FORT SUMTER

the US fort on a small island in the harbour of Charleston , South Carolina , where the Civil War began. Soldiers from South Carolina, led by General Beauregard, shot at the fort with cannons (= large heavy guns) on 12 April 1861, and it surrendered the next day. The Union forces did not capture it again until 1865. Fort Sumter is now open to the public as a museum.