Monday, June 26, 2023

Patriots Point in Charleston is about a two hour drive from Myrtle Beach. From here, we caught a ferry to Fort Sumter, well known as the place where the American Civil War began. South Carolina had seceded from the United States on December 20, 1860. They issued a Declaration stating, among other things, that the northern states had elected a President whose “opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery.” They believed the Federal government had violated its Constitutional compact, the primary violation being the failure of 14 northern states to enforce the Federal Fugitive Slave Act.

Nearby Fort Moultrie was garrisoned by two companies of men (85), commanded by Major Robert Anderson. After South Carolina seceded, and believing that Fort Moultrie was indefensible, Anderson secretly transferred the men and command to Fort Sumter. At this point, the state demanded that the US government evacuate Fort Sumter. The US refused, and tried to send a relief expedition in January. That ship was turned back as it tried to enter the harbor.

When President Lincoln took office in March, he said that the government would not attack, but neither would it accept a division of the nation. In early April, Lincoln informed South Carolina that an attempt would be made to supply the fort. One week later, CSA Brigadier General Pierre Beauregard demanded that Anderson surrender Fort Sumter. After Anderson refused, the Confederates opened fire on the fort. The fort suffered quite a bit of damage, and was surrendered the next day, April 12. No one was killed in this first battle of the war. Anderson and his troops left the fort on April 14.

The Union set up a blockade of Confederate ports to try to prevent the export of cotton and the smuggling of war materiel into the Confederacy. With Fort Sumter in Confederate hands, the south was frequently able to get around this blockade. The Union attempted to recapture the fort in September, 1863. The fort suffered significant damage, but the Confederates managed to fend the Union off. They continued to hold the fort until the Confederates evacuated as General William T Sherman marched north from Savannah in February, 1865.

Our 30-minute ferry ride took us past Castle Pinckney, on Schutes Folly Island. Castle Pinckney was a small fortification that was used for a time as a Prisoner of War camp during the Civil War. It had been surrendered to South Carolina shortly after they seceded.

A Park Ranger talked about what it was like on the days leading up to the attack on Fort Sumter, as well as the battle and surrender. He tried to give us a sense of what those soldiers were experiencing. None of them expected to be involved in battle when they were sent to Fort Moultrie. History was happening to them. They probably didn’t expect to play a part in this opening volley of a major war.

By the end of the Civil War, Fort Sumter was in ruins. The US Army worked to restore it, and for about 30 years, it was used simply as a lighthouse station. A massive reinforced concrete blockhouse-style installation was built in 1898 inside the original walls, and named “Battery Huger.” The battery was deactivated in 1947, and in 1948 the fort was named a National Monument. Battery Huger now holds a museum and gift shop.

We also toured the USS Yorktown, docked at Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant. This aircraft carrier was built during World War II, and was named after a former USS Yorktown was sunk at the Battle of Midway. The Yorktown participated in several campaigns during WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, and she served as a recovery ship for the 1968 Apollo 8 space mission, before being decommissioned in 1970. She appeared in two movies: “Tora, Tora, Tora,” about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and a scifi film “The Philadelphia Experiment.”

PS: I forgot to mention another lovely restaurant in an earlier post: Toscana Italian Restaurant, another restaurant that we went to twice, the second time with friends. Another reasonably priced restaurant, Toscana also has great service and the fried calamari was delicious! No wonder I gained 5 pounds in two weeks!