On the first day of the bombardment of Fort Sumter, Confederate cannons both started a fire in the fort and then immediately extinguished it!

>On three occasions that first day major fires broke out in one or another of the fort’s buildings, especially the large one against the George wall, the one that had served, among other things, as the officers’ quarters. Luckily, the Confederate cannon fire also destroyed several of the huge water cisterns in the corners of the buildings. This doused the flames. __________________________ **Source:** Detzer, David. “A Mere Point of Honor.” *Allegiance: Fort Sumter, Charleston, and the Beginning of the Civil War*. New York: Harcourt, 2002. 278. Print. __________________________ **Further Reading:** [Battle of Fort Sumter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Sumter)