Battery Jasper at Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park
Situated a short walk from Fort Moultrie is Battery Jasper, a concrete and steel behemoth constructed in the late 1890s as a result of the Endicott System of coastal defenses. The battery was originally outfitted with four 10-inch disappearing guns. To fire, the gun was raised above the battery wall, and once fired, the recoil caused the gun to drop back down below the wall so it could be reloaded without exposing the gun crew to enemy fire.
Today the battery is part of the Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park and is open for self-guided touring. Information panels are posted along the walkway to the battery, and once inside there are exhibits and information panels explaining how the system of loading and firing the disappearing guns took place. Ammunition was stored on a lower level and was moved by a hoist system to the second level where the guns were loaded.
Artillery shells were loaded on this table and hoisted to the upper level
While no guns remain at the battery, you can still see the recessed areas where the disappearing guns sank into after being fired. Like all other Charleston coastal defenses after the Civil War, no guns at Battery Jasper were ever fired other than during training.
Recessed area where “disappearing guns” would lower into after being fired
The portion of the battery that is open to the public amounts to the first half. You can walk all the way to the end and even around to the front (facing the water), but the doors are all locked and there is nothing much to see. Not a whole lot of effort was put into the presentation of the battery, so a tour is not too far removed from walking around an abandoned structure. Only the few information panels let you know that the National Park Service has been there. If you have ever been to the batteries in the San Francisco area—the ones on the cliffs on the opposite side of the Golden Gate Bridge from the city—Battery Jasper is very reminiscent of those batteries, minus the urine smell from the homeless and tourists who couldn’t wait for a proper bathroom.
Allow two hours to visit both Fort Moultrie and Battery Jasper.
Battery Jasper
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Last updated on March 23, 2020
