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9 June 2007 - A Tale of Three Forts

Meetings › 9 June 2007 - A Tale of Three Forts

There are many important aspects of the American Civil War (economic, political and naval) that receive disproportionately less attention than the desperate battles and arduous campaigns of the opposing armies.

This presentation outlines the sieges and the contrasting fates of three forts - Fort Sumter at Charleston South Carolina, Fort Pulaski near Savannah, Georgia and Fort Fisher near Wilmington North Carolina -, which were built on the Atlantic coast before and during the War. The destinies of the forts was determined by the developments in artillery and naval shipbuilding which occurred in the years before and during the War, and which affected the long-standing naval tradition that warships could not successfully attack shore batteries. During the construction of Fort Sumter, for example, the threat to the integrity of its walls increased from the 321b cannon that formed the main armament of the Royal Navy's wooden ships of the line to the 15" Columbiads that f ired 3501b shells from Union ironclads.

The three forts defending Confederate ports were attacked for various reasons and with varying outcomes depending on their respective positions and construction, and on the bravery and ingenuity of the attackers and defenders. The outcomes of the sieges demonstrate the futility of having forts that are not adequately armed and protected (as Miles Thomson pointed out on 14th April). It is ironic that after the War the lessons of these sieges were ignored by all the leading nations that fortified their frontiers and coasts in the decades leading up to World War I.

David has a lifelong interest in the American Civil War, reinforced by year of port-graduate study at the University of Virginia and by a later three-year posting in Washington DC during which he visited many of the Civil War battlefields and historic sites. He is particularly interested in the many innovations in military technology which were exploited during the War, and in their effects on its strategy and tactics. David has given presentations to the Round Table and to the RUSI Military History Circle, and has contributed several papers on aspects of the Civil war to Crossfire and to the RUSI Journal.

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