Battle of Fort Sumter Many threats were made after Lincoln’s election in November 1860 to Federal troops that guarded forts in the south. Confederate States have been seizing U. S arsenals, forts, and navy yards within their borders and as a precaution, General Robert Anderson asked for reinforcements to the War Department and and made a plan for some of his men to move to a more secure location close to Fort Moultrie; in this case, the unfinished Fort Sumter. Anderson put his plan into effect on December 26 when he brought his soldiers and their families onto boats.
What happened after was a siege of Fort Sumter led by General Wilkinson Pickens General Anderson’s supplies and reinforcements were arriving by a merchant steamer called Star of the West. Unfortunately, it had not been able to reach For Sumter due to Picken’s harbor defenses and intervention. The ship had been forced to turn back. On January 11, 1861, Pickens demanded the surrender of Fort Sumter in Charleston Bay, but Anderson refused. There had been a food shortage that became severe enough that Pickens went under criticism for his actions.
He sent food to the fort that was then refused by Anderson. Women and children were released soon after to provide relief. Brigadier General P. G. T. Beauregard, who had been appointed by President Jefferson Davis, arrived in Charleston on March 1st. After President Lincoln’s inauguration, Lincoln sent unofficial representatives to discern the situation and report back while negotiations were being established in Washington. Anderson had asked for supplies on March 3rd and again in early April, but he didn’t get a response until April 8, when he was notified that a relief effort was underway.
News of the relief effort spread and General Beauregard was told to demand the surrender of the fort and to attack if they refused. He began to arrange his men and army and sent representatives to demand surrender. Anderson had refused again and the representatives returned on April 12 to access when food and supplies would run out. Realizing that reinforcements would not arrive in time, Anderson stated that he would surrender on April 15 at noon, but it was too late. The attack would begin at 4:30 AM. Edmund Ruffin, a who had campaigned for states’ rights, slavery, and secession, was given the honor to fire the first shot at Fort Sumter.
To ensure the least amount of casualties and to save ammunition, he didn’t fire until 7:00 AM; the first return shot by Captain Abner Doubleday.. During the late morning, barracks caught fire and most of his men had to act as a fire crew. Later in the day, they would spot three U. S ships and thought that they would be resupplied. Unfortunately, the ships were headed towards Fort Pickens in Pensacola, Florida. When nightfall fell, Anderson stopped firing, and the Confederate reduced their firing and resumed firing the next morning.
On April 13 the next day, a surrender had been negotiated by Louis Wigfall and at 1:30 PM, the flag was replaced by a white sheet. “On seeing the flag of surrender, Beauregard ceased firing and sent his envoys to the fort, where they learned of Wigfall unofficial mission. After further negotiation, the same terms were eventually agreed to: surrender would occur April 14 at noon. ” “The people of Charleston came out in boats on April 14 to watch the surrender and evacuation. [… ] The rest of the men were taken by boat to the relief ships just outside the “harbor”.
On April 15, 1861, Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to put an end to the Southern rebellion. The Civil War had begun. Link: http://www. historynet. com/battle-of-fort-sumter Weapons Many weapons were utilized in the Civil such as rifles, bullets, handguns, and muskets. Technological advances made these weapons deadlier as they aimed and shoot with more accuracy. According to Allan W. Howey from History. Net in an article titled “The Widow-Makers”, The deadliest weapons used in the civil war was “the simple rifle-musket and the humble minie ball” (Howey, History.
Net). The minie ball was a type of bullet used extensively in the Civil War due to its “ease of loading, range and accuracy. ” (Howey, History. Net) This is a minie ball, a type of bullet used during the civil war. Source: Wikimedia President Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States who was against slavery and secession of the Civil War. The United States was torn apart on the issue of slavery and several states in the south seceded after Lincoln was elected out of fear that slavery would be outlawed.
Farming was an integral part of the economy of the South and slaves were used to maintain and harvest the plantations. “He distributed $2 million from the Treasury for war material without an appropriation from Congress; he called for 75,000 volunteers into military service without a declaration of war []” (Bio. com) and also arrested those he suspected were Confederate sympathizers without a warrant” After a Union victory on September 22, 1862, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.
Emancipation Proclamation that stated that those who were being enslaved shall “henceforward shall be free. On April 9, 1865, Robert E. Lee surrendered his forces and the Civil War was finally over. Unfortunately, 5 days later after the end of the Civil War on April 14, 1963, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre by a man named John Wilkes Booth. Booth who was an actor and sympathizer for the south and was upset by the defeat of the South. He was taken to a house across the theatre where he was in a coma until he passed away the next morning. His final resting place is in Springfield, Illinois. Major Robert Anderson Major Robert Anderson was born on June 14, 1805 in Kentucky, a slave-holding state.
He received a commission in the 2nd U. S artillery after he graduated the Military Academy in 1825. He participated in the Black Hawk War of 1832, Second Seminole War in 1837, and also wrote a manual Instruction for Field Artillery, Horse and Foot in 1839. He was sent to command Fort Moultrie, one of the three federal defenses of Charleston. Moultrie had been slowly neglected and its defensive capabilities were weakened; terrain grew higher than the walls themselves. Castle Pinckney, another fort, was in good condition, but it was garrisoned by someone else.
Fort Sumter was still unfinished, and it was considered the most important of the three defenses. Anderson noted this in a report he sent December 9, 1860. After South Carolina seceded, he noticed a growing threat of hostility and transferred his power to Fort Sumter on December 26, 1960. One day after his transfer, South Carolina’s new governor, Francis Pickens, “demanded that Anderson return to Fort Moultrie” (Hatcher, Civil War. org). Anderson refused and then South Carolina forces began constructing defenses around the harbor.
President Buchanan’s response was to the ship, Star of the West, to Fort Sumter. Unfortunately, “Fort Moultrie fired at the ship on January 9″(Hatcher, Civil War. org) and it had been forced to retreat. On March 3, 1861, the day before Lincoln had been established as the President of the United States, Confederate General Beauregard received command of all troops “in or near Charleston Harbor. “(Hatcher, Civil War. org) Fort Sumter began to run out of supplies as March turned into April and Lincoln decided to resupply and obtain the fort.
On April 4, the Secretary of War, Leroy P. Walker sent a correspondence to General Beauregard and on April 10, he proceeded to tell Beauregard how to respond to the fort if Beauregard decided to “supply Fort Sumter by force. The message was that the fort would be evacuated, then the Beauregard would decide whether or not it would be destroyed. On April 11, Beauregard’s men demanded the evacuation of Fort Sumter, and when the fort refused, “Anderson was informed that Fort Sumter would be fired upon beginning at 4:30 a. m. on April 12. ” A shot was fired from Fort Johnson, signaling the beginning of the Civil War. At Tam, Anderson’s side fired back. Colonel Wigfall arrived at Morris Island to establish an unofficial association with Anderson for a ceasefire and surrender. “Other officers from Beauregard’s headquarters arrived and arranged a formal surrender and evacuation on April 14. The surrender ceremony began around 2:00 p. m. , on April 14, 1861″(Hatcher, Civil War. org)
