What happened at Fort Sumter on April 19 1861?

On April 19, 1861, the U.S. government ordered the supply ship Star of the West to deliver provisions to Fort Sumter, which was under Confederate control in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The mission was thwarted when Confederate forces fired upon the vessel, forcing it to retreat. This incident heightened tensions between the North and South, contributing to the outbreak of the Civil War, which officially began just days later with the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861.