Editing Fort Sumter (section)

===Civil War===
====Summary====
[[File:William H Seward Abraham Lincoln Fort Sumter.jpg|thumb|left|175px|Letter from [[William H. Seward]] advising [[Abraham Lincoln|President Lincoln]] on the obstacles in resupplying Fort Sumter, March 1861]]

Fort Sumter is notable for two battles, the [[Battle of Fort Sumter|first]] of which began the [[American Civil War]]. It was one of a number of special forts planned after the [[War of 1812]], combining high walls and heavy masonry, and classified as [[Seacoast defense in the United States#Third system|Third System]], as a grade of structural integrity. Work started in 1829, but was incomplete by 1861, when the Civil War began.

The attack on Fort Sumter is generally taken as the beginning of the [[American Civil War]]—the first shots fired. Certainly it was so taken at the time—citizens of Charleston were celebrating. The First [[Battle of Fort Sumter]] began on April 12, 1861, when South Carolina Militia artillery fired from shore on the Union garrison. These were (both sides agreed) the first shots of the war. The bombardment continued all day, watched by many happy civilians. The fort had been cut off from its supply line and surrendered the next day. Major [[Robert Anderson (Union officer)|Robert Anderson]] took the flag with him as they evacuated.

The [[Second Battle of Fort Sumter]] (September 8, 1863) was a failed attempt by the Union to retake the fort, dogged by a rivalry between army and navy commanders. Although the fort was reduced to rubble, it remained in Confederate hands until it was evacuated as [[William Tecumseh Sherman|General Sherman]] marched through South Carolina in February 1865.

A widely announced [[Raising the Flag at Fort Sumter|"End of the War" celebration took place at Fort Sumter]] on April 14, 1865. The now-Major General Anderson, though ill and retired, came to the ceremony and raised the flag.<ref>{{cite news
|title=Raising the Flag on Fort Sumter – A Great Anniversary
|newspaper=[[Rock Island Argus]] ([[Rock Island, Illinois]])
|date=April 15, 1865
|page=2
|via=[[newspapers.com]]
|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60879907/end-of-civil-war-celebration-at-fort/}}</ref> [[Assassination of President Lincoln|The assassination of President Lincoln]], which occurred on the evening of that date, almost immediately overshadowed the festivities.

====Preparing for war====
On December 26, 1860, only six days after [[South Carolina in the American Civil War#Secession|South Carolina seceded]] from the Union, [[U.S. Army]] [[Major Robert Anderson]] abandoned the indefensible [[Fort Moultrie]], [[Touch hole|spiking]] its large guns, burning its gun carriages, and taking its smaller cannon with him. He secretly relocated companies E and H (127 men, 13 of them musicians) of the [[1st U.S. Artillery]] to Fort Sumter on his own initiative, without orders from his superiors.<ref name=Elliot>{{full citation needed|date=December 2020}}</ref>{{rp|117}}{{full citation needed|date=December 2020}}<ref name=Elliot/>{{rp|103}}<ref>Robert Anderson to Rev. R. B. Duane, December 30, 1860</ref>{{full citation needed|date=December 2020}}<ref>Robert Anderson to Robert N. Gourdin, December 27, 1860.</ref>{{full citation needed|date=December 2020}}<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.usregulars.com/usartillery/1us_art.html |title=History of the 1st U.S. Artillery |first=William, Major, 1st U.S. Artillery |last=Haskin |year=1896 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100725173821/http://www.usregulars.com/usartillery/1us_art.html |archive-date= July 25, 2010 }}</ref> He thought that providing a stronger defense would delay an attack by South Carolina militia. The fort was not yet complete at the time and fewer than half of the [[cannons]] that should have been available were in place, due to military downsizing by President [[James Buchanan]].{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

In a letter delivered January 31, 1861, [[Francis Wilkinson Pickens|South Carolina Governor Pickens]] demanded of [[James Buchanan|President Buchanan]] that he surrender Fort Sumter because "I regard that possession is not consistent with the dignity or safety of the State of South Carolina."<ref>{{cite book|last=James Buchanan|title=The Works of James Buchanan: Comprising His Speeches, State Papers, and Private Correspondence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v5E9AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA178|year=1911|page=178|isbn=978-1-62376-744-0}}</ref> Over the next few months repeated calls for evacuation of Fort Sumter<ref name=Elliot/>{{rp|13}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Harris|first1=W.A.|title=The record of Fort Sumter, from its occupation by Major Anderson, to its reduction by South Carolina troops during the administration of Governor Pickens|date=1862|publisher=South Carolinian Steam Job Printing Office|location=Columbia, SC|page=7|url=http://digital.tcl.sc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/sclpam/id/1204|access-date=September 27, 2014}}</ref> from the government of South Carolina and then from [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] [[Brigadier General]] [[P. G. T. Beauregard]] were ignored. Union attempts to resupply and reinforce the garrison were repulsed on January 9, 1861, when shots fired by cadets from [[The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina|the Citadel]] prevented the steamer ''[[Star of the West]]'', hired to transport troops and supplies to Fort Sumter, from completing the task.

After realizing that Anderson's command would run out of food by April 15, 1861, [[Abraham Lincoln|President Lincoln]] ordered a fleet of ships, under the command of [[Gustavus Fox|Gustavus V. Fox]], to attempt entry into Charleston Harbor and supply Fort Sumter.  The ships assigned were the steam sloops-of-war [[USS Pawnee (1859)|USS ''Pawnee'']] and [[USS Powhatan (1850)|USS ''Powhatan'']], transporting motorized launches and about 300 sailors (secretly removed from the Charleston fleet to join in the forced reinforcement of [[Fort Pickens]], Pensacola, FL), armed screw steamer [[USS Pocahontas (1852)|USS ''Pocahontas'']], [[United States Revenue Cutter Service|Revenue Cutter]] [[USRC Harriet Lane (1857)|USRC ''Harriet Lane'']], steamer ''Baltic'' transporting about 200 troops, composed of companies C and D of the 2nd U.S. Artillery, and three hired tugboats with added protection against small arms fire to be used to tow troop and supply barges directly to Fort Sumter.<ref name=Elliot/>{{rp|240}}<ref>Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies Series I – Volume 4. pp. 223–225.</ref> By April 6, 1861, the first ships began to set sail for their rendezvous off the [[Charleston Bar]]. The first to arrive was ''[[USRC Harriet Lane (1857)|Harriet Lane]]'', on the evening of April 11, 1861.<ref name=Elliot/>{{rp|304}}

====First Battle of Fort Sumter====
{{main|Battle of Fort Sumter}}
[[File:MAjor Robert Anderson and his officers Ft Sumpter South Carolina.jpg|thumb|Major Anderson and His Officers prior to Bombardment of Ft Sumpter 1861]]

[[File:Edmund Ruffin. Fired the 1st shot in the Late War. Killed himself at close of War., ca. 1861 - NARA - 530493.tif|left|150px|thumb|Edmund Ruffin in the uniform of the "Palmetto Guards" 1861]]
On Thursday, April 11, 1861, Beauregard sent three aides, Colonel [[James Chesnut, Jr.]], Captain [[Stephen D. Lee]], and Lieutenant A. R. Chisolm to demand the surrender of the fort. Anderson declined, and the aides returned to report to Beauregard. After Beauregard had consulted the Confederate Secretary of War, [[LeRoy Pope Walker|Leroy Walker]], he sent the aides back to the fort and authorized Chesnut to decide whether the fort should be taken by force. The aides waited for hours while Anderson considered his alternatives and played for time. At about 3:00&nbsp;a.m., when Anderson finally announced his conditions, Colonel Chesnut, after conferring with the other aides, decided that they were "manifestly futile and not within the scope of the instructions verbally given to us." The aides then left the fort and proceeded to the nearby [[Fort Johnson (South Carolina)|Fort Johnson]]. There, Chesnut ordered the fort to open fire on Fort Sumter.<ref name=Elliot/>{{rp|59–60}}

On Friday, April 12, 1861, at 4:30&nbsp;a.m., Confederate [[Artillery battery|batteries]] opened fire on the fort, firing for 34 straight hours. [[Edmund Ruffin]], noted Virginian agronomist and secessionist, claimed that he fired the first shot on Fort Sumter.  His story has been widely believed, but Lieutenant Henry S. Farley, commanding a battery of two [[Siege artillery in the American Civil War#Mortars|10-inch siege mortars]] on [[James Island, South Carolina|James Island]], actually fired the first shot at 4:30&nbsp;a.m.<ref>{{Harv |Detzer|2001|pp=269–271}}.</ref> No attempt was made to return the fire for more than two hours. The fort's supply of ammunition was not suited for the task; also, there were no fuses for their explosive shells, which means that they could not explode. Only solid iron balls could be used against the Confederate batteries. At about 7:00&nbsp;a.m., Captain [[Abner Doubleday]], the fort's second in command, was given the honor of firing the Union's first shot, in defense of the fort.  He missed, in part because Major Anderson did not use the guns mounted on the highest tier—the barbette tier, where the guns could engage the Confederate batteries better, but where the gunners would be more exposed to Confederate fire. The firing continued all day. The Union fired slowly to conserve ammunition. At night, the fire from the fort stopped, but the Confederates still lobbed an occasional shell into Sumter. On Saturday, April 13, the fort was surrendered and evacuated. During the attack, the Union colors fell. Lt. [[Norman J. Hall]] risked life and limb to put them back up, burning off his eyebrows permanently. A Confederate soldier bled to death having been wounded by a misfiring cannon. One Union soldier died and another was mortally wounded during the 47th shot of a 100-shot salute, allowed by the Confederacy.  Afterward, the salute was shortened to 50 shots.  Accounts, such as in the famous diary of [[Mary Chesnut]], describe Charleston residents along what is now known as [[The Battery (Charleston)|The Battery]], sitting on balconies and drinking salutes to the start of the hostilities.

<gallery class="center" widths="150px" heights="167px">
File:The Photographic History of The Civil War Volume 09 Page 046.jpg|[Top] A photographic view of the Hot shot Furnace at right shoulder angle and a 10-in. columbard cannon pointing to Charleston;<ref>See Ft Sumter Map "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War Vol 1 p. 54</ref>[Bottom] Exterior view of Gorge and Sally Port Ft Sumter April 1861 after its surrender
File:The Photographic History of The Civil War Volume 09 Page 045.jpg|Views of Ft Sumter; [Bottom] View of right angle
File:The Evacuation of Fort Sumter, April 1861 MET DP266511.jpg|Right angle gorge of Ft Sumter-Sally port at right
File:Fort Sumter the day after Anderson left, April 1861 (recto).jpg|View of the Gorge and Sally Port
File:The Evacuation of Fort Sumter, April 1861 MET DP266618.jpg|View of western part of Gorge
File:The Photographic History of The Civil War Volume 09 Page 048.jpg|[Top] View of gorge and Sally port; [Bottom] Left gorge Angle
File:Fort Sumter interior after bombardment (recto).jpg|View of Left gorge angle Sally Port would be at far left
File:Fort Sumter interior with flag staff after the bombardment (recto).jpg|View of Left flank
File:Fort Sumter, April 15, 1861.jpg|Panormanic View of Left shoulder Angle at left with a 2nd Hot Shot furnace and Left face at right; Ft Sumter 1861; flying the [[Confederate Flag]]
File:Salient with North-west Casemates, Fort Sumter MET DP266616.jpg|At Left North west casemates [left angle]; at right can be seen the start of the right angle
</gallery>

The [[Fort Sumter Flag]] became a popular patriotic symbol after Major Anderson returned North with it. The ''Star of the West'' took all the garrison members to New York City. There they were welcomed and honored with a parade on Broadway.

====Union siege of Fort Sumter====
[[File:FtSumterDrawing.jpg|thumb|right|267px|Drawing of Fort Sumter]]
[[File:Fort Sumter National Monument marker of the Map of Charleston Harbor defenses.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Fort Sumter National Monument]] marker of the Map of Charleston Harbor defenses]]

Union efforts to retake Charleston Harbor began on April 7, 1863, when [[Rear Admiral]] [[Samuel Francis Du Pont]], commander of the [[Union blockade|South Atlantic Blockading Squadron]], led the [[ironclad warship|ironclad]] frigate [[USS New Ironsides (1862)|''New Ironsides'']], the tower ironclad [[USS Keokuk (1862)|''Keokuk'']], and the [[Monitor (warship)|monitors]] [[USS Weehawken (1862)|''Weehawken'']], [[USS Passaic (1862)|''Passaic'']], [[USS Montauk (1862)|''Montauk'']], [[USS Patapsco (1862)|''Patapsco'']], [[USS Nantucket (1862)|''Nantucket'']], [[USS Catskill (1862)|''Catskill'']], and [[USS Nahant (1862)|''Nahant'']] in an attack on the harbor's defenses. (The 1863 Battle of Fort Sumter was the largest deployment of monitors in action up to that time.) The attack was unsuccessful: the Union's best ship, USS ''New Ironsides'' never effectively engaged, and the ironclads fired only 154 rounds, while receiving 2,209 from the Confederate defenders {{Harv |Wise|1994| p=30}}. Due to damage received in the attack, the USS ''Keokuk'' sank the next day, {{convert|1400|yd}} off the southern tip of [[Morris Island]].  Over the next month, working at night to avoid the attention of the Federal squadron, the Confederates salvaged ''Keokuk's'' two eleven-inch [[Dahlgren gun]]s {{Harv|Ripley|1984|pp=93–96}}. One of the Dahlgren guns was promptly placed in Fort Sumter.

The Confederates, in the meantime, were strengthening Fort Sumter. A workforce of just under 500 enslaved Africans, under the supervision of Confederate army engineers, were filling [[casemate]]s with sand, protecting the gorge wall with sandbags, and building new [[traverse (gunnery)|traverse]],<ref name = tr>[http://civilwarfortifications.com/dictionary/xgt-007.html Traverses], Civil War Fortifications dictionary.</ref> blindages,<ref>[http://civilwarfortifications.com/dictionary/xgb-005.html Civil War Dictionary]</ref> and bombproofs.<ref>[http://civilwarfortifications.com/dictionary/xgb-012.html Civil War Dictionary]</ref> Some of Fort Sumter's artillery had been removed, but 40 pieces still were mounted. Fort Sumter's heaviest guns were mounted on the barbette, the fort's highest level, where they had wide angles of fire and could fire down on approaching ships. The barbette was also more exposed to enemy gunfire than the [[casemate]]s in the two lower levels of the fort.

A special military decoration, known as the [[Gillmore Medal]], was later issued to all Union service members who had performed duty at Fort Sumter under the command of Major-General [[Quincy Adams Gillmore]].

{{center|'''Fort Sumter Armaments, August 17, 1863'''}}
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto;"
|-
! Location
! Armament
|-
| Left flank barbette
| Two {{convert|10|in|mm|adj=on}} [[columbiad]]s
|-
| Left face barbette
| Two {{convert|10|in|mm|adj=on}} [[columbiad]]s, two {{convert|8|in|mm|adj=on}} [[columbiad]]s, four 42-pounders
|-
| Left face, first tier casemates
| Two {{convert|8|in|mm|adj=on}} shell guns
|-
| Right face barbette
| Two {{convert|10|in|mm|adj=on}} [[columbiad]]s, five rifled and banded 42-pounders
|-
| Right face, first tier casemates
| Two 32-pounders
|-
| Right flank barbette
| One XI-inch Dahlgren (From USS ''Keokuk''), four {{convert|10|in|mm|adj=on}} [[columbiad]]s, one {{convert|8|in|mm|adj=on}} [[Columbiad]], one rifled 42-pounder, one {{convert|8|in|mm|adj=on}} Brooke
|-
| Gorge barbette
| Five rifled and banded 42-pounders, one 24-pounder
|-
| Salient, second tier casemates
| Three rifled and banded 42-pounders
|-
| Parade
| Two {{convert|10|in|mm|adj=on}} seacoast mortars
|}

<gallery class="center" widths="150px" heights="167px">
File:East face of Fort Sumter, Charleston, S.C, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg|East Face of Ft Sumter 1863
File:FortSumter1865.jpg|View of Confederate-held Fort Sumter, August 23, 1863
File:New_Ironsides_and_monitor_class_ironclads_engaging_Fort_Moultrie.jpg|George Cook, half stereo of Federal ironclads firing on Fort Moultrie, September 8, 1863 (click to enlarge) – The Valentine, Richmond, Va.
File:ExplodingShellATFortSumter1863.jpg|Lt. John R. Key's (CSA) "exploding shell" painting, of the interior of Fort Sumter – The Valentine, Richmond, Va.
File:The Photographic History of The Civil War Volume 01 Page 110.jpg|The first breach after the bombardment of September 8, 1863
File:The Photographic History of The Civil War Volume 01 Page 108.jpg|C.S. Cook picture of Ft Sumter after the bombardment September 28, 1863 showing the "Hot shot" Furnace at left and the Barracks at right
File:The photographic history of the Civil War - thousands of scenes photographed 1861-65, with text by many special authorities (1911) (14576140090).jpg|Interior View of Fort Sumter

File:Conrad Wise Chapman - The Flag of Sumter, Oct. 20, 1863.jpg|The Flag of Sumter, October 20, 1863
File:Fort Sumter December 9th 1863 LCCN2003680529.jpg|Ft Sumter from the west angle December 9, 1863
File:Fort Sumter, December 9th 1863, View of entrance to Three Gun Bat'y LCCN2004661292.jpg|Ft Sumter View of entrance to Three Gun Bat'y December 9, 1863
File:Harper's weekly (1864) (14804711563).jpg|1864 sketch of bombardment of Ft Sumter

File:Interior view of Fort Sumter, Charleston, S.C. taken by a Confederate photographer in 1864 (i.e. 1863) LCCN2013651649.jpg|Interior View of Fort Sumter, taken by a Confederate photographer, 1864 [1863]
File:Interior view of Fort Sumter, S.C. showing effects of bombardment LCCN2013651629.jpg|Interior View of Fort Sumter, taken by a Confederate photographer
File:InteriorViewFtSumter1864.jpg|Interior View of Fort Sumter, taken by a Confederate photographer, 1864.
File:Interior view of Fort Sumter, S.C. in 1864 (showing debris) LCCN2003669879.jpg|Interior View of Fort Sumter 1864
File:Interior view of Fort Sumter, S.C. in 1864 (showing debris) LCCN2003669880.jpg|Interior View of Fort Sumter 1864
File:Interior view of Fort Sumter, S.C. in 1864 (showing debris) LCCN2003669881.jpg|Interior View of Fort Sumter 1864
File:Conrad Wise Chapman - Fort Sumter, Interior, Sunrise, Dec. 9, 1864.jpg|Interior View of Fort Sumter December 9, 1864
File:ExteriorViewFtSumter1865.jpg|Exterior view of Fort Sumter, 1865.  Banded rifle in the foreground, [http://civilwarfortifications.com/dictionary/xgf-009.html fraise] at the top.
File:SumterDamages1863.jpg|Exterior view of damage to Fort Sumter,

File:ViewFtSumterSandBar1865.jpg|View of Fort Sumter from the sandbar, 1865.
File:Fort Johnson battery. Ft. Sumpter (sic) in the distance, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg|View of Battery Johnson with Ft Sumter in the background
File:Interior of Ft. Sumpter (sic) Charleston S. C., from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg|Interior of Ft Sumter
File:The Photographic History of The Civil War Volume 05 Page 217.jpg|Interior of Ft Sumter 1865
File:Interior views of Fort Sumter, in April, 1865 LCCN2014646432.tif|Interior of Ft Sumter 1865 showing the Hot Shot Furnace.
File:Fort Sumter, Showing the effects of the bombardment by the Artillery of the Army and Navy of the United States while occupied by the Rebels from April 1861 to Feb. 1865 (7901780748).jpg|Interior view of Ft Sumter in 1865; at left is the "Light house" of Ft Sumter
</gallery>

{{main|Second Battle of Fort Sumter}}
After the devastating bombardment, both Major General [[Quincy A. Gillmore]] and [[Rear Admiral]] [[John A. Dahlgren]], now commanding the [[Union Blockade|South Atlantic Blockading Squadron]], determined to launch a boat assault on Fort Sumter for the night of September 8–9, 1863.  Cooperation between the Army and Navy was poor. Dahlgren refused to place his sailors and [[United States Marine Corps|Marines]] under the command of an army officer, so two flotillas set out towards Fort Sumter that night. The army flotilla was detained off [[Morris Island]] by the low tide. By the time they could proceed, the navy assault had already been defeated and the army flotilla returned to shore.

The [[U.S. Navy|Navy's]] assault involved 400 sailors and Marines in 25 boats. The operation was a fiasco from beginning to end.  Poor reconnaissance, planning, and communication all characterized the operation. [[Commander (United States)|Commander]] [[Thomas H. Stevens, Jr.]], commanding the [[Monitor (warship)|monitor]] [[USS Patapsco (1862)|''Patapsco'']], was placed in charge of the assault. When Commander Stevens protested that he "knew nothing of [the assault's] organization " and "made some remonstrances on this grounds and others." Dahlgren replied, "There is nothing but a corporal's guard [about 6–10 men] in the fort, and all we have to do is go and take possession." {{Harv |Stevens|1902| p=633}}. This underestimation of the Confederate forces on Dahlgren's part may explain why he was hostile to a joint operation wishing to reserve the credit for the victory to the navy. Less than half of the boats landed.  Most of the boats that did land landed on the right flank or right gorge angle, rather than on the gorge where there was a passable breach. The Union sailors and Marines who did land could not scale the wall.  The Confederates fired upon the landing party and as well as throwing [[hand grenades]] and loose bricks. The men in the boats that had not landed fired muskets and revolvers blindly at the fort, endangering the landing party more than the garrison. The landing party took shelter in shell holes in the wall of the fort. In response to a signal rocket fired by the garrison, Fort Johnson and the Confederate warship CSS [[CSS Chicora|''Chicora'']] opened fire upon the boats and landing party. A number of the boats withdrew under fire and the landing party surrendered. The Union casualties were 8 killed, 19 wounded, and 105 captured (including 15 of the wounded). The Confederates did not suffer any casualties in the assault.

[[File:Flag-raising Fort Sumter Charleston Harbor 1865.jpg|thumb|right|Flag-raising over Fort Sumter, April 14, 1865]]

After the unsuccessful boat assault, the bombardment recommenced and proceeded with the varying degree of intensity, doing more damage to Fort Sumter until the end of the [[The American Civil War|war]]. The garrison continued to suffer casualties. The Confederates continued to salvage guns and other material from the ruins and harassed the Union batteries on [[Morris Island]] with [[Marksman#U.S. Civil War|sharpshooters]]. The Confederates mounted four {{convert|10|in|mm|adj=on}} [[columbiad]]s, one {{convert|8|in|mm|adj=on}} columbiad rifled, and two rifled 42-pounders, in the left face, bottom tier casemates.

====Recovery of Fort Sumter====
{{main|Celebrations at the end of the American Civil War}}
The last Confederate commander, Major Thomas A. Huguenin, a graduate of [[The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina|The Citadel]], never surrendered Fort Sumter, but General [[William Tecumseh Sherman]]'s advance through South Carolina finally forced the Confederates to evacuate Charleston on February 17, 1865, and abandon Fort Sumter. The Federal government formally took possession of Fort Sumter on February 22, 1865.

Anderson, now a [[Major general (United States)|major general]], returned to Sumter with the flag he had been forced to lower four years earlier, and on April 14, 1865, raised it in triumph over the ruined fort. [[Henry Ward Beecher]] was present and subsequently spoke at length about the occasion.