FACT OF THE DAY

The US Civil War began on this date in 1861, when the Confederate Army bombarded the government-held Fort Sumter in South Carolina. The Southern-based Confederates won the skirmish in a day and led to four years of strife across the country. A key turning point in the war took place in 1863 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Read how that battle was covered at the time through the Scotsman Digital Archive.