The War Begins- Fort Sumter

After South Carolina seceded from the Union on December 20,1860 Major Robert Anderson, the commander of Federal forces at Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island, had a decision to make. He did not feel his small force could defend the fort against an assault from the South Carolina militia by land. The fort was constructed to repel an attack from the sea. Anderson secretly collected his small force and on the day after Christmas in the middle of the night evacuated Fort Moultrie and rowed out to the more-defensible Fort Sumter in the middle of the harbor.

Fort Sumter was planned in the 1820s as a stone masonry fortification with five sides that had space to house 650 defenders. Its 135 guns commanded the shipping channel to Charleston Harbor. The fort, however, was still under construction with only 15 guns mounted. Stones, carriages and guns were strewn about the parade ground. Its 12-foot thick brick walls were built to withstand the impact of any cannonball fired in the 1820s. The problem was that by 1860 the fort was already obsolete versus newer cannons. After they arrived Anderson’s men managed to mount another 45 cannons in addition to the 15 that were already in place, but not all of these could direct their fire at Confederate positions.

At 4:30 AM after the firing of the first shot from Fort Johnson, batteries opened up on Morris Island, then Fort Moultrie and all along the harbor. Fort Sumter was at the center of a ring of fire.

To conserve powder Major Anderson directed his second-in-command Captain Abner Doubleday not to return fire until 7:00 AM. The Confederate bombardment continued throughout the day and then slackened off during the night at 15-minute intervals. It picked up again at 4:00 AM on the 13th. At 1:30 PM the fort’s flagstaff was shattered, and the flag was reattached to a short spar and placed on the parapet. Fires had broken out in multiple places and smoke filled the parade ground and casemates. One by one Sumter’s guns fell silent from lack of ammunition. After 36 hours and over 3,000 Confederate cannon shots, Major Anderson raised the white flag and surrendered. Despite all of the cannon fire not a single soldier was killed on either side. The next day, Sunday the 14th, by agreement the Union would be allowed to salute the flag with a 100-gun cannonade. On the 48th shot one of the cannons exploded blowing off the right arm of Private Daniel Hough, one of the gun crew, killing him almost instantly. Another member of the crew, Private Edward Galloway, was also killed. These two men became the first fatalities of the war. At 4:30 PM Major Robert Anderson surrendered the fort to the South Carolina militia.

Below are pictures from the fort

Left face of the Fort- exterior