The start of the Civil War: Fort Sumter
When South Carolina seceded from the Union on December 20, 1860, United States Maj. Robert Anderson and his force of 85 soldiers were positioned at Fort Moultrie near the mouth of Charleston Harbor. On December 26, fearing for the safety of his men, Anderson moved his command to Fort Sumter, an imposing fortification in the middle of the harbor. Just after the inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln on March 4, 1861, Anderson reported that he had only a six week supply of food left in the fort and Confederate patience for a foreign force in its territory was wearing thin. On Thursday, April 11, 1861, Beauregard
dispatched aides to Maj. Anderson to demand the fort’s surrender. Anderson
refused. On Saturday, April 13, Anderson surrendered the fort. Incredibly, no
soldiers were killed in battle. The generous terms of surrender, however,
allowed Anderson to perform a 100-gun salute before he and his men evacuated
the fort the next day. The salute began at 2:00 P.M. on April 14, but was cut
short to 50 guns after an accidental explosion killed one of the gunners and
mortally wounded another. Carrying their tattered banner, the men marched out
of the fort and boarded a boat that ferried them to the Union ships outside the
harbor. They were greeted as heroes on their return to the North.