Why not wade over to Ft. Sumter?

[Ihatecomplicatedinterface]

I was under the impression Fort Sumter was surrounded by deep water, but in fact there is a sand bar from James Island that is only a about three feet of water, and a short walk over to the Fort. Why didn't the Confederates just walk over and take the Fort?

 

[Sheltowee]

Don't know the distance or depth of water.

But I do know that artillery is a tremendous influencer. And keeps your own casualty numbers at a minimum.

 

[Drumfish420]

Pretty sure assaulting a fort by foot, in water, with zero cover is more asinine that doing it over land.

 

[Gary Morgan]

I was under the impression Fort Sumter was surrounded by deep water, but in fact there is a sand bar from James Island that is only a about three feet of water, and a short walk over to the Fort. Why didn't the Confederates just walk over and take the Fort?

The topography of Charleston Harbor at the time was quite different than it is today, given a century and a half of hurricanes, winds and erosion. If you want to visit Fort Wagner for example, you are plum out of luck, as the whole thing is now underwater.

Going by the number of porpoises that accompanied the transport boat to Fort Sumter when I visited it on the 150th anniversary of its capture, I would say that the water surrounding the fort is well over 3 feet deep.

 

[tmorr]

Visited Ft Sumter a couple months ago and as noted above the rangers said the sandbar is the result of hurricanes and a lot of dredging - that's where they elected to deposit all the sand. If memory serves me the sand moved by nature and man stretches 1 mile from the fort to the coast. It was low tide when we were there and a person could walk to the fort without getting your feet wet. Regrettably the pics I took to not show the sandbar.

 

[Pollaco]

Only 3' of water? When high or low tide?It would have been hard to keep your powder dry either way.

 

[7thWisconsin]

What are you going to do when you get there - climb over the 3 story wall? The fort only has 2 entrances!

 

[Ihatecomplicatedinterface]

The topography of Charleston Harbor at the time was quite different than it is today, given a century and a half of hurricanes, winds and erosion. If you want to visit Fort Wagner for example, you are plum out of luck, as the whole thing is now underwater.

Going by the number of porpoises that accompanied the transport boat to Fort Sumter when I visited it on the 150th anniversary of its capture, I would say that the water surrounding the fort is well over 3 feet deep.

You did not go on the James Island side. It is a sand bar between James Island and Ft. Sumter.

 

[scooter748driver]

You did not go on the James Island side. It is a sand bar between James Island and Ft. Sumter.

Yes, but it wasn't there in 1860-61. There are accounts of shipping and boat traffic to the east of Sumter before the war started in April of '61.

 

[FritzJerries]

I was under the impression Fort Sumter was surrounded by deep water, but in fact there is a sand bar from James Island that is only a about three feet of water, and a short walk over to the Fort. Why didn't the Confederates just walk over and take the Fort?

Gee I've been to Fort Sumter in Charleston ,had to take a ferry to get there there ,really smaller than I anticipated. Did not visualize a sand bar but then again the area may have been dredged and deepened for ships .Highly recommend visiting this state historical place. Where the Civil War actually began.

 

[FritzJerries]

What are you going to do when you get there - climb over the 3 story wall? The fort only has 2 entrances!

Its a historical National park now ,highly recommend all to visit.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

The topography of Charleston Harbor at the time was quite different than it is today, given a century and a half of hurricanes, winds and erosion. If you want to visit Fort Wagner for example, you are plum out of luck, as the whole thing is now underwater.

The biggest change to the harbor's topography is due to the dredging of the modern ship channel and especially the accompanying jetties. The jetties turned the entirety of Morris Island into a sandbar. The Morris Island Lighthouse tower now stands in the ocean despite having been built in the middle of an island in 1876.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

General Map of Charleston Harbor Showing Rebel Defenses and Obstructions, 1865

Charleston Harbor Nautical Chart (with depths), 1866

 

[1SGDan]

Why not wade over to Ft. Sumter?

Because the tide is in?

 

[ColonelBuckwalter]

The topography of Charleston Harbor at the time was quite different than it is today, given a century and a half of hurricanes, winds and erosion. If you want to visit Fort Wagner for example, you are plum out of luck, as the whole thing is now underwater.

Going by the number of porpoises that accompanied the transport boat to Fort Sumter when I visited it on the 150th anniversary of its capture, I would say that the water surrounding the fort is well over 3 feet deep.

Don't let those sea mammals fool you. They did that on porpoise just to fool you.

 

[7thWisconsin]

Its a historical National park now ,highly recommend all to visit.

Yep. Been there!

 

[Snowbound]

Wife's great grandfather was on the steamship Sumter. His regiment was one of the last to rotate out of Ft Wagner. This tells a lot about navigating Charleston Harbor.

The Sinking of the CSS Steamer Sumpter Transport Ship

Being towed by tug boat didn't work out well. https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/Marine Corps History_9_2_Winter 2023_Westermeier_web.pdf

 

[Ihatecomplicatedinterface]

Pretty sure assaulting a fort by foot, in water, with zero cover is more asinine that doing it over land.

Zero cover? They had a whole battery of canon that fired on the Fort for weeks.

 

[Dan Kohli]

Zero cover? They had a whole battery of canon that fired on the Fort for weeks.

That only works if you can keep the Federal artillerymen from their pieces. Unfortunately for the potential assaulting troops, the walls of the fort do a pretty good job of protecting the Fort's garrison when they are manning the forts casemate guns. And as mentioned earlier what are the assault troops going to do once they get there? The walls still do a good job of keeping people out.

 

[NFB22]

Much of the area indicated did not exist in the 1860s. It's courtesy of over 160 years of weather, erosion, dredging operations and so on. It's the same reason that Cummings Point on Morris Island is much less prominent today.

Remember that there was an amphibious assault made by U.S. Marines and sailors in September of 1863 that ended disastrously for the assault force. However, they still had to row to the fort as that was the only option.

Here is a nautical chart from the late 1800s. The depths vastly different today.