Fort Sumter

• 1. Granite On The Sand

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  Construction began in 1829 on an artificial island created from a sand bar in Charleston Harbor. Seventy thousand tons of granite arrived from New England to build up the foundation. By 1834, engineers had laid a timber foundation several feet beneath the water line. The decision to switch from stone to brick construction complicated the timeline significantly. Unpleasant weather and disease slowed progress further during these early years. Title disputes over the land caused additional delays that stretched into the late 1850s. Funding issues prevented the completion of interior walls and armaments despite the exterior being finished. The fort was designed to house 650 men and 135 guns across three tiers of gun emplacements. It stood as a five-sided structure with walls thick enough to withstand naval bombardment. Yet by 1861, less than half of the cannon that should have been available were actually installed.

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• 2. The First Shot Fired

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  Major Robert Anderson secretly relocated his command of 127 men to Fort Sumter on the 26th of December 1860. He abandoned Fort Moultrie just six days after South Carolina seceded from the Union. Confederate Brigadier General P. G. T. Beauregard demanded surrender on the 11th of April 1861 at about 3:00 a.m. Colonel James Chesnut Jr. delivered the ultimatum but found Anderson's conditions manifestly futile. At 4:30 a.m. on Friday, the 12th of April 1861, Confederate batteries opened fire for 34 straight hours. Edmund Ruffin claimed he fired the first shot though Lieutenant Henry S. Farley actually did so from James Island. Captain Abner Doubleday fired the Union's first defensive shot at 7:00 a.m. The fort surrendered on Saturday, the 13th of April 1861 after running out of ammunition and fuses. Major Anderson took the flag with him as they evacuated the ruined structure. Mary Chesnut described Charleston residents drinking salutes from balconies along what is now known as The Battery.

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• 3. A Naval Fiasco

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  Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont led an attack on the 7th of April 1863 using ironclad ships including the USS Keokuk. The fleet fired only 154 rounds while receiving 2,209 shots from Confederate defenders. The USS Keokuk sank the next day off the southern tip of Morris Island. Confederates salvaged two eleven-inch Dahlgren guns from the sunken vessel to mount in Fort Sumter. A boat assault planned for the 8th of September 9, 1863 failed due to poor coordination between army and navy commanders. Commander Thomas H. Stevens Jr. protested his lack of knowledge about the operation yet was placed in charge. Only half of the boats landed successfully and most hit the wrong flank instead of the passable breach. Union sailors fired blindly into the fort endangering their own landing party. Eight men were killed, nineteen wounded, and one hundred five captured during the botched attempt. The Confederates suffered no casualties in this engagement. Major-General Quincy Adams Gillmore later issued a special medal to service members who served under his command at the fort.

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• 4. Ruins To Lighthouse

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  General William Tecumseh Sherman forced the Confederates to evacuate Charleston on the 17th of February 1865. The Federal government formally took possession of Fort Sumter on the 22nd of February 1865. Major Anderson returned to raise the flag he had lowered four years earlier on the 14th of April 1865. Henry Ward Beecher spoke at length about the ceremony while President Lincoln was assassinated that same evening. From 1876 to 1897, the site functioned as an unmanned lighthouse station with no military personnel present. The Spanish-American War prompted reconstruction efforts starting in 1898. A new concrete blockhouse called Battery Huger housed two 12-inch M1888 guns inside the original walls. This battery never saw combat before being deactivated in 1947. The fort became Fort Sumter National Monument under the National Park Service in 1948. Eleven of the original first-tier gun rooms were restored with 100-pounder Parrott rifles during early repairs.

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• 5. Preserving The Past

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  Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park now encompasses three sites including the visitor education center. Access requires a thirty-minute ferry ride from either the Visitor Education Center or Patriots Point. Private boats are no longer allowed to approach the island directly. The museum features exhibits about disagreements between North and South leading to the incidents at Fort Sumter. the 12th of April 2011 marked the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War start with thousands of reenactors encamping nearby. A United States stamp and first-day cover were issued on that commemoration date. Sea level rise led to a Park Service decision by December 2019 to move protective rocks farther from the fort's walls. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. The Civil War Trust has acquired land related to the battles since then. Five small flags once surrounded the main flagpole but were removed in August 2015 for a new exhibit. Four historic national flags now fly on the lower parade ground instead.

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