Fort Sumter
The battle of Fort Sumter was the first battle of one of the worst wars the United States has ever seen. It began the Civil War. It was also one of the few battles in which no one died; ironically, the exceedingly bloody Civil War began with a bloodless battle.
The basic events of the battle are simple: the Confederacy requested that the Union remove its troops from Fort Sumter. The Union refused, and the Confederacy proceeded to bomb the fort.
The basic events of the battle are simple: the Confederacy requested that the Union remove its troops from Fort Sumter. The Union refused, and the Confederacy proceeded to bomb the fort.
A More Specific Summary
Directly after the Southern states seceded, they demanded that all Union troops go back to Union territory. Major Robert Anderson, the leader of those selfsame troops, was not eager to retreat from the Confederacy. So, he moved his troops to the highly defensible Fort Sumter, an island located on the edge of Charleston Harbor, just beside the Atlantic Ocean.
Anderson soon began to run out of resources. President Buchanan attempted to send a supply ship (called Star of the West) down the coast of the Atlantic to get supplies to Anderson, but unfortunately the Confederacy shot it down, and Anderson and his men were left without resources.
As time progressed, the situation began to look more and more like a siege. Charles Beauregard, the general of the Confederate troops, was swift in strengthening the forces on the coasts around Fort Sumter. Eventually Lincoln was elected president, and he too attempted to send supply ships to Anderson and reason with the Confederacy.
The Confederacy responded by once more requesting that Anderson take his troops and leave. Anderson once more refused to give in. So, at 4:30 A.M. on April 12, 1861, Beauregard opened fire on Fort Sumter.
34 hours later, Anderson had been able to do very little as far as repelling the Confederates, and he was forced to surrender and evacuate the island. No one had died, but it was still a very bad start to the war for the Union, and Anderson and his men were surely very displeased with it.
Anderson soon began to run out of resources. President Buchanan attempted to send a supply ship (called Star of the West) down the coast of the Atlantic to get supplies to Anderson, but unfortunately the Confederacy shot it down, and Anderson and his men were left without resources.
As time progressed, the situation began to look more and more like a siege. Charles Beauregard, the general of the Confederate troops, was swift in strengthening the forces on the coasts around Fort Sumter. Eventually Lincoln was elected president, and he too attempted to send supply ships to Anderson and reason with the Confederacy.
The Confederacy responded by once more requesting that Anderson take his troops and leave. Anderson once more refused to give in. So, at 4:30 A.M. on April 12, 1861, Beauregard opened fire on Fort Sumter.
34 hours later, Anderson had been able to do very little as far as repelling the Confederates, and he was forced to surrender and evacuate the island. No one had died, but it was still a very bad start to the war for the Union, and Anderson and his men were surely very displeased with it.
"The firing on that fort will inaugurate a civil war greated than any the world has yet seen . . . you will lose us every friend at the north. You will wantonly strike a hornet's nest which extends from mountains to ocean. Legions now quiet will swarm out and sting us to death. It is unnecessary. It is fatal."
--Robert Toombs |