The Battle Of The American Civil War

His ended his speech with a plea for the restoration of the bonds of union. The South just ignored his plea. Violence and outrage turned to belligerence in the North, which in turn had many southerners clamouring for war. At 4.30am on April 12th 1861, Confederate gunners opened fire on Federal - held Fort Sumter, situated in the middle of Charleston Harbour. The only real casualty was a horse. This gentle brawl was the start of a longer, harder and bloodier war than anyone could dream of.

U.S. Major Robert Anderson occupied the unfinished fort in December 1860 following South Carolina’s secession from the Union, initiating a standoff with the state militia forces. When President Abraham Lincoln announced plans to resupply the fort, Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard shelled Fort Sumter in April of 1861. After a 34 hour exchange, Anderson and his soldiers surrendered the fort. Confederate troops then would come to occupy fort Sumter for almost four years, before abandoning the fort prior to William Truman’s capture of Charleston in February 1865. (The Civil War: Primary Documents on Events from 1860 to 1865, 79)

Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina was attacked by Confederate Brig, Gen. P.G.T Beauregard Yesterday after Union Maj. Robert Anderson refused to aids. Gen. Beauregard sent out 3 boats with surrenders on them to convince Maj. Anderson to surrender because of his lack of supplies and ammunition. Anderson refused to surrender and the Confederates started firing. Anderson returned fire but not till 2 hours later because of his low ammunition and supplies. The battle went on for another 32 hours before the Union decided to surrender. Surprisingly no one was killed in the war on either side of the fighting and the Confederates allowed the Union a 100 gun salute, which was shortened to a 50 gun after an accidental explosion killed one

Fort Pickens garrison was an integral piece of the Union Navy’s gulf blockade campaign that lasted the entirety of the war. While Confederate forces occupied all mainland forts in the Pensacola Bay Area of Operations(AO), Union Navy and and Army assets located at Fort Pickens continually denied Confederate forces logistical support from British seafaring assets in the Gulf of Mexico. A truce had been reached by both occupying Armies before the onset of The American Civil War. The agreed upon conditions in their most basic sense were that the Confederate Army Soldiers in Pensacola would not attack Fort Pickens, if the Union Army would refrain from reinforcing their position. The Confederate Army action is historically described as a retaliatory attack for a raid on the Confederate ship Judah by sailors and marines from the U.S.S. Colorado. Rowing into the bay under cover of darkness, a boat party had surprised and torched the Judah in September 1861 before Confederate troops could quell the attack. Determined to retaliate for the bold raid, General Braxton Bragg, Commanding Officer for Confederate forces in Pensacola, decided to launch an attack on the outer camps and batteries of Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island. General Bragg was one of the most experienced Confederate Army Commanders and commanded about 7,000 Confederate Soldiers in the Pensacola Bay area of operations. Although it is often stated that Bragg hoped to capture the fort, his real goal seems to have been to destroy the camp of the 6th New York Volunteers. (exploresouthernhistory.com) The 6th New York Volunteers consisted of 600 light infantry troops and were Commanded by Cornel William Wilson, a former politician from New York. The 6th New York Volunteers had little combat experience at this point in the war, but their reputation for drinking and mischief had followed them down

Fort Sumter was named after General Thomas Sumter, a Revolutionary War hero. Fort Sumter was built following the War of 1812, as one of the fortifications on the southern U.S. coast to protect its’ harbors. Construction began in 1829, and the structure was still being completed in 1861, when the civil war began. Seventy thousands tons of granite were brought in from New England in order to build a sand bar to the entrance of the Charleston Harbor. The fort was a five-sided brick structure, one hundred seventy to one hundred ninety feet long, with walls five feet thick, standing fifty feet over the low tide mark. It was originally designated to hold six hundred fifty men and one hundred thirty-five guns; unfortunately the fort was never filled to this capacity.

Northern troops were positioned at Fort Sumter in South Carolina, when the Southern states succeed from the Union. As a result, Lincoln faced the most difficult decision of his life. The troops there needed food and supplies, or they would die. If Lincoln sent armed reinforcements to the Fort, the South would assume it was an act of aggression and fire upon the union soldiers. Lincoln’s actions would either start a war between family and friends or recognize the South’s secession as legitimate and separate America into two different countries. His decision would decide the fate of the men in the fort and the country.

It was strategically built to be able to with stand the current cannons that were only able to deliver sever damage at a distance of approximately 700 yards. On January 6, 1861, under the command of Colonel Alexander R. Lawton, commander of the 1st Georgia Volunteer Regiment, Fort Pulaski fell to volunteer forces and upon Georgia’s secession on January 19th, it became a Confederate fort. With Savannah, Georgia lying directly to the west of the fort, and also being a strong Confederate town with economic strength to support, Fort Pulaski was considered to be one of the strongest fortresses claimed by the Confederate army. This confidence soon was realized by the Union that it was imperative to capture Savannah before attempting to recapture Fort

On April 12, 1861 the Civil War had begun. The Civil war was one of the most deadly wars for Americans, because every person that fought in the war was American. A civil war is when two or more groups of the same country fight against each other. That is what happened to America. The base was located in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The fort was a Confederate owned base in the south. The battle of fort Sumter was important because it was a major turning point, the cause of the war; also the battle that had the first shots of the war.

Wilson reports that one of the most exceedingly awful abominations professedly committed against the African American soldiers happened at Fort Pillow, Tennessee on April 12, 1864, when the Confederate Army unpredictably murdered approximately three hundred black fighters. The fort, stormed by General Nathan Bedford Forrest's troops, had surrendered. General Nathan Bedford Forrest would later become an organizer of the Ku Klux Klan The Union Army claimed that the killing of the black soldiers was a massacre; yet, the Confederacy denied this claim, stating that the soldiers died in the fighting before the surrender. This massacre failed to weaken the courage of the black soldiers, but rather raised their determination and many black soldiers

The defending garrison commander of Fort McAllister, MAJ George W. Anderson, commanded a force of ranging between 230 and 265 Confederate Soldiers who had yet to be tested by an assaulting land force. Among the Soldiers

On June 27, 1864 the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain was fought. The Union Army was currently carrying out Sherman's March. Richard T Sherman was the commander of the Union Army and was going up against the Confederate Army of Tennessee, commanded by Joseph E. Johnston. Sherman was beating Johnston again and again with flanking maneuvers pushing the Confederates back all the way to Kennesaw Mountain. Sherman decided to change his tactics and ordered a frontal assault rather than another flanking maneuver. John Logan and his men assaulted Pigeon Hill while George Thomas led his men on another aggressive attack on Cheatham Hill. Both failed miserably with costly casualties. The Union did however manage to gain position on the Confederate's left flank. With their left flank exposed, the Confederates withdrew. Sherman did suffer a tactical defeat at Kennesaw Mountain but he still managed to continue his march to Atlanta It was a costly battle for the Union because Sherman lost around 3,000 soldiers

Fort Pillow was named after General Gideon Johnson Pillow, the fort consisted of a 600 men Garrison, with the majority colored. Major Lionel E. Booth was the overall commander of the Union forces. Many of the men in Booths troops saw Forrest and his troops scouting the area however Booth did not suspect anything of it. He said they would be “perfectly fine.” (6) But on April 12, 1864 that all changed. Forrest and 3,000 rebels launched a cavalry raid on Fort Pillow. Forrest had his men positioned along the edge of the fort ready to attack. One man was sent in to ask Booth if he wanted to surrender, or fight. Booth asked for one hour to consult with his troops, because they were short on men, supplies and did not know if they had a chance. Forrest was astounded that Booth decided to go ahead and fight considering the circumstances. Major Booth was one of the first to fall, so General Bradford who was very naive had to take command of the Union. Bradford believed that “he could either hold out until help arrived in the form of two troop-laden ships steaming up from Memphis, or else that he could somehow bluff

Streight had gathered some 150 Alabamians with the “Ironclad Oath.” This was an oath of loyalty, proposed by Yankee Congress in July 1862 to remove Confederate citizens and place them on the side of the North. Col. Streight’s goal was trying to destroy parts of the railroad and the foundries of Rome, Alabama. To put this in perspective, Alabama’s antebellum (antebellum meaning before the civil war) metal manufacturing was crucial and much needed part of the future war effort for making sheet iron, tin and copper products. Alabama also had a mineral district to supply the raw materials necessary for the production of iron. Col. Streight’s problem was that he didn’t know the land and was slowed down by the locals as he tried to reach the iron works. This led to the ruse of Confederate Brigadier General Nathaniel Forrest, almost two years ago on May 3rd, 1963. General Forrest had only five hundred men who defeated and captured Streight and his 1,700 men at Cedar Bluff, Alabama. Streight had the idea of parading his much smaller force around Forrest, leading him to believe the Confederates had a much larger army. Col. Abel Streight politely asked for his arms back for a fair fight and General Forrest denied him the opportunity. General Forrest had the dubious distinction of participating in the massacre of black troops at the Battle of Fort Pillow in Henning, Tennessee where his troops allegedly massacred over 300 Union black soldiers. This led the Union to

Fort Sumter was statically important because of it is location on the entrance to the harbor in Charleston, South Carolina. Charleston was a major city and sea port in the South. Before Lincoln’s inauguration, several states started to secede from the Union and during this time many of the federal forts were seized. There was little opposition on taking over the forts as they were not manned very well. Most of the regular Army soldiers were stationed in the west to protect setters from Indians attacks.

On June 27, 1864 the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain was fought. The Union Army was currently carrying out Sherman's March. Richard T Sherman was the commander of the Union Army and was going up against the Confederate Army of Tennessee, commanded by Joseph E. Johnston. Sherman was beating Johnston again and again with flanking maneuvers pushing the Confederates back all the way to Kennesaw Mountain. Sherman decided to change his tactics and ordered a frontal assault rather than another flanking maneuver. John Logan and his men assaulted Pigeon Hill while George Thomas led his men on another aggressive attack on Cheatham Hill. Both failed miserably with costly casualties. The Union did however manage to gain position on the Confederate's left