The Battle of Fort Sumter

1860 brought the election of Abraham Lincoln and with it the issue of slavery. Where other candidates tread carefully or even ignored the split views of slavery, Lincoln was very transparent with his beliefs and intents about slavery. This lead to the eventually secession  of seven southern states from the Union and the sorta kinda maybe start of the American Civil War.

Fort Sumter played an important role in the secession of the south. South Carolina, the first state to secede, had already taken many US military bases located in the south and Fort Sumter was viewed as one of the few remaining obstacles to complete sovereignty. Refusing multiple calls to abandon Fort Sumter, Major Robert Anderson held garrison against over 3,000 militia troops.

This struggle revealed another problem for the north. Lincoln, knowing Anderson was running out of supplies and could not defend much longer, needed to send reinforcements to prevent it from falling to the south. However, sending reinforcements would be seen as an act of aggression and trigger a war with the south. This would also show to the public the north as having 'fired the first shot' or starting the war. Lincoln who couldn't let Sumter fall but also couldn't be seen as the instigator, decided to send only supplies and provisions to Fort Sumter, enough to keep it from falling, but no troops that would be seen as an act of aggression.

To take Fort Sumter, the south eventually had to launch an assault, 'firing the first shot' and triggering the start of the American Civil War. Fort Sumter fell that afternoon, and while the north lost a valuable military base, they got away with not 'officially' starting the conflict and were able to freely wage war with the Confederation with their superior military and economy.

Sources:

https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/fort-sumter

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/fort-sumter