Fort Sumter was unfinished and partially armed when the war started in 1861 but the brief battle in which the Confederates captured the installation was widely regarded as the opening shots of the conflict. The fort, later garrisoned by southern troops, was in turn placed under siege in 1863 by U.S. forces that ultimately left the masonry fortification in ruins by the end of the war.
Fort Sumter cannon saved by anonymous donor
