— The American Civil War claimed countless lives and was fought in many deadly battles. The bloodshed began in Maryland on April 19, 1861, when pro-Southern civilian sympathizers attacked a Union regiment in Baltimore. The Union soldiers, who were from Massachusetts, were traveling to Washington, D.C., to defend the capital city as a reaction to the conflict at Fort Sumter a week earlier.
As a result of the attack on the Union’s 6th Massachusetts Regiment, a total of 12 rioters and four soldiers lost their lives. Though it was a smaller conflict compared to the battles yet to come, the Baltimore Riot was a major turning point for the war.
The Union soldiers were on their way to a railroad station in Baltimore when Confederate-leaning protesters attacked them, causing the soldiers to fire back in self-defense. Among the casualties were Cpl. Sumner Henry Needham and Pvt. Luther C. Ladd…