Why Is Fort Sumter Important

It all began with the secession of South Carolina. After this an understanding was established between the authorities in Washington and the members of Congress from South Carolina. They both agreed that the forts, Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter, would not be attacked, or seized as an act of war, until proper negotiations for

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.

The Battle of Bull Run, also known as the Manassas by the Confederacy, was the first major land battle that the armies of Virginia fought. Most think that the Civil War officially started when the Confederate troops gunned down Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, but the Battle of Bull Run is what really kicked off the war. No one had actually really got down and dirty to fight until this battle. It was essentially the first battle of the Civil war.

The Southern states had seceded and the South had fired on and captured Fort Sumter on April 12 1861.

The confederate army stayed at Fort Sumter for four years. They stood strong through several bombardments by the union forces. They finally abandoned the fort when William T. Sherman captured Charleston in February 1865. Fort Sumter was rebuilt by

The Southern states had seceded and the South had fired on and captured Fort Sumter on April 12 1861.

On April 12, 1861 the Confederate States of America assaulted Fort Sumter, South Carolina. The

Confederate General P.G.T Beauregard would fire the first shots on April 12th, 1861 at 4:30 am, in response of the Refusal to withdraw from the fort. Shortly after the Confederate’s19 batteries would lay siege for over 34 hours firing over 3,000 rounds. Fort Johnson fired the first shot from James Island into the dark night sky that exploded right over Fort Sumter. Union Captain Abmer, Doubleday’s ordered the Union soldiers to endure cannon fire for over two hours in an attempt to conserve powder cartridges for this reason before returning fire from an estimated 20 cannons. The Union army had half of the firing power of the Confederate army. Union ships would come during the height of the siege, but to the dismay of the fort they waited off the coast out of the range of enemy artillery. The captains of the ships found themselves in the midst of an artillery battle. The Union’s reinforcements were in sight but out of reach to those in Fort Sumter. “By Saturday, April 13, cannon fire had broken through the fortress’s five-foot-thick brick walls, causing fires inside the post. With his stores of ammunition depleted, Anderson was forced to surrender the fort shortly after 2 p.m. in the afternoon.” (History.com Staff, 2009). As a result of the bombardment of exploding shells, dense smoke and roaring flames made Fort Sumter very hectic within the

The attack at Fort Sumter was from April 12-14, 1861, near Charleston, South Carolina. Tensions began in December of 1860 when Robert Anderson, a US Major, stayed at Fort Sumter after South Carolina seceded from the Union. Eventually, President Abraham Lincoln became aware that Anderson and his troops were running low on supplies. As a result, Lincoln was in a tough position. If he did not send supplies, Anderson would have to surrender at the fort without a fight. If he sent Anderson help, though, the people of South Carolina would start a fight. Lincoln decided to send Union forces resupply the fort, but not strengthen it. However, the south was extremely angry. On April 12, 1861, Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter, causing Anderson

The battle for Fort Sumter was the battle that started the American Civil War in 1861 when the first shot were fired that signal the beginning of the war. General Beauregard sent Major Anderson a message saying that he would fire in one hour if he didn’t surrender prior that day Adj. Gen. Of the Secretary of War Samuel Cooper, Anderson composed, (1) The progression I have taken was, as I would like to think, important to keep the emanation of blood."

The action against Fort Sumter would be the beginning to a war that would last from 1861 to 1865. At the beginning of the war slavery was not considered the number one reason for the war. By the wars end the politics on both side needed to justify the war to their respected public. The fight against slavery would become the North’s selling point to the public. The South would remain steadfast on the position of fighting for their overall rights as citizens of the United States and that included defending the right for slavery. The face of this war was now slavery (Mauser, 2011, 11). After the war ended on 9 April 1865, both sides had lost hundreds of thousands of men to some of the bloodiest battles in

The first major battle to be fought during the American Civil War took place on July 1, 1861 near Manassas, Virginia. The 1st Battle of Manassas, commonly known as The Battle of Bull Run by Union forces, saw an estimated 28,400 Union soldiers attempt to quickly defeat the Confederate army whose numbers out manned theirs. Believing the war would not last long and that the South would fall if defeated in a major battle, Brigadier General Irvin McDowell, under the instruction of President Lincoln, led an army who was overwhelmingly under trained in a major battle setting to confront the forces of General Pierce Gustave Beauregard in Northern Virginia.

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.

The fall of Fort Sumter caused the war of the Union with the Confederacy. (Shi, 531) Before Fort Sumter falled, Lincoln wanted to include Fort Sumter to the territory of Federal Government which laid in Confederate territory. Southerns were offended that Federals put their flag on the southern territory.( Catton, 59) A letter from William H. Seward , the United States secretary from 1861- 1869 showed that he advised President Lincoln to resupply Fort Sumter in March 1861. The words of William H. Seward from the letter: “ The President submit to me the following question, namely, “Assuming it to be possible to new provision Fort Sumter, under all the circumstances, is it wise to attempt it? If it were possible to peacefully

On December 20th, 1860, South Carolina seceded from the Union. During this time, 85 federal soldiers under the command of Major Robert Anderson were stationed at Fort Moultrie, which is also located near the Charleston Harbor. To protect the federal strong hold in the south, Major Anderson moved his troops to Fort Sumter in the dark of night on December 26th. When the people of Charleston heard the news of the invasion on the fort, it did not sit well with them and other Southern states. Fort Sumter was built to protect the harbor in Charleston, now it was a military threat.