ft. Sumter in Confederate hands, the port of Charleston became an irritating loophole in the Federal naval blockade of the Atlantic coast, with 21 Confederate ships leaving the Harbor and 15 entering within a two month period in 1863. Three Federal naval attempts wee made to take the fort, each met with failure. After Union forces captured adjacent Morris Island, cannon bombardment began on August 17, 1863, with almost 1,000 shells fired the first day alone, and over seven million pounds of metal hurled at it, yet the Fort was never surrendered. Twenty months of bombardment had reduced the fort to rubble, but it was only General Sherman's march north from Savannah that prompted the Confederacy to abandon the fort on February 17, 1865.
Ok, that's the history lesson. Quiz later. Much later.
We boarded a ferry at Liberty Square in downtown Charleston and soon docked at Ft Sumter.
Fort Sumter is maintained as a "stabilized ruin". The large black structure was built on the parade ground at the time of the Spanish-American War.
The man credited with firing the first artillery shot of the Civil War.
During the almost two year long bombardment of the fort, sand bags and cotton bales were used to shore up defenses.
In about 1870, clearing and restoration work was performed, but complete rebuilding was impossible.
From the top of Battery Huger looking northeast. Imagine those wall 30 feet higher, with another complete set of cannon on top!
And the flag still flies!
After returning to the mainland, we walked to Meeting Street and headed south towards Hyman's Seafood Restaurant. One of the best known Charleston seafood restaurants, Hyman's always has a waiting line, but today it was too long for us. Just a few doors north, however, is Sticky Fingers, another Charleston landmark specializing in BBQ, so we forced ourselves to try a small rack of ribs with four signature sauces. Quite enough food for two people! Delicious!
Needing to walk off some of the calories, we took yet another jaunt through downtown Charleston. This is a great walking city, with interesting houses on every block.
Land is a precious commodity here, so it's unusual to see a home with such a beautifully cared for yard. A nice, cool photo to end a warm day in Charleston!
