#fort sumter

General PGT Beauregard(Confederate)

The Louisiana general was one of several Civil War figures to be likened to Napoleon. And there’s certainly a European look to his stylish moustache-and-sliver-of-a-beard combo.

Beauregard was a star Confederate general in the early days of the war, overseeing the bombardment of Fort Sumter that kicked the whole thing off, and then assuming command at Shiloh following the death of Albert Sidney Johnston. Beauregard arrived at Shiloh with Napoleon’s line of battle from Waterloo in his pocket, and like his hero he had to spend some time in exile when he was relieved of command following his decision to withdraw from Corinth without a fight. His later defences of Charleston and Petersburg restored his reputation, and after the war he declined offers to take charge of the armies of Brazil, Egypt and Romania.

historicaltimes:

A crowd assembled in Court House Square, Ann Arbor, to hear the announcement that war had commenced after Fort Sumter had been fired upon by Confederate forces, April 15, 1861.

chubachus:

Source.

todayinhistory:

April 12th 1861: Firing on Fort Sumter

On this day in 1861, the American Civil War began when the first shots were fired upon Fort Sumter. Several Southern states had already seceded from the United States when this conflict occurred. The Southern slaveholding states had long been at odds with the anti-slavery agenda of the North, but secession was immediately preciptated by the election of anti-slavery Republican Abraham Lincoln as President in 1860. Fort Sumter was a Union base in South Carolina, which was the first state to secede and thus its government demanded Union forces leave their state. The moment the siege became a battle and the fort was fired upon by Confederate forces, it seemed clear to all that civil war had begun. No one was killed in the conflict, perhaps a false omen that the civil war which became the bloodiest in American history would not be a costly one. The Union forces at the fort eventually surrendered, thus making it a victory for the Confederates. In the aftermath of the struggle each side called for troops and war soon broke out in full force. The American Civil War saw the defeat of the Southern secessionists and the end of slavery - the ‘peculiar institution’ - in the United States.