This episode covers the standoff at Fort Sumter from December 1860 through April 1861. Students will learn how Major Robert Anderson moved his garrison into the unfinished fort, how the South Carolina militia turned back the Star of the West, how Lincoln's cabinet split over whether to abandon or reinforce Sumter, and how Lincoln's decision to send unarmed supply boats forced the Confederacy to fire the first shot.

Key Takeaways

• Fort Sumter was a brand-new federal installation in Charleston Harbor with 40-foot brick walls, designed for 650 soldiers and 146 guns, but garrisoned in late 1860 by only about 80 men under Major Robert Anderson, a Kentuckian and former slaveholder loyal to the Union.

• On December 26, 1860, under the cloak of night, Anderson moved his garrison from Fort Moultrie into the more defensible Fort Sumter; Northerners praised the move and Southerners denounced it.

• On January 9, 1861, South Carolina batteries fired on the unarmed merchant ship Star of the West as it attempted to deliver 200 reinforcements ordered by President Buchanan; the ship turned back and Anderson refused to surrender.

• Lincoln's cabinet was initially split over whether to evacuate Fort Sumter; Postmaster General Montgomery Blair argued for holding the fort, Lincoln agreed, and the president then chose to send only unarmed supply boats so that any first shot would be fired by the Confederacy.

• Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard's batteries opened fire on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861; after a 34-hour bombardment, Major Anderson surrendered on April 13, 1861 and the Civil War had begun.

Questions & Answers (FAQ):

Q1: When did the Civil War begin?

The Civil War began on April 12, 1861 when Confederate batteries under the command of General P.G.T. Beauregard opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The bombardment lasted 34 hours. Major Robert Anderson, the Union garrison commander, surrendered the fort on April 13, 1861. President Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers in response prompted four additional Southern states to secede, and full-scale war followed.

Q2: Why did the South attack Fort Sumter?

The Confederacy attacked Fort Sumter because it was a federal installation inside the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, the first state to secede. After secession, South Carolina demanded that the federal government relinquish its properties in the state, including Sumter.

President Lincoln refused. When he announced that he would send unarmed supply boats to provision the garrison, Confederate leaders concluded that war was preferable to allowing the federal government to maintain a foothold in Charleston. A widely circulated newspaper appeal from Alabama urged Jefferson Davis to attack, warning that without bloodshed Southerners might 'be back in the old Union in less than ten days.'

Q3: Who was Major Robert Anderson?

Major Robert Anderson was the United States Army officer who commanded the federal garrison at Charleston Harbor in late 1860 and early 1861. A Kentuckian and former slaveholder, his personal sympathies lay with the South, but he was loyal to the Union.

Anderson saw that a Confederate attempt to seize the new Fort Sumter was inevitable, and on December 26, 1860 he secretly moved his garrison from Fort Moultrie into Sumter under the cloak of night. He held the fort through the Star of the West incident in January 1861 and the 34-hour Confederate bombardment in April 1861, surrendering only after rations had run out and the fort was severely damaged.

Q4: What was the Star of the West incident?

The Star of the West incident was an early flashpoint of the Civil War. On January 9, 1861, the unarmed merchant ship Star of the West, sent under orders from President James Buchanan by General-in-Chief Winfield Scott, attempted to deliver 200 reinforcements and supplies to Major Robert Anderson's garrison at Fort Sumter.

As the ship approached Charleston Harbor, South Carolinian batteries opened fire and struck the vessel. The Star of the West turned back. South Carolina demanded Anderson surrender the fort; he refused. The incident is often cited as the first shots fired between North and South, three months before the formal bombardment of Sumter.

Q5: Why did Lincoln send unarmed supply boats to Fort Sumter?

Lincoln chose to send unarmed supply boats to Fort Sumter as a calculated political and military maneuver. Most of his cabinet, including Secretary of State William Seward and General-in-Chief Winfield Scott, favored evacuating the fort to keep the eight remaining slaveholding states in the Union.

Postmaster General Montgomery Blair argued that giving up Sumter would fatally weaken the federal government's position, and Lincoln agreed. By sending only provisions and keeping armed reinforcements offshore on transports, Lincoln preserved his inaugural pledge to hold federal property while putting the choice to fire the first shot squarely on the Confederacy. On April 6, 1861, he notified Governor Francis Pickens of South Carolina that he intended only to resupply the garrison. The Confederates chose to attack, and the war began.

Lincoln's First Inaugural and a Nation on the Brink

On inauguration day, March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln spoke these words about the deeply divided nation: 'We must not be enemies. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.' Seven Southern states had already seceded from the Union and formed the Confederacy. Then came April 12, 1861. On that day, Fort Sumter suffered a barrage of Confederate artillery fire. America was at war. Civil war. The next four years would drown out the chorus of the Union and deafen the nation to her better angels.

From its inception, the new republic was marked by a terrible paradox. American freedom was established while American slavery endured. In 1776 the 13 colonies spanned just under 900,000 square miles. By 1861 the United States covered about 3 million square miles. As the nation expanded, the tensions over whether new territories would become slave or free states mounted. Lincoln opposed the expansion of slavery. His election convinced many Southerners that their political power was diminishing. Seven Southern states seceded from the Union.

Anderson Moves Into Fort Sumter

South Carolina attempted to get the federal government to relinquish its properties there, including Fort Sumter. The fort was brand new, built on granite and situated four miles off the coast of Charleston. It had 40-foot-high brick walls and a capacity for 650 soldiers and 146 guns. In the winter of 1860 there were only about 80 soldiers in the Charleston garrison. The interior of Fort Sumter was still under construction, so the Union forces were temporarily stationed at Fort Moultrie, one mile away.

The garrison commander, Major Robert Anderson, was a Kentuckian and former slaveholder. His sympathies lay with the South, but he was loyal to the Union. Anderson saw the inevitability of a Confederate attempt to seize the new fort. On December 26, 1860, under the cloak of night, he moved his garrison into Fort Sumter. Northerners praised the move. Southerners denounced it. In Charleston, the local paper accused Anderson of initiating a civil war.

The Star of the West and Rising Tensions

Under President Buchanan's orders, Army General-in-Chief Winfield Scott sent 200 reinforcements to Fort Sumter. They traveled on a merchant ship called the Star of the West. As the ship approached Charleston Harbor on January 9, 1861, South Carolinian guns opened fire, striking the vessel and sending it into permanent retreat. Surrender was demanded, but Anderson refused.

In his inaugural address on March 4, 1861, Lincoln promised not to concede any federal properties. When he first stepped into office, Lincoln found a dispatch from Major Anderson. His forces were in dire need of provisions. Rations would soon run out. Weeks before, the Confederacy had officially been formed and Jefferson Davis elected its president. Davis assigned General P.G.T. Beauregard to command all forces encircling Fort Sumter. No longer strictly South Carolinian, the men who squared off against Anderson and his men were now Confederates.

Montgomery Blair's Stand and Lincoln's Bold Move

As tensions mounted, General Scott and Secretary of State William Seward favored withdrawing the federal garrison from Fort Sumter. Seward, in fact, leaked word to Confederate commissioners and the press that the fort would soon be vacated. Most of Lincoln's cabinet agreed with Scott and Seward.

One man did not: Montgomery Blair, the postmaster general. He argued that giving up Fort Sumter would weaken the federal government's position. Lincoln agreed. So did public opinion in the North, appalled that Fort Sumter would soon be given over to the Confederates. Newspapers and civic leaders predicted that Lincoln's presidency was, for all intents and purposes, over just days into his first term. On March 28, General Scott decided to evacuate Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens. His reasons were not military but political: to reassure the eight remaining slaveholding states in the Union, including his own, Virginia. Upset by Scott's scheme, Lincoln called a meeting of his cabinet where he read the general's directive. Now the cabinet majority moved Lincoln's way and called for reinforcing Anderson and his men. Lincoln decided he would send unarmed supply boats into Charleston Harbor. Armed reinforcements would remain on transport ships nearby, ready for battle if it broke out. If the Confederates opened fire, they could be blamed for starting the war.

If they let the supply boats through, peace would be preserved for another day and the federal properties retained, as Lincoln had promised in his inaugural speech. On April 6, 1861, the president conveyed a message to South Carolina's governor, Francis Pickens, that he intended only to supply provisions for Anderson and his men: 'If such attempt be not resisted, no effort to throw in men, arms, or ammunition will be made.'

Bombardment and Surrender

The next move now belonged to the Confederacy. Southern leaders especially feared voluntary reconstruction of the Union. From Alabama came this newspaper appeal to Confederate President Davis: 'Sir, unless you sprinkle blood in the face of the dying people of Alabama, they will be back in the old Union in less than ten days.' War, in other words, was the best way to hold the Confederate States together. On April 9, under advisement from his cabinet, Jefferson Davis ordered Beauregard to take Fort Sumter before support could arrive. On April 12, Beauregard's artillery opened fire.

For 34 hours, Fort Sumter was pummeled. The federal fleet just outside Charleston Harbor was hit by a gale and scattered. Only one of the three unarmed boats intended for shuttling supplies to the fort actually made it to the harbor, the USS Yankee. Because of heavy seas and the Confederate bombardment, the Yankee could not reach Anderson and the Union forces. On April 13, 1861, Anderson surrendered and the American flag was lowered at Fort Sumter. The war that followed would consume the next four years of American life.