April 12 in Military History

Confederate batteries opened fire on Fort Sumter, beginning the American Civil War. After 34 hours of bombardment, Anderson surrendered, remarkably without a combat death.

Union spy James Andrews and 22 volunteers stole the Confederate locomotive "General" at Big Shanty, Georgia, planning to destroy rail infrastructure. Conductor William Fuller pursued for 87 miles. Eight raiders were hanged; six survivors received the first-ever Medals of Honor.

Confederate forces under Nathan Bedford Forrest attacked Fort Pillow, Tennessee. The garrison included Black soldiers of the 11th U.S. Colored Troops. Union reports accused Confederates of massacring surrendering troops, particularly Black soldiers, fueling outrage across the North.

USS Ranger (CV-4), the first American ship designed from the keel up as an aircraft carrier, began a sequence of dive-bomber qualification trials off the Virginia Capes using Curtiss BF2C Goshawks of VB-3B.

FDR died of a cerebral hemorrhage at Warm Springs, Georgia, at age 63. The Commander-in-Chief who led the nation through most of WWII died weeks before Germany's surrender. Vice President Truman inherited the war and the secret atomic bomb program.

Elements of the U.S. 9th Army crossed the Elbe near Magdeburg, reaching within 50 miles of Berlin. Eisenhower halted the advance to let Soviet forces capture the Nazi capital, a decision debated by historians ever since.

The Department of Defense announced immediate mass vaccination of all service members and dependents following the April 12 approval of the Salk polio vaccine. The military ran one of the largest immunization programs of the decade.

Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbited the Earth aboard Vostok 1, becoming the first human in space. The 108-minute flight was a major Cold War propaganda victory that alarmed the U.S. military establishment and accelerated the Space Race.

Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 462 flew CH-53 Sea Stallions to evacuate the U.S. Embassy and allied nationals from Phnom Penh as Khmer Rouge forces closed on the Cambodian capital.

The Space Shuttle Columbia launched on STS-1, piloted by Navy Captain John Young and Robert Crippen. The first reusable manned spacecraft flew classified Defense Department missions throughout its service life.