Confederate control of Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie, and supporting fortifications kept Charleston Harbor open despite the blockade by Union ships.
The main ship channel passed directly in front of you, between Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie, within range of their powerful guns. Confederates built floating booms of timber and rope between the two forts, placed mines in the channel, and drove pilings into the channel bottom. Friendly ships could pass through a narrow opening in the barrier.
Throughout the war blockade runners continued to slip by Union warships, bringing supplies the South desperately needed. Wary of torpedoes, as the early mines were called, ironclads patrolled near the forts but would not venture into the channel.
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