Frank Barnes

“ Not at any time during the battle did the guns of Fort Sumter do great damage to the Confederate defenses. Most of Fort Sumter’s heaviest guns were on the parapet and in the parade, and, to reduce casualties in the small garrison, Major Anderson ordered these left unmanned. For a while, with the help of the 43 engineer workmen remaining at the fort, 9 or 10 of the casemate guns were manned. But by noon, the expenditure of ammunition was so much more rapid than the manufacture of new cartridge bags that the firing was restricted to 6 guns only. ”

“ In that month, General Sherman commenced his march north from Savannah through the interior of South Carolina, slicing between the remnants of Hood’s army on the west and the small Confederate force remaining along the coast. On the 17th, with Sherman in Columbia, Fort Sumter and the other Confederate fortifications in Charleston harbor were quietly evacuated. At 9 o’clock on the morning of the 18th, the United States flag was once more raised over Fort Sumter. The fortunes of war had accomplished what 3,500 tons of metal, a fleet of ironclads, and thousands of men had failed to do. ”

“ Meanwhile, in the face of reports of greatly strengthened harbor fortifications other than Fort Sumter, and increasingly concerned over the nature of the harbor obstructions, he was reluctant now to move forward without additional monitors. Defeat was always possible, and defeat for the Union’s “only ironclad squadron” might have serious consequences, not only for the blockade and Gillmore’s command on Morris Island, but for future operations elsewhere along the coast. ”

“ Meanwhile, in the face of local preparations, an estimated force of 20,000 men would now be needed to reenforce and supply Fort Sumter. It was clear that if Anderson’s local “fresh food” supply were cut off, he would soon be in a desperate state. At the same time, it seemed almost equally clear that a relief expedition would be an impossibility. The entire Army of the United States numbered less than 16,000 men. ”

“ LEFT FACE. Union guns destroyed the arched brick casemates of the left face during the Civil War. When Union gunners, firing on the gorge of Fort Sumter from Morris Island, aimed too high, their projectiles crossed the parade and struck the interior of the left face. Holes caused by these reverse shots, and even shells themselves, are still seen in the ruins of the left-face casemates. ”

“ Each casemate contained one gun, which could be moved on a track for crossfiring through the embrasure. Fort Sumter was designed for an armament of 135 guns and a garrison of 650 men. There are now two guns mounted on the casemate carriages in the left flank. The one on the left of the sally port is a rifled and banded “42-pounder”; the one on the right is a 42-pound smoothbore. Shielded (by the mass of the gorge) from Federal guns on Morris Island, 1863-65, the left flank casemates were used as a Confederate headquarters and hospital. ”

“ During this period the garrison was host at frequent intervals to officers on leave, citizens of Charleston, and even many ladies, who came to see the scars of the April battle, to admire the drill, or to observe the preparations. At the end of June 1863, Fort Sumter was garrisoned with 5 companies (perhaps 500 men) of the First South Carolina Artillery, under the command of Col. Alfred Rhett. Its armament, meanwhile, had been reduced to 68 guns and mortars, many of the finest pieces having been removed to strengthen other fortifications about the harbor. ”

“ At 4:30 A. M., April 12, 1861, a mortar battery at Fort Johnson fired a shell that burst directly over Fort Sumter. This was the signal for a general bombardment by the Confederate batteries about Charleston Harbor. For 34 hours, April 12 and 13, Fort Sumter was battered with shot and shell. Then the Federal commander, Maj. Robert Anderson, agreed to evacuate; and, on April 14, he and his small garrison departed with the full honors of war. On the following day, President Abraham Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 militia. The tragedy of the American Civil War had begun. ”

“ The ramparts and arches of its upper casemates were cut down and the interior barracks demolished. The accumulated debris made ascent easy inside and out. Through the breach, the Federal guns took the channel fronts “in reverse.” For the first time, these were exposed to direct fire; soon they were “cut and jagged.” Still, the gorge ruin remained much the same; to Admiral Dahlgren, that “heap of rubbish” looked “invincible.”
Night and day, Gillmore’s batteries maintained a “slow fire” against Fort Sumter throughout November and into December. On occasion the monitors assisted. ”

“ Fort Sumter was unfinished when, late in December, gathering events prompted its occupation by artillery troops. Eight-foot-square openings yawned in place of gun embrasures on the second tier. Of the 135 guns planned for the gunrooms and the open terreplein above, only 15 had been mounted. Most of these were “32 pounders”; none was heavier. Various details of the interior finish of barracks, quarters, and gunrooms were incomplete. Congressional economies had had their effect, as much as difficulties of construction. ”

“ Without proper funds for maintenance, Fort Sumter, even then visited by thousands each year, fell into a state of dilapidation. By 1887 the wooden platforms of the barbette guns had rotted away so that “not one gun could be safely fired”; the neat earth slopes had eroded into “irregular mounds”; and quantities of sand had drifted into the parade ground. The casemate guns rusted so that they could not be traversed ”

“ The last great bombardment of Fort Sumter had taken place. The firing was no more than desultory after September 1864; less than a hundred rounds were hurled at the fort in the months of December and January; none at all in February. During the autumn months it was all Foster’s batteries could do to make a “decent defense” of Morris Island, let alone carry on any offensive operations. Wrote one of the commanders in mid-September:
“The shelling from the enemy’s mortars was severe ... ”

“ Thwarted in his plan to secure easy possession of Morris Island as a base for breaching operations against Fort Sumter, General Gillmore now determined to attempt that fort’s reduction from the ground already in his possession. Batteries Wagner and Gregg would be taken by protracted siege operations. At Fort Sumter, removal of guns and ammunition continued apace. Anticipating that Sumter was “liable to be silenced sooner or later,” and fearing attack at other points about the harbor, the Confederate authorities husbanded their resources. ”

“ Federal Ironclads Attack Fort Sumter
On April 5, 1863, a fleet of 9 Federal ironclads, armed with 32 guns “of the heaviest calibres ever used in war,” appeared off Charleston bar. Seven were of the single-turret “cheesebox on a raft” monitor type; one was a double-turreted affair; the flagship New Ironsides was an ironclad frigate. With the ebb tide, on the afternoon of the 7th, the “newfangled” ironclads steamed single file up the main ship channel east of Morris Island. 25 The weather was clear and bright; the water “as stable as of a river.” ”

“ With Fort Sumter reduced, the harbor could be entered.
The Morris Island Approach to Fort Sumter
Folly Island and Cole’s Island, next south of Morris Island, had been occupied by Northern troops just prior to the naval attack. In June and July, the northern end of Folly Island was fortified. In a remarkable operation, 47 guns and mortars were secretly placed “within speaking distance of the enemy’s pickets.” Some 11,000 men were concentrated on the island. Brig. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore, the “breacher” of Fort Pulaski, assumed command on June 12. ”

“ The smallness of your force will not permit you, perhaps, to occupy more than one of the three forts, but an attack on or attempt to take possession of any one of them will be regarded as an act of hostility, and you may then put your command into either of them which you may deem most proper to increase its power of resistance. ”

“ Fort Sumter was now preparing for attack. Thirty-eight more guns were mounted in the first tier of casemates and along the parapet, including heavier “42 pounders” and Columbiads. Five Columbiads were mounted in the parade as mortars and three howitzers about the sally port in the gorge. By April 12, a total of 60 guns was ready. “Bombproof” shelters and “splinter-proof” traverses were constructed on the parade ground and along the parapet. Overhanging galleries were built out from the parapet at strategic points for dropping shells on an assaulting force. ”

“ If Major Anderson will state the time at which ... he will evacuate, and agree that in the meantime he will not use his guns against us unless ours should be employed against Fort Sumter, you are authorized thus to avoid the effusion of blood. If this or its equivalent be refused, reduce the fort....”
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The atmosphere in Charleston was tense. In at least one household, dinner was the “merriest, maddest ... yet. Men were more audaciously wise and witty. ”

“ Confederate preparations at Cummings Point, Morris Island. The inclined Ironclad Battery is at the left. From Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, March 30, 1861.
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In the face of war preparations, wives and children leave Fort Sumter, February 3, 1861. From Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, February 23, 1861.
“In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. ”

“ But the Weehawken grounded, and the monitors caught such a severe fire from Fort Moultrie and the other Confederate batteries on Sullivan’s Island, that Admiral Dahlgren “deemed it best to give [his] entire attention to 31 the Weehawken” and withdraw. Whatever his original plan, Admiral Dahlgren now determined upon a small-boat assault. The task seemed simple; there was “nothing but a corporal’s guard in the fort ... all we have to do is go and take possession.”
CONFEDERATE DEFENSES OF CHARLESTON HARBOR, 1863-1865 ”

“ ENLISTED MEN’S BARRACKS. Inside and parallel to the left flank are the ruins of an enlisted men’s barracks. This building, three stories high, rose slightly above the fort walls. The first floor contained the kitchen and mess facilities, with sleeping quarters on the two upper floors. Another barracks for enlisted men, identical to this one, was located on the right flank.
4. OFFICERS’ QUARTERS. Along the gorge (or back wall) was another 3-story brick building, the officers’ quarters. ”

“ It is not believed, because there is no order for any such movement. Explain the meaning of this report.”
South Carolina regarded Anderson’s move not only as an “outrageous breach of faith,” but as an act of aggression, and demanded, through commissioners, that the United States Government evacuate Charleston Harbor. President Buchanan, anxious to conciliate as well as maintain authority, wavered. Cabinet pressures were brought to bear. Meanwhile, on the 27th, South Carolina volunteers seized Castle Pinckney and Fort Moultrie. ”

“ On October 26, “on the strength of certain reports ... that the enemy have recently been at work remounting some guns,” Gillmore resumed the bombardment; at least Fort Sumter could be “kept down” while the Navy prepared. For the next 12 days, the concentration of fire was comparable to the great bombardment of the preceding August. But now, firing from the new batteries on Cummings Point, with range shortened to less than a mile, the effect was far greater. For the first time, 16 heavy mortars were in use—2 of them 81⁄2-ton pieces (13-inch bore) throwing 200-pound projectiles. ”

“ There was almost as much consternation in Washington as in Charleston. Senators calling at the White House found President Buchanan greatly agitated. He stood by the mantelpiece, crushing a cigar in the palm of one hand, and stammered that the move was against his policy. The cabinet was called into session, and on December 27, Secretary of War Floyd wired Major Anderson:
“Intelligence has reached here this morning that you have abandoned Fort Moultrie, ... ”

“ From Johnson, The Defense of Charleston Harbor.
Capt. Thomas A. Huguenin. From Johnson, The Defense of Charleston Harbor.
On November 6, the Confederate engineer at Fort Sumter reported the bombproofs (quarters) unhurt. Although the height of the mass of the fort was “diminishing visibly on the sides away from the city,” still, “when it gets down to the lower casemates [he wrote] it will have become so thick from accumulated debris as to resist further battering.” ”

“ First-floor plan, Fort Sumter, March 1861. The Gorge (designed for officers’ quarters) is at the base of the plan. Gun casemates line the other four sides. The fort magazines were at either extremity of the Gorge in both casemate tiers. Courtesy National Archives.
Late in the autumn of 1834 operations were suddenly suspended. Ownership of the site was in question. In the preceding May, one William Laval, resident of Charleston, had secured from the State a conveniently vague grant to 870 acres of “land” in Charleston Harbor. ”