The Battle of Fort Sumter (April 12–13, 1861) was the bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter in South Carolina which is considered the official start of the Civil War between the Union's loyal and Southern Confederate factions. Confederate forces assaulted Fort Sumter in the Charleston Bay for 34 hours. Under heavy assault and low on supplies, the Union surrendered the fort to the Confederacy. Although Fort Sumter was taken by Confederate forces during the first battle of the American Civil War, the Union regained control later in the war after a siege that lasted almost exactly two years from September 8, 1863, to February 17, 1865.