On this day in 1861, the Civil War officially began with the bombing of Fort Sumter by Confederate artillery. Now the irony . . . The Federal commander of Fort Sumter was Major Robert Anderson and the commander of the Confederate forces was General P.G.T. Beauregard. While attending West Point Military Academy before the war, General Beauregard was a student of Major Anderson. Though from Kentucky and married to a Georgia woman, Major Anderson remained loyal to the Union throughout the war.
The Civil War Book 