150-Year Anniversary ยท April 1861
When Lincoln announced he would send provisions to Fort Sumter, the Confederate government ordered its reduction. Confederate batteries opened fire on April 12, 1861, and after thirty-four hours of bombardment Major Anderson surrendered the fort on April 13. The long-feared war had begun.
On April 15 Lincoln called for 75,000 militia to suppress the rebellion. The proclamation electrified the North and forced the upper South to choose sides. Virginia's convention voted to secede on April 17, soon followed by other states of the upper South.
On April 19, Lincoln proclaimed a blockade of the southern coast, and a mob attacked Massachusetts troops marching through Baltimore, producing the first bloodshed of the conflict. Within a fortnight the nation had passed from uneasy peace to open war.
Fort Sumter opened the fighting; it did not decide the war. The campaigns that grew from that bombardment are collected on the history of the Civil War.