SUMTER, FORT (originally spelled Sumpter, after gen. Sumpter, in whose honor it was named), an American fort of the second class, built 1845–'55, in the form of a truncated pentagon 50 ft. high, on an artificial island, at the entrance of Charleston har bor, 2f m. distant from forts Moultrie and Pinckney, on either side. On the secession of South Carolina, Dec., 1860, maj. Anderson, in command of the defenses of the harbor, was called upon to surrender them to the state authorities. Instead of doing this, he abandoned the other forts and occupied fort Sumter, mounting 52 guns, with a garri son of 70 men and 30 or 40 workmen. This was considered an act of war by the con federates and their troops, who, under command of gen. Beauregard, took possession of forts Pinckney and Moultrie, and erected additional batteries. While the surrender of the fort was under consideration, a fleet was sent from New York for its relief. On its
appearance off the harbor, the attack on the fort was opened by gen. Beauregard, April 12, 1861, and it surrendered on the 13th. This event aroused the north, and began the war, which terminated in 1865. During the siege of Charleston this fort was battered by the heaviest artillery, until its walls were completely crushed and shattered. The flag-staff was shot away'fifty times, and thousands of tons of iron projectiles were mingled with the debris of the fort; but the garrison constructed a still stronger fortress on its ruins, and held it for three years against assault and bombardment, until the operations of gen. Sherman compelled its evacuation, and the United States Bag was again raised, April 14, 1865; an event soon followed by the evacuation of Richmond, and the sur render of all the confederates armies.