Technically the US Army had bases and forts all over the county, as it does today. So, when rebels fired on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861 the Confederacy started the Civil War. The North didn't invade the South, the forces were already there.RedheadedStranger » 25 Feb 2023, 10:33 am » wrote: ↑ Technically, the North did invade the South, after the Southern States seceded from the Union.