The Battle of Fort Sumter was the first military engagement of the American Civil War, taking place from April 12 to 14, 1861, in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The conflict began when Confederate forces, under Brigadier General P.G.T. Beauregard, fired upon the Union-held Fort Sumter, which was garrisoned by Major Robert Anderson and his troops. The attack came after South Carolina seceded from the Union and demanded the surrender of the fort. The Union forces, outnumbered and outgunned, eventually surrendered after two days of bombardment, with no casualties on either side. Although the battle was relatively small in scale, it marked the official start of the Civil War, as it galvanized both the North and South into full-scale conflict.