Connecticut Marks 150th Anniversary of the Start of the U.S. Civil War

The commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the confederate attack on Fort Sumter, South Carolina was marked with the firing of 10 cannons Tuesday morning at the Connecticut State Capitol.

Matthew Warshauer, Connecticut Central State University history professor and co-chairman of the commemoration committee, said the state of Carolina began its commemoration at 4:30 a.m., the time the southern guns opened fire on the fort in 1861. South Carolina fired its cannon today at 7:30 a.m. to mark the return fire of the Union soldiers, Warshauer said.

The Northeast, particularly Connecticut, played a big role in the north’s response to the south’s attack, Warshauer said.

The cannon kicked off a weeklong commemoration of the civil war with a number of events planned throughout the Hartford area.

Drawing comparisons to the divide the United States experienced during the 1860s to the political differences the country experiencing today, Warshauer said America is faced with the “decedingly important question of what is the value of our union.”

“Let us consider more of what we have in common that what we have not,” Warshauer said.

Connecticut played a large role in the Civil War, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said. From the 55,000 men who fought in the war to weapons, tents and other necessities the state’s industries supplied, Malloy said.

There are more than 130 statues and plaques throughout Connecticut recognizing those state residents who participated in the nation’s most important war, Malloy said.

“We cannot forget the battles of the civil war,” Malloy said.

The cannons were fire from the north lawn of the Capitol which faces Bushnell Park. Among the cannon were: Morton’s Battery(Ct); Demment’s Battery (Ct); Richmond Howitzers (Ct); Jackson’s Flying Artillery (NY); 55 Virginia Artillery (NY); 1st CT Light Artillery (Ct); and Litchfield Light Artillery (Ct).