American Literature The Red Badge of Courage The Civil War took more American lives than any other war in history. It divided the people of the United States, so that in many families brother fought brother. The four years of bloodshed left a legacy of grief and bitterness that remains in part even today. The war started on April twelfth, 1861 in Charleston, South Carolina. It ended four years later on April ninth, 1865. Many people call this tragic conflict the War Between the States, the War of the Rebellion, the War of the Secession, or the War for southern Independence. But regardless of what it is called, the war was a great turning