Battle of Fort Sumter
The American Civil War began with a bombardment that killed nobody, on 12 April 1861. Fort Sumter sat on an artificial island in the middle of Charleston harbour, in the state that had seceded first, and its small federal garrison had moved there from the mainland in December for safety. South Carolina regarded it as foreign property in its harbour and demanded it. Buchanan sent a supply ship in January that was fired on and turned back, and then did nothing for the rest of his term. Lincoln, inaugurated on 4 March, was told the garrison had weeks of food. His decision was carefully framed: he notified the governor that he was sending provisions only, no arms or men, so that any shot fired would be fired at bread. Jefferson Davis's cabinet decided to take the fort before the ships arrived, and Beauregard opened fire at half past four in the morning. Major Anderson's garrison answered for thirty-four hours until the officers' quarters burned and the ammunition ran short, then surrendered with the honours of war and saluted its flag on the way out — during which salute a gun burst and killed two men, the first deaths of the war. Anderson took the flag north, where enormous crowds came to see it. Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers on 15 April, and four more states seceded rather than supply them, including Virginia. Some 750,000 people died over the following four years. Anderson raised the same flag over the fort again in April 1865.
- Year: 1861 CE
- Category: Military
