Strong Sumter

Fort Sumter is a fort located close to the port of Charleston in South Carolina. It owes its name to the general Thomas Sumter. It is especially known for the combat which occurred there at the time of the Bataille of Strong Sumter and which started the American Civil War, bloodiest that until our days the United States of America had to carry out.

This fort was built after the Guerre of 1812 within the framework of a series of fortifications on the southern part of the the United States. Construction began in 1829 but was not finished in 1860, when the engagements started. It was partly the work of Esclave S. 70.000 tons of granite were been essential of Nouvelle England in order to consolidate a Sand bank at the entry of the wearing of Charleston, that the site dominates. The fort comprised five faces (but was not a regular pentagon) of bricks, long from 52 to 58 meters, broad 1.5 m and rising with 15m with the top of the low tides. It was conceived to lodge 650 soldiers and 135 guns in 3 lines, but this capacity was never reached.

The American Civil War

Towards the war

The December 26th 1860, six days after the Secession of the South Carolina, the major Robert Anderson of U.S. Army gave up the indefensible position of Fort Moultrie and secretly moved its two companies (85 men) of the US artillery 1e with Strong Sumter.

The January 10th 1861, after the election of the republican Abraham Lincoln as president, Jefferson Davis, after having been refractory there, comes to a conclusion about the right to the secession of the states and request the withdrawal of the US garrison of Strong Sumter.

During months which followed, the Brigadier general confederated P.G.T. Beauregard, future winner of the 1 {{Re}} battles of Bull Run (July 21st, 1861), took several times the rendering of the garrison of the Union. All these requests were ignored, and the attempts of the Union to supply and reinforce the garrison were pushed back.

The battle of Strong Sumter

See also: Battle of Strong Sumter

The April 12th 1861, with 4:30, the confederated artillery opened fire on the fort which undergoes a 36 hours bombardment. The garrison retorted, but without much effect. The April 13rd, the fort went and was evacuated. Testimonys, such as the famous newspaper of Mary Chesnut, describe the inhabitants of Charleston greeting the beginning of the war with the balconies along The Battery.

A special military decoration, the Medal of Gillmore, was given to all the soldiers of the Union service who were present at Fort Sumter at the time of the first battle of the American Civil War.

1863-1865

With Strong Sumter in the hands of the Confederated , the port of Charleston formed a hole in the federal naval blockade of the Atlantic coast. So that U.S. Navy can close the port, it was necessary to take again Fort Sumter, it with what the Rear-admiral Samuel F. Bridge got busy.

In the afternoon of the April 7th 1863, nine Cuirassé S exchanged shootings with confederated batteries of the fort and its bay. The fort was hardly damaged, whereas five of the ships were disabled. One, the US Keokuk ran the following day. After this failure, the federal strategy was modified. Bridge was replaced by against admiral John A. Dahlgren, which planned a combined operation ground/sea in order to take the Fort Wagner, located on the island Morris and to destroy the fort since there there. The troops of the Union, under the command of the brigadier general Quincy A. Gilmore placed guns there. The garrison of the fort included/understood five companies of the 1

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