Sumter
Sumter names 5 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Sumter FORT, (named after Gen
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
FORT, (named after Gen. Thomas Sumter, 1734-1832), an American fort associated with both the beginning and the end of the Civil War; built of brick, in the form of a truncated pentagon 38 feet high, on a shoal, partly artificial, in Charleston Harbor, 3½ miles from the city. On the withdrawal of South Carolina from the Union in December, 1860, Major Anderson, in command of the defenses of the harbor, abandoned the other forts, and occupied Fort Sumter, mounting 62 guns, with a garrison of some 80 men. The attack on the fort was opened by General Beauregard April 12, 1861, and it surrendered on the 14th; this event marked the beginning of the war. The Confederates strengthened it, and added 10 guns and 4 mortars. In April, 1863, an attack by a fleet of monitors failed. In July batteries were erected on Morris Island, about 4,000 yards off, from which in a week 5,000 projectiles, weighing from 100 to 300 pounds, were hurled against १०
Sumter FORT several victories over the British troops
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
FORT several victories over the British troops, but in September, 1780, was defeated by General Tarleton. Ten days later he defeated the British general in turn, being himself dangerously wounded. In the spring of 1781 he again began active service and took a distinguished part in the GENERAL THOMAS SUMTER battle of Eutaw Springs. The thanks of Congress were tendered him in 1791, and he was afterward sent to that body as a representative of South Carolina. In 1809 he was appointed United States minister to Brazil and two years later was elected United States Senator from his native State. At the close of his term he retired to private life and died near Camden, S. C., June 1, 1832.
Sumter FORT the fort
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
FORT the fort; at the end of that time it was silenced and in part demolished. Yet the garrison held on amid the ruins and in September beat off a naval attack; and in spite of a 40 days' bombardment in October-December, 1863, and for still longer in July and August, 1864, it was not till after the evacuation of Charleston itself , owing to the operations of General Sherman, that the garrison retired, and the United States flag was again raised April 14, 1865; an event soon followed by the evacuation of Richmond and the Confederate surrender.
Sumter THOMAS, an American military officer
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
THOMAS, an American military officer; born in Virginia in 1734. He was distinguished for his skill and success as a partisan leader and was known among his followers as the "Carolina gamecock." In the early part of the Revolutionary War he was lieutenantcolonel of a regiment of South Carolina riflemen, but after the capture of Charleston in 1780, he was made a brigadier-general of light cavalry. He gained
Sumter a city of South Carolina
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city of South Carolina, the county seat of Sumter co. It is on the Atlantic Coast Line, the Carolina, Atlantic and Western, and the Southern railroads. Its industries include a cotton compress, cotton and cottonseed-oil mills, magneto works, wagon factories, etc. The public buildings include St. Joseph's Academy for Girls and a Y. M. C. A. building. Pop. (1910) 8,109; (1920) 9,508.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Collier's wrote this in 1921, Fort Sumter was still an army property, its ruined walls partly rebuilt around Battery Huger, the concrete gun emplacement added at the turn of the century. In 1948 it was transferred to the National Park Service as Fort Sumter National Monument, and since 2019 it has been part of Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park, reached only by ferry from Charleston and visited by hundreds of thousands each year. The city of Sumter, with 9,508 people in the 1920 census Collier's quotes, now has roughly 43,000, and its economy leans less on cotton compresses and wagon factories than on Shaw Air Force Base, opened in 1941 just west of town. The account of General Thomas Sumter, the "Carolina gamecock" who died near Camden in 1832, needs no correction.
Written for this edition, 2026.