Fort Sumter
This battle began on April 11, 1861, when Confederate Brigadier General P. G. T. Beauregard sent three aides, Colonel James Chesnut, Jr., Captain Stephen D. Lee, and Lieutenant A. R. Chisolm to demand the surrender of the fort. On Friday, April 12th, at 4:30am, the Confederates opened fire, firing for 34 straight hours on the fort. Edmund Ruffin, a noted Virginian agronomist and secessionist said that he fired the first shot on Fort Sumter. a witness wrote that the first shots brought "every soldier in the harbor to his feet, and every man, women, and child in the city of Charleston from their beds. The Civil War had begun. The fort, although massive, stood little chance. Its heavy guns faced the Atlantic Ocean, not the shore. After 34 hours of cannon blasts, Fort Sumter surrendered. " The last ray of hope for preserving the Union has expired at the assualt upon Fort Sumter..." Lincoln wrote.