In David Upton's posting of February 8th at 2:20 p., he states, "One of the 10-inch columbiads was placed as a high angle to serve as a morter and was aimed at Charleston." I believe that I have seen period drawings of the interior of the Fort which depicted 3 of these guns buried in the ground. Now why would they "aim at Charleston" if they were not expecting to shell Charleston?

The Union Navy certainly shelled Charleston in 1864. They used the Church steeples as aim points. Were those ships closer to Charleston than Fort Sumter? They may have had bigger guns on those boats. But according to some information I have seen a 10 inch columbiah coastal defence gun fired at a 30 degree angle had a range of 4,836 yards. That is close to 2.75 miles. I will agree that this range is not Normally enough to reach Charleston proper, But "Official ranges" on military weapons is somewhat subjective.

But if not Charleston, what were they aiming at? Castle Pinckney? These guns would have been more effective pointed at a closer and more dangerous target like Johnston Island or Moultrie. I cain't see them mounting a gun to fire it and the shell only land in the water. That makes no sence, unless they were trying to kill the dolphins playing in the Harbor.