[colorado tanker]

Fort Sumter? Nice read, Sam, but how long will it be before all the neoconfederates land here? :)

Seems to me Maj. Anderson handled the situation just right. He was determined not to fire the shot that he feared would start the Civil War - and he was right that the first shot would do just that. He also handled his command honorably, doing what he could for self defense and surrendering only when the situation was truly hopeless.

I wonder what would have happened if the South hadn't fired, but would have left Anderson alone. Could Lincoln have rallied the North to raise an Army and invade the South if the South hadn't fired first?

[snippy_about_it]

Could Lincoln have rallied the North to raise an Army and invade the South if the South hadn't fired first?

Interesting question. I'm guessing tempers were high in so many places that something had to give somewhere and Sumter just happened to be it.

[SAMWolf]

I wonder what would have happened if the South hadn't fired, but would have left Anderson alone. Could Lincoln have rallied the North to raise an Army and invade the South if the South hadn't fired first?

Interesting question. I think Lincoln would have had a real hard time getting the majority of the North to fight if Sumter (or something else wasn't attacked first). It made a good rallying point for Lincoln.