On April 12, 1861 forces from the newly formed Confederate States of America fired a barrage of artillery attacking the United States military garrison at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. Less than two days later, the fort surrendered and no one was killed. However, the incident began the Civil War, as known in the North and as known in the South,’ the War between the States’.

It was by far the bloodiest conflict in American History on American soil.

The battles began after Fort Sumter in 1861: First Bull Run/First Battle of Manassas; Hatteras Inlet; Ball’s Bluff; Belmont; in 1862, the Monitor and the Merrimack; Antietam; Second Battle of Manassas; In 1863, Chancellorsville and then…. On July 1st, 1863 the most horrific three-day battle began at the Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg, with 51,000 causalities of both Union and Confederate soldiers.