Fort Sumter The Confederate bombardment that began the Civil War on April 12, 1861, lobbed more than 4,000 rounds at Fort Sumter. Shrapnel from thirty-three hours of cannon fire shredded this flag. Union major Robert Anderson surrendered on April 13. When he and his men evacuated the fort the next day, they marched under this tattered banner. When Anderson returned in April 1865, he raised this very flag.

Photograph: © Collection of the New-York Historical Society, USA/Bridgeman Images; flag: United Daughters of the Confederacy.