Trivia 10-13-16 In between jobs

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Prior to Major Anderson transferring his garrison from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, there was also a small "garrison" at one other Charleston fortification. What fortification was it?

credit: @NFB22
 
Castle Pinckney.


Fort Moultrie was one of three active federal fortifications in Charleston Harbor, each with different challenges. Years of neglect had weakened Moultrie’s defensive capabilities; nearby terrain rose higher than the fort’s walls. Castle Pinckney, situated at the mouth of the Cooper River, was in good condition, but garrisoned only by an ordnance sergeant and his teenage daughter. The unfinished Fort Sumter was the most important of the three—a fact not lost on Anderson. In a December 9, 1860, report from Fort Moultrie, he wrote, “Fort Sumter is a tempting prize, the value of which is well known to the Charlestonians, and once in their possession, with its ammunition and armament and walls uninjured and garrisoned properly, it would set our Navy at defiance, compel me to abandon this work, and give them the perfect command of this harbor.”


http://www.civilwar.org/hallowed-ground-magazine/winter-2010/problem-in-charleston-harbor.html
 
My apologies, I'm not quite sure if I have understood the question... my bad!

So with all due caution my answer would be Fort Johnson.

"Fort Johnson is probably best remembered today as the place from which one signaling mortar shell was fired – a shell that opened the bombardment of Fort Sumter. The ultimate appeal had been made in the hitherto political conflict between North and South, for that one mortar shell symbolized the appeal to force."

http://mrl.cofc.edu/about/fort-johnson-history/

Edit - The indicated source does not say that there was a Union garrison at Fort Johnson.

Hoosier
 
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There was Fort Johnson and Castle Pinckney both occupied by federal ordnance sergeants and their families. Both facilities were seized after Anderson's move from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter.

Source: Days of Defiance - Sumter Secession, and the Coming of the Civil War, Maury Klein, pp. 107-108

Edit - I was able to access the pages you identified using a Google Books search.

They say that Anderson reached Fort Moultrie on Nov. 21. Anderson inspected the fortifications and determined that Castle Pinckney and Fort Johnson were occupied only by ordnance sergeants. Anderson's report to Washington, written two days later, stated, "Fort Sumter and Castle Pinckney must be garrisoned immediately..."

I believe this indicates that the presence of ordnance sergeants did not constitute a "garrison." Anderson called for a garrison to be put at Castle Pinckney, from which it was subsequently removed to Fort Sumter. There is no indication that he ever called for putting a garrison at Fort Johnson.

Hoosier
 
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Castle Pinckney.
On December 27, 1860, one week after South Carolina seceded from the Union, the fort was surrendered to South Carolina (S.C.) militia by its small U.S. Army garrison, which retired to Fort Sumter to join Major Robert Anderson. Castle Pinckney became the first Federal military installation seized forcefully by a Southern state government.
Source:
Edit - This response was revised in a subsequent post.

Hoosier
 
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I would like to replace my previous answer of Castle Picnkey with Ft. Johnson. I guess the key word being "Prior". Since Maj. Anderson moved on December 26th and Castle Picnkey was the 27th, that only leaves Ft, Johnson.
While the fort continued to fall into ruins, an 1833 map reveals that the site had become a substantial facility for the US Board of Engineers. The facility included a wharf, two docks, a barracks, quarters for many staff persons, storerooms, offices, carpentry shop, tool house, blacksmith shop, a boarding house and many "Negro houses." Just to the southeast of this complex were the beginnings of the summer village for the James Island Planters. In time this village, called Johnsonville, contained many planters' homes, a church, commissary and a schoolhouse.
Source: http://www.sciway.net/city/history/fort-johnson-sc.html

Edit - Your original answer of Castle Pinckney was correct, but unfortunately, I have to take Fort Johnson as your final answer. As indicated in the edit to post # 10, I consider that answer incorrect.

Note that the question asked about a garrison that was located at another fortification prior to Anderson's move from Moultrie to Sumter - it didn't say that that garrison moved to Sumter before Anderson did.

Hoosier
 
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