Fort Sumter, a fort built on an island in the Harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, is the The first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter 150 years ago this week.
At approximately 4:30 am on April 12, 1861, Confederate forces opened fire on Fort Sumter. Over 2 hours later, Union forces returned fire- 1st shot fired by Captain Abner Doubleday. The Union and Confederate forces exchanged 100s of cannon blasts over the next 34 hours until the Union forces at Fort Sumter surrendered. Although no Union Soldiers were actually killed as a direct result of the battle, 1 Union Soldier died on the 47th shot of what was supposed to be a 100 shot salute(shorten to only 50 shots after the disaster). The battle ended on April 14, 1861- 150 years ago today.
The pictures in this post were taken in June of 2010 during a tour that I took of Fort Sumter. If you ever get a chance to visit Charleston, South Carolina,be sure to set aside several hours to take the tour of this National Monument. The tour guides give a great history of the battles that occurred there and other interesting facts about the fort.
A view of the interior court yard of Fort Sumter
One of the original cannons used in the Battle at Fort Sumter
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