|
|
Major Robert Anderson was in command of Fort Sumter. He had to surrender the fort after a 36-hour bombardment of 4,000 shells, at 2:30 p.m. on April 13, 1861. No one was killed during the battle. |
| Edmund Ruffin of Virginia fired the symbolic first shot of the Civil War at 4:30 a.m., on April 12, 1861. At the conclusion of the war, Edmund Ruffin confirmed his hatred for that "vile Yankee race", wrapped himself in a Confederate flag, and shot himself through the brain. |
|
Ft. Sumter as it looked in 1861 |
. The fort was constructed after the War of 1812, on a man-made island, in Charleston harbor. On December 26, 1860, Major Anderson moved his men from Fort Moultrie to Ft. Sumter. Sumter was incomplete at this time. Anderson and his 127 men faced more than 6,000 Confederates. After surrender, Anderson was allowed to fire a 100-gun salute in honor of his flag. On the 27th round, one gun prematurely fired, killing Private Daniel Hough and another man standing next to him. These were the first two deaths of the war. |
| P.G.T. Beauregard, a flamboyant Confederate general was commander at Charleston, obeyed his orders without delay. Sumter was ringed with fire, and after 34 hours, Sumter was in the hands of the Confederacy. Beauregard was such a skilled gunner, as an artillery student at West Point, he was asked to stay on another year as an assistant by his instructor. That instructor was Major Anderson, commander of Fort Sumter. |
General P.G.T. Beauregard |
AFTERTHEBOMBARDMENT |
|
| HOME | THE MEN | THE BATTLES | THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY | CIVIL WAR STYLE QUILTS |
| THE PRESIDENTS | GETTYSBURG ADDRESS |
