The Second Battle of Fort Sumter is fought on September 8, 1863, in Charleston Harbor.

Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard, who had commanded the defenses of Charleston and captured Fort Sumter in the first battle of the war, is in overall command of the defenders.

In the battle, Union forces under Major General Quincy Gillmore attempt to retake the fort at the mouth of the harbor.

Union gunners pummel the fort from their batteries on Morris Island.

After a severe bombing of the fort, Beauregard, suspecting an attack, replaces the artillerymen and all but one of the fort's guns with three hundred and twenty infantrymen, who repulse the naval landing party.

Gillmore has reduced Fort Sumter to a pile of rubble, but the Confederate flag still waves over the ruins.