Our endlessly fascinating Civil War

The former historian at Fort Sumter has mined a host of primary sources to produce a fascinating account of the importance of this place to the overall war effort.

After it was captured, the U.S. blockaded Charleston Harbor and for two years the fort, with its 50 heavy guns and 500-man garrison, remained mostly untested. In April 1863, a powerful combined operation set its sights on the area. The result was a 22-month land and sea siege, the longest of the Civil War. Despite repeated concentrated bombardments of the fort and the city, however, it never fell. During the next eight decades, the US invested millions of dollars and thousands of hours rebuilding and rearming the fort to face potential foreign threats in three different wars.

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