<P> On April 4, as the supply situation on Sumter became critical, President Lincoln ordered a relief expedition, to be commanded by former naval captain (and future Assistant Secretary of the Navy) Gustavus V. Fox, who had proposed a plan for nighttime landings of smaller vessels than the Star of the West . Fox's orders were to land at Sumter with supplies only, and if he was opposed by the Confederates, to respond with the U.S. Navy vessels following and to then land both supplies and men . This time, Maj . Anderson was informed of the impending expedition, although the arrival date was not revealed to him . On April 6, Lincoln notified Governor Pickens that "an attempt will be made to supply Fort Sumter with provisions only, and that if such attempt be not resisted, no effort to throw in men, arms, or ammunition will be made without further notice, (except) in case of an attack on the fort ." </P> <P> Lincoln's notification had been made to the governor of South Carolina, not the new Confederate government, which Lincoln did not recognize . Pickens consulted with Beauregard, the local Confederate commander . Soon President Davis ordered Beauregard to repeat the demand for Sumter's surrender, and if it did not, to reduce the fort before the relief expedition arrived . The Confederate cabinet, meeting in Montgomery, endorsed Davis's order on April 9 . Only Secretary of State Robert Toombs opposed this decision: he reportedly told Jefferson Davis the attack "will lose us every friend at the North . You will only strike a hornet's nest...Legions now quiet will swarm out and sting us to death . It is unnecessary . It puts us in the wrong . It is fatal ." </P> <P> Beauregard dispatched aides--Col. James Chesnut, Col. James A. Chisholm, and Capt . Stephen D. Lee--to Fort Sumter on April 11 to issue the ultimatum . Anderson refused, although he reportedly commented, "I shall await the first shot, and if you do not batter us to pieces, we shall be starved out in a few days ." The aides returned to Charleston and reported this comment to Beauregard . At 1 a.m. on April 12, the aides brought Anderson a message from Beauregard: "If you will state the time which you will evacuate Fort Sumter, and agree in the meantime that you will not use your guns against us unless ours shall be employed against Fort Sumter, we will abstain from opening fire upon you ." After consulting with his senior officers, Maj . Anderson replied that he would evacuate Sumter by noon, April 15, unless he received new orders from his government or additional supplies . Col. Chesnut considered this reply to be too conditional and wrote a reply, which he handed to Anderson at 3: 20 a.m.: "Sir: by authority of Brigadier General Beauregard, commanding the Provisional Forces of the Confederate States, we have the honor to notify you that he will open fire of his batteries on Fort Sumter in one hour from this time ." Anderson escorted the officers back to their boat, shook hands with each one, and said "If we never meet in this world again, God grant that we may meet in the next ." </P> <P> At 4: 30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Lt. Henry S. Farley, acting upon the command of Capt . George S. James, fired a single 10 - inch mortar round from Fort Johnson . (James had offered the first shot to Roger Pryor, a noted Virginia secessionist, who declined, saying, "I could not fire the first gun of the war .") The shell exploded over Fort Sumter as a signal to open the general bombardment from 43 guns and mortars at Fort Moultrie, Fort Johnson, the floating battery, and Cummings Point . Under orders from Beauregard, the guns fired in a counterclockwise sequence around the harbor, with 2 minutes between each shot; Beauregard wanted to conserve ammunition, which he calculated would last for only 48 hours . Edmund Ruffin, another noted Virginia secessionist, had traveled to Charleston to be present for the beginning of the war, and fired one of the first shots at Sumter after the signal round, a 64 - pound shell from the Iron Battery at Cummings Point . The shelling of Fort Sumter from the batteries ringing the harbor awakened Charleston's residents (including diarist Mary Chesnut), who rushed out into the predawn darkness to watch the shells arc over the water and burst inside the fort . </P>

Who was the confederate general who gave the order to open fire on fort sumter
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