a day after his inauguration, lincoln received a dispatch from major robert anderson. he was the commander of fort sumter, in charleston harbor. he informed lincoln that if the fort was not resupplied soon, he and his men would have to leave. lincoln thought of a way to resupply the fort without starting any fighting. he would send unarmed supply ships to fort sumter. he informed csa president davis of his intentions. this way, the u.s. would not start any fighting but would retain the fort as lincoln had promised they would. immediately davis sent general p. g. t. beauregard to force the fort's surrender before the supply ships could arrive. at 4:30 a.m. on the morning on april 12, 1861, confederate guns began a bombardment of fort sumter. after 33 hours, major anderson surrendered the fort. this was the start of the civil war.