THE BATTERY, _White Point Gardens_: It is no use to call the Battery by its proper name; even in Charleston, White Point Gardens is not recognized as the Battery. Nonetheless the name of this famous and beautiful park and promenade is White Point Gardens. Its sea walls are laved on the south by the Ashley River and on the east by the Cooper River; their confluence is at and off the southeast corner of the Battery. This pleasure ground has been favorably compared with the world’s most famous plazas and promenades. It is a source of never-ending delight to visitors. East, or High Battery begins at the old Granville Bastion, now Omar Temple of the Mystic Shrine. It is a great promenade, with a commanding view of the harbor seaward, with Fort Sumter in the middle-ground. South Battery, proper, is between the East Battery and the extension of King Street to the water. Somewhat more than eight acres constitute South Battery, which, to the westward, becomes the Murray Boulevard, lined, as East and South Battery are, with fine residences. In its origin East Battery had a wall of palmetto logs with a plank walk on top. It was swept away in the great gale of 1804. William Crafts, Jr., originated the first stone wall, with rock ballast from incoming ships as “riprap” to strengthen the wall. The work was completed before 1820. In the War of 1812 guns were emplaced along East Battery, thus, it is held, accounting for its name, The Battery. Fort Broughton and Fort Mechanic have long since disappeared. Fort Street became South Bay Street and later South Battery for its whole length from East Battery through the Boulevard area to the junction with Tradd Street a mile away. It was in 1830 that the first steps toward creating a beautiful pleasure ground were taken. By 1852 White Point Gardens was an accomplished fact. Fine oak and palmetto trees enhance the attractiveness of the Battery. Years ago a bathhouse was removed. The monument to the defenders of Fort Moultrie, commonly called the Sergeant Jasper monument because of the figure of a soldier rescuing the flag, was unveiled June 28 (Carolina Day), 1876, the hundredth anniversary of the repulse of Sir Peter Parker’s British fleet. The monument to William Gilmore Simms, editor, author and historian, was erected in June, 1879. At the foot of Meeting Street is a memorial fountain to the men of the first submarine, Confederates. Facing Fort Sumter is a monument to the defenders of Fort Sumter. On the Battery are relics of all the wars Charleston has seen, the Spanish War being represented by the capstan of the battleship _Maine_, destroyed in Havana harbor in 1898. To visit Charleston and not to see the Battery is unthinkable. From time to time concerts are given in the band stand. The late Andrew B. Murray contributed generously to the improvement of the Battery and of the driveway named in his honor. [Illustration: _Trumbull’s Portrait of General George Washington, in the City Hall_]