Charleston SC Forts and National Historic Sites

Fort Sumter National Monument
Charleston Harbor (843) 883-3123
Where The American Civil War Began. . . Decades of growing strife between North and South erupted in civil war on April 12, 1861, when Confederate artillery opened fire on this Federal fort in Charleston Harbor. Fort Sumter surrendered 34 hours later. Union forces would try for nearly four years to take it back. Fort Moultrie is a unit of Fort Sumter National Monument. The site is located on Sullivan's Island and is accessible by car. Learn about 171 years of American seacoast defenses.

Fort Moultrie
1214 West Middle Street Sullivans Island (843) 883-3123
The first fort on Sullivan's Island was still incomplete when Commodore Sir Peter Parker and nine warships attacked it on June 28, 1776. After a nine-hour battle, the ships were forced to retire. Charleston was saved from British occupation, and the fort was named in honor of its commander, Colonel. William Moultrie. In 1780 the British finally captured Charleston, abandoning it only on the advent of peace.

Fort Johnson Wildlife and Marine Resources Center
227 Fort Johnson Road James Island, SC (843) 762-5000
What is left of Fort Johnson? Built in the early 1700s, the fort was expanded and improved during the French and Indian War, American Revolution, and War of 1812. During this same time the fort was damaged was hurricanes and storms. By the time of the Civil War only a few structures remained and Confederate forces built earthworks on the site. Today a circa 1820s brick powder magazine and a section Confederate earthworks are some of the surviving elements of the fort.

Fort Sumter Visitor Education Center at Liberty Square
340 Concord Street Charleston SC (843) 883.3123
When the Civil War finally exploded in Charleston Harbor, it was the result of a half-century of growing sectionalism. Escalating crises over property rights, human rights, states rights and constitutional rights divided the country as it expanded westward. Underlying all the economic, social and political rhetoric was the volatile question of slavery. Because its economic life had long depended on enslaved labor, South Carolina was the first state to secede when this way of life was threatened. Confederate forces fired the first shot in South Carolina, and the federal government responded with force. Decades of compromise were over, and the very nature of the Union was at stake. Please take time to read the text of the exhibit that appears at the Fort Sumter Visitor Education Center at Liberty Square for more information on the events leading up to the first shots at Fort Sumter.

Battery Wagner
Morris Island, Folly Beach SC
A barrier island, Morris island has suffered from hurricane and storm erosion. As a result, Battery Wagner, and the other Union and Confederate fortifications on the ocean side of the island no longer survive. The movie Glory, based on the July 18, 1863 assault on Battery Wagner lead by the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, was filmed in Georgia.

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