150th Anniversary of the Civil War Begins

At 4:30 AM on April 12th, 1861 Confederate forces surrounding Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor opened fire on the small Union garrison which had held the fort since shortly after South Carolina announced its secession from the Union in December 1860.  The bombardment of the fort would continue for 34 hours.  On April 13th Major Robart Anderson surrendered to his former student, General P.G.T. Beauregard, now commanding the Confederate forces surrounding the fort.  When the battle was over not a single soldier on either side had been killed by hostile fire.  Few understood at the time that the war that began that morning would continue for four long years, lead to over 600,000 deaths, and profoundly change the United States in ways that effect us even today. 

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/04/110411-civil-war-150th-anniversary-fort-sumter-battle/

Major Robert Anderson Union Commander in Fort Sumter

General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard

Commander of Confederate Forces