This was the place it all began. In the early morning hours of April 12, 1861, Confederate forces fired at a Union force commanded by Maj. Robert Anderson stationed inside Fort Sumter. South Carolina had seceded from the Union and were in the process of occupying Federal forts around Charleston Harbor. Anderson had already moved his men from nearby Fort Moultrie but they were running short on supplies. The small Union force tried in vain to defend the fort from the bombardment. After 34 hours, Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter, and the soldiers were allowed to evacuate. The Civil War, America's bloodiest conflict, had started.
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