With the beginning of the war Cook found himself extremely busy. In the month after the surrender of Sumter, he took over forty photographs of military men in his studio on King Street. Later he was kept busy taking pictures of military installations in the Charleston area and preparing photographic copies of maps and drawings for General Beauregard, the Southern commandant. By 1863 Cook had developed a prosperous business supplying photographic material to other photographers in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. Like many other Southern photographers, Cook often surreptitiously secured the necessary supplies from New York and Philadelphia, sometimes marked as “orders to trade” with iodides and bromides going under the guise of quinine and with orders signed by President Lincoln. Cook supplemented this source of supplies by purchasing interests in coastal blockade runners which, when successful, delivered quantities of much desired staples.

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But the blockade and inflation had their effect. During the early stages of the war Cook produced a full plate, or 4/4 photograph, for ten dollars. By 1864 the shortage of supplies forced him to charge twelve dollars and fifty cents for a one-quarter plate photograph. By demanding payment for his work in gold, and by investing in real estate, Cook was able to survive the financial storm caused by the war.

The photograph of Major Anderson and his staff would have assured George Cook mention in any photographic history of the Civil War even had he not continued to record events outside his King Street studio. Fortunately, the adventuresome Cook continued to record events at Fort Sumter until the end of Confederate occupation in February 1865. Cook was a sensitive photographer during this period, as is evidenced by a photograph of Confederate Zouaves guarding Federal prisoners at Castle Pinckney. There is a look of defeat on the faces of these Union prisoners of war–men captured during the First Battle of Bull Run and now far away from their homes in New York.

During the Federal bombardment of Fort Sumter in August and September 1863, Cook visited the fort often and produced two truly outstanding photographs, in addition to others showing the devastation caused by the Federal batteries. On September 8 Cook had positioned himself on the highest point on Sumter to photograph the monitors Weehawken, Montauk, and Passaic as they fired on the Confederate batteries at Fort Moultrie. The photographer’s presence on such a prominent position attracted the attention of the Union monitors, and Cook soon found himself under fire. One exploding shell knocked his plate-holders off the parapet. But Cook had secured his photograph and it was an amazing one, the first photograph of ironclads in action.

Cook also produced another unusual photograph on this trip to Sumter. Photographs of bursting shells were regarded as rarities and were seldom obtained by Civil War photographers. Cook managed to capture such an instance while photographing the interior of Fort Sumter in a picture that also reveals the destruction caused by the Federal bombardment. The view is from a point in the parade looking northward. On the left one sees the destruction of the upper casement from the fire coming over the eastern wall of the fort. The western barracks are nearly leveled to the first story. The parapet and terreplein are badly damaged. Moving to the right, there is more evidence of the destructive power of the Parrott rifles used from Morris Island. Centrally in the parade is the exploding shell, which has just fallen. To the right of the shell are some uninjured casements. The Stars and Bars is seen still flying on the ramparts. On the extreme right of the photograph are the eastern barracks with their third story and interior destroyed. Cook was probably in the process of exposing his plates when the shell burst, accounting for the rather poor quality of the resulting picture.

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