Great post as always David. Your ranges are a little farther than the ones I found. And I can't put my finger on the sourse just this second. Sorry. Castle Pinckney had to be the last thing of inportance to Sumter. It was all about shipping, commerce, and the blockade. Edward you need to think 'defense' on this fort. It was shaped like "home plate" Five sides with major gun galleries on 4 sides. Only a few at the front....facing Charleston where the wharf/dock was. Sumter was never built or designed to shoot that way. It was a coastal defense installment. Ironically built on stone shipped in from northern states to build her artificial island. Did you get that story when you were there? Kinda funny, because I guess it was Federal land even it was in the middle of Charleston Harbor. I think the point is that South Carolina wanted this property in the middle of her harbor regardless of who laid claim. Apparently she did a pretty good job of taking and keeping it. The artillery question should be directed (literally) to Fort Moultrie and offshore. As a broadside attack system in defense of the harbor, the fort was never intended to fire on the city it protected.

Keith