The Siege of Washington

On April 14, 1861, the day Fort Sumter fell to Confederate forces, Washington, DC was ripe for invasion. Only a few hundred soldiers were stationed in the city, and a rebel army rumored at 20,000 men was not far off. In The Siege of Washington, John and Charles Lockwood offer a minute-by-minute account of the twelve days when the fate of the Union hung in the balance. Drawing from rarely seen primary documents, this compelling history places the reader on the scene, brilliantly capturing the tense, precarious first days of America's Civil War.