On April 12, 1861, when the Confederate states rebelled against the Union, over, among other things, a controversy about slavery, the American Civil War began at Fort Sumter.   No one could have been prepared for the degree of slaughter that occurred during this war.   It was the first modern war in that the inventive and productive capacities of the Industrial Revolution brought about the worst mass destruction ever seen up to which time.  With the invention and wide use of the Minie ball, artillery shell, canister, saber, and bayonet, there was no hope of an "easy" war.  During the Civil War, 2,196 engagements were fought in which 620,000 men died (360,000 in the Union Army and 260,000 in the Confederate Army).  Of these, about 110,000 died from combat and combat-related wounds; the other 510,000 died from disease.  It truly was a most devastating war.