Fort Sumter Information
Fort Sumter is best known as the site upon which the shots initiating the American Civil War were fired. Named after General Thomas Sumter, a Revolutionary War hero, Fort Sumter was built after the War of 1812, as one of a series of forts on the southern U.S. coast. Construction started in 1827, and was still unfinished in 1861, when the Civil War began. Seventy thousand tons of granite were imported from New England to build up a sand bar in the entrance to Charleston Harbor, which the site dominates. The fort was a five-sided brick structure, with walls five feet thick, standing 50 feet tall. The Confederacy attacked Fort Sumter on Friday, April 12th, 1861 at 4:30am. The battle continued overnight until Saturday.
Interesting
While walking around at the top of the fort, Melissa’s cousin Jeremy and I down and then at each other. We both thought about how that must have looked very similar back in 1861, when men would be walking around with guns. So we posed so our shadows looked like two men on guard, holding guns. Clever? I think so!
note: there was no handrail back in 1861
Many of the original cannon’s are still inside the walls of Fort Sumter. In fact, they were barely touched. The tour guide told us that the cannon’s were the only of their kind, as they fired the cannonballs quite far. After photographing a bunch of the canon’s, I decided to go for a different view. What would the canon ball see as it is ejected from the gun?
Think about this…
Thanks for reading and happy shooting,
Scott
I really like the cannon shot. Great little tour Scott!
Thank you Chris!
It must be awesome to capture a place with that much history. Great shots, I especially like the second one with the shadows.
It is an amazing place to visit and learn about the US history. Thanks Jason!
Great post – that shot of your shadows is hysterical! Those canons look intense…. Really great group of photos!
Thanks Steve, appreciate it!
Really cool shots. That place looks cool. You did well with the last one.
Thank you very much
Nice job on this Scott. Appreciate the back history lesson.
Thanks Chris! Glad to share the info.
At least two of my uncles are obsessed with the civil war — one is an american history teacher and the other travels the country doing civil war shows. So I have heard so much about the topic I could probably teach classes myself. I’d love to travel to Fort Sumter sometime, someday when I make it back to the States. Great photos, esp that canon. Thanks for sharing!
I hope you can get there one day David.
Great capture of such a historically memorable place.
Thank you Kristi