While vacationing.......................

Fort Sumter on Monday as the tour boat takes us back to Charleston

The actual American Flag that was flying over Fort Sumter when the first shots of the Civll War were fired on April 12, 1861

..........in sunny South Carolina, my Sweetie humored me and agreed to a day trip to Charleston and Fort Sumter.   In 2013, forts controlling harbors don't seem to be all that important.  For much of our nation's history, however, such forts were very important.  In the mid-1800's Charleston was THE major port south of Philadelphia.  Very strategic, very important, and very prosperous.  Sumter sits on a teeny island right in the middle of the passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the harbor.  In late December of 1860, a Federal detachment  moved from a fort on the north shore of the harbor entrance onto Fort Sumter; a moved that truly upset the seceding Charlestonians.  The South Carolina militia began an artillery bombardment of the island on April 12, 1861.  Less than two days later, the Federal troops surrendered (with no casualties, but also with little prospects for successfully surviving) and the Civil War was on.  Very little of the original fort survived the war.  For almost two years between 1863-1865, Union forces attacked the fort with artillery, laying waste to most of the original structure.