The Civil War
The Civil War was a very important time in U.S. history. The war was fought because of slavery and also because the South wanted to be independent. There were two sides during the war. The South was called Confederates. They wanted to be their own country, and they didn't agree with having free blacks. They wanted to have slaves. The North was called the Union. They were very strongly against slavery, and they wanted to be one huge country with the South.
The Civil War began when the Confederates
fired fifty cannons at Fort Sumter. Fort Sumter was an island near Charleston,
South Carolina. South Carolina was a Confederate state then, and Fort Sumter was
occupied by the Union. The Confederates didn't like having the Union people so
close to their town, because the Union could attack their town at any time, and
try to make Charleston a Union town. The Confederates decided to attack the
Union first. Pierre Beauregard was the captain of the Confederates at that time.
He directed his soldiers to fire at Fort Sumter. That was the end of a battle,
but the beginning of a war which ended in 1865.
The Civil War plaques would be located on this wall, but they're not. The plaques used to be located on this wall, but were eventually removed, because the Town Hall was renovated and restored in 1997. The plaques were put in storage for safekeeping.
The reason the tablets were made is to honor in the soldiers who fought in the war who are from Amherst. In 1893 the tablets were donated by the Civil War Veterans organization.
The tablets are not in the town hall anymore but we hope to see them soon .Here is the a description of them .They were made out of a light-colored marble. Marble is very pretty but is easily damaged. It chips very easily, and already the plaques show signs of chipping and scratches. Marble reacts highly to acid, that can be found in even dew. Marble erodes quickly when it's exposed to acid rain. It's very sensitive to pollution, mechanical weathering, temperature extremes, and repeated handling. If Amherst, where the plaques are located, does indeed decide to place the plaques in a public area, the people in charge will have to make sure that the plaques are not exposed to any of these things. There were 21 black soldiers and sailors names on the tablet. Many of these were in the 54th black regiment. The movie "Glory" was about the 54th black regiment in the union army. Here is a picture of them below.
* Black Civil War Soldiers from Amherst
* Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War