south carolina militia fired the first shots of the civil war.
south carolina militia fired the first shots of the civil war.
what side fired the first shots of the civil war?
south carolina militia
following its secession from the union in december, south carolina militia seized castle pinckney and the charleston arsenal and their supplies of arms and ammunition. on january 9, 1861, citadel cadets fired upon the merchant ship "star of the west" as it was entering charleston's harbor. local pride makes some call these the first shots of the civil war. the ship had been sent by the buchanan administration with relief supplies of men and matérial for ft. sumter's small garrison. as the new confederate states of america came into being late that winter, old and abandoned forts were revamped around charleston to focus upon the massive, though not completed, federal fort. just as lincoln was being inaugurated, the new president of the confederacy, jefferson davis, appointed general beauregard of louisiana to take command of the virtual siege of the island fort. informed by the new lincoln government that a supply ship, with food but no men or munitions, was to restock the fortress, president davis, after consulting with his cabinet, on april 9 ordered the fort to be reduced before it was resupplied.
charleston in the american civil war
atf agents stated that they heard shots coming from within the compound, while branch davidian survivors claimed that the first shots came from the atf agents outside. a suggested reason may have been an accidental discharge of a weapon, possibly by an atf agent, causing the atf to respond with fire from automatic weapons. other reports claim the first shots were fired by the atf "dog team" sent to kill the dogs in the branch davidian kennel. three helicopters of the army national guard were used as aerial distraction, and all took incoming fire. during the first shots, koresh was wounded, shot in the hand and in the stomach. within a minute of the raid starting, branch davidian wayne martin called emergency services, pleading for them to stop shooting. the resident asked for a ceasefire, and audiotapes record him saying, "here they come again!" and, "that's them shooting! that's not us!"
waco siege