Fort Sumter Myths, Misconceptions and Miscellaneous
1. Confederate cannon bombarded Fort Sumter from The Battery on April 12-13, 1861.
There were no cannon on The Battery at the time of the bombardment. The cannon that fired on Fort Sumter were located in Mt. Pleasant, on Sullivan’s Island, Morris Island, and at Fort Johnson on James Island.
2. Captain Abner Doubleday, Fort Sumter second-in-command, invented baseball.
There is no documentary evidence that Doubleday had any association with the development of baseball.
3. The shape of home plate is modeled after Fort Sumter’s pentagon (5-sided) shape.
This is based on the myth that Abner Doubleday invented baseball and used the pentagon (5-sided) shape of Fort Sumter for the design of home plate.
4. Fort Sumter is where Francis Scott Key wrote “The Star Spangled Banner”.
Key was inspired to write “The Star Spangled Banner” when he watched the British Navy’s bombardment of Fort McHenry, at Baltimore, MD, on Sept. 13-14, 1814.
5. Pres. Abraham Lincoln was invited to attend the re-raising of the US flag over Fort Sumter on April 14, 1865, but declined, went to Ford’s Theater, and was assassinated that evening.
No documentary evidence has been located to indicate Lincoln planned to attend the ceremony.
6. There is a tunnel between Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie.
There is no tunnel between the two forts.
7. Edmund Ruffin fired the first shot of the Civil War.
The first shot was fired at approximately 4:30 am, April 12, 1861, from a 10-inch mortar located by Fort Johnson on James Island. Ruffin was at the Iron Battery on Cummings Point on Morris Island. After the mortar fired other mortars began shelling the fort. About 5:00 am, 30-minutes later, Ruffin fired an 8-inch Columbiad.
8. A “face” appears in the US Fort Sumter storm flag in the Fort Sumter Museum.
In a small area of the flag, where some material has not survived, the surviving cloth combined with the backing material on which the flag is mounted gives that section the appearance of the face of a bearded man.
9. The “face” in the flag is that of Pvt. Daniel Hough.
On April 14, 1861, US Pvt. Daniel Hough was killed during the firing of the cannon surrender salute at the fort. This makes Hough the first soldier killed in the war. Some say the “face” in the flag is Hough’s.
10. Why isn’t the Confederate flag flown at Fort Sumter?
This is a reference to the Confederate battle flag. This flag was carried into battle by artillery, cavalry, and infantry units, and not flown on a regular/daily basis. At Fort Sumter, along with other permanent government buildings and installations, the national colors were flown on a daily basis. At the fort two Confederate national flags are flown, the First National (“Stars and Bars”) and Second National (“Stainless Banner”).
11. Is Charleston Harbor where the battle between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (“Merrimack”) took place?
The battle between these two ships took place on March 9, 1862, in Hampton Roads, VA.
12. African-American slaves built Fort Sumter.
Surviving construction documents list very few African-Americans, slave or free, working at the fort. However, the majority of the bricks used in the fort’s construction were made by slaves in the Charleston area.
13. How many bricks were used in the construction of Fort Sumter?
From surviving documents a total of 2,423,250 bricks were purchased for the construction of the fort. At this time an exact figure cannot be determined.
14. How may tons of stone/granite were used to build Fort Sumter’s foundation?
From surviving records a total of 51,500 gross tons. Adding the stone and granite used for the esplanade, wharf/dock, and other features a total of 109,000 were used at Fort Sumter. A gross ton is 2,240 pounds