The Importance Of Fort Sumter Battle

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Though the Civil War is known to have begun when the Confederate troops unleashed their weaponry on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, and the declaration of secession by the Southern States, the war did not begin in earnest until the first shots were fired during the Battle of Bull Run. The goal of the Battle of Bull Run was to fight against a large portion of the Confederates who, for the most part, were already grouped together, and force open a path to Richmond, which was the Confederate capital, to end the civil war before it advanced. This battle was fought between the unions and confederates who called themselves the “army of Virginia” near Manassas Junction, Virginia. The Manassas Junction was an important railroad junction that lied twenty-five miles just west of Washington, D.C. Everyone assumed this battle would be quick and easy and never would have imagined the number of casualties this battle left. Having seen the outcome, many began questioning how many more battles should be prepared for until the civil war was declared officially over. How …show more content…

Fort Sumter is a war fort on an island in South Carolina not too far away from Charleston. Confederate soldiers, led by General P.G.T. Beauregard, unloaded their weapons on the Union garrison that were holding Fort Sumter after they heard President Lincoln had announced plans to resupply the fort. The entire purpose of building this fort was to guard Charleston Harbor but due to the fact the fort was not yet complete at the time of the attack, over a dozen canons, (that were a huge part of protecting the harbor), were not loaded or ready, leaving the Confederates with an upper hand. The battle lasted 33 agonizing hours. It wasn’t until around 2:30 pm on April 14, Major Robert Anderson, garrison commander, realized he had no chance at victory and he, along with 86 of his union soldiers, surrendered the fort and was evacuated the next

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