4:30 a.m.

Secession Confederate officials soon began seizing federal mints,

arsenals, and military installations all across the south

Fort Sumpter Fort Sumter,

South Carolina, was important because it guarded Charleston harbor. The US (Union Army) still had troops in this fort.

Why do you think the Confederacy attacked the fort?

Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor The Union had control of this key southern fort The Confederates knew controlling the fort

meant controlling the ships and the harbor

Attack on Fort Sumter

President Lincoln was determined to find a way to hold the country together without giving in to Confederate demands

He wanted:To avoid a war with the southernersThe southern states to return to the

Union…peacefully It was too late…

The Opening Salvo The first shot of the

American Civil War didn't hit anything It was a 10-inch

mortar shell that exploded above Fort Sumter as a signal for Confederate artillery to open fire on the Union-held fort.

Edmund Ruffin, Confederate soldier who fired the first shot against Fort Sumter

Maj. Robert Anderson, defender of Fort Sumter

Bombardment of Fort SumpterCharleston Harbor, April 12 1861

Fort during the battle

Artists Rendition

Fort Sumter, S.C., April 14, 1861, under the Confederate flag.

Reaction to Fort Sumter

Lincoln’s Response -75,000 Volunteers and a blockade of all Southern ports

Both sides prepare for warRemember Lincoln’s inauguration – “In your

hands, not mine, my disaffected countrymen…”

North and South