The ferry ride from Charleston’s Liberty Square is always very scenic. There is plenty to see in all directions.
There’s a good chance you may cross paths with a large cargo ship approaching or departing the busy Charleston ports.
And dolphins may be spotted too.
We had the pleasure of showing Fort Sumter to Alesia’s longtime friend Tina who lives in the Richmond, Va. area.
Fort Sumter was high on her husband Rodger’s Charleston to-do list and we were more than happy to make it happen.
Fort Sumter visitors who arrive by ferry get to spend an hour at the site before the return trip. A ranger starts it off with a 10-15 minute presentation that is very good in setting the stage for what happened on April 12, 1861 when Confederates bombarded into surrender the Union army-occupied Harbor Fort.
And there’s a really good museum to tour.
Its features include flags from both sides of the conflict.
I learned some interesting new (to me) tidbits about Fort Sumter and what happened here in 1861. This to someone who feels he knows a lot about the attack and the Civil War in general. So I thought "Things I Learned" blog post (below).
Five New Facts Learned About The Fort Sumter Battle
From the excellent U.S. park service ranger (I should have taken down his name) I learned from where the Confederate cannon fire came, that it was not just from Fort Johnson.
Years ago I at some point became aware of Fort Johnson on James Island. This is where the Confederates fired the first shots of the war at 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1862. From Fort Sumter, the side facing Charleston, Fort Johnson is the land seen in the distance over my Alesia's shoulders.
The distance from the two forts was and is 1.3 miles (didn’t know that figure before).
Alesia and I have been to Fort Johnson a few times and have seen this monument commemorating that near this spot “the first shot of the war on secession was fired…beginning the tragic conflict which Americans endured for four years.”
Above and below are photos I took Sunday on Sullivan's Island at Fort Moultrie. Fort Sumter can somewhat be seen in the distance, out in the harbor between the two large trees. Below is a closer view of Sumter.
This struck me as a staggering figure. The Union soldiers on Fort Sumter, for sure, gave new meaning to hunkered down. Somehow not one man was killed as iron rained down on them hour after hour. One Yankee did die but not until the Union commander had surrendered the fort and it was when a cannon misfired or exploded during a ceremonial 100 gun salute possibly when the U.S. was lowered.
Persistence and patience were surely needed as long as this fort took to build. And it was still only 70 percent finished in April 1861 when it took that merciless pounding. The park ranger said the island fort took six decades to build. But other sources, including the official handout visitors can pick up, say construction began in 1829 so it would have taken 32 years to build, also a very long time. By saying 60 years did the ranger mean when talk first began among U.S. government and military officials that a fort in the harbor was needed? Have to check that next visit!
4. Jefferson Davis Not Thrilled at Being Chosen CSA
President
I was surprised upon reading this display in the Fort Sumter Museum. It has a photograph of Jefferson Davis and his wife Varina. Below the image is Mrs. Davis’ recollection of her husband’s reaction when a telegram came to them in Mississippi saying "Jeff" had been elected president of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America. “He looked so grieved that I feared some evil had befallen our family,” Mrs. Davis would later say. “After a few minutes, he told me (what it contained), as a man might speak of a sentence of death.”
President Davis was in for a long, difficult ordeal, trying to break the Southern states from the union and keep them independent, he may have sensed.
On Sullivan’s Island (below) are a series of black coastal fortifications that go back to the World Wars. I have always thought, frankly, that they are pretty ugly and wondered why they are black. “To help keep the powder dry,” is what the Fort Sumter ranger said about the black painted structures you see through a tunnel. These were built at Fort Sumter long after the Civil War, after the Spanish-American War actually. And they were expanded and/or reinforced during the World Wars with concerns about German submarines coming in close to America’s Atlantic shores. There were concerns too about a possible land invasion.
So part of the defense was to waterproof these fortresses by using black asphalt paint, as this sign explains. The black color also helped eliminate glare from the sun that could affect firing accuracy.
So this Fort Sumter visit was fun and educational as well. I may very well learn five more tidbits and factoids next time here. Thanks to Alesia, Tina and Roger for a great time at fort Sumter!
Alesia and I have been to Fort Johnson a few times and have seen this monument commemorating that near this spot “the first shot of the war on secession was fired…beginning the tragic conflict which Americans endured for four years.”
This stone marker is about it as far as recognizing the historic event that happened here. Still a bit surprising to me that there are not more signs and displays...more hoopla or hubbub.
What I did not know and learned during this visit was that while the first mortar and cannon shots were fired from Fort Johnson that was not the only place from which the Rebels attacked. They also fired away from Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island to the North and from a battery on Morris Island to the south that would later in the war be named Battery (or Fort) Wagner for Confederate LTC. Thomas Wagner who was killed in 1862 by a cannon inspection mishap at Fort Moultrie.
Above and below are photos I took Sunday on Sullivan's Island at Fort Moultrie. Fort Sumter can somewhat be seen in the distance, out in the harbor between the two large trees. Below is a closer view of Sumter.
In researching many Confederate officials, officers and soldiers for my books and other projects I have come across so many accounts of men saying they were there when for the first shots of the war. I sometimes wondered just how many people could have really been at Fort Johnson early that May morning. But now that I know there were two other major firing positions it makes more sense that so many Confederates were in fact “first shot” eyewitnesses.
2. Some 44,000 Cannon Shots were Fired at Fort Sumter that First Day of War!
This struck me as a staggering figure. The Union soldiers on Fort Sumter, for sure, gave new meaning to hunkered down. Somehow not one man was killed as iron rained down on them hour after hour. One Yankee did die but not until the Union commander had surrendered the fort and it was when a cannon misfired or exploded during a ceremonial 100 gun salute possibly when the U.S. was lowered.
3. Fort Sumter Took 60 Years to Build- Or Did It?
But whenever construction began the labor was done by slaves. There is no disagreement about that fact.
4. Jefferson Davis Not Thrilled at Being Chosen CSA
President
I was surprised upon reading this display in the Fort Sumter Museum. It has a photograph of Jefferson Davis and his wife Varina. Below the image is Mrs. Davis’ recollection of her husband’s reaction when a telegram came to them in Mississippi saying "Jeff" had been elected president of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America. “He looked so grieved that I feared some evil had befallen our family,” Mrs. Davis would later say. “After a few minutes, he told me (what it contained), as a man might speak of a sentence of death.”
President Davis was in for a long, difficult ordeal, trying to break the Southern states from the union and keep them independent, he may have sensed.
5. Black Paint Used to Waterproof
So part of the defense was to waterproof these fortresses by using black asphalt paint, as this sign explains. The black color also helped eliminate glare from the sun that could affect firing accuracy.
So this Fort Sumter visit was fun and educational as well. I may very well learn five more tidbits and factoids next time here. Thanks to Alesia, Tina and Roger for a great time at fort Sumter!
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