Knowra Battle of Fort Sumter Battle of Fort Sumter The April 1861 bombardment and surrender of the Union-held Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, by Confederate forces. It began the American Civil War.
Fort Sumter : A sea fort on an island in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, held by Union troops in April 1861. Its Union garrison became the target of the Confederate bombardment.
Secession in the United States : The withdrawal of eleven Southern states from the United States between 1860 and 1861. South Carolina’s secession placed the federal fort inside a breakaway state.
American Civil War : The 1861–1865 war between the United States and the Confederacy over secession and slavery. The attack prompted the conflict’s first mobilization and opened the war.
Battle of Bull Run : The first major land battle of the American Civil War, fought in Virginia in July 1861. Unlike Sumter’s brief siege, it was a large field battle with heavy casualties.
Andersonville flag : A United States flag made from shirts by Union prisoners at Andersonville prison during the Civil War. It links the war that began at Sumter to later symbols of Union endurance.
Charleston Harbor : A coastal harbor in South Carolina, containing the approaches to the city of Charleston. Its geography shaped the fort’s isolation and the bombardment’s firing positions.
South Carolina secession : South Carolina’s departure from the United States, declared on December 20, 1860. The state’s secession made control of federal property in Charleston a crisis.
Abraham Lincoln : The sixteenth president of the United States, whose administration fought the Confederacy during the Civil War. After the fort fell, Lincoln called for troops to suppress the rebellion.
Battle of Fort Donelson : A February 1862 Union victory that opened a major route into the Confederate heartland. It contrasts with Sumter’s Confederate victory by marking a major Union advance.
Sumter’s return to Union control : The ceremony restoring the United States flag over Fort Sumter on April 14, 1865. The return took place four years after the surrender and echoed the original flag ceremony.
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