Fort Sumter

American  

noun

1. a fort in SE South Carolina, in the harbor of Charleston: its bombardment by the Confederates opened the Civil War on April 12, 1861.

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Fort Sumter British  

/ ˈsʌmtə /

noun

1. a fort in SE South Carolina, guarding Charleston Harbour. Its capture by Confederate forces (1861) was the first action of the Civil War

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Sumter, Fort Cultural  

1. A fort at the entrance to the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina; the location of the first military engagement of the Civil War. In April 1861, several months after South Carolina had declared its secession from the United States, the militia of South Carolina demanded that the commander of the fort surrender. He refused, and the South Carolinians fired on the fort. There were no deaths in the incident. In response, however, President Abraham Lincoln called for volunteers to put down the “insurrection,” and the American Civil War began.

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Example Sentences

The attack on Fort Sumter in 1861 enraged him.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

Before the first shots of the Civil War were ever fired at Fort Sumter, a poem titled “The Southland Fears no Foeman” was published in Richmond’s “Southern Literary Messenger.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 2, 2025

Predictably, Bezos' defense failed more miserably than the Union Army at Fort Sumter in 1861.

From Salon • Oct. 31, 2024

It’s more than two years before shots will be fired at Fort Sumter, but secession is already on his mind.

From Slate • Jan. 24, 2024

On April 12, 1861, Southern forces attacked Fort Sumter, a military post in Charleston, South Carolina, marking the beginning of the Civil War.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling