151 years ago!

Today we had off and on heavy rains associated with the nor'easter passing up the East coast. We decided to visit Fort Sumter on a man-made island at the entrance to Charleston Harbour. The fort used to be three storeys high, 55 feet, but ended up being only one storey. 

It was where the first shots of the Civil War were fired, 151 years ago, April 1861! In 36 hours the Union forces surrendered. Major Anderson was allowed to take his flag, and he and his troops returned North. 

The fort was bombarded for two years....turned into rubble as it lost its top two floors....but our Charleston guide stressed that the Confederates never surrendered the fort. They simply abandoned it when Sherman was burning Columbia, and the outcome of the war was clearly not in their favour. 

Eventually, Anderson returned with the same flag, and flew it proudly over Fort Sumter, on April 14, 1865, the same day President Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre.

Here is one of the thousands of shells that were fired at Fort Sumter.