 Kuedza kweUnion kutorazve Charleston Harbor kwakatanga musi waApril 7, 1863, apo Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont, mutungamiriri weSouth Atlantic Blockading Squadron, akatungamira ngarava yezvombo New Ironsides, shongwe yezvombo zvehondo Keokuk, uye vatariri Weehawken, Passaic, Montauk, Patapsco, Nantucket, Catskill, uye Nahant pakurwiswa kwezvidziviriro zvechiteshi. Hondo yeFort Sumter ya1863 ndiyo yakanga yakakura kupfuura dzimwe dzose pakushandiswa kwevatariri kusvikira panguva iyoyo. Kurwisa kwacho hakuna kubudirira: ngarava yakanakisa yeUnion, USS New Ironsides haina kumbobvira yaita basa, uye zvikepe zve ironclads zvakangopfura 154 chete, nepo ichigamuchira 2,209 kubva kune vanodzivirira veConfederate. Nemhaka yokukuvadzwa kwakagamuchirwa mukurwiswa, USS Keokuk yakanyura zuva rakatevera, kure nechokumaodzanyemba kweMorris Island. Kwemwedzi wakatevera, vachishanda usiku kuti vadzivise kutarisa kweFederal squadron, maConfederates akaponesa Keokuks maviri gumi nerimwe-inch Dahlgren pfuti. Chimwe chezvombo zveDahlgren chakakurumidza kuiswa muFort Sumter. 