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Title: Fort Sumter (Cornerstones of Freedom (Paperback)) by Brendan January ISBN: 0-516-26227-0 Publisher: Children's Press (CT) Pub. Date: 01 April, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.95

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Summary: The story of how Fort Sumter started the Civil War
Comment: Young readers will be surprised to learn how close the Civil War came to beginning while James Buchanan was still President in January of 1861, before Lincoln was inaugurated. South Carolina became the first state to succeed from the Union following Lincoln's election. Told to make his own decision, Major Robert Anderson had moved his troops from Fort Moultrie, where the secessionists would easily have been able to take the command by land, to Fort Sumter in the middle of Charleston Harbor. Buchanan sent a civilian ship, the Star of the West to bring supplies to Anderson's troops, but a secessionist battery opened up on the ship. The Civil War could have begun right then and there, but Anderson refused to return fire and the Star of the West retreated.

Brendan January details how both sides played out the fatal chess game. When President Lincoln ordered a supply ship to reinforce Fort Sumter, he knew the action would lead to war but would force the Confederates to take the first shot. Ironically, Anderson admitted to Confederate messengers that the garrison was on the verge of starvation, but Confederate President Jefferson Davis was unconvinced and ordered the attack. Students will be surprised as how oddly the battle was fought: General Beauregard gave Major Anderson advanced warning and the Federal troops went into the fort's bombproof shelter. Only after having breakfast did Anderson's troops return fire. Out gunned and running out of provisions, Anderson had to surrender. Ironically, the first casualty of the Civil War was a Union solider killed when a shell accidentally exploded during the ceremony to lower the American flag. January follows the story of Fort Sumter to the end of the war, covering the Union's failed attempt to retake the fort in 1863, which reduced it to rubble, and Anderson's triumphant return to the fort in April of 1865, the last month of the war.

"Fort Sumter" is illustrated with photographs, etchings and other illustrations from the time period, although a contemporary color photograph shows that the fort no longer resembles what it was during the war. January has authored several of the Cornerstones of Freedom volumes covering Civil War topics such as The Lincoln-Douglas Debates, The Emancipation Proclamation and the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Students and teachers interested in finding out more about a historical topic can usually rely on this series to be an excellent first place to turn.