Civil War Battles – Attack on Fort Sumter
The Official Start of Armed Hostilities Between North and South
Sep 27, 2009
A dark cloud hung over the United States of America in the early months of 1861. Abraham Lincoln, a moderate Republican opposed to the spread of slavery, had just been elected president, forcing South Carolina, the most rebellious of the Southern States, to secede from the Union. In the coming weeks of January - Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas, the area known as the “Deep South” or “Lower South,” all voted to leave the Union as well. In February of 1861, the delegates from these states met in Montgomery, Alabama and formed the Confederate States of America, naming Jefferson Davis as the president.
From the time of the previous administration, to the early months of 1861, Southerners had begun to seize federal forts in the South, so when South Carolina left the Union, it was only a matter of time before their eye would be set on securing Fort Sumter.
Fort Sumter
In the hierarchical social structure of the Old South, wealthy planters and merchants formed the upper echelons of Southern society, making Charleston, South Carolina the cultural center of the region. Many wealthy men from the Lower South had lavish homes in the area because the city was a center for trade, commerce, and social functions.
Protecting this cultural center was Fort Sumter, located in Charleston Harbor. Named after General Thomas Sumter, a war-hero from the revolutionary days, the fort had a pentagonal structure (see picture), could potentially house 650 men with 135 guns, and was in the process of being finished when hostilities began.
Securing this crucial fortification was essential for the South if they wanted to successfully defend their shores, as was the removal of the federal garrison stationed there, which would sever the last ties it had to the Union.
One of Lincoln’s first challenges as president was the question of whether to surrender the fort to the Confederates, or to send supplies and reinforcements to aid them, thus escalating hostilities even further. The first attempt, by a ship called the Start of the West, was repulsed, prompting Lincoln to send a larger fleet to do the job upon discovery that the Fort would not have enough food to survive past mid-April. The fleet began to arrive on April 11th; having no navy to repulse the ships, the Confederates were forced to make some tough decisions.
Composition of the Forces
Fort Sumter was under the command of Major Robert Anderson, who had a garrison of about 84 Unions soldiers and roughly half that amount in civilian workers. He was under-manned, and not prepared to withstand a Confederate assault. In addition, budget cuts by the previous administration had left the fort poorly equipped with artillery, making the job even harder, and as already mentioned, the fort was not complete.
Brigadier General Pierre Gustav Toutant Beauregard commanded the Confederate forces, which had the benefit of around 7,000 men and 120 pieces of artillery, strategically positioned for optimal effect.
Without help, there was no way Anderson could have withstood such a force arrayed against him.
The Battle
Beauregard demanded the surrender of the fort on April 11th – Anderson refused, but told them that he was running low on supplies, and would have to leave on April 15th anyway. Beauregard agreed to let Anderson and his men go if they left the fort before the 15th, but when he found out about the Union fleet, this deal was off the table. In the early hours of April 12, Confederate batteries opened fire on the walls of Fort Sumter from nearby Fort Johnson and from Morris Island. Due to their lack of manpower, the men of Sumter were unable to return the artillery barrage with any great effect.
The bombardment continued for more than 30 hours, during which time Anderson refused to surrender the forth, despite further requests from Beauregard and the state Senator to do so, plus an increased concentration of artillery fire. It was only when lack of food set in that Anderson agreed to evacuate, but not surrender. He took with him the flag of Sumter, and on April 14th, his men boarded a steamboat headed for New York.
The Result
Casualties were negligible compared to the slaughter that would follow in subsequent battles, and the main objective of the Confederacy had been achieved – Union forces had been driven from South Carolina, and the state was now truly independent.
Many years later, Major Anderson would return with the Sumter flag, and hoist it back up, ironically enough on the same day as Lincoln’s assassination.
Next article will talk about the first major engagement of the war – Bull Run or First Manassas.
Sources:
National Park Service Fort Sumter
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