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Ft. Sumter
The Confederate forces start to seize Federal Forts. The attack begins on April 4, 1861 in Charleston, South Carolina at 4:30 AM. P.G.T. Beauregard leads the attack against Robert Anderson. Anderson is then forced to surrender the Fort on April 14, 1861. And the Union Flag is re-raised on April 14, 1865. Daniel Hough was the first man to die in the Civil War. -
Secession of Virginia
The fall of Fort Sumter united the North. Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to serve for three months. On April 17, Virginia, unwilling to fight against other Southern states, seceded a terrible loss to the Union. In May, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina followed Virginia, bringing the number of Confederate states to 11. However, the western counties of Virginia were antislavery, so they seceded from Virginia and were admitted into the Union as West Virginia in 1863. -
Battle of Bull Run
First bloodshed occurred on July 21. Months after Fort Sumter fell. An army of 30,000 inexperienced Union soldiers on their way to the Confederate capital at Richmond, came upon an equally inexperienced Confederate army near the creek of Bull Run. The battle was a seesaw affair. In the morning the Union had the higher ground, but the Confederates held firm. In the afternoon the Confederate reinforcements arrived and turned the tide of the battle into the first victory for the South.
