Fort Sumter
April 1861 bombardment
Fort Sumter is a fortification in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, where Confederate forces fired on Union troops in April 1861—the opening engagement of the American Civil War.
The name now serves as shorthand for the war's beginning: The country hadn't seen such division since Fort Sumter.
Formal withdrawal from union
- ConfederacySecessionist Southern government
- UnionNamed political entity
- Abraham LincolnCivil War era leader
- Jefferson DavisConfederacy's only president
first shots · surrender · federal property · garrison · evacuation
Southern Atlantic port city
- harborSafe anchorage for ships
- South CarolinaSoutheastern Atlantic coastal state
- LowcountryCoastal Carolina-Georgia cultural zone
- palmettoFan-leaved southeastern palm
seacoast · Atlantic · shipping channel · masonry · ramparts · pentagon · coastal defense
Sustained projectile assault
- artilleryLarge-caliber battlefield weapons
- cannonadeSustained artillery fire
- barrageSustained, overwhelming attack
- mortarGrinding bowl or binder
siege · battery · volley · shelling · defenders · capitulation · assault · escalation
Legally protected landmark
- memorialThing preserving remembrance
- National Park ServiceU.S. conservation agency
- museumPublic exhibit space
- tourismLeisure travel sector
historic site · preservation · commemoration · Civil War history · battlefield · war memorial · education · artifacts
secession
Formal withdrawal from union
- ConfederacySecessionist Southern government
- UnionNamed political entity
- Abraham LincolnCivil War era leader
Jefferson Davis · first shots · surrender · federal property · garrison · evacuation
Charleston
Southern Atlantic port city
- harborSafe anchorage for ships
- South CarolinaSoutheastern Atlantic coastal state
- LowcountryCoastal Carolina-Georgia cultural zone
palmetto · seacoast · Atlantic · shipping channel · masonry · ramparts · pentagon · coastal defense
bombardment
Sustained projectile assault
- artilleryLarge-caliber battlefield weapons
- cannonadeSustained artillery fire
- barrageSustained, overwhelming attack
mortar · siege · battery · volley · shelling · defenders · capitulation · assault · escalation · resistance
national monument
Legally protected landmark
- memorialThing preserving remembrance
- National Park ServiceU.S. conservation agency
- museumPublic exhibit space
tourism · historic site · preservation · commemoration · Civil War history · battlefield · war memorial · education · artifacts · restoration
- American Forts
- Civil War FortsVicksburg, Petersburg, earthworks, breastworks, redoubts
- Confederate WarfareRobert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, defensive warfare, cavalry raids, blockade running
- 1800s AmericaOregon Trail, Trail of Tears, transcontinental railroad, Civil War, Abraham Lincoln
- US HistoryAmerican Revolution, US history, Civil War, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln
- 1860sAbraham Lincoln, American Civil War, Appomattox, Confederacy, Confederate States
Fort SumterGettysburg
Pennsylvania battle site
Antietam · Vicksburg · Shiloh · Petersburg · Sherman's March
comfort, comfortable, fort, fortress, reinforce, discomfort, fortify, forts, fortified