A beautiful day at Fort Sumter

The reason that we made that crazy 460-mile trip on our maiden voyage was so that we would arrive at the Navy Base on Friday night.  We wanted to make sure we got there on Friday night because Nicolas really only has Saturday and Sunday to go out and do stuff, and we didn't want to miss that opportunity to spend the day with him.

Saturday was promising to be a beautiful day, so we drove down to downtown Charleston for the boat trip to Fort Sumter.  

We arrived at the downtown Visitor Center just after 11am -- plenty of time until the Noon tour.

 



















Nicolas was able to buy all of our tickets on his military discount :)  and we were all set for the tour!

We went inside to look at the displays until it was time to board the boat.

1861 American Flag

After looking around inside, we ventured outside to enjoy the sunshine and the view of Charleston Harbor.

Ravenal Bridge

Time for some family photos with our Sailor!

Soon we saw our boat approaching the dock, and it was time to get lined up for boarding.

Sailboarder

We decided to sit on the upper, open deck, even though it would probably be a little chilly out on the water.  It was . . . but I got some good pictures!

USS Yorktown

Charleston Harbor appears to be a good place for a sailing school . . . it was a great day for it!

We continued out toward the Atlantic,

Castle Pinckney

and soon reached Fort Sumter at the mouth of Charleston Harbor.

Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter, along with Castle Pinckney, Fort Johnson on James Island, and Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island were coastal fortifications built by the United States after the War of 1812.  They were designed to protect Charleston Harbor from enemies approaching by sea.





As the tensions between the north and south increased, and South Carolina became the first southern state to secede from the Union, Federal troops abandoned Fort Moultrie, which they considered to be indefensible, and moved to Fort Sumter.

This angered the Confederates, and they demanded that Fort Sumter be vacated.  Instead, President Lincoln sent supply ships to refortify the troops at Fort Sumter, and on April 12th, the Confederacy began firing on Fort Sumter from three sides.

The view from the upper level of the Fort

The Union troops at Fort Sumter held their fire for most of the day during the siege, and in the end the barracks were destroyed, the walls seriously injured, and much of the fort was on fire.  The Federals surrendered, and boarded the supply ship for transport to New York.

The Confederacy had captured Fort Sumter, secured Charleston Harbor, and the Civil War had begun!

Though there were many attempts made by the Union to re-capture Fort Sumter, the Confederacy was successful in maintaining it throughout most of the Civil War, until the very end when Charleston and the Harbor were captured by Sherman's Army.

Our tour allowed us 1 hour to explore the fort on our own and learn the history of the region . . . well, at least one of us learned some history!

Superheroes at the fort!

It was a beautiful day to be outside exploring, and so much better for Nicolas than sitting inside studying!  He does a lot of that, and he needs to, but sometimes he needs to take a break too, so we were glad we could be here to help him take a few breaks!