Battle of Ft. Sumter - The Civil War Sesquicentennial

Battle of Ft. Sumter. Currier & Ives Print.

This coming week marks the 150th anniversary (sesquicentennial) of the start of the Civil War and the battle of Fort Sumter. Not a single life was lost during the 34 hour attack on the fort, which was hardly the case for the duration of the war.

On Friday, April 12th, 1861 at 4:30am the tiny fortified and federally held island at the mouth of Charleston harbor, came under the bombardment of Confederate artillery batteries. This barrage (if it can be called that) lasted through April the 13th 1861, at 2 pm. The 85 soldiers in Fort Sumter finally surrendered the fort at 2:30 pm April the 14th. The attack by the Southern secessionists effectively marked the start of the Civil War.

There are multiple commemorative events scheduled throughout the coming week to mark the 150th anniversary. Events begin Friday, April 8, 2011 and run through Sunday, April the 17th. The map below gives a better indication of the lay of the land in 1861, it was hardly a easy bike ride from Charleston to Mt. Pleasant and then on to Sullivans' Island. Having the bridges makes quite a difference.

Drawn in Adobe Illustrator CS5 by Hal Jespersen.
Graphic source file is available at http://www.posix.com/CWmaps/"
 

Ft. Sumter after surrender

The National Park Service is expecting over a thousand reenactors to descend on Ft. Moultrie and Ft. Sumter Friday, April 8th, as well as tens of thousands of spectators over the course of the coming week. There is an encampment at Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant, to visit the encampment on Patriots Point is $10 per adult and $5 per child. If you visit Ft. Moultrie, drop some money in their donation box, no one seems to feel the National Park System is worth funding in the grand scheme. I have yet to hear cannon fire from my place near Patriots Point, which is somewhat disappointing. Check out the links below for more information and daily schedules.

The Charleston Post and Courier has done an extensive overview of the Civil War for the Sesquicentennial. I have yet to read through it all but it looks worthy of your time if you have an interest in Charleston and its history.


LINKS - BATTLE OF FORT SUMTER SESQUICENTENNIAL

Low Country Civil War Commemoration
Charleston Post & Courier's Civil War Site
Battle Of Fort Sumter - Wikipedia
National Park Service - Ft. Sumter Sesquicentennial (150 year) facebook Page
Ft. Moultrie & Fort Sumter Schedule of Events - National Park Service PDF
Ft. Moultrie Website - NPS
Fort Sumter Website - NPS
Patriot's Points - USS Yorktown Mt. Pleasant

Credits; Illustration top right, Library of Congress - Currier & Ives Print
Bombardment of Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor, April 12 and 13, 1861
Hand-colored lithograph, ca. 1861 LC-USZC4-528

Map middle: Map of the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, showing Confederate forts and the bombardment of Fort Sumter, April 1861. Drawn in Adobe Illustrator CS5 by Hal Jespersen. Graphic source file is available at http://www.posix.com/CWmaps/"

Photograph bottom left, http://fortwiki.com/Image:FortSumter_1861.jpg