• Currier & Ives lithograph depicting the bombardment of Fort Sumter

    Fort Sumter

    National Monument South Carolina

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  • Fort Sumter Elevators Out Of Service

    The elevators at Fort Sumter are out of service until further notice. Disabled visitors departing from Liberty Square will have access to restrooms on board the ferry boat while at Fort Sumter. For more information, please call (843) 883-3123.

Where the American Civil War Began

Decades of growing strife between North and South erupted in civil war on April 12, 1861, when Confederate artillery opened fire on this Federal fort in Charleston Harbor. Fort Sumter surrendered 34 hours later. Union forces would try for nearly four years to take it back.

Features

  • Ranger in Civil War uniform.

    Visit Fort Sumter

    Learn more about visiting Fort Sumter by ferry or with your own boat.

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  • Interior of Fort Moultrie with an 18th-century cannon and an 1809 U.S. flag.

    Visit Fort Moultrie

    Experience 171 years of American seacoast defense. Take a tour of Fort Moultrie's history from the American Revolution through World War II.

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  • The visitor center at Charles Pinckney NHS is a historic farmhouse.

    Visit Charles Pinckney NHS

    Visit nearby Charles Pinckney National Historic Site.

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Did You Know?

Composite photos of Maj. Anderson (left) and Gen. Beauregard (right)

Union Maj. Robert Anderson, commanding Fort Sumter, and Confederate Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, commanding Charleston's forces during the first battle of the Civil War, knew each other since the 1830s. Anderson was Beauregard's artillery instructor at West Point. Fort Sumter National Monument, SC