The text on this side of the monument reads, “1861-1961. At half past four on the morning of April 12, 1861, from a mortar near this spot on Fort Johnson, the first shot of the War of Secession was fired, by order of Captain George S. James of the Confederate States Army. The shell exploded above Fort Sumter, then occupied by Federal forces, thus beginning the tragic conflict which Americans endured for four years.” | Source: Julia EichelbergerDownload Original File
