(AP) -- With the 150th anniversary of the Civil War approaching, cadets from The Citadel plan to re-enact the firing of what many consider the first hostile shots of the conflict.
In January 1861, just weeks after South Carolina seceded from the Union, Citadel cadets on Morris Island fired on the federal steamship Star of the West.
The ship was trying to resupply Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, but the firing forced the ship to turn back and the war began the following April with the Confederate bombardment of the Union fort.
About 20 faculty and cadet re-enactors from the state military college will re-enact the firing on the ship on Jan. 8.
(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
