Letter from William B. Darst, 21st Virginia Volunteer Infantry, to his mother.
An electric shock throughout the land
The fall of Fort Sumter and Abraham Lincoln’s militia proclamation spark mass mobilizations in both North and South.
To redress wrongs already long enough endured
President Lincoln issues a proclamation calling on 75,000 volunteers to join their state militias to help force the Confederate states back into the Union.
The surrender of Fort Sumter
Major Robert Anderson’s Federal garrison formally surrenders and evacuates Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. The war has begun.
We will conquer or Perish
The bombardment of Fort Sumter ends when Major Robert Anderson agrees to surrender his Federal garrison and evacuate.
The bombardment of Fort Sumter
Confederates open fire on the Federal garrison at Fort Sumter, touching off the most horrific conflict in American history.
The reinforcement of Fort Pickens
Federals break an unofficial truce by reinforcing Fort Pickens, a vital installation near Pensacola, Florida.