The fall of Sumter enraged the North, and inspired the South. Now the full momentum of the war has started. Sumter was a bloodless start to the bloodiest war in American history. Both sides now anticipated a short, perhaps 90 day war. But a few realized the prospect of the war, and the terrible truth it presented to the nation.
"You might as well try to put out the burning flames of a house with a squirt gun, I think it is to be a long war, a very longer than any politician thinks."
But the war had become a war of fighting to this point, and not a war of cause. Thousands flocked to join. Entire towns volunteered to fight, and soon enough both sides gained strength.
