Fort Sumter National Monument

Pictured is a row of 100-pound Parrot Rifles within the First Tier Casemates of Fort Sumter National Monument's Right Face. A total of 11 of these cannon were found during excavations by National Park Service archaeologists in 1959, and were unveiled during the Centennial Celebration of the first battle of the fort on April 12, 1961.

Fort Sumter endured three major and eight minor bombardments during four years of war, and was subjected to some 43,000 shells totaling 7 million pounds of metal before finally being abandoned by the Confederates on February 17, 1865. By this time, the fort had been pounded into a mound of rubble.

Modernized by the U.S. military in both 1899 and 1943, the fort was decommissioned in 1947. After being transferred to the National Park Service, it became Fort Sumter National Monument on July 12, 1948.

Camera: HP PhotoSmart 618.