When we travelled to South Carolina last March, we stayed with my parents on Isle of Palms, where they were vacationing for the Winter months. Isle of Palms is a barrier island north of Charleston Harbour and is connected by a bridge to Sullivan’s Island at the entrance to Charleston Harbour. One of our first outings when we arrived was to go across to Sullivan’s Island for a tour of Fort Moultrie.
According to Wikipedia, “Fort Moultrie is a series of citadels on Sullivan’s Island, built to protect the city of Charleston. The first fort, built of palmetto logs, inspired the flag and nickname (Palmetto State) of South Carolina. It is named in honour of the commander in the Battle of Sullivan’s Island, General William Moultrie.
South Carolina patriots began to build a fort to guard Charleston Harbour in 1776. British Admiral Sir Peter Parker with nine British warships attacked the fort—still unnamed and incomplete—on June 28, 1776, near the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. The soft palmetto logs did not crack under bombardment but rather absorbed the shot; cannon balls reportedly even bounced off the walls of the structure. William Moultrie commanded the 2nd South Carolina Regiment for the revolutionary patriots in this battle. The fort took its name Fort Moultrie in his honor.”
Fort Moultrie also played a major role in the Civil War. Federal troops abandoned the fort when South Carolina seceded from the Union. They retreated to a defensive position at Fort Sumter. The reason was obvious. Fort Moultrie had been designed to pummel ships entering the harbor, not to defend against land-based attacks. Federal troops found themselves completely encircled within hostile territory in a fort facing the wrong direction. Secessionist forces quickly claimed the abandoned fort. Three and a half months later, on April 12, 1861, the guns of Fort Moultrie and other nearby batteries trained on Fort Sumter to ignite the Civil War.
I took many, many photos that day, but here are some of my favourites:
Sally Port Entrance
What they used to move a 50,000 pound Rodman gun
Great shots, Cindy, and another incentive to get back to Charleston. Like you, The Battery area of historic homes was one of my favorite areas. Mixed with all of the historically significant sites around the area, it is easy to spend many days exploring and being enthralled.
Thank you! There are so many things I still want to do there. I saw some of the beautiful homes, but there were many areas we missed, and I would have liked to go inside some of “mansions” that offer tours. I also really wanted to go at night and do a ghost walk, but we just didn’t have time. I think that would have been a lot of fun!! I will definitely go back one day though 🙂
Cool! You are making it hard not to board a plane and see all of the stuff in person. Great shots!
Thanks and I know what you mean! I’m regretting not going back there this March Break (school holiday), but unfortunately my parents couldn’t go this year (which gave us free accommodation) and my youngest son is having his tonsils out next week, so we had to drop the idea for this year. Bummer!! 😦
I wish your son a speedy recovery. Will he share his ice cream?
I sure hope so because I lovvvvveeeeeee icecream!! And thank you for your wishes. They say it’s harder to recover from a tonsillectomy as you get older, and he has never been under anesthetic before, so it should be interesting.
So sunny – and great shots! It’s always a bit spooky in the bunkers though, don’t you think?