Ironclads and Blockade Runners
For the navies, the American Civil War began on April 12, 1861 when Fort Sumter was fired upon and ended on June 23, 1865 with the official raising of the blockade. However, the first shots of the war were really those fired at the steamer Star of the West as she approached Charleston Harbor on January 9, 1861 and the cruiser CSS Shenandoah did not finally haul down her flag until November 7, 1865.