The Significance Of The Battle Of Fort Sumter To America’s Civil War Essay Example

Fought from April 12, 1861 to April 14 the same year, the Battle of Fort Sumter lasted an estimated thirty-four hours before its barricaded soldiers surrendered (Vaughan 2000, 124). Led by Major Robert Anderson, eighty-five Union soldiers sought refuge in the fort in a bid to defend themselves from the seceded South Carolina's armed forces (Vaughan 2000, 124). Located on Charleston Harbor, Fort Sumter lay within the territory of South Carolina and in turn, placed Anderson and his troops well within reach of the enemy. The Battle of Fort Sumter triggered the American Civil War and provided war tactics to the Union against the Confederacy.
Lincoln’s decision to declare war on the seceded states followed the Confederacy’s choice to attack Fort Sumter. Inside the fort, the poorly armed Anderson and other Union soldiers fortified themselves fearing for their lives. Preceding a direct attack on the fort was the confederate’s decision to open fire on a federal ship carrying supplies to Anderson. Under General Beauregard, Confederate troops on Charleston Harbor prevented said ship from docking on the shores of South Carolina (Young 2008, 174). As a result, the Confederates’ impeccable defense of the harbor served to significant purposes. First, Lincoln’s choice to block southern ports as the war progressed originated from the southerners’ apparent value of Charleston Harbor (Vaughan 2000, 157). Second, the Confederacy evidently appreciated the fort, launching an attack via sea and land was a valuable war tactic, thus engaging the Confederacy in multiple battlefronts (Vaughan 2000, 157).
As a result, by the end of the war, the Union reversed the events of the Battle of Fort Sumter by cutting off the confederate’s supplies.

References

Vaughan, Donald. The Everything Civil War Book: Everything You Need to Know About the War That Divided the Nation. New York: Everything Books, 2000.
Young, Earl G. American History for Everyone. Indiana: Xlibris Corporation, 2008.