The Civil War between the northern and southern sections of the United States, which began with the bombardment of Fort Sumter on the 12th of April 1861, and came to an end, in the last days of April 1865, with the surrender of the Confederates, was in its scope one of the greatest struggles known to history.
In informal conferences with commissioners from the seceded states he assured them that Fort Sumter should be speedily evacuated.
Robert Anderson, who in 1861 commanded the Union troops at Fort Sumter.
He disapproved of Major Anderson's removal of his troops from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter in December 1860; but there is probably no basis for the charge made by Southern writers that the removal itself was in violation of a pledge given by the president to preserve the status quo in Charleston harbour until the arrival of the South Carolina commissioners in Washington.
Then came the fall of Fort Sumter and the proclamation of President Lincoln calling for troops to put down rebellion.
