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Walter Edgar's Journal: The story of Fort Sumter

Bombardment of Fort Sumter
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From the collections of Fort Sumter Fort Moultrie National Historical Park
Bombardment of Fort Sumter

This week we'll be talking with Richard Hatcher, author of the book, Thunder in the Harbor: Fort Sumter and the Civil War.

Construction of Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor began after British forces captured and occupied Washington during the War of 1812 via a naval attack. The fort was still incomplete in 1861 when the Battle of Fort Sumter occurred, sparking the American Civil War.

In writing Thunder in the Harbor, Rick Hatcher conducted the first modern study to document the fort from its origins up to its transfer to the National Park Service in 1948.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.