Board Thread:New on Alternative History/@comment-72.185.4.15-20130303025616/@comment-1738490-20130305165413

No. The confederacy itself caused the war, the Union just failed to respond quickly. The war started whit the seven states' secession

It is like saying the Falkland War didn't start with the argentine invasion of the islands, but it began with the british counter-attack.

A war starts when one of the belligerent factions starts hostile actions (just like seceding from a federation unilaterally); it doesn't matter if the other faction(s) fail to respond, they are still at war.