What if Lewis Powell's gun had fired?

[L Verge]

Rob,

I think you might want to re-read ALL of the circumstances surrounding the first shots at Ft. Sumter. There are abler scholars on this forum than I who have considered BOTH sides of that particular issue. They are the ones who have helped me develop my limited knowledge of all the ins and outs of the dynamics of the Civil War.

Let's just say that I don't believe that Sumter was a one-sided affair -- and I do believe that Mr. Lincoln was very crafty in the way that he played it. If I had possessed his political skills, I might have handled it the same way.

I think this is another example of how textbooks and general histories of the Civil War have omitted a lot of details in their coverage of the conflict. This may be due to lack of space or one-sided analysis based on long-held prejudices. I just wish that the general public would become interested enough to look at all sides of what made the Civil War what it was...