Fort Sumter - Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park

 

Construction of Fort Sumter began in 1829, but it was still a work in progress when the American Civil war started. Although the exterior wall was complete and stood about 50 feet high, much of the interior was incomplete including gun placements.

Early on the morning of April 12, 1861, the first shots of the Civil War were fired from Fort Johnson toward Fort Sumter at the entrance to Charleston Harbor. The South Carolina militia barrage lasted for 34 hours before US Major Robert Anderson agreed to evacuate, not surrender, the fort.

It was almost two years later on April 7, 1863 when the Union amassed a small fleet and unsuccessfully attempted to take Charleston Harbor. In early September 1863, the Union launched a disastrous attempt to retake the fort. From then until the end of the war, Union guns continued to pummel the fort sporadically thus reducing its height by about half. After the war, the ruins of the fort served as an unmanned lighthouse station until 1897. In response to the Spanish-American War, a concrete blockhouse was built in 1898 and named Battery Huger. The battery was deactivated in 1947 and the fort was transferred to the National Park Service in 1948.

Fort Sumter Tours, a National Park Service concessionaire, operates boats from Liberty Square to Fort Sumter and from Patriots Point to Fort Sumter. Visitors will spend approximately one hour at the fort before heading back to the boat. An Adult ticket for the tour is $30.

I visited the fort on a foggy day during our February 2021 visit to Charleston.

Castle Pinckney through the fog

Approaching Fort Sumter

At the dock

Entry platform

Ruins of the fort from atop Battery Huger

Parade grounds and dock

View through the open sallyport amidst the casemates

Mountain Howitzer

Some of the New England granite used as a foundation for the fort

Cosmetically restored cannon mounted in its casemate

Another view

View down the gallery

An example of a howitzer

Unrestored cannon

Tight quarters between Battery Huger and the casemates

The ruins from the Civil War were never rebuilt

The gallery and most of the casemates in this area were destroyed leaving only the embrasures

Detail of a destroyed casemate

The north face of Battery Huger

10-inch Mortar

Battery Huger

Ruins of barracks and storage rooms

Rock used as a breakwater to stabilize the fort foundation

Visitor Center

Admission to Fort Sumter is free. However, a fee is charged by the concessionaire operating the ferry from the visitor center at Liberty Square or Patriots Point to Fort Sumter.

The park website is https://nps.gov/fosu/index.htm.