South Carolina voted to secede on the 20th of December 1860 after delegates gathered in Columbia and cast a unanimous ballot of 169 votes. The convention moved to Charleston to draft an ordinance of secession which was adopted on that date following a resolution by the General Assembly.
Firing began at 4:30 a.m. on the 12th of April 1861, and ended thirty-four hours later when Union troops raised the white flag. One gun exploded during a 50-gun salute taken down by Confederates killing a young soldier who became the first casualty of the entire war.
Robert Smalls freed himself his crew and their families by commandeering a Confederate transport ship named CSS Planter in Charleston Harbor. He sailed it from Confederate-controlled waters to the Union blockade surrounding it on the 13th of May 1863.
H.L. Hunley made a daring night attack on Fort Sumter on the 17th of February 1864 marking the first successful submarine warfare event. The city under siege took control of Fort Sumter becoming center for blockade running while Union ships blocked off ports along the coast.
South Carolina lost 12,922 men to war representing 23% of its male white population of fighting age which was the highest percentage of any state in the nation. Sherman's Army marched to Columbia leveling most town along with number of towns along way afterward causing destruction worse than in Georgia.