And That's the Way It Was

In April, nearly four months after the U.S. soldiers at Ft. Sumter had first asked for instructions from their superiors (as well as for food and provisions), the local commander of Confederate troops (General P.G.T. Beauregard) asked U.S. Army Major Robert Anderson how much longer he intended to stay at the fort. Anderson replied that it couldn't be much longer, since he and his men were about out of food. President Abraham Lincoln then revealed to Confederate President Jefferson Davis that a U.S. supply ship was again on the way - but this time, it was accompanied by U.S. war ships! Upon hearing that news, Davis instructed Beauregard to demand that U.S. troops at the fort leave immediately or prepare to be fired upon by the Confederates. The rest, as they say, is history.