April 18, 1861
On this date 150 years ago, at Washington, D.C., President Lincoln was informed by eyewitnesses as to the events at Fort Sumter. It was alledged that the President approached Colonel Robert E. Lee and asked him to command the Union Army; Lee had purportedly declined the offer. It was clear that while there were staunch supporters for both the Union and the Confederacy, there were also those that preferred to avoid further conflict.