A Visitor’s Guide to Fort Moultrie
- Friends of Charleston National Parks
- Jun 24
- 8 min read
Many National Historical Parks, such as Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, focus on singular historical events that occurred at the site. However, some, like the Fort Moultrie Unit of Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park, witnessed larger spans of the Nation’s history. When the National Park Service acquired Fort Moultrie in 1960 it was faced with how to shape the visitor experience with so many events that had occurred on the site and structures from many different eras. It was determined to highlight 171 years of sea coast defense from the American Revolution to the end of World War II. For visitors seeking to explore the history of sea coast defense, Fort Moultrie offers an unparalleled experience.
Some visitors also approach historic sites because of significant events that have occurred there and may not be interested in the continued evolution of the site. There are arguably two periods of significance that fit that definition at Fort Moultrie NHP, the 1776 Battle of Sullivan’s Island, and the role of the fort at the beginning of the Civil War, from Major Robert Anderson’s arrival in November of 1860 to his forced evacuation from Fort Sumter in April of 1861. Such a visitor would be profoundly confused in seeking to experience the look and feel of those events while walking through structures and viewing armament from quite different periods. NPS Rangers and Volunteers can assist visitors in interpreting the site, but this guide can help prepare the visitor seeking those periods of significance.
Revolutionary War
Let us begin with the palmetto log and sand fortification built in 1776 that was famous for defeating a British fleet on June 28. At the time of the battle, it did not have an official name, but following the victory the fort and its successors were named in honor of Col. William Moultrie, who commanded Patriot forces on Sullivan’s Island during the battle. The choice of materials for this fort was either pure genius...or pure luck. Not only were palmetto logs and beach sand readily available, but they also proved very resistant to naval artillery. The soft, spongy palmetto served to hold tons of sand in place without producing deadly splinters when struck by cannon fire. The sand was amazingly effective in containing the energy of artillery projectiles. The Patriots built thick walls of sand contained within an inclined palmetto log structure that was 16 feet thick at the base, but no one has ever been identified as the structure’s designer.
Although the boundaries of the Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park contain the site of the palmetto log fort, there is no above-ground relic from that period. The fort is said to have been built near the water’s edge, but that knowledge is of little use in locating the site as the shoreline has both advanced inland and accreted seaward over the intervening years. A careful study by the South Carolina Institute of Archeology and Anthropology in 1973-4 gives us the best idea of where the structure stood relative to the brick and masonry structure one sees today.
The sea face of the palmetto log and sand structure was discovered to be significantly seaward of the brick-and-mortar structure known as Fort Moultrie 3 (so designated to reflect that it is the third such fortification erected on the site). This area is best explored by walking along the outer sidewalk toward where the Revolutionary War cannons are displayed. This puts you in the approximate location of the center of the sea face parapet. The work had two protruding bastions on either end that touched on the beach. The beach today is considerably seaward of its 1776 location. Visitors to the modern-day fort can also see relevant landmarks not located on Sullivan’s Island. Although Fort Sumter was not present at that time, the shoal upon which it sits marks the southwestern edge off the main channel upon which several British ships went aground trying to skirt the fort. The British fleet, both before and after the battle, anchored off Morris Island which can be seen south and east of Fort Sumter. The absence of houses on Morris Island preserves the 18th century view. The Morris Island lighthouse was erected in 1876, replacing a previous light destroyed during the Civil War.
Civil War
Turning our attention to the Civil War period of significance reveals an even more difficult task of trying to experience the look and feel of that time. Except in this case, it is not the absence of structures that create the challenge, : it is the addition of structures and armaments, added up to and during World War II, which cover the remains of the fort that witnessed the start of the war. In the first battle of the Civil War, Major Robert Anderson and his small garrison at Fort Sumter did not have the manpower to unleash a powerful counter fire upon Fort Moultrie. Some of his shots did strike the quarters within the fort but the outer walls were relatively unscathed. Being spared during the opening shots did not, however, protect the fort from land and naval bombardments or from modifications to the original structure by Confederate engineers. Even more confounding are structures and armaments added up to and during World War II.
The structure of Fort Moultrie 3 has a complex history dating back to 1808 when it was designed and built by Major Alexander McComb of the US Army Corp of Engineers, later General of the Army. It underwent a number of modifications to adapt to changing military requirements, principally more advanced artillery.
The primary period of significance for the current structure is the Civil War when it was the garrisoned by United States Army artillerists until December of 1860, when Major Robert Anderson abandoned the fort in favor of Fort Sumter then under construction. It was quickly occupied by South Carolina militia and played a pivotal role in the day and a half long bombardment of Fort Sumter that marked the beginning of the Civil War on April 12-13, 1861. The South Carolina Militia’s use of Fort Moultrie’s hot shot furnaces to prepare red hot cannon balls was particularly effective in setting Sumter on fire. It did not go unnoticed by the Confederates that it was the fort that Anderson had abandoned that made him capitulate.
A major interior change during the Civil War was the removal of the quarters and barracks. These structures were hit by Fort Sumter’s return fire and proved to be a source of hazardous flying debris. For the safety of the garrison the buildings were demolished and temporary quarters were located outside of the fort’s walls in August of 1863 when a prolonged siege was anticipated. Protection of the fort's sea face walls was afforded by burying the walls with sand. Evidence of pre-war modifications can be seen on the southeast and southwest corners where flanking structures known as caponniers (or caponiers) were constructed in 1860. Two structures which survived the war, the powder magazine and a brick traverse protecting the magazine from direct fire, can be seen near the northwest corner. The outline of the western barracks building foundation can be viewed along with several period cannons on reproduction carriages.
Following the Civil War, Major General Quincy Gillmore of the Army Corps of Engineers sought to preserve the original outline of the historic fort while modernizing its interior spaces and armament to include nine 15-inch Rodman smoothbore cannons. Before the plans for reconstruction were formulated in 1870, some of the bricks of Fort Moultrie were donated to help build Stella Maris Catholic Church across the street from the fort. Bricks were recovered from Fort Ripley, another Civil War site in Charleston Harbor, were used in the reconstruction.
Although the original sallyport survived the Civil War, no attempt was made to preserve its original arched entrance. The current sallyport is representative of 1870s reconstruction, not the 1809 design. The concrete bombproof galleries and magazines incorporated into the rebuilt land face were not original and reflect advanced military engineering. Unlike Fort Sumter which had an Endicott Battery built within the parade ground, Fort Moultrie’s primary new batteries were built east of the old fort. However, after Fort Sumter’s failure as a mine control site, Fort Moultrie was modified for that purpose, giving rise to a number of changes that can be seen today.
Underwater mines could not be permanently deployed due to the corrosive environment and potential for water intrusion. A functional mine defense required a means for storing empty mine casing, keeping miles of electrical cable in fresh water tanks, and a facility for storing and loading dynamite into the mine casings. Strings of mines were loaded onto mine laying vessels with the terminal ends of the cables anchored to shore and the mines deployed with anchors while spotters on shore indexed their location. Once deployed, the 18-mine field was operated from a reinforced casemate with provisions to test the connections to the individual mines and to provide a charge sufficient to ignite the mine fuse when a ship was located over a specific mine.
Evidence of the mining operation at Fort Moultrie can be seen in the Fort Sumter Fort Moultrie National Historical Park headquarters building adjacent to the Visitor’s Center (built in 1902 to house mine casings), a small concrete terminal cabinet near the harbor edge and the remnants of pilings from the mine layer wharf visible northwest of the fort. The trolley tracks, cable storage tanks, mining casemate and dynamite storage building have all been removed. For a brief period in 1899, the old storage magazine was used to house the equipment to test and detonate individual mines. Poor climate control led to the building of a mining casemate outside of the fort between Osceola’s grave* and the street. That structure has been demolished.
*For information about Osceola’s imprisonment, death and burial at Fort Moultrie see 10 Facts about Fort Moultrie on this website.
To prevent enemy mine sweepers from interfering with the mine field, a series of rapid-fire guns were incorporated into the sea face of the fort. Several of these batteries remain today including batteries Bingham and McCorkle along with a service magazine for storing projectiles. Battery Lord, located in the center of the parapet was removed by the Park Service in 1975 to construct a display for 1870s vintage Rodman cannons, the predominant heavy artillery used to rearm the fort after the Civil War.
This guide would not be complete without annotating one of the most obvious post-Civil War modifications known as the Harbor Entrance Control Post - Harbor Defense Command Post (HECP-HDCP). This three-story structure was built into the northeastern flank of Fort Moultrie 3. Completed in 1944, the structure housed spotting, plotting and communications facilities and was operated jointly by the US Army and Navy in defending the harbor until the end of World War II.
If you would like more information on the changes to Fort Moultrie over the years, please see the references below.
References:
Historic Structure Report, Architectural Data Section--Fort Moultrie
By Garner, Jr., John C. 1973
Fort Sumter National Monument and Charles Pinckney National Historic Site
THE FIRST TWO FORT MOULTRIE S, A STRUCTURAL HISTORY~
Fort Sumter National Monument
June 30, 1968
by Edwin C. Bearss
Fort Sumter National Monument and Charles Pinckney National Historic Site
FORT MOULTRIE NO. 3
Fort Sumter National Monument
December 30, 1968
by Edwin C. Bearss
Fort Sumter National Monument and Charles Pinckney National Historic Site
The Friends of the Charleston National Parks endeavors to present informative and accurate materials for our readers. The subjects we cover are open to various interpretations and we invite readers to share their concerns about the material presented here. Please email us at Info@FCNP.org if you believe we have not correctly or accurately interpreted the historical record.
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