

Fort Sumter became a central point of fighting among the North and South. The Union troops bombarded it mercilessly. According to what I read, the Confederates never surrendered the fort. They were forced to abandon it when Sherman surrounded the city of Charleston and effectively cut it off from all supplies thereby forcing the surrender of the city.

The fort is a monument to the brave men on both sides who fought there. There is not much left of the original fortress whose construction began just after the war of 1812. The fort was still not complete when the war between the states broke out. Fort Sumter is pentagon shaped with five foot thick walls that once rose 50 feet over the low tide mark. There were several stories that housed the military who were stationed there. Much of that burned and fell to the ground during the first battle at the fort.
After the war, the fort was used as a lighthouse but when the Spanish-American War broke out, the fort was once again fitted for a defensive position with the construction of a large interior area called "Battery Huger."

The only way to get to the Fort Sumter National Monument is by boat and the best way is to take the Fort Sumter Tour that leaves from Liberty Square in Charleston or Patriot's Point in Mount Pleasant on the other side of the Cooper River. The price is reasonable and the 2 1/2 hour trip was pleasurable. The ride on the ferry is about 45 minutes each way and is often accompanied by some of the 500 dolphins that inhabit the river area. It leaveas one hour for touring the fort itself. Once you arrive, there is a National Park ranger who gives the historical overview and then you have time to explore.

Our morning tour was our last day in warm sunny weather. The next day we ended up staying an extra night in Wytheville, VA, to avoid the storm we thought we had so carefully avoided. We wish we had stayed the extra night in Charleston but who knew? What a crazy winter.
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