The Surrender of Fort Sumter

By |2021-08-15T17:43:50-05:00August 10th, 2021|Categories: Bradley Birzer Fort Sumter Series, Bradley J. Birzer, Senior Contributors|

The Battle of Fort Sumter lasted 34 hours, killed no one, and wasted 4,000 Confederate rounds and 1,000 Federal rounds. At that point, it was one of the largest artillery battles ever fought on North American soil. The Confederates loved the glory and honor, as they understood it, when Abner Doubleday fired back, paid to [...]

The Battle of Fort Sumter Begins

By |2021-08-04T14:57:25-05:00August 3rd, 2021|Categories: Abraham Lincoln, Bradley Birzer Fort Sumter Series, Bradley J. Birzer, Civil War, Senior Contributors|

In early March of 1861, without Abraham Lincoln’s authorization, Secretary of State William Seward told Southern commissioners as well as the Northern press that Lincoln would not fight for Fort Sumter. When the Commissioners demanded to meet with a Lincoln official on March 14, 1861, Seward properly declined, but agreed, in a rather complicated fashion, [...]

Lincoln’s Uncertain Decision: Fort Sumter, 1861

By |2021-07-29T10:01:44-05:00July 28th, 2021|Categories: Abraham Lincoln, Bradley Birzer Fort Sumter Series, Bradley J. Birzer, Civil War, Senior Contributors|

The hardest decision of Abraham Lincoln's presidency revolved around the Confederate garrison stationed at Fort Sumter. On March 5, 1861, Abraham Lincoln, only president for a day, had to make a decision on what to do. Lincoln had a divided cabinet, a divided party, and a divided country. Half of his cabinet wanted war with [...]

The First Shots of the Civil War: “The Star of the West”

By |2022-01-07T23:31:05-06:00November 13th, 2018|Categories: American Republic, Bradley Birzer Fort Sumter Series, Bradley J. Birzer, Civil War, Constitution, History, Senior Contributors, War|

The Union soldiers defending Forts Sumter and Moultrie in Charleston Harbor had come to believe that their honor, as well as the honor of the Constitution and the federal government, was at stake. Shortly after dawn, around 6 am, on January 9, 1861, Captain Abner Doubleday spotted a steamer preparing to enter Charleston Harbor by [...]

Major Anderson Prepares Fort Sumter for War

By |2021-04-11T13:18:48-05:00November 8th, 2016|Categories: Bradley Birzer Fort Sumter Series, Bradley J. Birzer, Civil War, South, War|

Despite his own views on the matter of secession, Major Robert Anderson was full of vigor and fight in the immediate aftermath of the move of his troops into Fort Sumter. While President James Buchanan had received the news of Major Robert Anderson’s move to occupy Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, Anderson had his own [...]

What Happened at Fort Sumter?

By |2021-04-11T13:19:15-05:00June 22nd, 2016|Categories: American Republic, Bradley Birzer Fort Sumter Series, Bradley J. Birzer, Civil War, Featured, History, War|

Major Robert Anderson, the commander of Fort Sumter, was a virtuous man caught in a terrible spot. While his personal but generally private loyalties lay with the South, his duty as he saw it was to the United States government. In the early evening of December 26, 1860, at Fort Moultrie, Charleston, South Carolina, Captain [...]

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