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Place Name
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Fort Sumter
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Place Status (Type)
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historic site
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Location
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South Carolina, United States, North America
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Latitude
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unknown
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Longitude
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unknown
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Fort Sumter
, fortification and historic site, on a shoal at the
entrance to the harbor of Charleston, S.C., built 1829-1860, and named
for Gen. Thomas Sumter. Scene of the opening engagement of the Civil
War. Upon passing the Ordinance of Secession (Dec. 1860), S.C.
demanded all Federal property within the state, particularly the forts
of Charleston harbor—Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie, and Castle
Pinckney. On Dec. 26, 1860, Major Robert Anderson removed his U.S. army
command of about 100 men from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, a
stronger defensive site. Gov. F. W. Pickens of S.C. had the other 2
forts, along with the Charleston arsenal, seized, and upon the refusal
of President James Buchanan to order Anderson's evacuation, had guns
trained on Fort Sumter. In Feb. 1861, the newly organized Confederate
govt. assumed the state's part in the controversy, sending Gen. P. G.
T. Beauregard to command Charleston. On April 8, 1861, Pickens received
President Lincoln's notice that a naval expedition would be sent to
provision the beleaguered garrison. After a 34-hour Confederate
bombardment, begun at 4:30 A.M. on April 12, Anderson accepted terms,
and on April 14 the garrison departed with the honors of war. Although
no one was killed, the action made manifest the belligerent spirit in
both the North and the South. In 1863, Union naval attacks on the fort
were thoroughly repulsed. After Sherman forced the evacuation of
Charleston, the U.S. flag was again raised over the fort by Anderson on
April 14, 1865. Fort Sumter became a natl. monument in 1948; Fort
Moultrie is part of the monument.
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