siege, 1861

"On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter. Master storyteller Erik Larson offers a gripping account of the chaotic months between Lincoln's election and the Confederacy's shelling of Sumter-a period marked by tragic errors and miscommunications, enflamed egos and craven ambitions, personal tragedies and betrayals. Lincoln himself wrote that the trials of these five months were "so great that, could I have anticipated them, I would not have believed it possible to survive them." At the heart of this suspense-filled narrative are Major Robert Anderson, Sumter's commander and a former slave owner sympathetic to the South but loyal to the Union; Edmund Ruffin, a vain and bloodthirsty radical who stirs secessionist ardor at every opportunity; and Mary Boykin Chesnut, wife of a prominent planter, conflicted over both marriage and slavery and seeing parallels between them. In the middle of it all is the overwhelmed Lincoln, battling with his duplicitous secretary of state, William Seward, as he tries desperately to avert a war that he fears is inevitable-one that will eventually kill 750,000 Americans. Drawing on diaries, secret communiques, slave ledgers, and plantation records, Larson gives us a political horror story that captures the forces that led America to the brink-a dark reminder that we often don't see a cataclysm coming until it's too late"--.

Provides a history of the Civil War Battle of Fort Sumter from the perspectives of both the Union forces and the Confederate forces.

The Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in 1861 marked the beginning of the American Civil War. Federal troops eventually surrendered after 36 hours of open fire. The controversial election of Abraham Lincoln, the contentious issue of slavery, and the South's demand for states' rights all factored into this momentous event.

Presents a short study of Fort Sumter which sits in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina, and describes the role it played in the accounts of the Civil War.

Chronicles the events leading up to the firing of the first shot of the Civil War on April 12, 1861.

Provides a brief introduction to the history of Fort Sumter, discussing why it was built and the role it has played in American history.

Relates the sequence of events that led to the shelling of South Carolina's Fort Sumter by Confederate troops in 1861, marking the start of the Civil War.

Provides an account of the Confederacy's attack on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor in April 1861, which marked the beginning of the American Civil War.

Discusses the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in South Carolina which marked the start of the Civil War in 1861, examines events that led up to the assault, and considers the impact of the action on the history of the United States.