Twelve Days: How the Union Nearly Lost Washington in the First Days of the Civil War

The 12 crucial days between Fort Sumter’s evacuation and the arrival of Union troops in Washington, D.C.—April 14 through 25, 1861—were the closest the capital came to capture during the Civil War, according to this riveting debut from journalist Silber. He provides an hour-by-hour account of the pivotal period, shifting between the three main “scenes of action”—the capital, the advance of the Union troops from the North, and Southern planning and military movements. Among other incidents that took place over these “two weeks of terror,” Silber documents Lincoln’s call for volunteers, Virginia’s secession, the loss of Harpers Ferry, the Baltimore riot of April 19 and subsequent burning of the city’s bridges, the destruction of railroad tracks and cut telegraph wires by secession sympathizers in Maryland, and the “wave of resignations” in the U.S. administration. Silber offers the most descriptive and thrilling account of the Baltimore riot yet, which saw a “huge, bloodthirsty mob” assault the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment as it detrained in the city. Imaginatively recreating a “marooned” Washington, whose residents fled so quickly “houses were left with open blinds and some with open windows,” Silber reflects on how things could have gone differently, especially if Virginia had seceded earlier and calls for immediately attacking the capital were heeded by Southern leaders. Civil War buffs will relish the wealth of new historical insights. (July)