Object Details
- Description
- On April 12, 1861 at 4:30 a.m. canon fire shattered that Friday's morning silence as the Confederates opened the Civil War with the first shot. Their target was Fort Sumter, a Union stronghold located off the coast of South Carolina. Thirty-four hours later, the fort would surrender and the Confederate forces would claim their first victory.
- This 40-pound ball shot was fired from Fort Sumter. The shot was aimed at a floating battery near Sullivan's Island.
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
- date made
- ca 1860
- Credit Line
- W. Hutson Ford
- Object Name
- shot
- Other Terms
- shot; Ammunition, Artillery
