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Join the Frederick County Civil War Round Table as Leon Reed presents "No Greater Calamity for the Country: North-South Conflict, Secession, and the Onset of the Civil War." The 30 days following the surrender of Fort Sumter and Lincoln’s call for 75,000 volunteers is one of the most momentous periods in US history. From a cold start, the northern states created Mr. Lincoln’s 75,000 man army and successfully defended the nation’s capital and other vital locations, like Fort Monroe, VA, the St. Louis Arsenal, and Forts Pickens and Taylor in Florida. Most important were the dozen or so regiments that made it to the nation’s capital in the two weeks right after Lincoln’s speech. This success was the result of the concerted efforts of the New York militia, a 77-year old general NOT named Scott, a committee of the captains of Wall Street, an abolitionist governor, and the concerted efforts of a number of volunteer regiment commanders. At the same time, seven slave states who had remained loyal throughout Secession Winter (VA, NC, TN, AR, KY, MO, and MD) went through renewed consideration of their status in the Union. In the end, four seceded and three remained in the Union under greater or lesser degrees of coercion by the Lincoln government. This collection of decisions was without a doubt the most consequential decision of the period and perhaps the entire Civil War era. It’s a story of high stakes, larger than life characters, and political skullduggery — with larger than life characters throughout the story. This talk will discuss the important events of this fascinating month, in particular these two critical issues, the northern mobilization and the April-May 1861 second secession crisis.

This event is free for members, $5 suggested fee for non-members