Montrose Auction Inc.

We recently acquired a unique and historical item originating from the beginning of the Civil War.  Presented to “Peter Hart the flag of Fort Sumter. Piece of the Frt. Sumter flag staff & piece of the Frt. Sumter flag – presented by Robert Anderson Br. Gen. USA” This autographed page is torn from a gold leaf book with other signatures on three of the four pages. There is a great deal of history surrounding this flag, much can be learned by visiting the National Park Service website.

 

Below are excerpts from The National Park Service website.

The first shot of the American Civil War didn't hit anything. It was a 10-inch mortar shell, fired from Fort Johnson, that exploded above Fort Sumter as a signal for Confederate artillery to open fire on the Union-held fort. Fort Sumter National Monument, SC

Decades of growing strife between North and South erupted in civil war on April 12, 1861,

when Confederate artillery opened fire on this Federal fort in Charleston Harbor. Fort Sumter surrendered 34 hours later. Union forces would try for nearly four years to take it back. Fort Sumter National Monument, SC

Union Maj. Robert Anderson, commanding Fort Sumter, and Confederate Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, commanding Charleston's forces during the first battle of the Civil War, knew each other since the 1830s. Anderson was Beauregard's artillery instructor at West Point. Fort Sumter National Monument, SC