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• Fort Sumter
  Fort Sumter

  noun

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

  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.

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

“English Liberator” reads like a period war novel, an enjoyable ride for the history buff looking for unheralded adventure stories bridging the gap between Waterloo and Fort Sumter.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

Passover begins this year on April 12, the 164th anniversary of the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter, which ignited the American Civil War.

From Slate • Apr. 10, 2025

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

The Civil War began with the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, six days after South Carolina seceded.

From Salon • Jan. 7, 2024

Since the Battle of Fort Sumter took place in South Carolina in April 1861, the United States has been a “house divided,” locked in a civil war between the free North and the slaveholding South.

From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly