page_title: Fort Moultrie
section_title: Postbellum period and 20th century
hierarchical_section_title: Fort Moultrie / History / Postbellum period and 20th century
caption_attribution_description: English: This photo shows an artilleryman standing on the barrel of a 12-inch casemated gun similar to that emplaced at Battery Gardner. Photo is courtesy of the Coast Defense Study Group, www.CSDG.org., and is part of the CDSG archives. English: This is a 12-inch gun M1895 on an M1917 long-range barbette carriage, a type of weapon used by the US Army beginning shortly after World War I. The casemates were added during World War II in most cases. English: Additional information provided by Pgrig: The photo is published on p. 154 of Berhow, Mark A. (Ed), "American Seacoast Defenses: A Reference Guide," CDSD Press, McLean, VA, 2004. Its caption says "Battery Langdon, Fort Pickens, HD Pensacola, 1946 (Courtesy Gulf Shores Natl. Seashore, Natl. Park Serv."). I received a digital file of it from Mr. Berhow at CDSG with the instruction to credit the CDSG Archives. The image was almost certainly taken by the U.S. Army, Coast Artillery Corps. It then was likely acquired by the archives of the National Park Service, judging from Berhow's caption.
context_page_description: Fort Moultrie is a series of fortifications on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, built to protect the city of Charleston, South Carolina. The first fort, formerly named Fort Sullivan, built of palmetto logs, inspired the flag and nickname of South Carolina, as "The Palmetto State". The fort was renamed for the U.S. patriot commander in the Battle of Sullivan's Island, General William Moultrie. During British occupation, in 1780–1782, the fort was known as Fort Arbuthnot.
  Fort Moultrie is the only area of the National Park System where the entire 171-year history of American seacoast defense can be traced.
context_section_description: The U.S. Army modernized Fort Moultrie in the 1870s with new weapons and deep concrete bunkers. Weapons of this period included 15-inch and 10-inch Rodman guns (380 and 250 mm), which were smoothbores, and 8-inch converted rifles, lined down from 10-inch Rodmans.
  Beginning in 1897, Fort Moultrie's armament was modernized under the large-scale Endicott Program of coast defenses. Eight new reinforced-concrete batteries were completed by 1906, and part of the Second System fort was demolished to make room for batteries Bingham, McCorkle, and Lord. The fort also had a mine casemate to control a naval minefield. In 1901 Coast Artillery units were designated from heavy artillery units, and in 1907 the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps was formed to garrison the new coast defenses.
  The Endicott Program batteries at Fort Moultrie were:
  Battery Capron, with sixteen 12-inch mortars, was the largest component of the new defenses. In 1906 it was organizationally split into two batteries, Capron and Butler, each with eight mortars. Batteries Jasper and Thompson provided longer-range weapons with a total of six 10-inch disappearing guns. In April 1898 the Spanish–American War broke out, with Fort Moultrie's smaller, rapid-fire batteries still years from completion. Batteries Logan and Bingham were added to the fort, mostly equipped with weapons purchased from the United Kingdom. In 1901 Battery McCorkle was added to defend the minefield against minesweepers with three 3-inch guns on retractable masking parapet carriages. In 1905 Battery Lord was added with two 3-inch guns, and in 1906 Battery Gadsden provided four 6-inch rapid-fire disappearing guns.
  These batteries were supplemented in 1899 by a pair of 12-inch guns at Fort Sumter. Forts Moultrie and Sumter constituted the Coast Defenses of Charleston, as the Charleston Coast Artillery District was designated in 1913.
  Battery Capron was named for Captain Allyn K. Capron of the 1st US Volunteer Cavalry, the famous "Rough Riders", who was the first US Army officer killed in the Spanish–American War. Battery Butler was named for Colonel Pierce M. Butler of the Palmetto Regiment, killed in the Battle of Churubusco in the 1847 Mexican–American War. Battery Jasper was named for Sergeant William Jasper of the 2nd South Carolina Regiment, a hero of the 1776 attack on the fort. Battery Thompson was named for Colonel William Thompson of the 3rd South Carolina Regiment, commended for defending Charleston in June 1776. Battery Gadsden was named for Brigadier General Christopher Gadsden, a South Carolina officer of the Revolutionary War. Battery Logan was named for Captain William Logan, killed fighting the Nez Perce in 1877. Battery Bingham was named for 2nd Lieutenant Horatio Bingham, killed fighting the Sioux in 1866. Battery McCorkle was named for 1st Lieutenant Henry McCorkle of the 25th US Infantry Regiment, killed in the Battle of El Caney in the Spanish–American War. Battery Lord was named for Assistant Surgeon George Edwin Lord, killed at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, also called "Custer's Last Stand", in 1876.
  In 1904 Battery Logan's 6-inch Armstrong gun was removed and most likely transferred to Fort Adams.
  After the US entered World War I, Battery Gadsden's four 6-inch guns were removed for service on field carriages on the Western Front in 1917 and were never returned to the fort. Records show the guns arrived in France, but a history of the Coast Artillery in World War I states that none of the regiments in France equipped with 6-inch guns completed training in time to see action before the Armistice.
  Two of Battery Jasper's four 10-inch guns were similarly removed in 1918 for potential use as railway guns; they were never returned to the fort but were replaced with guns from Fort Washington in 1919.
  Following World War I there were several changes at Fort Moultrie as part of a forcewide partial disarmament of the coast defense system. Battery Bingham's two 4.7-inch Armstrong guns and Battery McCorkle's three 3-inch M1898 guns were removed in 1919–20 as part of a general
caption: 12-inch casemated gun, similar to those of BCN 520
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