It is no wonder that British statesmen were largely at sea over the American situation.
But on April 13, 1861, the Stars and Stripes floating over Fort Sumter in Charleston harbour was lowered in surrender of a Federal fortress under the armed attack of the newly-born Confederacy.

That event drove away as by magic the uncertainty of the North, and removed the last vestiges of Southern doubt.

A great wave of militant patriotism swept over both sections[135].

Hurriedly both North and South prepared for war, issuing calls for volunteers and organizing in all accustomed warlike preparations.

The news of Sumter reached London on April 27, and that civil war seemed certain was known on April 29.