September 6, 1864: Foster stops bombardment of Fort Sumter “for want of ammunition”

On September 6, 1864, Major-General John Foster provided a status report to the Chief of Staff, Major-General Henry Halleck, in Washington.  The update, while routine, brought several ongoing operational lines together – prisoners, health and sanitary concerns, and the bombardment of Fort Sumter.  And above all, Foster emphasized he was not engaging in offensive operations:

The “Great Escape Stories”: Federal prisoners picked up on the South Carolina coast

From a “150 years ago” perspective, there are lots of threads to follow concerning prisoners – the Charleston-Savannah sector of the war in particular.  Reviewing my notes last month, I figured that was a good topic to highlight in contrast to the Third Major Bombardment (as it becomes monotonous to see titles like “200 more