The lighthouse in the distance marks the southern tip of Morris Island. In July,1863, Union troops landed there and advanced two-thirds of the way up the island to a Confederate stronghold known as Battery Wagner. Unable to capture the battery by direct assault, they brought up heavy guns, and after two months drove the defenders out. Union artillerists then set up powerful siege batteries at Cummings Point (directly ahead of you) and from there shelled Fort Sumter at point-blank range, reducing its once proud walls to a mere pile of rubble. Ironically, the more they damaged the walls the stronger they became. Slaves piled up the debris into huge breastworks, twenty feet thick, and reinforced them with cotton bales, sandbags, and other material, rendering the fort impregnable to artillery.
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