Download Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor (one of the most important federal

The Civil War
Begins
Ft. Sumter
• April 6, 1861 – President Lincoln announces
that he is re-supplying Union troops at Fort
Sumter, in Charleston Harbor (one of
the most important federal posts that
controlled the entrance to Charleston
Harbor).
• Confederate leaders decided to attack
Fort Sumter before the ships arrived.
They opened fire at 4:30 a.m. on April 12,
1861. The Civil War had begun.
• The fighting at Ft. Sumter lasted 34 hours.
Many people who lived in the area brought
picnics to watch the bombardment. In the
end, the Union had no choice but to
surrender.
• The attack on Ft. Sumter outraged Lincoln.
He declared the South was in rebellion.
I. Leaders appointed
A. Presidents
1. Lincoln was President in the
Union
a. Had little military
experience
b. Well-respected
http://search.gallery.yahoo.com/search/corbis?p=abraham+lincoln+-arch+-pole
2. Jefferson Davis was
President of the Confederacy
a. Graduated from
West Point
(military school)
b. Relied on his own
wisdom instead of
listening to
advisors
http://www.jeffersondavis.8m.com/
B. Generals
1. Robert E. Lee in the South
a. Probably the best general
on either side
b. Loved by his troops and
Southerners in general
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/LEE/lee2.html
2. Many generals in the North
a. Most of the best leaders in
the Army went South
b. Lincoln tried several
different generals before the
North started winning
c. Finally settled on Ulysses
S. Grant
III. Plans on both sides
A. Union
1. Blockade Southern ports
2. Seize control of the
Mississippi
3.Capture Confederate Capitol
(Richmond,Virginia)
B. Confederacy
1. Keep the Union out !
2. Get help from France and
Britain
IV. First real battle First Battle of Bull Run
A. Union Army met
the Confederate
Army outside of
the Washington,
D.C. at a creek
called Bull Run
B. Northern spectators came
to watch
C. Both sides assumed it would
be a quick victory
D. The battle turned in favor of
the Confederates and the
Union Army was forced to
retreat
E. The First Battle of Bull
Run shows that neither
side is prepared for a
long fight