How the North Carolina Militia Helped Start the Civil War

The Civil War didn't actually begin in April 1861 as popular history suggests. Less than two months before Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated, an angry band of militia from the Wilmington area captured Fort Caswell and Fort Johnston on the Cape Fear River some thirty miles south of there. Although rarely discussed by historians, North Carolina Governor John W. Ellis apologized to the United States on behalf of the militia. A political storm ensued aggravating tensions between North Carolina and U.S. President James Buchanan to the degree that in many ways, the Civil War was already in progress when Lincoln took office. Following the fall of Fort Sumpter on April 12, 1861, Ellis ordered the militia to again capture the forts along the Cape Fear River. This time however, the winds of war were freely blowing across the old North State and no apology was offered.