Includes Index and Bibliography

Damnation to the Yankees --
We hate each other so --
The unluckiest man --
I picked him myself --
A free-love arrangement --
The honor-savers --
Where's the fire? --
Peaceably, if possible --
No time for tea --
My compliments to the governor --
Men do go mad --
Fleas in their ears --
Blessings on you anyhow --
The disgust of Captain Doubleday --
Sumter is not for sale --
Let the major declare war --
The South Carolina gentlemen --
The peacemakers --
The lion and the lamb --
"Hold, occupy and possess" --
A dear, delightful place --
--
To move by the sea --
Wait and see --
Eleven codfish --
Let the strife begin --
The end of long doubt --
Virtue vs. vice --
Gentlemen, return to your batteries --
April 14, 1861 --
April 14, 1865.

A dramatic chain of events triggered the first battle of the Civil War, which climaxed with the shelling and surrender of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. And the battle's moves and countermoves spelled out the issues and emotions of the long, national blood-letting to follow. Swanberg tells how the North acted with disbelief, bumbling indecision, and finally with firm resolve; the South spat flaming rhetoric that carried it past the point of no return and into grim reality.