Here's where the first shots of the Civil War were fired in 1861. Three forts guarded the entrance to Charleston's harbor:  Ft. Moultrie where Sgt. Jasper made his name during the American Revolution, Castle Pinckney, also an old revolutionary fort, and the new Ft. Sumter, still under construction. All three installations were federal holdings that Abraham Lincoln had vowed to defend in his inaugural address.

The military commander of federal forces was Major Robert Anderson whose headquarters were at Ft. Moultrie. Anderson was a slave-owner and southerner, but most importantly, he was a professional soldier. During the uneasy hiatus between Lincoln's election and his swearing in, after South Carolina had seceded from the Union, Anderson was torn by conflicting instincts but made a professional military decision that Ft. Moultrie was indefensible and moved his garrison to Ft. Sumter where he vigorously pursued the completion of construction and the arming of the fort with artillery.

Jefferson Davis, sworn in as president of the Confederate States of America on February 18, 1861, quickly ordered General P. G. T. Beauregard to assume command of CSA forces in Charleston. Then in April, he ordered him to demand surrender of Ft. Sumter and destroy it if Anderson refused. Beauregard's forces began bombardment of the fort April 12, 1861 after surrender negotiations failed and took possession of the fort on April 14th. The bombs bursting in air can be seen in the bowl of this E. A. Whitney spoon.

Major Abner Doubleday, who later invented baseball and also who played a substantial role in other Civil War battles, was the officer in charge of artillery under Anderson and he returned fire when allowed to in the early morning of April 13th. Anderson did not permit the use of the heavy guns, however, and the 32-pounders that Doubleday did use had little effect. The view at left of one of Ft. Sumter's guns is taken from a sterling souvenir spoon by E. A. Whitney.

On April 14th, just before the Federals ran out of food and water, the fort was surrendered and the southerners ferried the USA troops out to waiting ships of the U. S. Navy. No casualties had occurred on either side during the engagement itself. Thus began the bloodiest chapter in American history with what almost could be termed a "gentlemen's engagement."

The southerners held Ft. Sumter for the entire Civil War in spite of northern ambitions to regain it.