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. Just inside these
casemates are two 15-inch smoothbore Rodman guns. They were part of Fort
Sumter’s post-Civil War armament.
8. RIGHT FACE. Guns mounted on the lower tier of this face dueled with
Fort Moultrie in the initial attack, April 12-14, 1861. Since the angle
of the face allowed it to escape broadsides from Federal batteries on
Morris Island, its outer wall still stood almost at full height in
February 1865. After Fort Sumter was silenced in August 1863, the
Confederate garrison mounted three guns in the first-tier casemates just
above the right shoulder angle. This was the “Palmetto Battery,” called
thus because of the protective log cover raised on the exterior. For
several months this battery was the sole armament of the fort. All the
lower-tier casemates were reclaimed in the 1870’s and armed with
“100-pounder” Parrott rifled cannon. These guns, rusted and worn, were
buried with the casemates just before Battery Huger was constructed. To
open these casemates, parade-ground excavations were extended into this
part of the fort. Eleven 100-pound Parrott guns were uncovered and are
now displayed in this face.
9. THE FLAGPOLE MONUMENT. The Fort Sumter flagpole is a monument
honoring Major Anderson and his garrison. It was erected by Eba Anderson
Lawton, daughter of Major Anderson, and accepted by Congress on May 11,
1928.
10. MUSEUM. Exhibits in the Fort Sumter Museum graphically relate the
entire history of the fort. Informational literature and post cards can
be obtained at the information desk. The gunroom for the 12-inch
disappearing gun of Battery Huger was adapted to house the exhibits for
this museum, which was dedicated April 12, 1961.
11. ORIENTATION CIRCLE. This point atop Battery Huger is almost in the
center of old Fort Sumter. On either side are the 12-inch gun
emplacements of Battery Huger; the one toward the salient was converted
into the museum. The area stretching out from this point to the right
flank wall is earth fill, the height of which averages 20 feet above the
original parade ground. In the center of the orientation circle is a
model of Fort Sumter, oriented exactly with the fort.
12. RIGHT-GORGE ANGLE. From a gun in the first tier casemates, Capt.
Abner Doubleday fired the first shot from Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861.
Also in this section of the fort occurred the deepest penetration of
Confederate shot and shell in the initial attack. In part, this was the
work of the Confederates’ rifled gun, the first one fired in action in
America.
13. ESPLANADE. A 25½-foot-wide promenade and landing space once lined
the full length of the gorge exterior at its base. Out from the center
of the esplanade ran the original stone wharf, 171 feet long. Through
the gorge, at the head of the wharf, was the original sally port to the
fort.
[Illustration: 100-pound Parrott guns uncovered in 1959 excavations.]
[Illustration: Aerial view of Fort Sumter in January 1961.]
_Administration_
Fort Sumter National Monument was established by Congress in 1948 and
enlarged in 1961 with the acquisition of Fort Moultrie on Sullivans
Island. The monument is administered by the National Park Service, U.S.
Department of the Interior. Communications concerning the monument
should be addressed to the Superintendent, Fort Sumter National
Monument, U.S. Custom House, Charleston, S.C.
_Related Areas_
Other units of the National Park System pertaining to the Civil War are:
Antietam National Battlefield Site, Md.; Appomattox Court House National
Historical Park, Va.; Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site,
Miss.; Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Ga. and
Tenn.; Fort Donelson National Military Park, Tenn.; Fredericksburg and
Spotsylvania National Military Park, Va.; General Grant National
Memorial, N.Y.; Gettysburg National Military Park, Pa.; Harpers Ferry
National Monument, W. Va.; Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park,
Ga.; Manassas National Battlefield Park, Va.; Pea Ridge National
Military Park, Ark.; Petersburg National Military Park, Va.; Richmond
National Battlefield Park, Va.; Shiloh National Military Park, Tenn.;
Stones River National Battlefield, Tenn.; and Vicksburg National
Military Park, Miss.
_Suggested Readings_
Catton, Bruce, _The Coming Fury_. Doubleday & Co., Garden City, 1961.
Chesnut, Mary B., _A Diary From Dixie_. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston,
1949.
Johnson, Robert U., & Clarence C. Buel, editors, _Battles and Leaders
of the Civil War_. Reprint edition by Thomas Yoseloff, Inc., New York,
1956. Vols. I and IV.
Stampp, Kenneth M., _And The War Came_. Louisiana State University
Press, Baton Rouge, 1950.
Swanberg, W. A., _First Blood_. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York,
1957.
United States Government, _War of the Rebellion, A Compilation of the
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies_. U.S. Government
Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1880. Series I, vols. I, XIV,
XXVIII, and XXXV.
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1954 O 727-779
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
HISTORICAL HANDBOOK SERIES
(Price lists of National Park Service publications sold by the
Government Printing Office can be obtained from the Superintendent of
Documents, Washington 25, D.C.)
Antietam
Bandelier
Chalmette
Chickamauga and Chattanooga Battlefields
Custer Battlefield
Custis-Lee Mansion, the Robert E. Lee Memorial
Fort Laramie
Fort McHenry
Fort Necessity
Fort Pulaski
Fort Raleigh
Fort Sumter
Fort Union
George Washington Birthplace
Gettysburg
Guilford Courthouse
Hopewell Village
Independence
Jamestown, Virginia
Kings Mountain
The Lincoln Museum and the House Where Lincoln Died
Manassas (Bull Run)
Montezuma Castle
Morristown, A Military Capital of the Revolution
Ocmulgee
Petersburg Battlefields
Richmond Battlefields
Saratoga
Scotts Bluff
Shiloh
Statue of Liberty
Vanderbilt Mansion
Vicksburg
Wright Brothers
Yorktown
[Illustration: SIDE-POSTERN TODAY]
Transcriber’s Notes
—Silently corrected a few typos.
—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook
is public-domain in the country of publication.
—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by
_underscores_.