. >> in charleston, union troops under major anderson are stationed at fort moultrie. >> fort moultrie was in pretty bad shape. that fort had been built in 1809. it was only one level high. >> in the middle of the night, the soldiers secretly rowed out to fort sumter which was still under construction. >> anderson's men moved over here to fort sumter because this was the newest fort in charleston harbor. it was three stories tall. it is going to be a state of the art structure by the time it's complete. and it is most defensible because it has a mile of water on all sides. so south carolina militia units, should they want to attack the u.s. army, are going to have to cross a mile of water first. right now we are standing outside of the sally port or the entrance to fort sumter, and what we are standing on is the granite wharf. and this is where anderson's men would have landed on the night of december 26, 1860. >> for more than three months, anderson and his men peaceably held the fort. then on april 12th, the confederate general beauregard gave the command to open fire. >> this is one