Fort Sumter and the "Third System"

[Applause] at 3 20 a.m on april 12 1861 colonel james chestnut junior or ada camp to brigadier general pgt beauregard brought a note to major robert anderson or the first u.s artillery who's commanding the us troops that were occupying fort sumter in charleston harbor the note read by authority brigadier general beauregard commanding the provisional forces the confederate states we have the honor to notify you that he will open fire of his batteries on fort sumter in one hour from this time true to their word the bombardment began around 4 30 a.m and those shots are generally if not universally considered to be the first shots of the u.s civil war in the fourth that was the center of this first battle of the civil war a new impressive and yet unfinished fortification itself was representative of the unique nation that had just gone to war with itself fort sumpter is history that deserves to be remembered thomas sumpter was born in virginia colony in 1734 he served in the virginia militia the battle of braddock's defeat in 1755 during the french and indian war after the anglo-cherokee war in 1761 he traveled with a delegation intended to re-establish friendly relations with the cherokee people eventually accompanying three distinguished cherokee leaders to london to meet george iii during the american revolution he led partisan units in south carolina opposed benastar talton and was a thorn in the side of lord cornwallis he earned the nickname the carolina gamecock for his fierce fighting tactics the name apparently originated with tarleton himself he rose to the rank of regular general made enough of a nuisance of himself that cornwallis referred to him as his greatest plague after the war he served both in the u.s house of representatives in the united states senate representing south carolina it was a time when the young nation was vulnerable and yet had yet developed a plan for its national defense america built coastal fortifications during the revolution including notably defensive works along the hudson river in new york at a place called west point the defenses were built under the direction of polish lithuanian engineer tedius cusciosco and parts of the original fortifications can still be seen today it was of course the plans to those fortifications that benedict arnold tried to sell to the british in one of history's most famous acts of treason after the war the land was purchased by congress and became a military post but the fortification of west point illustrated a problem the fortifications built during the war were mostly made of wood and were essentially temporary the congress of the new nation knew the importance of protecting its coast as the nation was largely a coastal nation depend upon trade in 1794 president washington was able to successfully lobby congress to appropriate 76 100 for the construction of coastal defenses including an allocation for 200 cannons the construction was initially started under the direction of henry knox who had been chief artillery officer of the continental army and served as the nation's first secretary of war the fortifications that were built at this time were eventually called the first system fortifications and they were designed mostly using foreign engineers like the french military engineer pierre longfont who was the man who developed the first plan for the nation's new capital but because much of the construction was left up to local engineers and the engineers themselves were from different schools of thought the first system often used materials made of timber and sod that would quickly erode while the threat of war with france that would eventually lead to the 1798 quasi war resulted in some of the fortifications being made more substantially of brick and masonry but congress had little enthusiasm for military spending and under new president thomas jefferson little interest in a strong national defense altogether defense of the nation's ports was left to small coastal gunboats who were unable to defend the nation's international trade but some people saw the risk in 1799 secretary of war thomas pickering wrote it is prudent to fortify the few ports of the highest importance but it took the threat of war again to spur congress to action in june 1807 the british fourth-rate hms leopard defeated the ill-prepared u.s frigate uss chesapeake in a brief battle the british ship was seeking to board the chesapeake and search it for deserters from the royal navy a point of contention that would eventually bring the nations to war four men were removed by the british and tried for desertion one was hanged chesapeake was allowed to return to port but the leopard chesapeake affair illustrated the poor state of the united states ability to defend its trade even jefferson was forced to address the problem in 1808 congress authorized one million dollars to improve coastal defense fortifications it was the beginning of the second system the united states was finally taking coastal defense seriously in 1794 congress established a core of artillerists and engineers in 1802 a formal academy for training netcar was established at the military post at west point it was hoped that the academy would alleviate the need to employ foreign military engineers in the construction of american fortifications the second system was largely built under a different philosophy than the first with larger forts of stone and brick including enclosed casemates that would protect the fort from shrapnel foible the exposed bastions of previous fort designs and a much greater number of cannons enough to overwhelm attacking ships a more modern vision and general increased level of expertise created much more robust fortifications than the first system which had essentially rotted away in just a decade still the second system was built piecemeal and did not provide a truly coordinated defense a 2015 monograph by army major clinton w brown for the school of advanced military studies at the united states army command and general staff college at fort leavenworth kansas explains the lack of a national military strategy concerning coastal defense led to a failure in prioritization of efforts and funds the strengths and weaknesses of the second system would become clear when the us and great britain went to war in 1812 more robust fortifications like fort mchenry famously withstood bombardment by substantial fleet of 19 ships during the 1814 battle of baltimore where rockets red glare and bombs bursting in air could not take the fortification but earlier fortifications from the system relying on older techniques had proven insufficient and the system was incomplete and left clear strategic focus the lack of a substantial fortification protecting the chesapeake bay allowed the british to move up and burn the american capital the same year at the end of the war president james madison presented congress with a proposal saying a certain degree of preparation for war affords the best security for the continuance of peace madison was concerned with both the army and the navy but also with coastal defense he argued for a liberal provision for the immediate extension and gradual completion of the works of defense both fixed and floating on our maritime frontier the third system would be different than the first and second systems major brown explains national policy began to take shape one that considered coastal fortifications as a system built to last for the long term one important difference was the 1816 establishment of a board of engineers in the first and second system brown says engineers and state officials determined the site and design of construction the establishment of the board of engineers changed that dynamic by making planning for fortifications a centralized process a period of peace allowed a great deal of time for planning and surveying but funding was a problem as the nation emerged from the war with a great deal of debt still congress was serious and 830 thousand dollars was committed to coastal defenses in 1817 although a financial crisis the panic of 1819 led congress to be more frugal and oversee the project more carefully going forward the difference for the third system was apparent from the start brown explains that the initial plan submitted for the defense of the important port of new orleans is one of the first examples of a defense plan that integrated defenses along the coast designed to protect against naval operations and potential landings and support from other states in the form of militia and regular forces the financial crisis and resulting oversight resulted in more thorough reports to congress which helped to better direct funds than had been done with the first and second systems that then resulted in a comprehensive plan set forth by the board called the board report of 1821. the report represented a clear strategy for the military defense of the united states including a discussion of the size the professional army and navy as well as coastal defenses for the coastal defenses themselves there were six priorities one to close important harbors to an enemy and to secure them to the navy of the country two to deprive an enemy of strong positions where protected by his naval superiority he might fix permanent quarters in our territory maintain himself during the war and keep the whole frontier in perpetual harm three to cover our great cities against attack poor to prevent as much as possible the great avenues of interior navigation from being blockaded by a naval force at their entrances into the ocean five to cover the coast wise and interior navigation to give our navy the means necessary protecting this navigation and six to cover the great naval establishments major brown said of the board proposal the development of the third system after the war of 1812 was a defining moment for the national defense policy of the united states before the establishment of the board of engineers little thought was put towards ensuring fortifications were able to support a coherent plan for defense in a way the financial crisis contributed to the plan for the fortifications congress was forced to drastically reduce the size the professional army fortifications allowed a plan for national defense that would depend upon a smaller number of standing troops the fortifications would require relatively small garrisons and provide time to augment the regular army with militia in time of war as it would be financially impossible to defend every possible vulnerable point a careful system of defenses could be used to protect the navy which in turn would be able to move to defend vulnerable points finally the board report of 1821 stressed the importance of this integrated system in preventing war if the system could make it so much less likely that any foreign attack would succeed it would deter any such attack while the original report identified 50 sites for fortifications by 1850 the number would increase to some 200 potential sites the third system would eventually include a total of 42 sites as well some smaller fortifications one of those sites was intended to defend the strategic port of charleston construction on the fortification in charleston harbor did not begin until 1827. the venerable general that would be the fort's namesake was there to see it thomas sumter lived until 1831 passing away at the age of 97. fort sumter represented an integral part of the planning of the third system stephen w henderson of the geological society of london noted in a may 2013 publication entitled american coastal defense third system fourths how geomorphology and geology dictated placement and influence history that because of their purpose to defend key locations against potential british amphibious assault their sites were limited to islands shoals shorelines riverbanks or hilltops thus the forts were not located as they might have been in the past based on the location of bedrock many were built on barrier islands but fort sumter was built on even less the newspaper the moultrie news explained in august of last year since it was to be built on nothing more than a sand bar on the harbor known as the middle shoal the first step was to strengthen the foundation with the placing of rocks around the base where the fort was to be erected progress was slow massive stones tons of them had to be hauled over land and water the artificial island would seem to have eliminated a certain problem the moultrie news explains the federal government started construction without clearing a formal deed of land believing it was unnecessary when that land was covered by water that turned out to be a mistake as a legal claim was made both on the land the sandbar did not actually project above the water and by state officials concerned that the creation of an artificial island would affect navigation the issues were not resolved until 1841 still construction continued at a slow pace u.s national archives explains troubles continued to plague the construction of the fort lack of supplies and the difficulty of transporting supplies by boat to the shoal made progress slow it was an impressive fortification captain abner doubleday second in command to major anderson said of the fort the first thing that attracted the eye of the stranger upon approaching charleston from the sea was fort sumter it was built on an artificial island made of large blocks of stone the walls were of dark brick and designed for three tiers of guns the whole structure as it rose abruptly out of the water had a gloomy prison-like appearance it was situated on the edge of the channel in the northwest part of the harbor between fort moultrie and cummings point distant about a mile from the former place in 1200 yards from the latter the fort was in fact a new and modern design intended to dominate the harbor and be one of the strongest fortifications in the world at the time on december 20th 1860 as a response to abraham lincoln's election south carolina adopted an ordinance of secession the state moved to seize federal property a move that president buchanan chose not to resist for fear of driving more states to secede at the time anderson and his command were stationed at fort moultrie a battery that offered little defense from a land attack the night of december 26th under cover of darkness he removed his command to the more substantial fort sumpter however there was a problem while the fort's exterior had been finished the interior was not the national archives explains at that time only 15 out of the planned 135 cannon were mounted and in place barracks quarters and gun rooms remained unfinished when buchanan tried to supply the garrison using an armed merchant vessel in january it was driven off by confederate cannon fire when finished the fort was designed to be manned by 650 men but anderson only had 85 while he was able to eventually mount 60 guns he didn't have enough men to man them eventually the new president had no choice but to attempt to resupply the garrison which by february was short on food that attempt resulted in the ultimatum 160 years ago today and the first shots of the u.s civil war there was never a realistic chance of defending the fort when he was presented with the ultimatum anderson answered truthfully he said i shall await your first shot and if you do not batter us to pieces we should be starved out in just a few days the fort held out for 34 hours of bombardment before anderson was compelled to surrender the fort and evacuate his garrison a federal attempt to retake fort sumter in april 1863 failed but the fort intended to have been one of the strongest in the world was reduced to virtual ruin despite the great effort of the third system advances in gun technology had left masonry forts vulnerable to artillery fire the confederates never did surrender the four but were forced to evacuate in 1865 when the army under the command of william tecumseh sherman compelled the confederates to evacuate charleston after lee's surrender anderson who is by then a retired major general in poor health returned to raise the flag once again over fort sumter fort sumter was partially restored after the war and when entry into the spanish-american war brought coastal defenses back into focus a new installation was built inside the original walls in 1898 in 1948 the fort was designated a national monument and is today maintained by the national park service while the slow pace of construction and the political and military situation conspired against the serious defense of fort sumter and the opening battle of the u.s civil war the third system of which fort sumter was a part represented a turning point for the united states as major brown concludes the coastal portications built during the third system contributed to the first long-term national defense policy for the united states i hope you enjoyed this episode of the history guy short snippets of forgotten history between 10 and 15 minutes long and if you did enjoy please go ahead and click that thumbs up button if you have any questions or comments or suggestions for future episodes please write those in the comment section i will be happy to personally respond be sure to follow the history guy on facebook instagram twitter and check out our merchandise on teespring.com and if you'd like more episodes on forgotten history all you need to do is [Music] subscribe

Channel: The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered

Views: 142,058

Rating: 4.9790659 out of 5

Keywords: history, history guy, the history guy, fort sumter, US civil war, us history, military history

Id: pE6vKlhErsQ

Length: 16min 31sec (991 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 12 2021

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