Pictures: Fort Sumter: Defiance and Destruction (1862-1865)
The great bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor in April 1861 had transformed the fort into a household name that served as a powerful patriotic symbol for both sides in the war. For well over a year after the Confederates took control of the fort, Charleston and its defenses saw little of the enemy other than the distant masts of the Federal blockading fleet that lay in wait off the coast.But the 1861 battle would prove to be only the first chapter in Sumter’s trial by fire. Along with the rest of the Confederate-held Charleston defenses, the fort became a major target of Union forces attempting to seal off the Atlantic coastline. After a series of minor attacks in 1862, the full force of Federal naval and ground forces were thrown against the harbor fortifications in the spring of 1863. Over the next 20 months, the Confederates...