Existing comment:
Harbor Defense 1809-1860
Fort Moultrie III and the War of 1812
The War of 1812 saw Fort Moultrie III armed with 12-, 18-, and 24-pounder smoothbore cannon on garrison carriages designed to fire through embrasures in the parapet wall. British warships blockaded Charleston, but never came within range of Moultrie's guns.
Troubles with Britain caused Congress in 1807 to authorize a "second system" of forts on the Atlantic coast to guard harbors, river outlets, and seaports. Fort Moultrie III, completed in 1909, protected Charleston harbor.
Forts such as Moultrie were designed to defend against wooden sailing vessels armed with smoothbore cannon.
The fort had a hot shot furnace for heating solid shot. A red hot cannonball lodged in a ship's timbers could start a disastrous fire.
After the War of 1812, America updated its coastal forts. In the 1830s and 40s we modified Fort Moultrie's parapet, bricked up the embrasures, and replaced its old cannon with 18-, 24-, and 32-pounder cast iron guns. At that time the entire fort looked about as this northwest bastion does now. |