The day after President Lincoln took office, he received a message from a commander who was located at Fort Sumter. Fort Sumter is located on and island that protects Charleston Harbor. The commander told Lincoln that the fort had little amounts of supplies left and on top of that the Confederates were demanding that they surrender. To solve the problem and prevent war, Lincoln contacted the Governor of South Carolina, Francis Pickens. In the message President Lincoln told the Governor that he was going to send an unarmed force or expedition with supplies for the fort. Lincoln also promised Pickens that the men would not fire unless fired upon. However, on April 12, 1861 the Confederates opened fire on the fort under the command of Jefferson Davis. Reinforcements couldn’t arrive to help the Union because of high seas. Therefore Fort Sumter had to surrender on April 14 and many lives were lost.
Soon after this event President Lincoln wanted troops and volunteers, many signed up quickly after hearing of the need for troops. Secondly many southern states voted to join the Confederacy. Those states were Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas. As a result of this the battle the Civil War began. This was a Confederate victory.