The war began when the Confederates bombarded Union soldiers at Fort Sumter, South Carolina on April 12, 1861.  The war ended in Spring, 1865. " Robert E. Lee surrendered Confederate army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865.". The Civil war started after the unbending dissimilarity between the free and slave states. The border states Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri. 

Civil War Facts | American Battlefield Trust (battlefields.org)