It’s difficult to read the account, and to consider the cataclysmic significance, of the attack on Fort Sumter and not get some mighty chills. Four years of unimaginable destruction started with cannon-fire in Charleston harbor on that April afternoon. This world-class fort protected men, protected the Union, and protected peace.
And pork, too. Seriously, read the brief telegram that Maj. Anderson sends to the War Department explaining the surrender. They gave everything they could—held back every rampart they could defend—until the pork was all they had left.