April | 2014 | The Enchanted Manor

It has been over 150 years since the first shot was fired on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861 marking the start the Civil War between the North and South. Our family travel loves taking summer vacations or weekend day-trips to see historic sites and during our travels we have been very fortunate to have visited a few Civil War sites. Several years ago, during a summer road trip to Pennsylvania, we visited the Gettysburg National Battlefield which was the location of an intense three day battle between the Union and Confederate troops. On another road trip through Virginia, we visited the site of an earlier battle of the Civil War, the Manassas National Battlefield located near Washington, D.C. On that same trip we visited Appomattox, the location where General Grant and General Lee meet to negotiate the terms of surrender between the Union and the Confederacy. Since visiting the location where the Civil War officially came to an end, we decided that we eventually needed to see the site where the Civil War began. So, last summer on a road trip to Florida, we stopped in the beautiful city of Charleston, South Carolina which is the location of Fort Sumter.

Fort Sumter, which was named after the Revolutionary War General Thomas Sumter, was one of several defensive sites located along the eastern coast of the United States. Construction began in 1829 and continued for over thirty years until it was finally completed in 1861. Fort Sumter was built on a sand bar located at the entrance to the harbor in the Charleston, South Carolina. Several thousand tons of granite were used to create a five-sided 170 feet by 190 feet long structure made with walls that were five feet thick, it was an impressive fortress and an effective first line of defense against attacking forces in the region.

In the mid-1880s tensions between the northern and southern regions of America began to escalate over several important political and social issues and this lead to the state of South Carolina becoming the first state to succeed from the United States in December 1860. In response to this action, Major Robert Anderson made the critical decision to close Fort Moultrie and move the U.S. Army troops to nearby Fort Sumter. He felt that Fort Sumter would provide a stronger defensive position against the South Carolina militia despite the fact that construction was still not fully completed and the fort was armed with fewer than half of the cannons that should have been in place.

After South Carolina, several additional southern states quickly succeeded from the United States and formed the Confederacy of the South. The U.S. Army of the North, now known as the Union, prepared to send additional troops to defend Fort Sumter. As tensions continued to increase over the next few months, the Confederate General Beauregard demanded that the Union troops occupying Fort Sumter surrender, but Major Anderson refused and his troops continued to defend their position. By the time the “Star of the West”, an unarmed merchant ship carrying Union soldiers for reinforcements at Fort Sumter, arrived off the coast of South Carolina on January 9, 1861 the Confederate troops fired the first shot of the Civil War to prevent the ship from entering the Charleston Harbor, they were successful.

After a few more months the situation was becoming desperate for the Union troops at Fort Sumter and they were running out of food and other supplies. In early April 1961 newly elected President Lincoln dispatched more ships to the Charleston area with reinforcements, military equipment and supplies. When the ships arrived off the coast of South Carolina, General Beauregard sent his aides to Fort Sumter to demand a surrender but Major Anderson refused once again to negotiate. On April 12, 1861 in the early morning hours the Confederate troops opened fire on Fort Sumter and the bombardment continued non-stop for the next 34 hours. The citizens of Charleston watched from the verandas of their homes overlooking the harbor throughout the day but when the night came the battle was finally over. The next morning, April 13, the Union forces surrendered to the Confederates and left Fort Sumter.

Throughout the Civil War, the Confederates occupied Fort Sumter and as Union ships repeatedly attempted to access the Charleston harbor the Confederates would fiercely defend their position and many Union ships were sunk near the entrance to the harbor. Under the cover of night, Confederates forces stationed at Fort Sumter would salvage the military canons of those ships and move them to the fort to increase their defensive arsenal. Finally in February 1865, as the Union forces were gaining an advantage in the war, the Union General William Sherman successfully invaded the region and was creating a path of destruction across the south as he made his famous march to the Atlantic and by the time he reached the coast of South Carolina, the Confederate troops had abandoned Fort Sumter.

After the Civil War had ended with the surrender at Appomottax, extensive work was needed to repair the severe damage caused by the numerous military battles and attacks on Fort Sumter. The battered walls of the fort were rebuilt and eleven of the original gun rooms were restored. For the next 30 years after the war, the facility was only used as an unmanned lighthouse. Then in 1898, Fort Sumter again became an important defensive site along the coast of the United States during the Spanish-American war and reconstruction was needed to fortify the fort and a large concrete blockhouse was built within the walls of the original structure, it was named the “Battery Huger” in honor of the Revolutionary War General Isaac Huger.

But Fort Sumter was never to be involved in another battle and over the following decades it remained abandoned until the National Park Services took over its management and maintenance.

Fort Sumter Travel Information

Today, the Fort Sumter National Monument includes the restored Fort Sumter located in Charleston Harbor and two additional sites, the Fort Sumter Visitor and Education Center located at Liberty Square in the city of Charleston and Fort Moultrie located on Sullivan’s Island.

For most visitors, access to Fort Sumter is restricted to special ferries that depart from Liberty Square to Fort Sumter; the ride is approximately 30 minutes and a convenient car parking facility is located at Liberty Square. Please be advised that there is limited parking available in downtown Charleston for over-sized vehicles, such an RV or bus. It is recommended that visitors traveling to see Fort Sumter in larger vehicles take the ferry from Patriots Point where there is ample parking for oversized vehicles with no height restrictions. For more information and directions to Fort Sumter, please see the NPS website at www.nps.gov/fosu (There is additional access to Fort Sumter by private boat or other water vehicles and for more information and restrictions check out the NPS website)

Advanced ticket reservations for the ferries to Fort Sumter are highly recommended prior to the date of your visit especially during the busy summer months when tickets can sell out quickly. For more information regarding prices, hours of operation and departure times, please check out www.FortSumterTours.com

The Fort Sumter Visitor Education Center located at Liberty square offers a museum featuring exhibits about the history of the Civil War and Fort Sumter for visitors to view while they are waiting for their ferry departure times. The ferries to Fort Sumter are very comfortable and there is ample passenger seating available both inside an air conditioned cabin and outside on deck. Be sure to take in the wonderful views of the city of Charleston during the 30-minute ferry ride from the dock at Liberty Square to Fort Sumter. (During our trip we were able to see dolphins in the harbor!)

Once visitors arrive at Fort Sumter, there are NP rangers available which provide visitors with a brief history of the battle of Fort Sumter and there are also several interpretive exhibits located throughout the grounds. There is also a small museum on site featuring information about Fort Sumter’s involvement in the Civil War and some interesting exhibits featuring the original flag used at Fort Sumter and other Civil War artifacts.

Important Travel Note: Please be advised that there are safety restrictions at Fort Sumter, such as climbing on the canons, and it is important if you are traveling with small children to watch them closely to avoid injuries.

This post today is in honor of the world famous primatologist Jane Goodall who was born on this day – April 3, 1934. When I was a child I remember watching the 1963 National Geographic documentary about Goodall and the wild chimpanzees of Gombe, Tanzania. I enjoyed the story of this young woman who bravely travels from her home in England to conduct an interesting research project involving the social behaviors and family interactions of the chimpanzees. Over the years I have read many books regarding her research in Gombe, such as “My Life with the Chimpanzees” by Jane Goodall, and I also read her interesting biography, “Jane Goodall – the Woman Who Redefined Man” by Dale Peterson.

When I was watching the documentary and reading the books all those years ago I never realize that I would have the opportunity to actually meet Jane Goodall. In March 2008 I saw a notice in our local newspaper about her upcoming appearance at Purdue University and we decided to attend the event. When she walked onto the stage to begin her presentation I thought to myself, this is the woman I have admired since I was a child and here I was sitting in the audience alongside my husband and daughter listening to her tell her wonderful stories about her life living among the chimpanzees. After her presentation we were so excited to be able to go backstage to meet her, she was so kind to my daughter and even took a picture with her. It was definitely a day our family will remember for a long time!

Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall was born in London, England. Her parents were Mortimer, a local businessman and Margaret Joseph, a novelist and she has one sister, Judith. Her lifelong interest in animals began when she was a child and received a chimpanzee toy as a present from her mother which lead her to reading “The Story of Doctor Dolittle” and the “Tarzan of the Apes”. Then, years later on a trip to Kenya in 1957 to visit a friend, Goodall was to meet a man who would change her life. Louis Leakey, an archaeologist and paleontologist, was studying the great apes and he believed that their behavior was an indication of how early man had developed. Goodall took a job as his secretary and the two developed a good working relationship. Then, in anticipation for a proposed wildlife project, Leakey sent Goodall back to England to get her personal affairs in order as preparation for a study that would involve extensive research in a remote area of Africa for a period of several months or possibly years.

In July 1960, Goodall returned to Africa, with her mother as chaperon, and they went to the Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania. Without any formal education, Goodall began her observations of a group of chimpanzees and their social behaviors and family interactions. (Later Goodall was able to study for a PH. D degree in Ethology from Cambridge University. She completed her thesis, “Behavior of Free-Ranging Chimpanzee” in 1965, writing about the first five years of her study of the animals at the Gombe Reserve) Unlike any previous scientific research Goodall took an unconventional approach during her field observations and she named the chimps instead of giving them numbers. In the past, numbers had been assigned to animals to keep a neutral perspective and avoid an emotional attachment toward the animals being observed. Gradually her presence in the field was tolerated and accepted by the chimps and she was soon able to identify the various chimps determined by their distinct personalities. Goodall also noted the special bonds between the chimps and she documented how they showed numerous signs of emotions such as joy and sorrow, feelings that were previously thought to exist only in humans.

Goodall’s groundbreaking research went on to prove other animal characteristics previously undocumented. The first remarkable behavior was that the chimpanzees were capable of using tools. This skill was previously thought to be a unique characteristic that only humans had and originally this is how we distinguished ourselves from the animal kingdom and how humans were defined by their intelligence. Through Goodall’s field research she was able to observe and document a chimp feeding at a termite mound and using a stalk of grass as a tool. The chimp repeatedly inserted the grass stalk into the hole of the mound effectively removing the termites. Goodall also observed other chimps taking twigs from the trees, stripping off the leaves and using them to extract the termites from the mound. This modification of an object was a definitive sign of a primitive form of making tools. In response to these remarkable findings, Leakey called for the science community to redefine the definition of human.

Goodall’s field research also proved that chimpanzees, which previously were thought to have a strictly vegetarian diet, occasionally supplemented their food supply with meat. At Gombe, Goodall observed that the chimps displayed an aggressive behavior toward the colobus monkeys which also lived in the area. The chimps would work in groups isolating a single monkey, blocking their escape, and then they would capture, kill and eat the monkey. This behavior was a major scientific discovery and determined that chimps can be carnivorous animals that showed aggressive behavior.

After spending several years of observing the chimpanzee’s relatively peaceful and ordered existence at Gombe, Goodall witnessed a very disturbing behavior of a group of dominant females that deliberately killed the young chimp of a weaker female of the group. These unprovoked acts of aggression and random violence continued periodically over the years but it is hard to determine if these attacks were a means of maintaining dominance toward the vulnerable female chimps of the group or if the killings were provoked by jealous emotions.

In 1977, after Goodall’s initial time contracted by Leakey was over, she established the Jane Goodall Institute which has gone on to support further chimpanzee research in Gombe. Goodall herself has become an important global leader in the effort to protect chimpanzees and their habitats. Then in 1991, the Roots and Shoots program started as a simple meeting between Goodall and local teenagers in Tanzania. The group discussed concerns and ways for children to become more involved and experience animals and nature while also protecting and preserving their wild environment. Since that first meeting the Roots and Shoots organization has grown into 10,000 groups in over 100 countries.

On a personal note, in 1964 Goodall married Baron Hugo van Lawick, a Dutch nobleman and wildlife photographer that worked with her in Gombe. The couple had one son, Hugo, born in 1967 but then they divorced in 1974. Within a year, Goodall married Derek Bryceson, who was a member of the Tanzania parliament and director of their national parks. In his service to the country, Bryceson was able to implement an embargo on tourism at Gombe and thereby protecting Goodall’s research of the chimpanzees. He died of cancer in 1980. Since that time, Goodall has gone on to become a successful public speaker traveling around the world giving presentations about her experiences in Gombe including her chimpanzee observations and research as well as the importance of saving wildlife and the environment.

The Enchanted Manor

a lifestyle blog by Barbara Jones

Monthly Archives: April 2014

Travel – Fort Sumter, SC

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