Lincoln wins the presidential election with 40% of the vote, infuriating Southerners who fear he will abolish enslavement.

South Carolina holds a special convention and votes unanimously to secede from the United States.

Major Anderson secretly moves his entire garrison across Charleston Harbor from Fort Moultrie to the more defensible Fort Sumter.

Anderson raises the American flag over Fort Sumter, infuriating South Carolina officials who demand he return to Fort Moultrie.

President Buchanan refuses South Carolina's demand to withdraw Anderson from Fort Sumter, defying the Confederate commissioners.

South Carolina militia fires on the unarmed resupply ship Star of the West, forcing it to retreat from Charleston Harbor.

Major Anderson chooses not to fire in defense of Star of the West, preventing an immediate outbreak of civil war.

Lincoln departs Springfield on a twelve-day train journey toward Washington for his presidential inauguration.

Lincoln secretly passes through Baltimore in the middle of the night wearing a disguise to safely reach Washington.

Lincoln delivers his inaugural address seeking reconciliation with the South, though many Confederates interpret it as a declaration of war.

Jefferson Davis and his cabinet approve demanding Fort Sumter's surrender and authorize an attack if Anderson refuses.

Confederate forces open fire on Fort Sumter at dawn after Anderson refuses to surrender the fort.

Captain Doubleday fires the first Union cannon shot against the Confederacy when Anderson authorizes the garrison to fight back.

A fire breaks out inside Fort Sumter and spreads through the fort, forcing Major Anderson to agree to surrender.

Anderson and his garrison depart Fort Sumter peacefully while Lincoln calls for 75,000 militia volunteers in response to the attack.

This pool traces the central arc of The Demon of Unrest, from Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860 through the Confederate attack on and surrender of Fort Sumter in April 1861. Lincoln's victory alarmed the South, prompting South Carolina to secede and Major Anderson to make a bold secret move to the more defensible Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. Despite efforts on both sides to avoid outright conflict, the stalemate in the harbor eventually broke when the Confederacy opened fire on the fort after Anderson refused to surrender. After two days of brutal fighting and a devastating fire inside the walls, Anderson was forced to surrender and depart with his garrison. Lincoln responded by calling for a volunteer army, formally launching the deadliest war in American history.

The headline events from Lincoln's election to the fall of Fort Sumter.

Major Anderson takes command of federal forces in Charleston Harbor, finding the forts dangerously undermanned and vulnerable to attack.

Both South Carolina senators resign their seats and return home after Lincoln's election to support the state's secession movement.

President Buchanan delivers his final annual address to Congress, blaming Northern abolitionists rather than enslavers for the national crisis.

South Carolina Governor Pickens bans all weapons and supply shipments to Fort Sumter after Anderson moves his garrison there.

General Scott arranges to send the commercial ship Star of the West with 200 troops to secretly reinforce Fort Sumter.

A Peace Convention of delegates from Northern and Southern states meets in Washington attempting to resolve the secession crisis.

Confederate delegates meeting in Montgomery, Alabama, found the Confederate States of America and choose Jefferson Davis as their president.

Lincoln gives a speech in Indianapolis boldly asserting the federal government's right to hold and retake its forts from secessionist states.

Congress certifies the electoral count confirming Lincoln's presidential victory despite angry protests from Southern supporters at the Capitol.

The Fort Sumter garrison fires 34 cannon shots to honor George Washington's birthday, symbolically counting all states including seceded ones.

Seward cleverly delays meeting the Confederate commissioners in Washington without issuing a formal rejection that would insult the Confederacy.

An accidental Confederate cannon discharge during harbor practice sends a cannonball bouncing into Fort Sumter, nearly triggering a full battle.

Former navy officer Gustavus Fox presents Lincoln with a daring naval plan to resupply Fort Sumter under cover of darkness.

Major Anderson puts his garrison on half rations as Fort Sumter's food supplies reach a critical low.

Robert E. Lee resigns from the US Army and joins the Confederacy after his home state of Virginia votes to secede.

This pool follows the significant events and characters operating alongside the main Fort Sumter standoff, beginning with Major Anderson assuming command of a dangerously undermanned garrison. It traces the political failures of the Buchanan administration, including his alienating congressional address, as more Southern states organized and ultimately founded the Confederacy in Montgomery, Alabama. As Lincoln traveled toward his inauguration, making bold speeches defending federal authority, the situation in Charleston Harbor grew more desperate, with the garrison running desperately short of food and supplies. Key moments of diplomatic maneuvering—including Seward's delicate handling of Confederate commissioners and the founding of the Confederate government—set the stage for inevitable conflict. The pool closes with Robert E. Lee's agonizing decision to abandon the US Army and join the Confederacy, capturing the war's devastating toll on personal loyalty.

The political maneuvering and supporting battles surrounding the Fort Sumter crisis.

Edmund Ruffin attends John Brown's execution and distributes Brown's pikes to Southern governors to warn of Northern abolitionist aggression.

War Secretary Floyd gives Anderson veiled written instructions suggesting he should abandon the Charleston forts without a fight, which Anderson ignores.

Anderson uses the pretext of evacuating wives and children by boat on Christmas Day to secretly transfer Fort Moultrie's supplies.

South Carolina forces seize the now-empty Fort Moultrie and Castle Pinckney and raise the state's palmetto flag over both forts.

War Secretary Floyd resigns from Buchanan's cabinet, accusing Buchanan of breaking his pledge to South Carolina over Fort Sumter.

Mississippi secedes and issues a formal declaration explicitly identifying the institution of enslavement as the cause of their action.

Seward proposes a constitutional amendment permanently barring Congress from abolishing enslavement, drawing sharp condemnation from his own wife.

Pinkerton detective Kate Warne infiltrates Baltimore's secessionist social circles and uncovers a potential assassination plot targeting Lincoln during his journey.

Anderson sends Washington an assessment showing that relieving Fort Sumter would require more soldiers than the entire existing US Army.

Lincoln raises an American flag bearing a star for every state—including seceded ones—at Philadelphia's Independence Hall before his inauguration.

After receiving two separate warnings about a Baltimore assassination plot, Lincoln consents to secretly alter his travel route to Washington.

Lincoln accidentally assigns the powerful warship Powhatan to both the Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens relief expeditions simultaneously.

Seward secretly tells Confederate commissioners through an intermediary that Fort Sumter will be surrendered within five days, without Lincoln's knowledge.

Confederate ex-senator Wigfall rows to Fort Sumter under cannon fire holding a makeshift white flag to negotiate Anderson's surrender.

Anderson returns to Fort Sumter four years later to raise the original American flag while Lincoln lies dying from an assassin's bullet.

This pool captures the turning points and discoveries that determined the outcome of the secession crisis, beginning with Edmund Ruffin's early agitation using John Brown's pikes as propaganda tools for the Southern cause. It reveals the hidden betrayals and political deceptions shaping events behind the scenes—Floyd's treacherous instructions to Anderson, Seward's unauthorized promises to Confederate commissioners, and Lincoln's accidental blunder assigning the same warship to two separate missions. Personal decisions made under extreme pressure define this pool: Anderson ignoring corrupt orders, Lincoln agreeing to sneak into Washington, and the desperate Wigfall rowing through cannon fire with a makeshift white flag to force a surrender. The pool closes with the haunting irony of Anderson returning to Fort Sumter in triumph four years later, toasting Abraham Lincoln at the very moment Lincoln lay dying from an assassin's bullet.

The pivotal decisions, hidden maneuvers, and revelations that drove the nation to civil war.