American Civil War: 1861

April 1861. The Union has fractured. Seven Deep-South states have declared a new Confederacy; four more will follow when the shooting starts. In the dark before dawn on April 12th, batteries ring Charleston harbor and open fire on Fort Sumter — and the United States goes to war with itself.

You take command of one side — its armies, its industry, its diplomacy, and its will. Every order can move the front in Virginia, open the Mississippi, tighten the blockade, or send envoys to London and Paris.

• 🗺️ A real map of the 1861 United States — every state can be fought over, flipped, or held
• ⚔️ The war is adjudicated, never auto-resolved: troops, morale, generals, terrain and supply all matter, and the war takes years and bleeds both sides
• 💬 Direct lines to your generals, cabinet, and the foreign powers whose recognition could decide everything
• ⏱️ Time advances month by month from April 1861 toward Appomattox in 1865 — Bull Run, Antietam, Emancipation, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Sherman's March

Choose your side. As the Union, crush secession and restore the nation. As the Confederacy, win independence — outlast the North, force a foreign power to your side, or break Northern will at the negotiating table.

The fate of the Union is in your hands.