Fort Moultrie

On the day that we left North Carolina and drove by Congaree National Park we rolled into Charleston, South Carolina in mid-afternoon.  We knew we were going to take the ferry to Fort Sumter the next day but figured that we had enough time that day to hit the other part of the park on the mainland, Fort Moultrie.  A series of forts were erected during many different forts that culminated in the current fort that was shaped by a modernization campaign in the 1800s and then changes during World War I and II.

The first fort on Sullivan's Island, constructed of palmetto logs and sand, was still incomplete when Commodore Sir Peter Parker of the Royal Navy and nine British men-of-war attacked it on June 28, 1776. After a nine-hour battle, the ships were forced to retire. Charlestown was saved from British occupation, and the fort was named in honor of its commander, Colonel William Moultrie. In May 1780 the British finally captured Charlestown, including Fort Moultrie, finally evacuating the city in December 1782 as the Revolution entered its final year.

After the Revolution, Fort Moultrie was neglected, and by 1791 little of it remained. Then, in 1793, war broke out between Great Britain and France. The next year Congress, seeking to safeguard American shores, authorized the first system of nationwide coastal fortifications. A second Fort Moultrie, one of twenty new forts along the Atlantic coast, was completed in 1798. It too suffered from neglect and was finally destroyed by a hurricane in 1804. By 1807 many of the other First System fortifications were in need of extensive repair. Congress responded by authorizing funds for a Second System, which included a third Fort Moultrie. By 1809 a new brick fort stood on Sullivan's Island.
--from Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie NHP website

We arrived and parked and headed in side fairly quickly, knowing that our time was limited.

Directly inside you're greeted by an impressive painting.

There are a number of exhibits.

I took a couple photos, but didn't look around too much since we knew we needed to get to the fort itself.

We picked up Junior Ranger materials and got our bearings on local geography.

Then we headed out the backside of the visitor center and across the street to the fort.

Before we entered the fort I detoured to the side to see what was out front.

It turns out that these were graves.  This one was the grave of the Seminole leader Osceola who was held at the fort at the end of his life.

This monument marks the grave of five sailors from the ironclad monitor USS Patapsco that sank in the harbor on January 15, 1865 after striking a mine.

Thankfully we didn't have to pay as we had an active Interagency Pass.

The tour started inside the walls.

There were plenty of long halls/tunnels.

The magazine needed to be safely protected from bombardment and the construction utilized concrete and a layer of earth.

Eventually you exited above ground inside the fort.

I was a bit surprised by how much grass there was inside the fort.

Directly after Pearl Harbor a buildup started at the fort to allow it to protect the coast from a possible attack/invasion.

From the observation post you could get a good view over much of the fort.

Below this tower was the entrance to the Harbor Command Post.

Down into the depths once more.

And through the thick protective door behind which air conditioning systems were active.

This was the Duty Officers and Operations Room.

This room served as headquarters for the officer in charge of the HECP-HDCP.  His primary duty was to take immediate action against any suspected enemy threat or activity within this defense sector.  Ships entering or leaving Charleston harbor were also monitored from this office.  The officer in charge supervised a forty man staff and was assisted by a senior noncommissioned officer.
--from exhibit signage

This was the radio room.

There were also large batteries installed as part of the fort's modernization that served as part of the defense of Charleston during the Spanish American War, World War I, and World War II.

I thought that the name Battery McCorkle was a great name!

You could go up right next to the guns.

This battery was part of the defense after the Civil war and usage was discontinued after the Spanish American War.

50,000 pound guns like this one were not easy to move.

These foundations are the remnants of enlisted barracks that stood from 1809 thorough 1863.

These pieces of artillery were what were used for defense during the War of 1812 and the Civil War.

Northwest Bastionet.  U.S. forces under Major Robert Anderson hastily expanded this part of the fort in 1860 on the eve of the Civil War.  From here musket fire could sweep the adjoining walls to repulse an expected land attack.
--from exhibit signage

This was the powder magazine from the 1820s.

We also walked outside the fort to see the coastal side of the fortifications.

There were quite a few palm trees visible.

There are outlines of old doorways and traces of walls from the 1860s that were part of an extension of the fortifications at that time to protect the low walls.

It was very interesting to read about the Hunley.

I remember reading about this submarine when I was a kid.

It was awesome to hear about the recovery several years ago.

The row of cannons show different sized guns from different periods of time before or during the Civil War.

Before too long we had to take off as everything was closing up for the day.  You can find some more pictures of our visit in this album.

~Matt