Will Government Shutdown Halt Civil War Commemorations?
Fort Sumter and other historic battlefields may be shuttered on anniversary.
On April 12, 1861, Confederate artillery fired the first shots of the war at Fort Sumter, an island fortress in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. The ensuing battle began the costliest war in U.S. history. (See pictures of the Battle of Fort Sumter.)
Today Fort Sumter National Monument is maintained by the U.S. National Park Service. Civil War enthusiasts, civic leaders, nonprofit organizations, and park staff have spent years planning a robust calendar of commemorative events at the site. (See more Civil War events happening around the country.)
But the fort may well
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