Fort Sumter, April 12, 1861 - The War Between the States Begins

Sesquicentennial Fort Sumter, April 12, 1861 - Jim Lacey - National Review Online

APRIL 12, 2011

At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Confederate artillery batteries surrounding Fort Sumter opened fire. It was the beginning of a war that consumed the nation for the next four years, left more than 620,000 dead, hundreds of thousands permanently maimed, and half the country lying in ruins. On this, the 150th anniversary of the start of the most calamitous war in American history, it is worth looking back on our attempt at national suicide and observing how far we have come since.

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