The first shots of the Civil War were fired on April 12, 1861, at Fort Sumter , on a small island some way out from Charleston, where the rivers meet the Atlantic. When South Carolina announced its secession, the federal government had to decide whether to reprovision its forts in the south. The commander of Fort Sumter, Major Robert Anderson, requested supplies in early 1861; when a relief expedition was sent, Confederate General Pierre Beauregard demanded the fort's surrender. In one of the ironies that so characterized the war, Beauregard, who personally coordinated the bombardment, had been the star pupil of Major Anderson's artillery classes at West Point. After a relentless barrage, the garrison gave in the next day, becoming the first prisoners of the war. The fort was retaken by Union troops on Good Friday 1865, the very day of Lincoln's assassination, and today holds a museum (summer daily 10am-6pm; rest of year daily 10am-5pm). Fort Sumter Tours operates tour boats to Fort Sumter from the City Marina, off Lockwood Boulevard and Patriot's Point in nearby Mount Pleasant ($11 boat & fort; call for schedule tel 843/722-2628).

Fort Sumter

• Fort Sumter

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