Expedition Team: Dave Miller
Date: November 23, 2025
The historical fort was the site of the opening shots of the Civil War fired on April 12, 1861. Originally, the fort was built in 1829, one of a series of coastal fortifications built by the US after the War of 1812. A mortar shell fired from Fort Johnson in Charleston burst over Fort Sumter igniting the conflict. After a 34-hour fight with no fatalities, the Union troops agreed to terms of evacuation. During Union bombardment of the fort in 1964 & 1865, 52 Confederate soldiers were killed in the fort.
Paranormal claims include phantom gun smoke rising from the air, the smell of fresh gunpowder, unexplained sounds (marching and cannon fire), apparitions of soldiers and general feelings of unease. Ghostly faces of two soldiers killed at the fort, Daniel Hough and John Bird, have appeared on a battle flag that flies at the fort.
During my tour of the fort, I interviewed both veteran park rangers sand they told me that neither had any personal paranormal experiences The rangers always worked at the fort in daytime and only worked one night at a special training and nothing unusual transpired. One ranger’s theory was there was not a lot of trauma/deaths at the fort so perhaps that is why they experience no daytime ghostly encounters.
I toured the fort taking photos and performed several EVPs. I specifically spent some time taking photos and did a long VP session in the casement/former barracks area where the powder magazine in the corner of the barracks exploded on December 11, 1863, killing 11 and wounding 41 Confederates. None of the EVP sessions or photos yielded any paranormal evidence. Still, as previously mentioned, there have been many alleged ghostly reports from the public. Are these just urban legends and folklore?
