The Fighting Over Fort Sumter (cont.)

Home > The Fighting Over Fort Sumter (cont.)

Related Guides

Popular Cities in South Carolina

Most Popular

Travel Resources

ShoulderSeason

Special Issues

Photo Galleries

Screensavers

From Primedia Publications

Page:

The Fighting Over Fort Sumter (cont.)
An overview history of U.S. seacoast defense from a single spot.
Today, if you want to examine historical sites central to the 1861 Fort Sumter crisis, begin at Fort Moultrie. From Charleston, take U.S. 17 North across the Cooper River Bridge—a landmark Southern suspension span, pick up Business route 17, and exit onto State Road 703 to Sullivan's Island, then follow the signs to Fort Moultrie National Monument. The fort remained part of Charleston's military defenses through World War II, then—in a remarkable act of irony—the U.S. Army deactivated the post and transferred ownership to the State of South Carolina. In 1960—doubling the irony—the state transferred the fort to the Federal National Park Service. Today Fort Moultrie National Monument is again Federal headquarters—for the National Park Service's historic properties in Charleston, including Fort Sumter. Updated and retooled after every war, Fort Moultrie is now preserved and interpreted as an example of coastal defenses from the Revolution to World War II.

Civilian homes from various eras still crowd the fort—a reminder of Major Anderson's worry about rooftop sharpshooters.

"Fort Moultrie is a good starting point to get an overall view of coastal defenses," explains Park Service historian Richard Hatcher. "This is the only place one can go and in a single spot get an overview history of U.S. seacoast defense."

A well-designed visitor's center offers interpretation, artifacts, and a 20-minute orientation film. See the film first. Then, after you've examined the visitor center displays, cross the road and enter Fort Moultrie. A Revolutionary War battery is reproduced near the beach, and much of the fort is preserved as a World War II installation, but there's still plenty that Major Anderson and his thin force of troops would find familiar. And, despite all the changes and refitting over the ages, Fort Moultrie's overwhelming atmosphere is clearly 19th Century. Mounted in the Civil War section of the fort are two eight-inch Confederate Columbiads and two 24-pounders. The post magazine has been restored to reflect much of its 1861 appearance, and a walk through that section of the fort just has the feel of 1861. Civilian homes from various eras still crowd the fort—a reminder of Major Anderson's worry about rooftop sharpshooters.

Perhaps the most memorable spot at Fort Moultrie today is atop the parapet by the guns, where—like a clear field of fire—you have a wide-angle view of Charleston Harbor. In the distance Fort Sumter's sturdy silhouette rises from the harbor horizon. "You not only get a good view of the harbor from that position," observes Hatcher, "you can also see why Fort Moultrie was such an important site, beginning with 1776. You can also easily see the importance of Fort Sumter, built on a shoal overlooking the ship channel."

Anderson's move to Fort Sumter was taken as a hostile act by officials of the newly formed Republic of South Carolina. The South Carolinians considered the Federal fort to rest on borrowed soil that belonged to their state. They had declared their independence from the Federal Union and, while South Carolina might compensate the Washington government for arms, equipment, and facilities, they expected the Federal government to evacuate its now unwanted troops from South Carolina. The issue of state's rights versus Federal authority, which had smoldered for generations, was now coming to a point of conflict in Charleston Harbor. South Carolina officials had predicted a peaceful secession from the Federal Union, but the legality of the secession now appeared to be put to the test of warfare. "Why did that green goose Anderson go into Fort Sumter?" Southern diarist Mary Chesnut lamented to her journal. "Then everything began to go wrong."

Major Anderson began to prepare Fort Sumter for battle. South Carolina militia forces repaired the damaged guns at Fort Moultrie and ringed Charleston Harbor with artillery batteries on Sullivan's Island, James Island, and Morris Island. For the time being, the guns were trained on Fort Sumter. Both sides waited tensely for the next act in the drama to unfold. South Carolina Governor Francis Pickens, a former U.S. congressman and ambassador to Russia, officially asked Federal authorities in Washington to withdraw their military forces from Charleston. Instead, outgoing President James Buchanan, hoping to delay action until Abraham Lincoln took office, sent an unarmed merchant ship, the Star of the West, down to Charleston with 200 troops and provisions to resupply Fort Sumter's garrison. When the steamer attempted to enter Charleston Harbor on January 9, 1861, it was driven back by shots from South Carolina troops. The first shot—arguably the opening shot of the Civil War—was fired by Cadet George E. Haynsworth from a Morris Island battery manned by cadets from The Citadel. Major Anderson, whose orders from Washington were to remain "strictly on the defensive," ordered his guns manned but did not return fire. His garrison chafed at the restriction, and Sergeant James Chester thought Anderson appeared "excited and uncertain what to do."

Page: