FORT SUM'TER. A fort on an island at the entrance of Charleston Harbor, about three miles from Charleston, the firing upon which by the Confederates, in April, 1861, precipitated the Civil War. Work was begun on the fortifications about 1830, but was subsequently discontinued, and in 1860 the fort was still in an unfinished condition. For illustration, see Plate of Fortifi- cations. On November 2l8t Major Robert An- derson replaced Col. J. L. Gardner as command- er of the forts in Charleston Harbor, and, like his predecessor, occupied Fort Moultrie (q.v.). Hostilities with the State forces appearing im- minent, however, and Fort Moultrie being almost wholly unprotected against land attacks, he secretly removed his small garrison to Fort Sumter, on the evening of December 26th — six days after South Carolina had passed her ordi- nance of secession. Anderson and his small garrison applied themselves with energy to the strengthening of the fortifications. After much vacillation on the part of the Administration at Washington, an attempt was made in January, 1801, to relieve the scantily provisioned fart; but the Star of the West, a merchant vessel which had been sent for this purpose, and which arrived at the mouth of the harbor early on the 9th, was fired upon by the authorities and forced to put back. After the inauguration of President Lin- coln, the policy to be pursued with regard to Fort Sumter was the subject of many Cabinet discussions, and, in large part, of the unofficial negotiations between Seward and the Confederate commissioners in Washington. (See Confed- erate States of America.) On April 9th President Lincoln notified Governor Pickens that an attempt would be made to send provisions to the fort, and on the 11th, acting under orders from President Jefferson Davis, General Beaure- gard, in command of the Confederate forces at Charleston, demanded the evacuation of the fort. Anderson promptly refused to withdraw, though, after a prolonged conference with his officers early on the 12th, he wrote: "I will . . . evacuate Fort Sumter by noon on the 15th instant, and I will not in the meantime open my fires upon your forces, unless compelled to do so by some hostile act against this fort or the flag of my Government, . . . should I not receive prior to that time controlling instructions from my Government or additional supplies." This an- swer proved unsatisfactory, and the bombard- ment of the fort began at 4.30 a.m., though Anderson did not return the fire until 7 o'clock. Meanwhile, on the same morning, the relieving fleet sent by President Lincoln arrived at the mouth of the harbor, but was able to accomplish nothing. The artillery duel continued through- out the 12th, and during the morning and part of the afternoon of the 13th, when terms of evac- uation were agreed upon between Anderson and Beauregard, the garrison, which consisted of only 128 men, leaving the fort on the following day with the honors of war. There was no one wounded or killed on either side during the bom- bardment. The contest was of immense impor- tance, since it marked the beginning of the Civil War and put a stop to all peace plans and nego- tiations.
After taking possession the Confederates great- ly strengthened the fort, both for offensive and defensive operations. On April 7, 1863, a Federal fleet of nine ironclads — the Weehawken^ PasaaiCt Montauk, Patapsco, New Ironsides, Catakill, Nan- tucket, Nahant, and Keokuk — under Admiral Dupont, attacked the fort with great energy and gallantry; but after an engagement of about two hours and a half was repulsed, the Keokuk sinking on the following day, and several vessels being considerably damaged. General Gillmore, the commander of the land forces engaged against Charleston, established breaching batteries on Morris Island, and after a seven days' bombard- ment, August 17-23, 1863, virtually reduced the fort to ruins. Thenceforth it was garrisoned only by a small force of infantry, which held it in spite of frequent bombardments, a gallant boat attack made by a force of 400 men under T. H. Stevens, on the night of September 8, 1863, and of a disastrous magazine explosion on December 11, 1863, until February 17, 1865, when it was finally evacuated. During 1863-65 Fort Sumter was commanded successively by Colonel Rhett, Major Stephen Elliott, Capt. J. C. Mitchell, and Capt. T. A. Huguenin. On April 14, 1865, by or- der of Secretary Stanton, General (formerly Major) Andersoij raised over the fort the same flag which he had been forced to lower exactly four years before. Consult: Official Records, Johnson and Buel (editors). Battles and Lead- ers of the Civil War, vols. i. and iv. (New York, 1887) ; Anderson, Political Conspiracies Preced- ing the Rebellion; or, The True Stories of Sumter and Pickens (New York, 1882) ; Crawford, Gene- sis of the Civil War: the Story of Sumter, 1860- 61 (New York, 1887) ; Doubleday, Reminiscences of Forts Sumter and Moultrie in 1S60-61 (New York, 1876) ; and Gillmore, Report on Engineer and Artillery Operations Against Charleston in 1863 (Washington, 1865).
FORTTER'RY. A United States miTitary reservation of 150 acres, on Plum Island, between Long Island Sound and Gardiner's Bay, N. Y. The post-office and tfelegraph station is New Lon- don, Conn. The works are garrisoned by two companies of coast artillery.
FORT THOMAS, tdm'os. A United States military post, established in 1887, consisting of a reservation of 280 acres (including a rifle range of 169 acres). It is situated in Kentucky, on a bluff overlooking the Ohio River, 3 miles from Newport, Ky., and 4 miles from Cincinnati. There are post-office and telegraph station at the post. Quarters are provided for 31 officers and 9 companies of infantry.
FORT TOT'TEN. This post, for many years the headquarters of the United States Battalion of Engineers, was established in 1862, and was originally called Willets Point. The reservation comprises 136 acres on the East River at the western end of I^ng Island Sound, two and one- half miles from Whitestono. The post-office and telegraph station is Willets Point, N. Y. It is one of the defenses of the northern entrance to New York Harbor. There are quarters for five companies of artillorv.
FORT TRUM'BULL. A United States mili- tary post, established in 1830, and occupying a reservation <»f 13 acres on the south side of New London Harbor, Conn. In 1777 a small redoubt by this name, and another in 1812, occupied this site. The post-office and telegraph station is New London, Conn. The garrison in 1902 con- sisted of two companies of artillery.
