April 12, 1861: The Civil War Begins

Fold3 ^ | April 1, 2021 | Jenny Ashcraft

[gattaca]

On April 12, 1861, Confederate troops fired the opening shots of the Civil War at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. This month marks the 160th anniversary of the beginning of the war, the deadliest conflict ever fought on American soil. The Civil War lasted four years and resulted in an estimated 620,000 deaths and 1.5 million casualties. Approximately one in four soldiers that went to war never came back home. This impacted families, communities, and the entire country for generations to come.

Historical photograph of Fort Sumter The years leading up to the beginning of the Civil War were filled with increasing tensions between northern and southern states. In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president by a strictly northern vote. The election was the impetus for southern states, who were already wrangling with the North on issues like slavery, states’ rights, and westward expansion, to begin the process of secession. Four days after the election, South Carolina Senator James Chesnut resigned his Senate seat and began drafting secession documents. Before long, six more states joined South Carolina to form the Confederate States of America on February 8, 1861. That number increased to 11 states after the fall of Fort Sumter. Four border states (Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri) held enslaved persons but remained loyal to the Union.

Exterior view of Fort Sumter Fort Sumter, originally built as a coastal garrison, was located at the entrance to Charleston Harbor. Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard, from the newly formed Confederate States Army, demanded federal officials turn over the fort. He claimed the fort was located in Confederate territory and thus belonged to the South. President Lincoln refused and made attempts to send a ship to resupply the fort. The ship was turned away by Confederate guns.

Tensions grew, and Beauregard finally sent US officials an ultimatum – abandon the fort or face destruction. At 4:30 a.m. on April 12th, some 500 soldiers from the South Carolina Militia opened fire on 80 Federal soldiers inside the fort. The bombardment continued for 34 hours until the afternoon of April 13th, when the garrison commander, Major Robert Anderson, surrendered the fort. Though there were no fatalities on either side during the Battle of Fort Sumter, the conflict marked the beginning of more than 10,000 military engagements that occurred between 1861-1865.

Interior View of Fort Sumter Fold3® has an extensive collection of Civil War records including:

Brady Civil War Photos: The Civil War is considered the first major conflict to be photographed extensively. Mathew Brady led a photography team that captured images of the war using a mobile studio and darkroom. Civil War Maps: This collection of 2,000 detailed battle maps provides insight into Civil War engagements. Some maps show the placement of regiments and the movement of troops. Civil War “Widows Pensions” Files: Only 20% of Civil War pension files are digitized, but if you are lucky enough to find the pension file for your ancestor, you’ll uncover a treasure trove of information. Civil War Service Records: We have service records for both Union and Confederate troops. These records are organized by state. Service Records for US Colored Troops: Approximately 179,000 Black men served in the US Army and another 19,000 in the US Navy. Despite facing racism and discrimination, the US Colored Troops served with valor and honor. These records are organized by regiment. Southern Claims Approved: After the war, the US government established the Southern Claims Commission. This office accepted petitions for compensation for items taken by Union troops during the war. In addition to these collections, Fold3 has more than 150 additional collections that contain 43 million Civil War records. Start searching our Civil War collection today on Fold3®.

[jmacusa]

Diogenes Lamp, there you go again. >”Slavery was going to go anyway anyway but it would have done so more slowly without all the death, destruction, and poverty which followed the path taken’’.<

That is simply breathtakingly stupid. So by your admission the South choose a path of violent secession and war to preserve an institution that was ''slowly going away''. Good God, you really are dumb.

[BroJoeK]

wardaddy: "Southern democrats were more conservative than average Rockefeller Republican"

Southern Democrats were happy to solidly support "Progressives" like Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt.
They even voted solidly for Progressive Illinois Gov. Adlai Stephenson, twice over Republican Dwight Eisenhower.
That does not make Southerners more conservative than "average Rockefeller Republican".

In 1964 most Southerners outside the Deep South voted for Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" over conservative Republican Barry Goldwater.
That year Goldwater earned about 2.5 million votes in the Southern states he carried, but that was less than 10% of Goldwater's 27 million votes total -- meaning 90%+ of Goldwater supporters lived outside the Deep South.

In 1968 Nixon won with 32 million votes and again in 1972 with 47 million -- most of the difference was: in 1972 George Wallace's 10 million voters went to Nixon.
And, all things considered, in what sense was Nixon more conservative that Nelson Rockefeller?

Point is: on occasions Southerners happily supported both "Progressive Democrats" like Wilson, Roosevelt, Stephenson, Carter & Clinton plus "moderate" Republicans like Nixon, the Bushes, McCain & Romney.
Now, please understand, I don't blame them for that, but I also don't want to be slapped in the face by "holier than thou" Southern conservatives.

In politics, nobody is "holy", we all do the best we can under the circumstances.

[BroJoeK]

x: "The first talk of major federal railroad subsidies was for a transcontinental line, and Southerners like Jefferson Davis were as greedy for those as any Northerner. "

Right, in the 1850s Federal land grants paid for thousands of miles of railroad, North and South:

"The Land Grant Act of 1850 provided for 3.75 million acres of land to the states to support railroad projects; by 1857, 21 million acres of public lands were used for railroads in the Mississippi River valley, and the stage was set for more substantial Congressional subsidies to future railroads..."

"The act gave land in Illinois to the Illinois Central Railroad, and land in Alabama and Mississippi to the Mobile and Ohio Railroad..."

x: "There was some talk of federal subsidies for road-building.
I don't know how far it got, but the West and the Border states between North and South would have benefited.
Dredging Southern ports and building coastal forts in the South were also big items in the small federal budgets of the day."

Congress had no trouble, even in the early days, voting money for "postal roads" -- have no idea how they distinguished "postal roads" from any other types of road -- i.e., the old Cumberland Road first ordered by President Jefferson in 1806 -- but "postal roads" were not controversial and presumably were spread around pretty evenly.

[HandyDandy]

For more on “postal roads”, search “Star Routes” in Wikipedia.

[BroJoeK]

Adlai Stevenson — not Stephenson, sorry...

[BroJoeK]

HandyDandy: "For more on “postal roads”, search “Star Routes” in Wikipedia."

My source on early republic postal roads and other "Internal Improvements" is this book.
Table 4 shows annual Federal spending for the 12 years from 1826 to 1837 (JQ Adams & A Jackson).
During those years Federal revenues averaged about $30 million per year, of which $2 million went for "Internal Improvements".
Of that $2 million per year, roughly:

1. Half went for postal roads & canals.
2. A third went for clearing rivers & harbors.
3. A sixth went for lighthouses.

Again, I don't know how they distinguished "postal roads" from other more major projects, such as Pres. Jefferson's Secretary of Treasury Gallatin's 1808 proposals, estimated to total $20 million: