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Flags of the Fort
The first official flag of the Confederacy, known as the "Stars and Bars" or "First National," was raised in April 1861 when Southern forces occupied Fort Sumter at the start of the Civil War. It had three bars and then a circle in the upper left with 7 stars.
The United States flag with thirty-three stars was the flag of the Union garrison which occupied the fort from December 1860 until Confederate bombardment forced their surrender in mid-April 1861.
The second official Confederate flag, called the "Second National," replaced the first banner in 1863. It flew over the fort until Confederate troops withdrew from all Charleston harbor defenses in February 1865. It was a white flag with the familiar Confederate "X" in the upper left.
The United States flag with thirty-five stars was the flag that was raised in February 1865 when Union forces reoccupied the fort at the end of the Civil War. Kansas and West Virginia had joined the Union during the war.
The state flag of South Carolina was a blue flag with a crescent moon in the upper right and a palmetto tree in the center. Early South Carolina regiments wore blue uniforms with a silver crescent on their caps. In 1776, a flag with a silver crescent on a blue field flew over the palmetto log fort on Sullivan's Island, now the site of Fort Moultrie. In a key Revolutionary War battle, the small garrison of the palmetto log fort repulsed and attack by British warships; the white palmetto tree on the blue field commemorates this battle. The flag was official adopted in 1861 and is still used today. |