Fort Sumter

I have just finished reading "Of Gods and Generals" about the Civil War and wanted to visit the fort where the actual Civil War began as the first shots were fired there.  It was built after the War of 1812 as a federal fortification.  But when S. Carolina and other states proclaimed secession, adopted a Constitution, and elected Jefferson Davis as president, the southerners claimed all the forts but this one.  The Confederacy, after warning the very ill-manned fort, started firing as well as other forts nearby.  In one day the fort had to surrender as so much damage was done.  And the four-year War began.

The fort is at the confluence of the Ashley and Cooper Rivers in Charleston, S.C.

There were only 15 cannons present when the fort was completed in 1860.

The fort was three stories tall but when heavier barrages prevail, the fort was reduced to just one story.  What you see before you is "tabby" - a mixture of crushed oyster shells and concrete.  They built a wall of brick, then a wall of tabby and so forth to strength the walls.  Many houses in Charleston are made of tabby or made of tabby and then covered with concrete.  Notice the bombing shell that came through the wall!

Now to our dinner of shrimp and grits-yumm!