Two Americas, now formally at war, greet the first sunrise of a long, bloody, bitter military contest. Well aware that continued Union resistance is futile in the battle for Fort Sumter, the fort’s commander, Major Robert Anderson, arranges for a surrender. The formalities of defeat will take place on the morrow, but the Confederate celebration…
And so it begins. At 4:30 AM, Confederate batteries open fire on Fort Sumter off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina. Sumter’s Union garrison returns fire. In the space of mere moments, month-longs apprehension evaporates. The war is on. There is no turning back. The first return fire from Sumter comes from a cannon manned…
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln’s plan to resupply Fort Sumter is in motion, but the Confederacy has served notice that it will not allow the plan to proceed. The time has come. Confederate General Beauregard sends three aides – Colonel James Chesnut, Jr., Captain Stephen D. Lee, and Lieutenant A. R. Chisolm – to demand the…