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Your Flag Will Fly Again!!!
The Battle of Fort Sumter was the first engagement of the Civil War. South Carolina, the first to secede from the Union, had seized all Federal property in the state. All except Fort Sumter. It had been one of three national forts in Charleston Harbor. Major Robert Anderson, its commander under orders from Washington, refused to surrender the fort, and by April 1861 tensions were high.
After careful consideration, the newly inaugurated President, Abraham Lincoln, decided to send a relief expedition to the beleaguered fort, which was low on food and supplies. Early in the morning of April 12th Confederate commander General Pierre G. T. Beauregard, sent an ultimatum to Major Anderson the fort would be attacked in one hour if Anderson and his garrison did not evacuate. Anderson refused.
The stalemate in Charleston ended at 4:30 a.m. Confederate batteries around the harbor opened fire on the fort. In the fort were ten officers, sixty-eight soldiers, forty-three civilians and eight musicians - certainly no match to Beaureguard's command, approximately 6,000.
The next day, after eight hours of bombardment, the two Federal relief vessels appeared at the mouth of the harbor. Confederate fire was so intense the ships were forced to withdraw. Finally after thirty-four hours, with little food and almost no ammunition, Anderson was forced to surrender. No one died on either side at Ft. Sumter, although a Federal gunner was killed during the surrender ceremony when a powder charge prematurely exploded. The same tattered flag Anderson carried away, was raised over the fort exactly four years later on April 14, 1865, by none other than Robert Anderson. In 1948 the fort was declared a National Monument.
From Dan Roberts
University of Richmond
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