How the 1861 Confederate attack on Fort Sumter ignited the Civil War and tore America apart

Wikimedia Commons/Christophe cagé

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The First Shot of the Civil War at Fort Sumter

Confederate Lieutenant Henry S. Farley pulled the trigger of a large cannon at Fort Sumter at 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861. The shell flew upward through the dark sky over Charleston Harbor and burst above the fort.

Fragments rained down on the open area where troops normally gathered. This single shot from the 1st South Carolina Artillery started the American Civil War…

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