As the presidential election of 1860 drew near, the Southern states faced what they saw as a growing threat to their way of life. When Republican Abraham Lincoln won the presidency in November, there was no longer room for compromise. The South was convinced that Lincoln would use the power of his office to destroy slavery. Accordingly, in the months following his election, seven states of the Deep South seceded from the United States of America. South Carolina left in December; Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana in January 1861. Texas seceded on February 1 before Lincoln's inauguration in March.

The new president waited a month before he sent reinforcements to protect the federal arsenal at Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. When Charleston guns fired on the fort on April 12, the Civil War began. Lincoln immediately called for volunteers in response...