<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The Battle of Fort Sumter (April 12--13, 1861) was the bombardment of Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina by the Confederate States Army, and the return gunfire and subsequent surrender by the United States Army, that started the American Civil War . Following the declaration of secession by South Carolina on December 20, 1860, its authorities demanded that the U.S. Army abandon its facilities in Charleston Harbor . On December 26, Major Robert Anderson of the U.S. Army surreptitiously moved his small command from the vulnerable Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island to Fort Sumter, a substantial fortress built on an island controlling the entrance of Charleston Harbor . An attempt by U.S. President James Buchanan to reinforce and resupply Anderson using the unarmed merchant ship Star of the West failed when it was fired upon by shore batteries on January 9, 1861 . South Carolina authorities then seized all Federal property in the Charleston area except for Fort Sumter . </P> <P> During the early months of 1861, the situation around Fort Sumter increasingly began to resemble a siege . In March, Brigadier General P.G.T. Beauregard, the first general officer of the newly formed Confederate States Army, was placed in command of Confederate forces in Charleston . Beauregard energetically directed the strengthening of batteries around Charleston harbor aimed at Fort Sumter . Conditions in the fort, growing increasingly dire due to shortages of men, food, and supplies, deteriorated as the Union soldiers rushed to complete the installation of additional guns . </P>

What was the first shot fired in the civil war