The state of South Carolina officially seceded and
joined the Confederacy on December 26, 1860.
Subsequently South Carolina demanded
that the United States evacuate Fort Sumter, located near the entrance to
Charleston Harbor. Those demands were
ignored and an attempt to resupply the fort in January was repulsed by the Confederates.
In April, the U.S. again began an attempt to resupply. Confederate forces in Charleston again demanded the fort’s surrender and again the demand was refused. On April 12, 1861 Confederate artillery in Charleston laid siege on the fort. The bombardment lasted for at least 34 straight hours and finally led to the surrender of the fort to the Confederate forces. Thus began hostilities in the war that would change America forever.
Today, when you visit the fort you see period
artillery, a display of flags that have flown over the fort and what remains of
the fort walls. As you can see from the
above photo, sea shells were incorporated into walls to add reinforcement.
This is the view for the fort today overlooking
modern Charleston Harbor with the excursion boat and the, very modern, Arthur
Ravenel Jr. Bridge in the distance.
General William T. Sherman forced the Confederates
to abandon Charleston in February 1865 and Federal troops again occupied the
fort. After the war the, largely destroyed, fort was mostly unused. A
small garrison manned the fort during World War I and again during World War II. After the war the fort eventually became a
U.S. National Monument. Today the fort
is administered by the National Park Service and is open to visitors. The story of the fort is important and the
site is well worth a visit.
© Tim Marks all rights reserved