Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter is on an island in the harbor and along with Fort Moultrie was designed to protect Charleston from sea attacks. It was also where the Civil War began. 

Tensions rose in the area after South Carolina seceded from the Union. The Union forces led by Major Anderson left Fort Moultrie for For Sumter because it was more fortified but they began to run out of supplies. In April 1861 the Confederate General Beauregard demanded surrender and when Anderson refused, shots were fired. Almost out of food and ammunition and surrounded in the harbor by Confederate forces, Anderson had to surrender two days later, though no one died during the battle. The next day President Lincoln declared war on the newly formed Confederate states.  

Battle flag:

The fort was built after the War of 1812 to defend the US coasts. It was one 50 built as part of the third wave of US forts. It is five-sided with low thick walls made of granite to hold heavy cannons and prevent damage from cannon balls.

The fort was used through World War II, when modern warfare rendered coastal forts obsolete. It was transferred to the National Park Service in 1948. 

The bugs out here are pretty fierce- lots of hand waving going on in these photos! 

On the boat trip:

Up and at 'em

Last night there were over 600 campers on board. It was quite the cramped quarters!  But we are up and fed this morning and heading to the ferry for our tour of Fort Sumter. 

The Vietnam Experience

This is a pretty cool area at the end of the pier. It has been recreated to look like a base camp during the Vietnam war. There are several choppers on display, including a med-evac that could get wounded soldiers out in 35 minutes compared to days. There's sound effects and movie experiences and it really seemed realistic. The kids with me had a great time checking out the jeeps and ambulance, watch tower, walking inside a Chinook helicopter and getting the whole experience. 

Ghost Tour

We are getting our ghost orientation from our guide in one of the many pretty parks in the city. 

Officer Ruggerio guarding our group!

We heard about the first person in the US to be cremated after he almost buried his daughter alive in this cemetery. 

The Powder Magazine from 1713 housed the gun powder and is the oldest public building in Charleston. The roof was built full of sand so if there was an explosion the roof would cave-in and the sand would put out the fire. It is still there today. 

Some of the pretty buildings we passed:

At Phillips Church where we heard an eerie story about a woman who lost her baby after childbirth and may have been captured in a photo 99 years later.

 

Philadelphia Alley where duels were often held. 

At the halfway mark we have a few tired cadets...

The old Customs House where South Carolina ratified the US Constiution and where the pirate Blackbeard visited and took hostages leading to a crackdown on piracy in 1718. 

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Too dark now to take many photos but we wrapped up along the harbor and are now waiting in the bus to take us back to the Yorktown. 

USS Laffey

This destroyer, which had been at the D-Day landings I visited lasts week, was involved in the largest kamikaze attack in history. It was patrolling north of Okinawa in April 1945 when it was attacked by about 50 Japanese planes. The men shot down many of the attackers but suffered four bomb hits and six kamikaze impacts. 

The tour starts with an experience in the gunning mount where 6 of 14 soldiers died when a kamikaze pilot made a direct hit. You can feel the guns shake in the movie and it's quite an experience as they reenact what happened that morning. 

USS Clagamore

This sub was built at the end of World War II and did not see any wartime action. The tour takes you from the bow through to the stern. It's one very narrow corridor and about a dozen hatches to step through. I can't imagine living in such cramped quarters for months at a time!