Monthly Archives: April 2011

                                 1861             Anxiety swiftly trumped legality. With critical border states remaining undeclared, both sides went after them with the zeal of self-preservation.             Abraham Lincoln’s government had to have Maryland. Otherwise, facing disloyal Virginia across the Potomac River, the … Continue reading →

1861 The Civil War’s fabled “first shots” weren’t, exactly. History dates the conflict’s inception from those on April 12, 1861 against Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor,  South Carolina, but the designation is somewhat arbitrary. Nine days before, Confederates had fired on … Continue reading →