By April 1861, tensions had mounted between the North and South. Citizens of both nations were wondering when shots would be fired. The location would be Fort Sumter, a U.S. fort on an island in Charleston Harbor, the waters outside the capital city of South Carolina. Fort Sumter was adequately defended but needed supplies. Lincoln ordered ships to sail to resupply the fort. This sparked a Confederate bombardment on April 12, 1861. The bombing lasted for 34 hours before Union forces surrendered. Remarkably, nobody died in the assault. Click on the text inside the picture below to learn more about the surrender and important themes from the Civil War.
The Union was not fully prepared for war. Lincoln, for all of his natural talent, had no military training. After shots were fired at Ft. Sumter, he asked for 75,000 volunteers to enlist in the Union army. The term of enlistment was three months.When the Union forces, also called the Army of the Potomac, marched into Virginia to put down the rebellion, the forces were disorganized and poorly led.
On July 24, 1861, the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia, fought in the town of Manassas, Virginia in the first major battle of the Civil War. In the North, the battle was known as the Battle of Bull Run (named for a nearby creek). In the South, it was known as the Battle of Manassas.
However named, it was a Confederate victory. During the fighting, a Confederate commander, Brigadier-General Barnard E. Bee, stated “There is Jackson standing like a stone wall” which gave rise to the most famous nickname of the war,Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. .
How unprepared were the Northerners for the realities of war? Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. to find out how war is not a "picnic."
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