History Special (Battle of Fort Sumter: 150th Anniversary)

Today is a history special for the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. 150 years ago the bloodiest war on American soil started at Fort Sumter, a Union fort on soon to be Confederate soil, which sparked the four year war with the leadership of General Beauregard that helped defeat the Union Fort that was led by Major Robert Anderson. Although the Confederacy didn't exist at this exact time, within the next ongoing year, the entire south would form into a Confederacy. At this time, the attack was initially led by the South Carolina Militia, but with ongoing tensions between the North and South that had been continuing for years on the issue of slavery, it was fairly obvious that a war would take place soon. When Beauregard was set fourth in order to attack the fort for a significant land advantage for the south, the battle seemed more like a scrimmage rather than a commonly thought of Civil War battle because the evolution of battles during the Civil War hadn't evolved yet. Beauregard energetically directed the strengthening of batteries around Charleston harbor aimed at Fort Sumter. Conditions in the fort were growing increasingly bare due to shortages of men, food, and supplies, deteriorated as the Union soldiers rushed to complete the installation of additional guns. On April 12, the Confederates bombarded the fort from artillery batteries surrounding the harbor. Although the Union garrison returned fire, they were significantly outgunned and after 34 hours, Major Anderson agreed to evacuate. There were no deaths on either side as a direct result of this engagement, although a gun explosion during the surrender ceremonies on April 14 caused two Union deaths. Later on, four southern states completed their intention to join the Confederate States, thus officially inaugerating the Battle of Fort Sumter as the first battle of the Civil War.