THE Government at Washington believed that it was now time to secure the reparation for the firing on Fort Sumter which had precipitated the War. Sumter, during the entire conflict had been the center of a radius of forts which now had over three hundred guns mostly of the heaviest caliber. It held a strong position on the Atlantic Coast and protected the land movements about South Carolina. Fort Sumter barred the main channel. On Sullivan's Island were Fort Moultrie, Fort Beauregard, Battery Bee and sand bag batteries at the extremity. On James Island stood Fort Johnson, Fort Ripley and smaller forts. Castle Pinckney lay in front of the city, and on Morris Island there were Battery Gregg, Fort Wagner, and a battery on Lighthouse Inlet. All the channels were blocked with huge iron chains, and an immense hawser buoyed with empty casks, extended from Fort Sumter to Fort Ripley, the entire harbor being blocked with torpedoes. Brady's cameras lay in the Union lines and occasionally were ventured toward the Confederate fortifications. Many negatives of exteriors were obtained at a distance. After the forts fell into the Government control the cameras were taken behind the breast-works. These remarkable negatives are now exhibited and reveal the secrets of the Confederates. The picture of the bomb-proof at Fort Wagner, under heavy fire in 1863, reveals the ingenuity of the engineers in both armies in utilizing every available substance in protecting the soldiers. The Confederates constructed many strong fortifications and they fell only under the severest bombardment from the heaviest guns of the Federal troops. [Illustration: FORT JOHNSON ON JAMES' ISLAND IN 1863] [Illustration: FORT MARSHALL ON SULLIVAN'S ISLAND IN 1863] [Illustration: INTERIOR OF FORT MOULTRIE ON SULLIVAN'S ISLAND] [Illustration: 300-POUNDER PARROTT GUN IN BATTERY STRONG AFTER BURSTING OF MUZZLE] [Illustration: BATTERY BROWN--TWO 8-INCH PARROTT RIFLES, ONE OF WHICH BURST DURING BOMBARDMENT] [Illustration: FIVE 10-INCH SIEGE MORTARS IN BATTERY REYNOLDS FIRING AGAINST FORT SUMTER] [Illustration: NAVAL BATTERY OF TWO 80-P0UNDER WHITWORTH'S--BREECHING BATTERY AGAINST FORT SUMTER] [Illustration: SECTION OF BIRCHMEYER'S BATTERY IN SECOND PARALLEL] [Illustration: FORT SUMTER IN RUINS AFTER BOMBARDMENT IN 1863] [Illustration: MAJOR-GENERAL QUINCY A. GILLMORE AND STAFF IN 1863]