The Winter Building on Court Square, Montgomery, Alabama, was built in 1841 to house a branch of the Bank of Saint Mary's. It was here, from a second story office, that the telegram was sent which began the War Between the States. It read:
April 11,1861
General Beaurgard,
Charleston
Do not desire needlessly to bombard Fort Sumpter. If Major Anderson will state the time at which, as indicated by him, he will evacuate, and agree that in the meantime he will not use his guns against us unless ours should be employed against Fort Sumpter, you are thus authorised to avoid the effusion of blood. If this or its equivalent be refused, reduce the fort as your judgement decides to be most practicable.
L. P. Walker
Sec. of War, CSA
The aggressive Union forces, which illegally occupied the Confederate Fort in Charleston Harbor, refused their final opportunity to leave peacefully. The next day, April 12, 1861, the first shot of the War Between the States was fired against them and the bloodiest chapter in American history began.
Today the Winter Building houses an attorney's office. It is on the National Register of Historic Places; a marker in front of the building tells the story.
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