The bloodiest four years in American history began when
Confederate shore batteries under General P.G.T. Beauregard
open fire on Union-held Fort Sumter in South Carolina’s
Charleston Bay (above). During the next 34 hours, 50
Confederate guns and mortars launched more than 4,000
rounds at the poorly supplied fort. On April 13, U.S. Major
Robert Anderson surrendered the fort. Two days later, U.S.
President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling
for 75,000 volunteer soldiers to quell the Southern “insurrection.”

Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard
(1818-1893)

Robert Anderson
(June 14, 1805 – October 26, 1871)