On this date 150 years ago, the cabinet and president Lincoln met after receiving official notice of the surrender of Fort Sumter. The chief executive called for 75,000 volunteers, and also for a session of Congress to meet on July 4, 1861.

Major Anderson and his men left Fort Sumter and proceeded northward by sea after a ceremony of surrender. On this occasion, an accidental blast killed two and injured four Union soldiers as a stockpile of ammunition was inadvertently detonated.