Opening Battles (Volume 1) begins with a view of Washington on the eve of the war, gives an account of the fall of Fort Sumter, the preparations for war in the North and South, and the formation of the Confederacy. Detailed are the early operations in Virginia, the campaign of the first Bull Run, and the first year of war in Missouri. Naval conflicts on the inland waterways are covered as well as the battles of Lexington, Belmont, Big Sandy and others. Generals U.S. Grant, G.T. Beauregard, T. Jordan and D.C. Buell, describe the events of the Battle of Shiloh. Chronicled too are the buildups of the navies for war, coastal operations in the Carolinas, and the historic battles between the ironclads "Monitor" and "Merrimac" which changed the course of naval history. - Jacket flap.