Various Documents Regarding Fort Sumter
Various Documents Regarding Fort Sumter
Enclosed are numerous documents and accounts regarding the “attack” on Fort Sumter. Within these
pages there are doubtless redundancies and duplication but the important thing is that the documents (all
sourced) are made available to those interested in the facts concerning the War of Secession rather than
the myths and lies to which the nation has been exposed since the end of the war.
Why Sumter is important:
After all the debate over the causes of the so-called Civil War has been exhausted, there is always one
charge made against the States of the South regarding that War, to wit: the South started the war by
firing the first shot against the federally owned and held Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor. No matter
what the original subject, when those arguing the rightness of the Union vs. the wrongness of the
Confederacy, the matter usually ends with this one particular charge to which most who defend the
South seem unable to respond—at least effectively. Enclosed within this pamphlet are many different
articles, essays and excerpts from books and other publications regarding the facts surrounding the
attack on Fort Sumter. Some even state that the federal government had no right to Sumter in the first
place as well as the most serious charge, that is that Abraham Lincoln’s entire strategy depended upon
South Carolina firing on the Fort and that absent what could (and would) be presented as an assault on
“the flag,” Lincoln had no hope of preventing the secession of at least some of the Southern states and
the subsequent loss of revenue to the federal government given the general feelings in the North against
any military response to secession. However, once that famous “first shot” had been fired, as you will
read in one account, Northern “patriotism” waxed into a fierce desire to punish the Southern “rebels.” Of
course, nobody seemed to take into consideration—though doubtless it was known in both sections—
that it is not who fires the first shot but who causes the first shot to be fired that starts a war. The within
pages clearly demonstrate that it was Lincoln and his government who did indeed cause the firing of that
first fatal shot.
Table of Contents
1. Whose War?
2. How We are Avenging Sumter
3. Sumter Summed Up
4. William Seward Analyzes Sumter
5. The Attack on Fort Sumter—An American Fairy Tale
6. Lincoln Launches His War Against the Confederacy
7. Union Ships Sent to Fort Sumter
8. Who Owned Fort Sumter?
9. South Carolina Takes Back Her Fort
10. Major Anderson’s Actions at Fort Moultrie
11. Buchanan’s Role in Initiating War
12. An “Insignificant” Military Engagement Has Horrific Consequences
13. Fort Sumter From North Carolina
14. Lincoln Has No Right to a Soldier in Fort Sumter
15. Abner Doubleday at Fort Sumter
Whose War?
by Bob Hurst – a Confederate Journal article
We have all become familiar with the concept of "spin" through the overexposure of expert (?) "talking
heads" on the 24-hour television news channels and the use of these same people on the older television
networks. Spin takes place when a proponent of one viewpoint (be it political, environmental, historical,
or whatever) is asked for commentary relating to a certain topic and "spins" that commentary in such a
way as to give credence (hopefully) to his or her own point of view while tearing down the viewpoint of
anyone who has an opposite perspective.
I singled out television in the opening paragraph but, of course, spin is applicable to any type of
information distribution system be it radio, newspapers, magazines, the internet, books (including
textbooks) or whatever. I began this month's column with a brief discussion of "spin" because I want to
discuss an issue that has been subject to "spin" (and not analysis, except by a few) for almost 150 years.
The topic I will elaborate upon is who started the great struggle of 1861-1865 between the states of the
North and the states of the South. There has been so much spin regarding that struggle that there are
even different names by which the epic event is known. The official name of the war, by act of
Congress, is "The War Between the States". The generally accepted nomenclature for referencing the
conflict is "The Civil War", but this is an inaccurate description since a civil war occurs when two or
more factions are fighting for control of a single government and the South was not fighting to control
the North but merely to be independent from any governmental association with it. That is why those
Southerners (and I include myself among them) who have not drunk the national kool-aid prefer to refer
to the conflict as "The War for Southern Independence".
It would take an entire book (or two, or dozens) to detail the background of events over many years
which set the stage for the War. Many textbooks (and many commentaries) simplify the process by
declaring that the South "started" the War (apparently without provocation) by firing on the Union-held
Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor and the American flag that was flying at the fort. Case closed, right?
Well, not exactly! By the time of the firing on Fort Sumter on April 12,1861, seven states had already
seceded from the Union. It was the desire of these states - South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida,
Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas - to leave the Union in peace. It was also the consensus of most
Northerners and Northern newspapers that secession was a constitutional right. An editorial in one
newspaper, The Bangor Daily Union, on November 12, 1860, seemed to sum up this belief well when it
stated: "Union depends for its continuance on the free consent and will of the sovereign people of each
state... A state coerced to remain in the Union is a 'subject province' and can never be a co-equal
member of the American Union".
A Supreme Court justice, Samuel Nelson, even advised the U.S. Secretary of State that it would be a
violation of the Constitution if the president used coercion against any state. So why, then, did the
Southern troops stationed in Charleston fire upon Fort Sumter when public opinion in both the North
and the South seemed to be on the side of the Southern Confederacy? It all goes back to the purpose of
Fort Sumter and that was the collection of tariffs from ships entering the harbor at Charleston. You see,
the Great War of 1861-65 was fought, like all wars, for economic reasons. Abraham Lincoln had been
asked shortly after his inauguration why the Southern states should not be allowed to leave the Union in
peace. His response was a question: "Let them go? Let them go? Then where would I get my revenues?"
(paraphrased) Lincoln knew that approximately 75% of federal revenues were collected at Southern
ports in the form of tariffs and Charleston was a major collection point.
In early December of 1860, President James Buchanan had signed an agreement with South Carolina
congressmen that forts Moultrie and Sumter would not be reinforced nor would they take aggressive
action against Charleston. In return, the forts would not be attacked by South Carolina forces. Shortly
after South Carolina seceded on December 20, 1860, Major Robert Anderson moved his troops that
were stationed at Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter in an action that disturbed and puzzled the officials in
Charleston. Previous to this, in early December of 1860, President-elect Abraham Lincoln had instructed
General Winfield Scott, head of all Federal forces, to prepare a plan to hold or retake the forts after
Lincoln's inauguration on March 4, 1861 despite the agreement signed by President Buchanan.
Unbeknownst to Pres. Buchanan, Gen. Scott sent a ship on January 7, 1861 with supplies and 200
concealed troops to reinforce Fort Sumter. This ship, the "Star of the West", was turned back by fire
from South Carolina artillery batteries but it proved a major embarrassment to Pres. Buchanan who
wished to avoid war.
In early February, a very aggressive attack plan was presented to again reinforce Fort Sumter. Pres.
Buchanan would not agree to this plan and his Cabinet agreed that such a plan would constitute an act of
war and would be interpreted as such by the South. On February 25, President Jefferson Davis of the
Confederacy sent a three-man Peace Commission to Washington to discuss many issues including the
transition of Fort Sumter from Union to Confederate control. Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated on
March 4, 1861 as President of the United States. He refused to talk with the members of the Peace
Commission who were still trying to make headway in Washington. Lincoln also announced that tariffs
would continue to be collected at Fort Sumter regardless of the secession of South Carolina. He also
made it clear that, unlike previous presidents, he regarded secession to be illegal and was willing to use
military force to prevent secession.
(Note: This is the same Lincoln who would later suspend habeas corpus and have thousands of Northern
civilians, including newspaper publishers and even state legislators, arrested and imprisoned. Certainly
an interesting reading of the U.S. Constitution.)
The Confederate Peace Commission had been meeting with several justices of the Supreme Court and
Secretary of State Seward who had continually assured them that Fort Sumter would be evacuated.
Despite this, on March 9 Lincoln proposed that Fort Sumter be reinforced. His Cabinet overwhelmingly
opposed this action because it was believed that this would lead to war. Interestingly, on March 3
Jefferson Davis had appointed General Pierre G.T. Beauregard as commander of Confederate forces in
Charleston. In one of those interesting anomalies that occurred throughout the War, Gen. Beauregard
and Major Anderson, the commander of Fort Sumter, were good friends. Anderson had been an
instructor of Beauregard when the latter was a student at West Point. Lincoln continued to attempt to
persuade his Cabinet to approve reinforcing Fort Sumter. He failed again at a Cabinet meeting on March
15 but finally was able to convince the Cabinet to approve his plan on March 29 although the Cabinet
members knew it would lead to war. On April 6 Lincoln gave the order to reinforce Fort Sumter.
Lincoln then started distributing stories to supportive Northern newspapers that the Federal troops at
Fort Sumter were near starvation and in desperate need of provisions. This was an outright lie that was
refuted by the communications and records of Major Anderson himself. Additionally, the merchants in
Charleston were daily selling foodstuffs to the garrison at Fort Sumter. Nonetheless, Lincoln's ploy
worked and there was outrage in the North over the "starving" of troops at Fort Sumter. He knew he
would need Northern public opinion behind him to engage in a war with the South. Lincoln then ordered
a force of three warships to Charleston to reinforce Sumter with an estimated date of arrival of April 15.
This action left President Jefferson Davis in a quandary. Through reports he was aware of all this
activity by Lincoln. What he wanted to avoid was being goaded into a situation where the South fired
the first shot which was exactly what Lincoln wanted. Legally the aggressor in such an action is not
necessarily the side firing the first shot but the side causing the first shot to be necessary. Regardless, it
would be a public opinion boost for Lincoln's war plan if the South appeared to be the aggressor.
Meanwhile, Gen. Beauregard was aware that a Union fleet of warships was approaching Charleston. On
April 9 he sent emissaries to Fort Sumter to demand surrender and evacuation of the facility. His friend,
Major Anderson, indicated that he was honor bound to resist. At 4:30 A.M. on April 12, after sending
word to the fort earlier that firing was about to begin, the bombardment began. I use the term
"bombardment" but it was more like firing a shot across the bow. During the entire period of shelling the
fort, some 30-odd hours, there was not one single Union casualty. In fact, the only casualty occurred
when, after the surrender of the fort, the Union forces were firing a salute as they lowered their flag and
an ember fell into some gunpowder causing an explosion which resulted in one death and five injuries.
As a ship carrying Union soldiers left the harbor to rendezvous with the force that had arrived,
Confederate soldiers lined the beaches of Sullivan's Island and other areas around the harbor and
removed their caps in a salute to the departing forces, many of whom they had come to know.
Despite the goodwill between the combatants, Lincoln now had what he wanted and the news of
Confederate firing on the American flag was quickly distributed to Northern newspapers with the
resulting fervor for punishing the South that was expected. President Jefferson Davis later explained the
situation: "The order for the sending of the fleet was a declaration of war. The responsibility is on their
shoulders, not on ours." Despite the truthfulness of this logic, the fact that the North won the War meant
that they got to write the history of the conflict. Mr. Lincoln got the war he wanted and schoolchildren
are taught that the war started because Fort Sumter was fired upon without provocation by Southern
forces. How sad.
(This article was used in part in the July/August, 2011 issue of The Southern Cavalry Review under the
heading of Sumter Summed Up.)
How We Are Avenging Sumpter
The Old Guard: A Monthly Journal Devoted to the Principles of 1776 and 1787, Volume II, No.
1, January 1863 Published in New York by C. Chauncey Burr & Company No. 119
The following are the reported casualties of this war from its beginning to January 1st, 1863:
Federals Killed: 43,874 Confederates Killed: 20,893
Federals Wounded: 97,029 Confederates Wounded: 59,915
Federals died of disease/wounds: 250,000 Confederates died of disease/wounds: 120,000
Federals Made Prisoner: 68,218 Confederates Made Prisoner: 22,169
Total: 459,374 Total: 222,677
They have killed 22,874 more of our men than we have of theirs.
They have wounded, not mortally, 39,414 more of our men than we have of theirs.
150,000 more of our men have died of disease and wounds than of theirs.
They have made prisoners of 46,000 more of our men than we have of theirs.
Our total casualties are 237,297 more than theirs---that is, our casualties have been 14,000 more than as
much again as theirs.
This is the way we have “revenged the firing on Fort Sumter.”
But this is not all.:
We have spent almost two thousand million more of money than they have spent.
We have made two hundred thousand of our women widows.
We have made one million of children fatherless.
We have destroyed the Constitution of our country.
We have brought the ferocious savagery of war into every corner of society.
We have demoralized our pulpits, so that our very religion is a source of immorality and blood. Instead
of being servants of Christ, our ministers are servants of Satan.
The land is full of contractors, thieves, provost-marshals and a thousand other tolls of illegal and
despotic power, as Egypt was of vermin in the days of the Pharaohs.
We are rapidly degenerating in everything that exalts a nation.
Our civilization is perishing.
We are swiftly drifting into inevitable civil war here in the North.
We are turning our homes into charnel houses.
There is a corpse in every family. The angel of death sits in every door.
The devil has removed from Tartarus to Washington.
We pretend that we are punishing the rebels, but they are punishing us.
We pretend that we are restoring the Union, but we are destroying it.
We pretend that we are enforcing the laws, but we are only catching Negroes.
That is the way we are “revenging Sumter.”
Selling our souls to the devil and taking Lincoln & Co.’s promise to pay.
We have it in greenbacks and blood.
That is the way we are “revenging Sumter.”
(From the Archive Press: Introduction by Matt Caldwell, Civil War Historian Magazine, July/August
2005)
Sumter Summed Up
Many textbooks and commentaries falsely simplify the process by declaring that the South started the
War - apparently without provocation - by firing on Union-held Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor. But
by the time of the firing on Fort Sumter on April 12th, 1861, seven states had already seceded from the
Union. It was the desire of these states - South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia,
Louisiana and Texas - to leave the Union in peace. It was also the consensus of most Northerners and
Northern newspapers that secession was a constitutional right even if it might not be the best course of
action. An editorial in the Bangor, Maine DAILY UNION, on November 12th, 1860, summed up this
belief when it stated: “Union depends for its continuance on the free consent and will of the sovereign
people of each state... A state coerced to remain in the Union is a 'subject province' and can never be a
co-equal member of the American Union”.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Nelson advised the U.S. Secretary of State that it would be a violation of
the Constitution if the President used coercion against any state in an attempt to force it to remain in—or
return to—the Union. So why, then, did the Southern troops stationed in Charleston fire upon Fort
Sumter when public opinion in both the North and South seemed to be on the side of the secessionists?
Well, to start, it all goes back to the purpose of Fort Sumter. Sumter was not a military fort; it protected
nothing. Rather, its purpose was the collection of tariffs from ships entering the harbor at Charleston.
You see, the Great War of 1861-65 was fought, like all wars, for money. Lincoln knew that
approximately 75% of federal revenues were collected at Southern ports in the form of tariffs and
Charleston was a major collection point through Fort Sumter.
In early December of 1860, President James Buchanan had signed an agreement with South Carolina’s
Congressional representatives that forts Moultrie and Sumter would not be reinforced nor would they
take aggressive action against Charleston. In return, the forts would not be attacked by South Carolina’s
forces. Shortly after South Carolina seceded on December 20th, 1860, Major Robert Anderson moved
the troops stationed at Moultrie to Fort Sumter in an action that disturbed and puzzled the officials in
Charleston. Previous to this, in early December of 1860, President-elect Abraham Lincoln had instructed
General Winfield Scott, head of all Federal forces, to prepare a plan to hold or retake the forts after
Lincoln's inauguration on March 4th, 1861 despite the agreement signed by President Buchanan.
Unbeknownst to Buchanan, General Scott sent a ship on January 7th, 1861 with supplies and 200
concealed troops to reinforce Sumter. This ship, the "Star of the West", was turned back by fire from
South Carolina artillery batteries and proved a major embarrassment to Buchanan.
In early February, a very aggressive attack plan was presented to again reinforce Fort Sumter but
Buchanan would not agree and his Cabinet declared that such a plan would constitute an act of war and
would be interpreted as such by the South. On February 25th, President Jefferson Davis of the
Confederacy sent a three-man Peace Commission to Washington to discuss among other things, the
transition of Fort Sumter from Union to Confederate hands. However, Abraham Lincoln who was
inaugurated on March 4th, 1861 as President refused to talk with the members of the Peace Commission.
Lincoln also announced that tariffs would continue to be collected at Fort Sumter for the coffers of the
Federal Government regardless of the secession of South Carolina. He also stated that, unlike previous
presidents, he regarded secession to be constitutionally illegal and that he was willing to use military
force to prevent or overcome any state that attempted to employ it. Thus, the waging of war by the
central government against the people and states of the South which had been rejected by the People, the
Nation and the Federal Government prior to Lincoln’s inauguration became the stated intention of that
same United States Government under its 16th President.
At the time: anxious, if possible to effect an amicable reconciliation between the States, the Confederate
States Commissioners, addressed a note, on the 12th of March, to William H. Seward, Secretary of State,
in the new Cabinet, setting forth the character and object of their mission. Seward replied to this verbally
and informally, through Justice John A. Campbell, of the U. S. Supreme Court. Justice Campbell was a
citizen of Alabama, in full sympathy with the Southern cause. He was therefore selected by Seward as a
plausible intermediary. In this way the Commissioners were given to understand that Seward was in
favor of peace and that Fort Sumter, about which the Commissioners felt the greatest concern, would be
evacuated in less than ten days. This proved, however, to be a deception practiced upon the
Commissioners by Seward and the Lincoln Government at Washington. They were kept in the dark as
regarded the intention of the Federal Government regarding Sumter and it was not until a provisioning
and reinforcing fleet dispatched from the ports of New York and Norfolk early in April, had actually
hove in sight of Fort Sumter, that they informed of the Government’s intentions to reinforce Sumter. On
March 9th, Lincoln proposed that Sumter be reinforced but his Cabinet overwhelmingly opposed this
action as it would lead to war. Lincoln continued persuade his Cabinet to approve reinforcing Sumter
but failed again at a Cabinet meeting on March 15th . Finally, on March 29th he was able to convince
them to approve his plan although all knew it would lead to war. On April 6th Lincoln gave the order to
reinforce Fort Sumter and, for all intents and purposes, the War of Secession began.
The Confederate Peace Commissioners came in possession of these facts through a notice given on the
8th of April to Gov. Pickens of South Carolina, that a fleet was then on its way to provision and reinforce
Sumter. The fort was at this time commanded by Major Robert Anderson, of the U. S. Army, with a
force of less than a hundred including the men Anderson had moved from Fort Moultrie, and it was also
incorrectly reported that the garrison was very short of provisions. On March 3rd Jefferson Davis had
appointed General Pierre G. T. Beauregard as commander of Confederate forces in Charleston and in
one of those odd anomalies that occurred throughout the War, Beauregard and Major Anderson were
good friends. Beauregard was in command of about six thousand volunteer troops at the time, collected
for the purpose of defending Charleston. Gov. Pickens informed him of the notice he had received and
this was telegraphed by Beauregard to the authorities at Montgomery. On the 11th of April the demand
for Sumter’s evacuation was made by Beauregard and Major Anderson, in writing, stated that the
demand would not be complied with. This was sent by Beauregard to the Secretary of War who returned
the following response: “Do not needlessly desire to bombard Fort Sumter. If Maj. Anderson will state a
reasonable specified time at which he will evacuate, and agree that, in the meantime, he will not use his
guns against us, unless ours should be employed against Fort Sumter, you are authorized thus to avoid
the effusion of blood. If this or its equivalent be refused, reduce the fort, as your judgment decides most
practicable.”
In a deliberate strategy, Lincoln then began leaking stories to supportive Northern newspapers that the
Federal troops at Fort Sumter were near starvation and in desperate need of provisions. This, of course,
was an outright lie and is refuted by the communications and records of Major Anderson himself.
Additionally, the records reveal that the merchants in Charleston were daily selling foodstuffs to the
garrison at Fort Sumter. Nonetheless, Lincoln's ploy worked and there was outrage in the North over the
“mistreatment” of the troops at Fort Sumter. The President knew he would need Northern public opinion
behind him to engage in a war with the South but that the prevailing opinion of the time had shown to be
just the opposite. So, in point of fact, Lincoln needed a cause celeb, a perceived “criminal act”
committed by the South against the Union to outrage the public and change the prevailing opinion.
Therefore, he ordered a force of three warships to Charleston to reinforce Sumter with an estimated date
of arrival of April 15th. This action left President Jefferson Davis in a quandary. Through reports from
his own people he was aware of all this activity by Lincoln and he wanted to avoid being goaded into a
position where the South fired the first shot which, of course, was exactly what Lincoln wanted. Legally
the aggressor in this kind of circumstance is not necessarily the side firing the first shot but the side
causing the first shot to be fired. In other words, from the point of view of legality, the South having
been forced into a military response was not the aggressor but, sadly, the perception in the North would
be just the opposite and would therefore provide the public opinion boost necessary for Lincoln's war
plan. The attack on Fort Sumter was a premeditated effort to do just what was done, force the South to
fire what were apparently the first shots of the war.
By this time, the Union fleet was approaching Charleston and some of Beauregard’s batteries and forces
were between it and Fort Sumter. Should it arrive while Anderson still held the fort, Beauregard knew
he would be exposed to attack from the rear as well as from the front. He therefore gave Major
Anderson notice that he would at an early specified hour compel him to withdraw from the fort if he did
not otherwise willingly evacuate his position. Major Anderson, indicated that he was honor bound to
resist. At 4:30 A.M. on April 12th, Beauregard again sent word to Anderson that the Confederate forces
had no choice but to begin firing on the fort due to the efforts of the United States Government to
reinforce it. Accordingly, the shore batteries opened fire on the morning of the 12th of April which fire
was returned by the guns of Fort Sumter. The fleet came near, but in the absence of official orders from
the Government, took no part in the conflict. The bombardment lasted 32 hours at which time Major
Anderson then agreed to capitulate. During the entire period of shelling, some 30-odd hours, there was
not one single Union casualty since Beauregard had forewarned the garrison of the actions that would be
taken and the soldiers were able to take refuge out of harm’s way – hardly a war-like action on the part
of Beauregard and the Confederates. In fact, the only casualty occurred when, after the surrender of the
fort, the Union forces were firing a salute as they lowered their flag and an ember fell into some
gunpowder causing an explosion which resulted in one death and five injuries. As a ship carrying Union
soldiers left the harbor to rendezvous with the force that had arrived contrary to all prior arrangements
between the United States government and the State of South Carolina, Confederate soldiers lined the
beaches of Sullivan's Island and other areas around the harbor and removed their caps in a salute to the
departing forces, many of whom they had come to know and respect.
But Lincoln now had what he wanted and the news of the Confederates firing on the American flag was
quickly distributed to Northern newspapers which resulted in the anticipated fervor for severely
punishing the bloody and prideful South for firing on Old Glory. The fall of Fort Sumter aroused the
Northern people to the highest pitch, and enabled the party now in power, to draw large accessions from
Democratic, and American parties. There is little doubt that Lincoln and the Republicans wanted war.
They had done all in their power to avoid compromise, the compromise favored by the vast majority of
the very people who had elected Lincoln to the presidency. Lincoln had maneuvered the Confederate
leaders into firing the first shot knowing that this act would inflame the passions of the North, and allow
him to open hostilities against states that sought only a peaceful departure from their old compact.
Indeed, Lincoln admitted that he obtained his desired result at Sumter in a letter to Gustavus Fox on
May 1st, 1861 in which he stated,
"You and I both anticipated that the cause of the country would be advanced by
making the attempt to provision Ft. Sumter, even if it should fail; and it is no
small consolation now to feel that our anticipation is justified by the result."
The “result” and the “cause of the country” that Lincoln wished to advance, was, of course, the war that
the firing on Fort Sumter brought about. On July 3rd of that same year, Lincoln confided to Orville H.
Browning, a close personal friend, about the plan to supply and reinforce Sumter:
"The plan succeeded. They attacked Sumter—and it fell, and thus did more
service than it otherwise could."
President Jefferson Davis later stated: “The order for the sending of the fleet was a declaration of war.
The responsibility is on their shoulders, not on ours.” Unfortunately, despite the truth of this comment
by Davis, the fact is that the North won the war Lincoln desired and intentionally initiated and it also
meant that, as usual, the winner got to write the history of the conflict. Thus, Mr. Lincoln got his war
and schoolchildren are taught that the South started it by firing upon Fort Sumter without provocation.
Below are the particulars and their sources regarding Union ships sent to Fort Sumter after an agreement
had been reached between the United States Government and the Government of South Carolina. It is
clear that the Federal Government did not keep its promises to South Carolina regarding attempts to
reinforce, rearm and re-supply Sumter. Thus, when the Fort was fired upon by shore batteries, that
action was the result of long standing violations of Federal agreements and should be considered a
response to an act of war rather than the original act.
Union Ships at Sumter
The armament of each ship listed below comes from the Naval Historical Center. A list of the fleet and
troops embarked are derived from newspaper articles in the New York Times and the New York Herald.
Sites for same are listed below:
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archivefree/pdf?res=9904E0DA1230E134BC4053DFB266838A679FDE
http://digitalnewspapers.libraries.psu.edu/Default/Skins/BasicArch/Client.asp?Skin=BasicArch&&App
Name=2&enter=true&BaseHref=RCM/1861/04/08&EntityId=Ar00212
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archivefree/pdf?res=9403EED81230E134BC4153DFB266838A679FDE
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archivefree/pdf?res=9B02E0DA1230E134BC4053DFB266838A679FDE (The New York Herald)
The following list embraces the names, with armaments and troops, of the fleet dispatched from New
York and Washington to Charleston harbor, for the relief of Fort Sumter:
1. Vessels of War Steam sloop-of-war Pawnee, Captain S. C. Rowan, 10 guns and 200 men. The
Pawnee sailed from Washington, with sealed orders, on the morning of Saturday, April 6.
2- Steam sloop-of-war Powhatan, Captain E. D. Porter, 11 guns and 275 men. The Powhatan sailed
from the Brooklyn Navy Yard on Saturday afternoon April 6.
3- Revenue cutter Harriet Lane, Captain J. Faunce, 5 guns and 96 men. On Saturday, April 6, the
Harriet Lane exchanged her revenue flag for the United States navy flag, denoting her transfer to the
Government naval service, and sailed suddenly on last Monday morning, with sealed orders.
4- The Steam Transports Atlantic, 358 troops, composed of Companies A and M of the Second
artillery, Companies C and H of the Second infantry, and Company A of sappers and miners from West
Point. The Atlantic sailed from the steam at 5 o'clock on Sunday morning last, April 7. Baltic, 160
troops, composed of Companies C and D, recruits, from Governor's and Bedloe's islands.
5- The Baltic sailed from Quarantine at 7o'clock on Tuesday morning last, April 9. Illinois, 300 troops,
composed of Companies B, E, F, G and H, and a detachment from Company D, all recruits from
Governor's and Bedloe's Islands, together with two companies of the Second infantry, from Fort
Hamilton.
6- The Illinois sailed from Quarantine on Tuesday morning at 6 o'clock. The Steamtugs Two
steamtugs, with a Government official on each, bearing sealed dispatches, were also sent.
7- The Yankee left New York on Monday evening, 8th, and the Uncle Ben on Tuesday night. The
Launches Nearly thirty of these boats-whose services are most useful in effecting a landing of troops
over shoal water, and for attacking a discharging battery when covered with sand and gunny bags- have
been taken out by the Powhatan and by the steam transports Atlantic, Baltic and Illinois.
Recapitulation:
Vessels Guns Men
Sloop-of-war Pawnee 10 200
Sloop-of-war Powhatan 11 275
Cutter Harriet Lane (Steam) 5 96
Transport Atlantic (Steam) 0 353
Transport Baltic (Steam) 0 160
Transport Illinois (Steam) 0 300
Teamtug Yankee Ordinary Crew
Steamtug Uncle Ben Ordinary Crew
Total number of vessels 8. Total number of guns (for marine service) 26 Total number of men and
troops 1,380 It is understood that several transports are soon to be chartered, and dispatched to
Charleston with troops and supplies.
(note: a Hartford Connecticut newspaper from early April 1861 states the following "…Davis
telegraphed to Charleston not to fire on any vessels entering the harbor merely for supplying Fort
Sumter with provisions". The particulars of that newspaper are unavailable at present, but it and the
article do exist. It is also by Commander Anderson’s own writings that we know that Sumter was not
“starving” or without the necessities of survival.)
William Seward Analyzes Fort Sumter:
Though a duplicitous and scheming politician rather than a statesman, William Seward at least
understood the immoral calamity of the North warring upon its fraternal sister States to the South. He
lacked the ethical and moral fortitude to confront and stop Lincoln’s rush to war against his own people,
and the ultimate deaths of a million Americans.
Bernhard Thuersam, Director, Cape Fear Historical Institute
“The question submitted to us, then, practically, is: Supposing it to be possible to reinforce and supply
Fort Sumter. Is it wise to attempt it, instead of withdrawing the garrison? The most that could be done
by any means now in our hands would be to throw two hundred and fifty to four hundred troops into the
garrison, with provisions for supplying it five or six months.
In this active and enlightened country, in this season of excitement, with a daily press, daily mails, and
an incessantly operating telegraph, the design to reinforce and supply the garrison must become known
to the opposite party in Charleston as soon at least as preparation for it should begin. The garrison then
would almost certainly fall by assault before the expedition could reach the harbor of Charleston;
suppose it to be overpowered and destroyed, is that new outrage to be avenged, or are we then to return
to our attitude of immobility? Moreover in that event, what becomes of the garrison?
I suppose the expedition successful. We have then a garrison at Fort Sumter that could defy assault for
six months. What is it to do then? Is it to make war by opening its batteries and attempting to demolish
the defences of the Carolinians? Can it demolish them if it tries? If it cannot, what is the advantage we
shall have gained? If it can, how will it serve to check or prevent disunion?
In either case, it seems to me that we have inaugurated a civil war by our own act, without an adequate
object, which after reunion will be hopeless, at least under this administration, or in any other way than
by a popular disavowal both of the war and the administration which unnecessarily commenced it.
Fraternity is the element if union; war is the element of disunion.
Fraternity, if practiced by this administration, will rescue the Union from all its dangers. If this
administration, on the other hand, take up the sword, then an opposite party will offer the olive branch,
and will, as it ought, profit by the restoration of peace and union.”
(Life of William H. Seward, Frederic Bancroft, Volume II, Harper & Brothers, 1900, pp. 99-100)
The Attack on Fort Sumter ~ An American Fairy Tale
On the 150th anniversary of the firing on Fort Sumter, let us consider what sparked that momentous
event. It has been said that those that do not remember history are condemned to repeat it. But what
happens to those who remember but choose to perpetuate a fraudulent “memory?” The standard
explanation of the beginnings of the War of Secession is a good example of such fraudulent “history”.
Most Americans who write or speak on the subject—even those who should know better—continue to
perpetuate the massive fraud committed in 1861. They justify the Lincoln Administration’s actions with
the claim that the federal troops occupying Fort Sumter after South Carolina’s secession were in want
and “needed to be supplied with food and provisions,” that President Lincoln decided to “resupply” the
garrison and that the Confederacy wantonly opened fire on the Fort, thus, in effect, declaring war on the
United States. They never mention that the “Fox expedition” (the forces sent to “resupply” and
“provision” Sumter under Gustavus Fox) included the following:
The Steamship Baltic with 200 troops of the 2nd US Artillery.
The sloop-of-war Pawnee with a crew of 181, and eight 9-inch Dahlgren guns and two 12 pound guns.
The sloop-of-war Powhaten [*] with a crew of 289 plus 300 additional sailors to be used as landing
troops and reinforcements and one 11-inch smoothbore gun, ten 9-inch smoothbore guns and five 12-
pounders.
The armed screw steamer Pocahontas, crew of 180 and four 32-pounder guns, one 10-pounder gun and
one 20-pounder rifle
The Revenue cutter, Harriet Lane, crew of 95 with one 4in gun, one 9in gun, two 8-inch guns and two 24
pound howitzers.
In addition to the war ships and troop transport there were also three sea-going steam tugs in the flotilla.
These were to be used to pull the deep draft war ships and transport over the sand bar near Sumter and in
order to help transfer troops and munitions to shore. The superstructures of these tugs were armored as
protection against small arms fire; they were also armed with boat howitzers. So the attempt to
peacefully “provision” Fort Sumter included four warships with 39 guns, four troop transports and
landing craft and over 1200 military personnel, 500 of which were intended to be landed as
reinforcements. Obviously, this was something much more than an attempt to “provision” a garrison in
want.
The Confederate peace commissioners sent to Washington in an attempt to forestall hostilities had been
assured by the Lincoln Administration that neither Forts Sumter nor Pickens in Pensacola, Florida would
be reinforced and, in fact, both would soon be evacuated. Meanwhile the Administration was busily
preparing troops and ships to reinforce and hold both forts. The Confederate authorities in Charleston
and the provisional Confederate capital in Montgomery were fully aware that the “Fox expedition” had
sailed from New York and was in route to make an attempt to reinforce and hold Sumter. After
considerable communications between Montgomery and Charleston, Beauregard was finally forced to
open fire on the Fort on April 12, 1861 as the “relief” expedition appeared off Charleston harbor. After
these blatant and deliberate acts of war and the cynical subterfuge of the Lincoln administration, the
Confederate authorities felt they had no choice but to reduce the fort, as Lincoln most assuredly knew
they would. Governor Pickens of South Carolina had warned Lincoln’s emissary that any attempt to
reinforce Sumter would result in “…the tocsin of war … sounded from every hill-top and valley in the
South.” Of course, this is just what Lincoln wanted—and, alas, just what he got.
The “Fox expedition” was very obviously no peaceful attempt to “provision” a “starving garrison”. It
was in fact a small invasion force and a cynical and deliberate provocation of war by the Lincoln
administration. Lincoln himself admitted this fact when he said in a letter to Commander Fox dated May
1, 1861. “You and I both anticipated that the cause of the country would be advanced by making the
attempt to provision Fort Sumter, even if it should fail; and it is no small consolation now to feel that our
anticipation is justified by the result.” (It is interesting to note that Lincoln attempts to disguise his fraud
in a letter to Fox who knew full well the nature of the expedition and its intention to provoke war.
However, knowing that the letter may become public at some time, Lincoln refers to this aggressive
provocation as an “attempt to provision” Sumter.) What exactly was it that Lincoln “anticipated”? What
other “result” could have been expected other than the initiation of an aggressive war against the South?
It is patently obvious that “honest” Abe wanted to start a war in April of 1861 and set about to
deliberately provoke one.
This is the fraud that has been perpetuated on the American people since 1861 and after 150 years it is
high time that we demand of academia and historical scholars that the truth be made public even if it
tarnishes their great secular idol. George Santayana was right of course when he said “Those who cannot
remember the past are condemned to repeat it,”. But to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past we must
know what the real mistakes were. The “first shot” scenario of the commencement of the War Between
the States is nothing but a fraudulent version of “history”. Lincoln deliberately provoked the war and
openly admitted as much. This is the real history we need to remember.
[*Note: in an effort to be entirely accurate here I must mention the fact that the Powhaten though she
had orders for and sailed for Sumter was withdrawn from the expedition at the last minute (on orders
from “honest” Abe) and sent instead to Pensacola to help with the reinforcement of Fort Pickens. The
Sumter expedition was obviously thus only mounted to deliberately provoke war and as a diversion from
the Florida invasion.]
Lincoln Launches His War Against the Confederacy
In manipulating the Fort Sumter crisis to produce that “first shot,” Abe Lincoln had followed the advice
of his long-time political friend, Orville Browning, of Illinois. Lincoln had first met Browning during
brief service in the Illinois Militia, when they were both chasing after Black Hawk’s Native Americans.
Well-educated, Browning practiced law in Quincy, Illinois, and was a Whig politician during the years
that Lincoln was active in the Whig party. Then, like Lincoln, Browning became a major figure in the
founding of the Illinois Republican party in 1856.
But Browning’s instruction about manipulating the Fort Sumter crisis to produce that most valuable
“first shot” had been his most fearsome influence on Lincoln. Before the inauguration, Browning had
written Lincoln: “In any conflict…between the [Federal] Government and the seceding States, it is very
important that the [Secessionists] shall be [perceived] as the aggressors, and that they be kept constantly
and palpable [allegedly] in the wrong. The first attempt…to furnish supplies or reinforcements to
Sumter will induce [a military response] by South Carolina, and then the [Federal] Government will
stand justified, before the entire [Federation], in repelling the aggression, and retaking the forts.” Later
that summer Lincoln would happily tell Browning, “The plan succeeded. They attacked Sumter—it fell,
and thus, did more service than it otherwise could.”
Lieutenant [Gustavus] Fox was very discouraged by his failure to resupply Fort Sumter, and would soon
write Abe Lincoln a letter of apology. To Fox, Lincoln would reply: “You and I both anticipated that the
cause of the [Federation] would be advanced by making the attempt to provision Fort Sumter, even if it
should fail; and it is no small consolation now to feel that our anticipation is justified by the results.”
Having in his hand his coveted “first shot,” Abe Lincoln lost no time in launching a war against the
Confederacy.
On the very next day, April 15, Lincoln issued an Executive Proclamation directing the Army and Navy
to invade the Confederacy and force her States to submit to Federal authority. Lincoln cloaked his
rhetoric in awkward language that avoided referring to the Confederacy by name, ignored the fact that
seven States had seceded prior to his taking office, ignored Fort Sumter, alleged the existence of
lawlessness and rebellion on the part of some of the people in seven States, and inferred that the
northern States were somehow in harm’s way. The Proclamation was set in legal language to circumvent
the authority vested in the Federal House and Senate to declare war, and to suppress the notion that the
Confederacy even existed. Instead of naming the Confederacy, he called his adversary, “combinations
too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings.”
In his proclamation Abe Lincoln had totally ignored the action of his fleet of warships and the
Confederate eviction of the Federal regiment from Fort Sumter. To have done so would have required
that he admit that 7 States had seceded and formed a new nation, that the States into which he was
dispatching militiamen were actually members of a peaceful foreign nation.
(Abe Lincoln’s First Shot Strategy, excerpted from Bloodstains, an Epic History of the Politics that
Produced the American Civil War,” Howard Ray White, 2011, pp. 38-43)
Union Ships Sent to Fort Sumter
[This is a second article regarding the vessels involved. It is included because of some further
information; no editing was used to remove redundant information]
Below are the particulars and their sources regarding Union ships sent to Fort Sumter after an agreement
had been reached between the United States Government and the Government of South Carolina. It is
clear that the Federal Government did not keep its promises to South Carolina regarding attempts to
reinforce, rearm and re-supply Sumter. Thus, when the Fort was fired upon by shore batteries, that
action was the result of long standing violations of Federal agreements and should be considered a
response to an act of war rather than the original act.
The armament of each ship comes from the Naval Historical Center. A list of the fleet and troops
embarked are derived from newspaper articles in the New York Times and the New York Herald.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archivefree/pdf?res=9904E0DA1230E134BC4053DFB266838A679FDE
http://digitalnewspapers.libraries.psu.edu/Default/Skins/BasicArch/Client.asp?Skin=BasicArch&&App
Name=2&enter=true&BaseHref=RCM/1861/04/08&EntityId=Ar00212
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archivefree/pdf?res=9403EED81230E134BC4153DFB266838A679FDE
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archivefree/pdf?res=9B02E0DA1230E134BC4053DFB266838A679FDE (The New York Herald)
The following list embraces the names, with armaments and troops, of the fleet dispatched from New
York and Washington to Charleston harbor, for the relief of Fort Sumter:
1. Vessels of War Steam sloop-of-war Pawnee, Captain S. C. Rowan, 10 guns and 200 men. The
Pawnee sailed from Washington, with sealed orders, on the morning of Saturday, April 6.
2- Steam sloop-of-war Powhatan, Captain E. D. Porter, 11 guns and 275 men. The Powhatan sailed
from the Brookyln Navy Yard on Saturday afternoon April 6.
3- Revenue cutter Harriet Lane, Captain J. Faunce, 5 guns and 96 men. On Saturday, April 6, the
Harriet Lane exchanged her revenue flag for the United States navy flag, denoting her transfer to the
Government naval service, and sailed suddenly on last Monday morning, with sealed orders.
4- The Steam Transports Atlantic, 358 troops, composed of Companies A and M of the Second
artillery, Companies C and H of the Second infantry, and Company A of sappers and miners from West
Point. The Atlantic sailed from the steam at 5 o'clock on Sunday morning last, April 7. Baltic, 160
troops, composed of Companies C and D, recruits, from Governor's and Bedloe's islands.
5- The Baltic sailed from Quarantine at 7o'clock on Tuesday morning last, April 9. Illinois, 300
troops, composed of Companies B, E, F, G and H, and a detachment from Company D, all recruits from
Governor's and Bedloe's Islands, together with two companies of the Second infantry, from Fort
Hamilton.
6- The Illinois sailed from Quarantine on Tuesday morning at 6 o'clock. The Steamtugs Two
steamtugs, with a Government official on each, bearing sealed dispatches, were also sent.
7- The Yankee left New York on Monday evening, 8th, and the Uncle Ben on Tuesday night. The
Launches Nearly thirty of these boats-whose services are most useful in effecting a landing of troops
over shoal water, and for attacking a discharging battery when covered with sand and gunny bags- have
been taken out by the Powhatan and by the steam transports Atlantic, Baltic and Illinois.
Recapitulation:
Vessels Guns Men Sloop-of-war Pawnee 10 200 Sloop-of-war Powhatan 11 275 Cutter Harriet Lane 5
96 Steam Transport Atlantic 353 Steam Transport Baltic 160 Steam Transport Illinois 300 Steamtug
Yankee Ordinary Crew Steamtug Uncle Ben Ordinary Crew Total number of vessels 8 Total number of
guns (for marine service) 26 Total number of men and troops 1,380 It is understood that several
transports are soon to be chartered, and dispatched to Charleston with troops and supplies.
(note: a Hartford Connecticut newspaper from early April 1861 states the following "…Davis
telegraphed to Charleston not to fire on any vessels entering the harbor merely for supplying Fort
Sumter with provisions". The particulars of that newspaper are unavailable at present, but it and the
article do exist. It is also by Commander Anderson’s own writings that we know that Sumter was not
“starving” or without the necessities of survival.
Who Owned Fort Sumter?
By Bernhard Theursam, Director, Cape Fear Historical Institute
Author Benjamin Franklin Grady makes clear below that South Carolina had not surrendered control of
Fort Sumter and other fortifications that guarded her from attack from the sea, a wise decision in light of
the quarter from which the enemy eventually came:
“This claim of property ‘belonging to the Government’ rested on a very weak foundation, as a brief
history of the terms on which the United States acquired their title to it will make clear. The States
conferred upon the Congress the power ‘to exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever…over
all the places purchased by the consent of the legislatures of the State in which the same shall be, for the
erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings.’ While Mr. Jefferson was
Secretary of State, he wrote to the authorities of South Carolina, and advised that her Legislature consent
for the Congress to purchase certain lands. This was done, but exclusive jurisdiction was denied. The act
was passed December 12, 1795 (House Ex. Doc., Number 67, 2nd Session, 23d Congress) ‘to enable the
United States to purchase a quantity of land in this State, not exceeding two thousand acres, for arsenals
and magazines.’ And it provided, ‘that the said land, when purchased, and every person and officer
residing or employed thereon, whether in the service of the United States or not, shall be subject and
liable to the government of this State, and the jurisdiction, laws and authority thereof in the same
manner as if this act had never been passed; and that the United States shall exercise no more authority
or power within the limits of the said land, than they might have done pervious to the passing of this act,
or than may be necessary for the building, repairing, internal government of the arsenals and magazines
thereon to be erected, and the regulation and management of the same, and of the officers and persons
by them to be employed in or about the same.’ But there was a proviso that the land should not be taxed
by the State.
“But this act did not transfer from the State her title to the forts and other defensive works in Charleston
Harbor, which she built during the Revolution. The transfer was made by an act passed in 1805, to
which the following proviso was added: ‘That, if the United States shall not, within three years from the
passing of this act…repair the fortifications as may be deemed most expedient, etc., on the same, and
keep a garrison or garrisons therein; in such case this grant or cession shall be void and of no effect.’
“This proviso was disregarded by the United States, the defensive works, including Fort Moultrie, were
neglected for years, and Fort Sumter was not commenced till 1829. According to all the laws of justice,
therefore, the title to the property reverted to the State, and the repairing and building were carried on
solely by the sufferance of the State. Thus it is clear to anybody who respects the laws governing
property titles that the United States occupied the defensive works in the harbor of Charleston without
any legal rights of ownership; and since the money spent in building came out of the pockets of the
people of all the States, it cannot be disputed that whatever equitable rights were acquired belonged to
the seceded States as well as to the others. And it is equally clear that South Carolina never surrendered
her sovereignty over the sites of the forts and other defensive works.”
Note: Neither South Carolina nor any other State was paid anything out of the Federal Treasury to
reimburse her for her expenses incurred in erecting defensive works in her harbors during the
Revolution, nor for cessions of State lands.—See Act of March 20, 1794) (The Case of the South
Against the North, B.F. Grady, Edwards & Broughton, 1899, pp. 286-288)
South Carolina Takes Back Her Fort
By John C. Whatley, Editor, and Chairman, Education/History Committee
It is a principle of law that you can donate your property for any purpose to the government. Many
people donate property for public parks, or for walkways, or for historical memorials. This voluntary
donation is in stark contrast to eminent domain, in which the government takes your property for “public
interest”.
Along with a voluntary donation comes the right to attach all sorts of conditions to the donation. The
granite mass known as Stone Mountain remains property of the State of Georgia “so long as it is used as
a Confederate monument”. Once it is no longer used for such purpose, it reverts [goes back] to the
Venable family. There appears to be no time limit to this, since a piece of property donated in the 1400s
“so long as it is used as a pub” reverted to the donating family when the City of London condemned the
entire neighborhood for “public interest” and discovered that they had to deal with the family for that
particular piece of property.
Another condition attached to a donation of property to the government is known legally as a “life
estate”. The person donating the property is thus allowed to live on the property for life and at his or her
death the property becomes fully vested in [owned by] the government. Now that you know this, what
would you think of an agreement between the State of South Carolina and the Federal Government for
the latter to build a fort on South Carolina’s property and retain that property “so long as it is used as a
fort”? If the United States abandoned building a fort there, would the property revert to South
Carolina?
South Carolina in 1805 (Statutes at Large, Volume V, p. 501) provided as follows in regard to the
cessions in Charleston Harbor: “That, if the United States shall not, within three years from the passing
of this act, and notification thereof by the governor of this State to the Executive of the United States,
repair the fortifications now existing thereon, or build such other forts or fortifications as may be
deemed most expedient by the Executive of the United States on the same, and keep a garrison or
garrisons therein, in such case this grant or cession shall be void and of no effect.”
So, South Carolina put a stipulation on its donation of property to the United States, that if the United
States did not complete the fort within three years, or garrison what was there, the grant was “void and
of no effect”. Not only was Fort Sumter not completed within the three-year period, but it also was not
completed by 1861, nor had it ever been garrisoned. The United States was thus in breach of contract,
and South Carolina had every right and expectation of the reversion of the Fort Sumter property to the
State of South Carolina.
Of course, by this time, the United States had no need of coastal forts. The British during the War of
1812, with its superiority of ships, had landed troops at will on the coast of America, but they were now
allies and no sea born attack was anticipated. So the United States abandoned the coastal fort program,
the last to be built being Fort Pulaski defending the Savannah River. Since the United States also had a
great fleet of warships, they felt the navy could defend America whenever needed, so coastal forts were
no longer needed. The program was greatly curtailed and most of the forts that had been built had mere
caretakers.
Not much is made about this, and the historically illiterate (or most of the dumb masses) think Fort
Sumter was owned by the Federal Government when the WBTS began. Amazingly, everyone just
assumes this is so. So when South Carolina demanded the surrender by the invading Federals of her fort,
the historically illiterate think the later bombardment of Fort Sumter was South Carolina attacking a
United States fort. It wasn’t; the fort and the property it sat on had reverted to the State of South
Carolina.
In the Confederate Veteran, September 1926, page 325, an interesting comment is made: Paul Graham
of Columbia, South Carolina, reminds us that “when Major Anderson transferred his garrison from Fort
Moultrie ... [he] occupied a piece of property that the United States had not the vestige of a right to
occupy, and which was under the ownership, jurisdiction, and sovereignty of the State of South Carolina
exclusively. “In other words, he invaded the State of South Carolina with his troops – unwittingly, it is
true, and on orders, but in fact, at any rate. Adverse possession even could not lie here in behalf of the
United States, since the United States had not garrisoned it.”
A Fort on South Carolina's Sovereign Soil
When foreign troops occupy your land and sufficient warning given, a sovereign State will expel them.
"The ultimate ownership of the soil, or eminent domain, remains with the people of the State in which it
lies, by virtue of their sovereignty."
Bernhard Thuersam, Cape Fear Historical Institute
Wilmington, NC
www.CFHI.net <http://www.CFHI.net>
“For well over one hundred years, uninformed and liberal historians and others have charged South
Carolina with starting the Civil War when the shore batteries at Charleston fired on the Federally-held
Fort Sumter in the bay. These writers have stated that this fort was the property of the federal
government. This statement is false.
On March 24, 1794, the US Congress passed an act to provide for the defense of certain ports and
harbors of the United States. The sites of forts, arsenals, navy yards and other public property of the
federal government were ceded or assigned by the States within whose limits they were, and subject to
the condition, either expressed or implied, that they should be used solely and exclusively for the
purpose for which they were granted. The ultimate ownership of the soil, or eminent domain, remains
with the people of the State in which it lies, by virtue of their sovereignty.
South Carolina, in 1805 by legislative enactment, ceded to the United States in Charleston Harbor and
on the Beaufort River, various forts and fortifications and sites for the erection of forts. The
Commonwealth of Massachusetts enacted the same in its legislature in 1836. New York State, in
granting the use of the site for the Brooklyn Navy Yard says: “The United States are to retain such use
and jurisdiction so long as said tract shall be applied to the defense and safety of the city and port of
New York and no longer…” The cession of the site of Watervliet Arsenal was made on the same terms.
It has been said by many historians that these sites were purchased outright by the federal government.
This is also false. The Act of 1794 clearly states, “that no purchase shall be made where such lands are
the property of the State.”
When General George B. McClellan and his federal army of 112,000 men landed on the tip of the
Virginia peninsula April12, 1862 and occupied Fortress Monroe, this action verified the Southern charge
of Northern aggression. A State withdrawing from the union would necessarily assume the control
theretofore exercised by the general government over all public defenses and other public property
within her limits. The South, on the verge of withdrawal (from the union) had prepared to give adequate
compensation to an agent of the Northern government for the forts and other public works erected on the
land. Therefore, three commissioners from South Carolina, one from Georgia, and one from Alabama
were sent to Washington to negotiate for the removal of federal garrisons from Southern forts.
The commissioners, all prominent men, were Messrs. Robert W. Barnwell, James H. Adams, and James
L. Orr of South Carolina; Martin Crawford of Georgia, and John Forsythe of Alabama, and arrived in
Washington on the 5th of March. On March 12th they addressed an official communication to Mr.
(William) Seward, Secretary of State, explaining their functions and their purpose. Mr. Seward declined
to make any formal recognition of the commissioners, but assured them in verbal conferences of the
determination of the government at Washington to evacuate Fort Sumter; of the peaceful intentions of
the government, and that no changes in the status prejudicially to the Confederate States were in
contemplation; but in the event of any change, notice would be given to the commissioners. The
commissioners waited for a reply to their official communication until April 8th, at which time they
received a reply dated March 15th by which they were advised that the president had decided not to
receive them, nor was he interested in any proposals they had to offer. During this time the cabinet of
the Northern government had been working in secrecy in New York preparing an extensive military and
naval expedition to reinforce the garrison at Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.
As they had tried to deceive the people of the North and South in January 1861 with the Star of the West
(expedition to Sumter), loaded with troops and ammunition, the radical Republicans again advised the
press that this mission was also a mission of mercy for the garrison of Fort Sumter, and on April 7th the
expedition set sail southward bound loaded with troops and arms. At 2PM, April 11, 1861, General
Beauregard demanded that Major Anderson of Fort Sumter evacuate the works, which Anderson refused
to do. At a little after 3AM, General Beauregard advised Major Anderson that “in one hour’s time I will
open fire.” At 4:40AM, from Fort Johnson the battery opened on Fort Sumter, which fire was followed
by the batteries of Moultrie, Cummings Point and the floating battery.
At this time a part of the federal naval force had arrived at the Charleston bar, but strange to say, Captain
Fox, after hearing the heavy guns of the bombardment decided that his government did not expect any
gallant sacrifices on his part, and took no part in the battle. On April 13 after the Confederate guns had
reduced Sumter to a smoking heap of ruin, Major Anderson surrendered, with no loss of life on either
side.
“On one side of the conflict was the South led by the descendants of the Cavaliers, who with all their
faults had inherited from a long line of ancestors a manly contempt for moral littleness, a high sense of
honor, a lofty regard for plighted faith, a strong tendency for conservatism, a profound respect for law
and order, and an unfaltering loyalty to constitutional government.”
Against the South was arrayed the power of the North, dominated by the spirit of Puritanism which, with
all its virtues, has ever been characterized by the pharisaism which worships itself, and is unable to
perceive any goodness apart from itself, which has ever arrogantly held its ideas, its interests, and its
will, higher than fundamental law and covenanted obligations; which has always “lived and moved and
had its being, in rebellion against constituted authority.”
The Reverend R.C. Cave, 1894 (Land of the Golden River, Vol. II, Lewis P. Hall, Hall’s Enterprises,
1980)
Remembering Fort Sumter:
Perhaps a word should be inserted here as to which side was the aggressor in this historic conflict. Who
bears the guilt of starting the war? The North has sought to lay this stigma upon the South since we
fired the first shot. But the courts (and common sense as well) have decreed that the aggressor is not the
one who strikes the first blow, but the one who makes that blow necessary. The ground on which Fort
Sumter stood had been lent to the Federal Government by the State of South Carolina for the erection of
a fort to guard its chief harbor, but when South Carolina withdrew from the Union, the property
automatically reverted to the State. Morally and legally, the first blow was not struck at Charleston, but
when this fleet with hostile intent weighed anchor in the harbor of New York. Hence the guilt of
aggression lies at the door of the Federal government at Washington. (See Stephens History of the US,
pp. 421-429)
(Some Things For Which the South Did Not Fight, Henry Tucker Graham, 1946)
Major Anderson's Actions at Fort Moultrie
Below is an account of the actions of Major Anderson at Fort Moultrie. It is obvious by these actions
that Anderson was aware of the intention of his government to wage war against South Carolina and
those states that had seceded with her. This must be considered in light of what were ongoing
“arrangements” between President Buchanan and the representatives of South Carolina that there would
be no actions taken by either side of a warlike nature. Obviously, as Buchanan was still in office at the
time of these actions by Anderson, the US military was no longer under the command of the supposed
Commander-in-Chief, the President. This, of course, is obvious also by virtue of General Scott’s sending
the Star of the West with 200 men secreted aboard to reinforce Sumter. So the war began in the North
before the South was even aware that it had been initiated.
“Christmas day dawned upon Major Anderson under these circumstances, and bound by these
instructions. He accepted an invitation to dinner in Charleston. Returning to his post, under cover of the
night and the prevailing hilarity, he removed his force from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, and placed his
little band where he could assert and maintain for a time the authority of the government and uphold its
flag. Major Anderson had kept his secret well, and did his work thoroughly. During the day the wives
and children of the troops were sent away, on the plea that an attack might be made on that an attack
might be made on fort Moultrie. Three small schooners were hired, and the few inhabitants of Sullivan’s
Island saw them loaded, as they thought, with beds, furniture and baggage. About nine in the evening
the men were ordered to hold themselves in marching order, with knapsacks packed. No one seemed to
know the reason of the movement, and their destination was only confided by Major Anderson to his
second in command. The little garrison was paraded, inspected and then embarked in boats and taken to
Fort Sumter, the schooners carrying the provisions, garrison furniture, and munitions of war. What could
not be removed was destroyed. Not a pound of powder or a cartridge was left in the magazine. The
small-arms and military supplies of very kind were removed, guns spiked, and their carriages burned.
The unfinished additions and alterations of the work were destroyed. The flag-staff was cut down, that
no banner with strange device should occupy the place of the stars and stripes; in fact, nothing was left
unharmed except the heavy round shot, which were temporarily rendered useless by the dismounting
and spiking of all the guns.”
History of the Flag of the United States by George Henry Preble, Rear Admiral, USN - (Copyright
1880)
Buchanan's Role in Initiating War
Often overlooked in the run-up to the bombardment of Fort Sumter (April 12th) is the Star of the West
relief expedition sent by President James Buchanan in January, 1861, and allowing Major Anderson to
seize Fort Sumter. Below, Buchanan's Attorney General, Jeremiah Black of Pennsylvania, takes him to
task later that year on his own actions in fomenting war upon Americans in South Carolina. Buchanan
seemed to believe the fiction that Lincoln had to "defend the country against dismemberment," a
presidential power which is not found in the Constitution. As each State voluntarily acceded to the
compact, each State could voluntarily secede from the compact; a sovereign right as embodied in
Jefferson's Declaration of Independence.
Bernhard Thuersam, Cape Fear Historical Institute
Wilmington, NC
www.CFHI.net <http://www.CFHI.net>
"(Former President James) Buchanan had firmly endorsed the war policy since the attack on Fort Sumter
and in September, 1861, sent a letter to a Democratic political meeting in Chester County
(Pennsylvania). He emphasized in this message that the war would have to be loyally sustained until the
bitter end and urged the Democrats to stop wasting their time on a futile demand for peace proposals.
The minute he saw this letter, (Jeremiah) Black wrote:
"Your endorsement of Lincoln's policy will be a very serious drawback upon the defense of your own. It
is vain to think that the two administration can be made consistent. The fire upon the Star of the West
was as bad as the fire on Fort Sumter; and the taking of Fort Moultrie & Pinckney was worse than either.
If this war is right and politic and wise and constitutional, I cannot but think you ought to have made it. I
am willing to vindicate the last administration...but I cant do it on the ground which you now occupy."
"...Buchanan would not agree with Black that there was anything but a superficial similarity between the
threatening incidents at the end of his Administration and the sustained bombardment of Fort Sumter on
April 12. He also disagreed with Black's view that the war itself was unconstitutional, that Lincoln
started it, and that it ought to be stopped as soon as possible by a negotiated peace. "...As to my course
since the wicked bombardment of Fort Sumter," he told Black, "it is but a regular consequence of my
whole policy towards the seceding States. They had been informed over and over again by me what
would be the consequence of an attack upon it. They chose to commence civil war, & Mr. Lincoln had
no alternative but to defend he country against dismemberment. I certainly should have done the same
thing had they begun the war in my time, & this they well knew."
(President James Buchanan, A Biography, Philip S. Klein, American Political Biography Press, 1962,
pp. 416-417)
Mr. Toombs on Fort Sumter
As Mr. Toomb's represents below in 1861, it was common knowledge that Lincoln and Seward were
well into preparations for war upon their fellow Americans who desired peace, and a government by the
consent of the governed.
Bernhard Thuersam, Cape Fear Historical Institute
Wilmington, NC
www.CFHI.net <http://www.CFHI.net>
From Mr. Toombs, Secretary of State, CSA, April 24, 1861:
(to Hon. W.L. Yancy, P. Rost, Dudley Mann, Commissioners of the Confederate States)
When you left this city (Montgomery) you were aware that Commissioners from this government had
been sent to Washington with the view to open negotiations with the government of the United States
for the peaceful settlement of all matters in controversy, and for the settlement of relations of amity and
good will between the two countries. They promptly made known to the Administration at Washington
the object of their mission; gave the most explicit assurance that it was the earnest desire of the
President, Congress, and the people of the Confederate States to preserve peace; that they had no
demand to make which was not founded on the strictest justice, and that they had no wish to do any act
to injure their late confederates, (and) they did not press their demand for a formal reception or a
recognition of the independence of the Confederate States. So long as moderation and forbearance were
consistent with the honor and dignity of their government, they forebore from taking any steps which
could possibly add to the difficulties by which the Cabinet of Mr. Lincoln was beset.
(They) received the most positive assurances from Mr. Seward that the policy of his government was
peace; that Fort Sumter would be evacuated immediately; that Fort Pickens would soon be abandoned;
that no measure was contemplated “to change the existing status of things prejudicially to the
Confederate States;” and that, if any change were resolved upon, due notice would be given to the
Commissioners.
Incredible as it may seem, it is nevertheless perfectly true that while the Government of the United
States was thus addressing the Confederate States with words of conciliation and promises of peace, a
large naval and military expedition was being fitted out by its order for the purpose of invading our soil
and imposing on us an authority which we have forever repudiated, and which it was well known we
would resist to the last extremity.
Having knowledge that a large fleet was expected hourly to arrive at Charleston harbor with orders to
force and entrance and attempt to victual and reinforce the fortress, and that the troops of the
Confederate States would be thus exposed to a double attack, General Beauregard had no alternative left
but to dislodge the enemy and take possession of the fort, and thus command absolutely all the
approaches to the port of Charleston, so that the entrance of a hostile fleet would be almost impossible.”
(Messages and Papers of the Confederacy, 1861-1865, James D. Richardson, Editor, US Publishing
Company, pp. 13-16)
Witnessing the Bombardment, April 12th
Like many North Carolinians, Alfred Moore Waddell, editor of the Wilmington Daily Herald, was a
"Union" man before open hostilities commenced in 1861. He supported John Bell of Tennessee and
Edward Everett of Massachusetts for the presidential ticket in 1860, but patriotically supported North
Carolina's defense and self-determination after secession on May 20th. The following is drawn from
www.cfhi.net <http://www.cfhi.net> "Alfred Moore Waddell, Enlightened Wilmingtonian."
Bernhard Thuersam, Cape Fear Historical Institute
Wilmington, NC
www.CFHI.net <http://www.CFHI.net>
"On the evening of April 10, 1861, the telegraph operator at the Wilmington office confidentially
communicated to me at the (Wilmington Daily) Herald office a telegram that had just passed through
from General Beauregard to Jefferson Davis at Richmond, saying that he would open fire on Fort
Sumter at 4 a.m., if Major Anderson refused to surrender. Thereupon I hurried to the old "Manchester
Depot" opposite to the Market Street dock on the other side of the (Cape Fear) river, and caught the train
for Charleston as it was passing out. I described the trip to a New York audience in 1878 in the
following brief sentences:
"I shall never forget that, after a night of great anxiety, and when about twenty miles from the city, just
as the first grey streaks began to lighten the eastern sky, and when the silent swamps were wakened only
by the rumble of the train, there was distinctly heard a single dull, heavy report like a clap of distant
thunder, and immediately following it at intervals of a minute or two, that peculiar measured throb of
artillery which was then so new, but afterwards became so familiar to our ears. The excitement on the
train at once became intense, and the engineer, sympathizing with it, opened his valves, and giving free
rein to the iron horse, rushed us with tremendous speed into the historic city.
Springing from the train and dashing through the silent streets we entered our hotel, ascended to the
roof, and here I experienced sensations which never before or since have been mine. As I stepped into
the cupola and looked out upon that splendid harbor, there in the center of its gateway to the sea, half
wrapped in the morning mist, lay Sumter, and high above its parapets, fluttering in the morning breeze
floated proudly and defiantly the stars and stripes. In a moment afterwards just above it there was a
sudden red flash, and a column of smoke, followed by an explosion, and opposite on James Island, a
corresponding puff floated away on the breeze, and I realized with emotion indescribable that I was
looking upon a civil war among my countrymen."
(Some Memories of My Life, Alfred Moore Waddell, Edwards & Broughton Printing, 1908, pp. 53-54)
Deception Leads to War on April 12th
It takes little reading to discover the duplicity of Lincoln and Seward as they misled the Southern
commissioners sent to negotiate agreements between the two countries. Judge John A. Campbell was a
respected Supreme Court Justice who tried honestly to facilitate peaceful relations between North and
South, but was deceived by those leading the war party of the North.
After Buchanan's failed Star of the West mission to resupply Sumter in January, Lincoln tried the same
in early April with troops hidden beneath decks to reinforce Sumter while promising to maintain the
peaceful status quo.
Bernhard Thuersam, Cape Fear Historical Institute
Wilmington, NC
www.CFHI.net <http://www.CFHI.net>
Judge Campbell to the President of the Confederate States.
Montgomery, Alabama, May 7, 1861
"Sir: I submit to you two letters that were addressed by me to the Hon. W. H. Seward, Secretary of State
of the United States, that contain an explanation of the nature and result of an intervention by me in the
intercourse of the commissioners of the Confederate States with that officer. I considered that I could
perform no duty in which the entire American people, whether of the Federal Union or of the
Confederate States, were more interested than that of promoting the counsels and the policy that had for
their object the preservation of peace. This motive dictated my intervention.
Besides the interview referred to in these letters, I informed the Assistant Secretary of State of the
United States (not being able to see the Secretary) on the 11th April, ultimo, of the existence of a
telegram of that date, from General Beauregard to the commissioners, in which he informed the
commissioners that he had demanded the evacuation of Sumter, and if refused he would proceed to
reduce it. On the same day, I had ben told that President Lincoln had said that none of the vessels sent to
Charleston were war vessels, and that force was not to be used in the attempt to resupply the Fort. I had
no means of testing the accuracy of this information; but offered that if the information was accurate, I
would send a telegram to the authorities at Charleston, and it might prevent the disastrous consequences
of a collision at that fort between the opposing forces. It was the last effort that I would make to avert
the calamities of war. The Assistant Secretary promised to give the matter attention, but I had no other
intercourse with him or any other person on he subject, nor have I had any reply to the letters submitted
to you."
Very respectfully,
John A. Campbell
To: General Davis, President of the Confederate States
(Messages and Papers of the Confederacy, James D. Richardson, US Publishing Company, 1906,
Volume I, pp. 97-98)
On the night of 26/27 December (1860), Major Robert Anderson…withdrew his small force from the
unfinished Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, the most defensible of the various posts scattered about the
harbor, spiking the guns and burning the gun carriages at Moultrie.
This surprise move greatly alarmed the public in South Carolina. It was the first federal act that could be
interpreted as overly hostile in intent, and it seemed to South Carolinians an act of bad faith, violating
their understanding of a tacit agreement with Washington to maintain a status quo until a political
settlement could be worked out by the delegates the State had sent there. Indeed, it was this act and not
the firing on Fort Sumter that South Carolinians regarded as the commencement of hostilities.”
(Carolina Cavalier, Clyde N. Wilson, Chronicles Press, 2002, page 137)
An "Insignificant" Military Engagement Has Horrific Consequences
At the time of the Fort Sumter crisis, precipitated by the Buchanan and Lincoln administrations, State
and Federal relations were primarily governed by a rational understanding of the sovereignty of the
States. A clear understanding of this guided South Carolina’s conduct, and the formal secession of
States’ from the fraternal union. The higher-law doctrine revolutionaries at the North had other ideas.
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman,
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission <http://www.ncwbts150.com>
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
Thus Fell Fort Sumter:
“The formal evacuation of the fort took place on the 14th, the garrison withdrawing with the honors of
war, and being transferred to one of the Federal vessels lying in the offing. A vast concourse of people
witnessed it from the shores of the harbor, and the waters of the bay were alive with boats and
sightseers. Thus fell Fort Sumter.
The means at the disposal of the Carolinians to reduce the fort, vigorously held, were totally inadequate.
Their breaching guns, necessarily placed at extreme range, were old-fashioned smooth-bores of light
caliber, save a rifled 12-dr., which for such a purpose was a mere toy. From their shells the casements of
the fort were a perfect protection. It is true their hot shots fired the wooden barracks on the terreplein of
the fort, and this, while burning, may have, as alleged, endangered the magazine, but the barracks soon
burned out. Endangered magazines are an incident of every siege, and their explosion within
beleaguered forts was no uncommon occurrence on both sides later in the war, and none were even
surrendered in consequence. It is true that [Major Robert] Anderson’s means of damaging his assailants,
sheltered behind epaulements, were as limited.
He had nothing but smooth-bores, firing round shot. But neither his ammunition nor commissariat was
exhausted when he surrendered. And photographs of the work taken at the time forbid the assertion that
its tenability was seriously impaired. The walls were injured nowhere; the projectiles of the nearest
batteries had given them the look of a bad case of smallpox, no more, and not a man had been killed on
either side when Anderson’s flag was furled.
No wonder that European spectators smiled at the bombardment and defense. It had to veteran eyes,
which saw only the patent facts, something of the characteristics of Chinese war. But the truth is the
doctrine of State Sovereignty, with its consequent State Rights, was not then the exploded heresy which
it has since become. Taught by the most venerated sages of the early republic, it had constituted the faith
of a large majority of the people, and shaped the course of the government almost uninterruptedly from
its inception. It was still a mighty, living influence, and gave the Carolinians the benefit of that morale
which is as potent in armies as is the nervous fluid in the human frame.
The whole course of the Federal Government toward the seceded States had been that of one who admits
a right but seeks to evade its consequences. The Northern press took no higher ground; and some of its
most influential exponents openly admitted the Southern view of the question. Mr. Lincoln, in the face
of his life-long advocacy of the principles relied upon by the secessionists, could find no higher ground
upon which to put his continued tenure of Sumter than its character as property—a character in which
the seceded State was more than willing to consider and account for it in an equitable distribution of
assets.
Major Anderson was himself a Democrat of the States’ Rights school, a Kentuckian by birth…[and] thus
situated [at Fort Sumter] with his orders, such as they were, emanating from the tricky and shuffling
demagogues who filled the high places at Washington...no wonder that he made only such a defense as
could by possibility warrant an honorable surrender.
Insignificant, however, as was the defense of Sumter and facile as was its reduction, in its results it was
an event of tremendous consequence. From that period what little statesmanship and reason had so far
marked the controversy, fled the field, and the baleful passions of civil strife were loosed for a four
years’ carnival of blood and ruthless destruction.”
(Memoirs of the War of Secession, Johnson Hagood, The State Company, 1910, pp. 33-34)
Fort Sumter from North Carolina
The following account of the excitement in Wilmington at the firing on Fort Sumter, April 12, 1861, is
taken from the North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial website, www.ncwbts150.com
http://www.ncwbts150.com . Please visit this unique site frequently for a North Carolina perspective of
the conflict, and the sacrifices of North Carolina citizens in defense of their families, homes, towns and
State.
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission -
www.ncwbst150.com <http://www.ncwbst150.com
Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor Reacting to the Onset of War, Cape Fears Forts Occupied Again:
North Carolinians watched with interest as events unfolded in South Carolina, and immediately after
Fort Sumter fell, Governor John W. Ellis replied to the Secretary of War’s request for two regiments to
invade South Carolina with the following:
“I regard the levy of troops made by the administration for the purpose of subjugating the States
of the South as in violation of the Constitution and a gross usurpation of power. I can be no party
to this wicked violation of the laws of the country, and to this war upon the liberties of a free
people. You can get no troops from North Carolina.”
The Excitement in Wilmington:
James Sprunt’s “Chronicles of the Cape Fear” relate the response to Lincoln’s call for 75,000 volunteers
to invade South Carolina after Fort Sumter: “the whole of the Cape Fear section was fired, and with
scarcely an exception looked upon secession and war as the inevitable outcome. Rev. Prichard noted in
his diary entry of April 13th: “Fort Sumter bombarded all night! Every body is excited. War has
commenced; when will it end? Sumter surrendered unconditionally, by Major Anderson, commander!
Great rejoicing in Wilmington, flag raising, etc.”
Wilmington’s Secession Flag
The flag raising Rev. Prichard noted was no doubt the single white star on red background secession flag
of Wilmington. On 15 April he noted again the sense of alarm in the city:
“Lincoln’s proclamation received, saying he would order out 75,000 men to take the forts, etc.
Greatest excitement on the streets.”
Virginia seceded from the Union on April 17th, as did Arkansas on May 6th. On the following day in
Nashville, Tennessee declared independence from the United States and joined the
Confederacy. Governor Ellis did not wait for North Carolina’s official secession to put the State in a
strong defensive footing. The Legislature was called into special session on May 1st, prior to which
Governor Ellis directed the seizure of forts, arsenals and other federal property in the State. Fort Macon
at Beaufort was held by Captain Josiah Pender; The formation of military companies from across North
Carolina were offered to Governor Ellis, including Col. Alexander Murchison’s large company of free
blacks and slaves from Cumberland county, nearly 200 strong.
Governor John W. Ellis
On April 13th, Ellis telegraphed James Fulton at Wilmington to “Tell the Troops to await further orders,
hold themselves ready to move at shortest notice.” On April 15th Colonel Cantwell was telegraphed
from Goldsboro:
“I have recd the following---Hon. S.J. Person---Communicate orders to military of Wilmington
to take forts Caswell and Johnston without delay & hold them till further orders against all
comers. Signed, J.W. Ellis. I will be down at 7 o’clock & issue in his name necessary orders---
Notify the Captains. Answer. Sam’l J. Person.”
The Wilmington Daily Journal of April 15th announced from Headquarters 30th Regiment, North
Carolina Militia:
“The Officers and command of the Wilmington Light Infantry, German Volunteers, &
Wilmington Rifle Guards, are hereby ordered to notify their respective commands to assemble in
front of the Carolina Hotel at (blank) O’Clock fully armed and equipped, this afternoon. By
Order, Col. Jno. L. Cantwell. Jas. D. Radcliffe, Adgt.”
Carolina Hotel, Corner Market and Second Streets
Colonel Cantwell and his 30th North Carolina Militia were ordered on April 16th: “to take Forts
Caswell and Johnston without delay, and hold them until further orders against all comers.” Cantwell
left for the forts with Captain William Lord DeRossett’s Wilmington Light Infantry (WLI); Captain
Cornehlson’s German Volunteers, Captain Oliver Pendleton Mears Wilmington Rifle Guards, and the
Cape Fear Artillery of Major John J. Hedrick (under Captain James Stevenson as Hedrick was in
Raleigh obtaining supplies). The Wilmington Riflemen under the command of Captain M.M. Hankins
was held in reserve and guarded the city.
Cantwell’s force left the Market Street dock aboard the steamer W.W. Harllee with the transport
schooner Dolphin in tow. Arriving at Fort Johnston at 4PM, Sergeant O’Reilly surrendered the post to
Cantwell under protest, which was then occupied by the Cape Fear Artillery; and Sergeant Walker
surrendered Fort Caswell at 6:20PM to the control of Cantwell’s remaining forces. Walker was placed in
close confinement after “repeated attempts to communicate with his government.” The US Army
sergeants and their families were transported to nearby Smithville where Cantwell’s quartermaster was
ordered to provide them with temporary quarters.
Now under local military control, the forts were prepared for active and effective defense with guns
mounted and expanded fortifications. In his official report of 17 April, Colonel Cantwell noted that
seven 6-Pounder cannon were found dismounted and stored at Fort Johnston, which were then placed in
a new battery under the direction of Major James D. Radcliffe. At Fort Caswell, Cantwell reported “I
find this fortification in a dismantled, and almost defenceless condition, there being but two Guns
mounted (their carriages being unserviceable) and no other carriages to be had within the limits of the
State so far as I am informed.”
William L. DeRosset Alexander H. Stephens Charles Pattison Bolles
Captain DeRosset’s WLI would soon be detached for work on a new battery at Confederate Point and
under the direction of Captain Charles Pattison Bolles. This would be Battery Bolles, and would grow
into the mammoth earthen Fort Fisher. Col. Cantwell would hold command of Fort Caswell until
transferred on July 20, 1861.
In his diary entry for April 22nd, Rev. Prichard had observed “Companies from the West and South
concentrating” in Wilmington.
On April 22, Vice President Alexander H. Stephens wrote upon reaching Richmond from Wilmington
that “we are on the eve of a tremendous conflict between the sections. North Carolina is in a blaze from
one extremity to the other. Yesterday, Sunday as it was, large crowds were assembled at all the stations
along the railroad—at Wilmington five thousand at least, the Confederate flag flying all over the city. I
had to make them a speech at all the places,—only a few words at some, and longer at others; at
Wilmington nearly half an hour.”
"Enlightened Wilmingtonian: Alfred Moore Waddell"
The following is taken from the Cape Fear Historical Institute’s “Enlightened Wilmingtonian: Alfred
Moore Waddell found at www.cfhi.net http://www.cfhi.net. Waddell learned of the upcoming
bombardment of Fort Sumter by telegraph on this day 150 years ago, took the steam ferry from the
Market Street dock across the Cape Fear River to the Manchester railroad depot on Eagles Island, near
the current battleship North Carolina location.
Bernhard Thuersam, Director
Cape Fear Historical Institute www.cfhi.net <http://www.cfhi.net
From Wilmington to Charleston on April 10, 1861:
North Carolina unionists like Waddell had earlier hoped for solutions to the secession crisis within the
Union, the same Union fought for by their patriot fathers and grandfathers. With President James
Buchanan's "Star of the West" expedition that not only illustrated disdain for South Carolina's regained
sovereignty, but also an aggressive policy of the federal government to coerce a State, those like
Waddell were convinced that there would be no hope of compromise in a sectional Lincoln
administration dominated by Northern industrial and abolitionist interests.
He witnessed the bombardment of Fort Sumter after rushing to the city of Charleston by train:
"On the evening of April 10, 1861, the telegraph operator at the Wilmington office confidentially
communicated to me at the (Wilmington Daily) Herald office a telegram that had just passed
through from General Beauregard to Jefferson Davis at Richmond, saying that he would open
fire on Fort Sumter at 4 a.m., if Major Anderson refused to surrender. Thereupon I hurried to the
old "Manchester Depot" opposite to the Market Street dock on the other side of the (Cape Fear)
river, and caught the train for Charleston as it was passing out. I described the trip to a New York
audience in 1878 in the following brief sentences:
"I shall never forget that, after a night of great anxiety, and when about twenty miles from the
city, just as the first grey streaks began to lighten the eastern sky, and when the silent swamps
were wakened only by the rumble of the train, there was distinctly heard a single dull, heavy
report like a clap of distant thunder, and immediately following it at intervals of a minute or two,
that peculiar measured throb of artillery which was then so new but afterwards became so
familiar to our ears.
The excitement on the train at once became intense, and the engineer, sympathizing with it,
opened his valves, and giving free rein to the iron horse, rushed us with tremendous speed into
the historic city. Springing from the train and dashing through the silent streets we entered our
hotel, ascended to the roof, and here I experienced sensations which never before or since have
been mine. As I stepped into the cupola and looked out upon that splendid harbor, there in the
center of its gateway to the sea, half wrapped in the morning mist, lay Sumter, and high above
its parapets, fluttering in the morning breeze floated proudly and defiantly the stars and stripes.
In a moment afterwards just above it there was a sudden red flash, and a column of smoke,
followed by an explosion, and opposite on James Island, a corresponding puff floated away on
the breeze, and I realized with emotion indescribable that I was looking upon a civil war among
my countrymen."
More on the Disposition of Sumter and Moultrie
By John C. Whatley
It is a principle of law that you can donate your property for any purpose to the government. Many
people donate property for public parks, or for walkways, or for historical memorials. This voluntary
donation is in stark contrast to eminent domain, in which the government takes your property for “public
interest.” Along with a voluntary donation comes the right to attach all sorts of conditions to the
donation. The granite mass known as Stone Mountain remains property of the State of Georgia “so long
as it is used as a Confederate monument”. Once it is no longer used for such purpose, it reverts [goes
back] to the Venable family. There appears to be no time limit to this, since a piece of property donated
in the 1400s “so long as it is used as a pub” reverted to the donating family when the City of London
condemned the entire neighborhood for “public interest” and discovered that they had to deal with the
family for that particular piece of property. Another condition attached to a donation of property to the
government is known legally as a “life estate”. The person donating the property is thus allowed to live
on the property for life and at his or her death the property becomes fully vested in [owned by] the
government.
Now that you know this, what would you think of an agreement between the State of South Carolina and
the Federal Government for the latter to build a fort on South Carolina’s property and retain that
property “so long as it is used as a fort”? If the United States abandoned building a fort there, would the
property revert to South Carolina? South Carolina in 1805 (Statutes at Large, Volume V, p. 501)
provided as follows in regard to the cessions in Charleston Harbor:
"That, if the United States shall not, within three years from the passing of this
act, and notification thereof by the governor of this State to the Executive of the
United States, repair the fortifications now existing thereon, or build such other
forts or fortifications as may be deemed most expedient by the Executive of the
United States on the same, and keep a garrison or garrisons therein, in such case
this grant or cession shall be void and of no effect."
So, South Carolina put a stipulation on its donation of property to the United States, that if the United
States did not complete the fort within three years, or garrison what was there, the grant was “void and
of no effect.” Not only was Fort Sumter not completed within the three-year period, but it also was not
completed by 1861, nor had it ever been garrisoned. The United States was thus in breach of contract,
and South Carolina had every right and expectation of the reversion of the Fort Sumter property to the
State of South Carolina. Of course, by this time, the United States had no need of coastal forts. The
British during the War of 1812, with its superiority of ships, had landed troops at will on the coast of
America, but they were now allies and no sea-born attack was anticipated. So the United States
abandoned the coastal fort program, the last to be built being Fort Pulaski defending the Savannah River.
Since the United States also had a great fleet of warships, they felt the navy could defend America
whenever needed, so coastal forts were no longer needed. The program was greatly curtailed and most
of the forts that had been built had mere caretakers. Not much is made about this, and the historically
illiterate (or most of the dumb masses) think Fort Sumter was owned by the Federal Government when
the WBTS began. Amazingly, everyone just assumes this is so. So when South Carolina demanded the
surrender by the invading Federals of her fort, the historically illiterate think the later bombardment of
Fort Sumter was South Carolina attacking a United States fort. It wasn’t; the fort and the property it sat
on had reverted to the State of South Carolina. Major Anderson and his troops were actually invading
South Carolina!
In the Confederate Veteran, September 1926, page 325, an interesting comment is made: Paul Graham
of Columbia, South Carolina, reminds us that “when Major Anderson transferred his garrison from Fort
Moultrie ... [he] occupied a piece of property that the United States had not the vestige of a right to
occupy, and which was under the ownership, jurisdiction, and sovereignty of the State of South Carolina
exclusively. “In other words, he invaded the State of South Carolina with his troops – unwittingly, it is
true, and on orders, but in fact, at any rate. Adverse possession even could not lie here in behalf of the
United States, since the United States had not garrisoned it.”
[Mr. Whatley is also the author of The Typical Georgia Confederate and The Typical South Carolina
Confederate]
Lincoln Has No Right to a Soldier in Fort Sumter:
The right of Americans to change their government with the consent of the governed is enshrined in the
Declaration of Independence, and even the abolitionists of the 1850’s admitted the right of the South to
depart the fraternal union and govern itself. But war would come after a newly-elected sectional
president did nothing to peacefully settle national differences, and seized control of the military.
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com http://www.ncwbts150.com
“The house of every man is his castle, and he may defend it to the death against all aggressors. When a
hostile hand is raised to strike a blow, he who is assaulted need not wait until the blow falls, but on the
instant may protect himself as best he can. And where constitutional rights of a people are in jeopardy, a
kindred right of self-defense belongs to them. Although revolutionary in its character, it is not the less a
right.
Wendell Phillips, abolitionist as he was, in a speech made at New Bedford on the 9th of April, 1861,
three days before the bombardment of Fort Sumter, fully recognized this right. He said: “Here are a
series of States girding the Gulf, who think that their peculiar institutions require that they should have a
separate government. They have a right to decide that question without appealing to you or me. A large
body of the people, sufficient to make a nation, have come to the conclusion that they will have a
government of a certain form. Who denies them the right? Standing with the principles of ’76 behind us,
who can deny them the right? What is a matter of a few millions of dollars or a few forts? It is a mere
drop in the bucket of the great national question. It is theirs as much as ours. I maintain, on the
principles of ’76, that Abraham Lincoln has no right to a soldier in Fort Sumter.”
Neither were the Southern men of ’61 fighting for money. And they too were deeply embittered, not
against a mother country, but against a brother country. The Northern people had published invectives of
the most exasperating character broadcast against the South in their speeches, sermons, newspapers and
books. The abolitionists had proceeded from words to deeds and were unwearied in tampering with the
slaves and carrying them off. The Southern people…could get no security that the provisions of the
Constitution would be kept either in letter or in spirit, and this they demanded as their right.
Devotion to their State first of all, a conviction of that paramount obligation—in case of any conflict of
allegiance—was due not to the Union but to the State, has been part of the political creed of very many
in the South ever since the adoption of the Constitution.
(Baltimore and the 19th of April, 1861, George William Brown, Johns Hopkins Press, 2001, pp. 26-28)
Abner Doubleday at Fort Sumter
By Richard Sheppard
In the Presidential election of November, 1860, Captain Abner Doubleday of the United States Army
cast his vote for Abraham Lincoln, the anti-slavery candidate. The forty-one-year-old Captain
Doubleday was living in the South, where slavery was an accepted institution, but he was a native of
New York State. He served as second-in-command at Fort Moultrie, which guarded the harbor of
Charleston, South Carolina. Captain Doubleday was delighted when Lincoln won the election; then
Doubleday was dismayed when the pro-slavery people of South Carolina refused to accept Lincoln as
their President. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first Southern state to secede from
the United States; and Captain Doubleday suddenly found himself based on foreign soil, facing a
potential enemy in the state militia of the newly-independent "Republic of South Carolina." Governor
Francis Pickens of South Carolina demanded that the United States Army immediately surrender Fort
Moultrie to his state.
The commander of the fort, Major Robert Anderson, refused to leave Fort Moultrie, and vowed to
defend federal property by force, if necessary. Captain Doubleday heartily approved of his commander's
sentiment, although Fort Moultrie appeared to be indefensible. The fort's regular peacetime garrison
consisted of fewer than seventy artillerymen; a number sufficient to fire ceremonial salutes; and a small
brass band. Against this federal force, Governor Pickens could quickly field thousands of South Carolina
state militiamen. In addition to being outnumbered, the federal soldiers in Fort Moultrie were badly
situated to resist an attack by the people of South Carolina. Fort Moultrie had been designed to defend
Charleston against naval invasion, so its protective ramparts faced the sea. The landward side of the fort
was defended only by a low wall, which had been partly buried by drifting sand dunes, so that stray
cows often wandered over the dunes and into the fort. The dunes were dotted with summer cottages,
from which enemy riflemen might aim their weapons into the fort.
In consultations with his commanding officer, Major Robert Anderson, Captain Doubleday argued that
the best defense for Fort Moultrie would be an aggressive surprise attack. As a first step, Doubleday
proposed to burn down all the cottages behind the fort, to make certain that enemy snipers would never
occupy them. Next, Doubleday wanted to aim the fort's cannon at the nearby town of Moultrieville. If
the local civilians refused to recognize Abraham Lincoln as their President, then the United States Army
should level their town with cannonballs, Doubleday thought.
Major Robert Anderson was reluctant to use such severe measures. The major was a native of Kentucky.
He had until recently owned slaves and a plantation in Georgia. Although he was determined to loyally
perform his duties as an officer of the United States Army, Major Anderson was in no hurry to start a
civil war. He said, "In this controversy between the North and the South, my sympathies are entirely
with the South." Since Fort Moultrie seemed indefensible, Major Anderson decided to abandon it and
withdraw his garrison to Fort Sumter, a new bastion on an artificial island in Charleston Harbor. Fort
Sumter was still under construction. Workmen had not mounted all the guns or finished the barracks, but
the fort's brick-faced walls, over eight feet thick and fifty feet high, were in place. Surrounded by water,
the fort seemed ideally situated to resist attack by local infantry.
On the night of December 26, 1860, the federal soldiers secretly and stealthily evacuated Fort Moultrie.
Captain Abner Doubleday led the first company of soldiers who boarded small boats and rowed to Fort
Sumter, where they surprised a large camp of workmen. Captain Doubleday wrote, "As we ascended the
steps of the wharf, crowds of workmen rushed out to meet us, most of them wearing secession emblems.
One or two Union men among them cheered lustily, but the majority called out angrily, `What are these
soldiers doing here?'" Captain Doubleday formed his men, charged bayonets, and drove the workmen
back into the fort. He then seized the guard-room, which commanded the main entrance. Most of the
workmen, whose sympathies were secessionist, were fired and sent ashore, but some pro-Union
workmen were allowed to remain in the fort.
The next day, Governor Pickens of South Carolina denounced the movement of federal troops to Fort
Sumter as an act of aggression. In retaliation, the governor ordered his state militia to occupy Fort
Moultrie and aim its guns at Fort Sumter. The state militia also began planting batteries of artillery on
islands around Charleston Harbor, from where they could pour shot and shell into Fort Sumter. While
preparing to reduce Fort Sumter by bombardment, Governor Pickens also took steps to starve the fort's
garrison into submission. Deliveries of food and ammunition to the fort were prohibited, although the
regular mail boat was allowed to deliver letters and newspapers to the federal soldiers, and to carry
regular military dispatches to Washington.
Captain Abner Doubleday hoped that the United States Navy would soon send a fleet into the harbor to
relieve Fort Sumter, but officials in Washington were reluctant to take such aggressive action. Outgoing
President James Buchanan wanted to hand over an intact and peaceful Union to Abraham Lincoln, who
would take office on March 4, 1861. The Buchanan administration, hoping to strengthen Fort Sumter
without provoking South Carolina, decided to sneak supplies and reinforcements into Charleston Harbor
aboard an unarmed merchant ship. The steamer Star of the West. was secretly chartered to carry a party
of two hundred United States Army officers and men, with their arms and ammunition, from New York
to Fort Sumter. Although the voyage of the Star of the West was supposed to be a clandestine operation,
Southern spies learned every detail of the mission, and revealed the secrets to the press. In Fort Sumter,
Captain Doubleday read about the Star of the West and her mission in the Charleston newspapers.
Based on the timetable published in the newspapers, Captain Doubleday expected the relief ship to
arrive on January 9, 1861. He arose at dawn that morning and went to the parapet of Fort Sumter to
search for the Star of the West with his spyglass. He immediately saw the steamer approaching
Charleston Harbor, belching smoke from her straining engines. As Doubleday watched, a Rebel battery
on Morris Island, manned by cadets from the Citadel, fired a warning shot across the bows of the Star of
the West. The ship ignored this warning and continued steaming into the harbor. The cadets then opened
fire with deadly intent. Doubleday saw geysers of spay leaping alongside the ship as cannonballs
crashed into the sea. Eager to retaliate against the Rebel batteries, Captain Doubleday ran to Major
Anderson's quarters to ask permission to open fire. He found his commander still in bed. Major
Anderson listened to Captain Doubleday's report, then said, "Have the long roll beaten and post the men
at the parapet." Doubleday ran out, called the drummers, and had the alarm sounded. He later wrote, "It
took but a few minutes for men and officers to form at the guns in readiness for action." Major Anderson
must have felt that he was awakening to a nightmare. When he joined his men on the parapet, he could
see the Star of the West steaming toward Fort Sumter through a Rebel cannonade from Morris Island
and Fort Moultrie. The ship's crew was signaling with a large flag, requesting supporting fire from Fort
Sumter.
Unsure of what to do, Major Anderson hesitated. If he ordered his men to fire on the Rebel guns in Fort
Moultrie, he would be starting a civil war. If he held his fire, the Star of the West might be sunk because
of his failure to support her. Aboard the Star of the West, officers and men waited expectantly for Fort
Sumter to open fire. A correspondent for the New York Evening Post , who had accompanied the
expedition aboard the Star of the West, wrote in his notebook, "Why does not Major Anderson open fire
on the battery and save us? We look in vain for help. The American flag flies at Fort Sumter, and the
American flag at our bow and stern is fired upon, yet there is not the slightest recognition of our
presence from the fort we look to for protection." Finally, the captain of the Star of the West decided
that he could expect no help from Fort Sumter. He turned his ship and retreated back to sea. Two Rebel
cannonballs struck the Star of the West , but caused no injuries, before the ship escaped beyond range of
the hostile guns. In Fort Sumter, federal soldiers were crushing their hats in frustration. Captain
Doubleday had to use all his authority to prevent his men from firing in violation of their orders.
Doubleday felt that his commander had made a serious mistake in failing to retaliate for South
Carolina's attack on the Star of the West. Doubleday wrote, "It was plainly our duty to do all that we
could [to defend the ship.] For anything we knew to the contrary, she might have been in a sinking
condition [when she fled the harbor]. Had she gone down before our eyes, without an effort on our part
to aid her, Anderson would have incurred a fearful responsibility by his inaction."
In Washington, the Buchanan administration took a more tolerant view of Major Anderson's inaction.
Relieved that civil war had been averted, the administration ignored the whole incident. Meanwhile, on
his own initiative, Major Anderson decided to use economic pressure to retaliate against South Carolina.
The major announced that the port of Charleston would be closed to commercial shipping until
Governor Pickens apologized for the attack on the Star of the West. Captain Doubleday doubted that any
non-violent measures would restore South Carolina to the Union. His pessimism seemed confirmed as
other states joined South Carolina in secession. On February 10, 1861, six other states joined with South
Carolina to form the Confederate States of America. After that, Captain Doubleday felt that Major
Anderson was sinking into gloomy lethargy. "He then seemed to lose all interest in the Union,"
Doubleday wrote, "and merely desired to become a spectator of the contest, not an actor. His efforts
thenceforth were confined to making his fort secure against an assault. Hardly any amount of
provocation could induce him to become the assailant." On March 4, 1861, when Abraham Lincoln was
inaugurated as the sixteenth President of the United States, the men in Fort Sumter had one month's
supply of bread remaining. Major Anderson sent a letter to Washington, asking the new Lincoln
administration to either send a relief expedition, or else grant permission to surrender Fort Sumter to the
Confederates. Anderson hoped that the President would decide to surrender the fort.
By April 3, Anderson had not yet received an answer from the new administration. That day, a schooner
flying the American flag tried to enter Charleston Harbor, and was attacked by Confederate guns. The
vessel was a Yankee trader from Maine, bound for Savannah, Georgia, with a load of ice. The skipper
had blundered into the harbor at Charleston by mistake. Major Anderson held his fire as the schooner
escaped safely back to sea. Four days later, on April 7, Major Anderson finally received instructions
from the new Secretary of War, Simon Cameron. The secretary wrote that President Lincoln had
decided to send a relief expedition to reinforce and resupply Fort Sumter.
"You will hold out, if possible, till the arrival of the [relief] expedition," Secretary Cameron commanded
Major Anderson. "It is not, however, the intention of the President to subject your command to any
danger or hardship beyond what, in your judgment, would be usual in military life; and he has entire
confidence that you will act as becomes a patriot and a soldier, under all circumstances. Whenever, if at
all, in your judgment, to save yourself and your command, a capitulation becomes a necessity, you are
authorized to make it." In reply Anderson wrote, "We shall strive to do our duty, though I frankly say
that my heart is not in the war which I see is to be thus commenced. That God will still avert it, and
cause us to resort to pacific measures to maintain our rights, is my ardent prayer." After the bread ran
out on April 8, 1861, the men in Fort Sumter had nothing to eat but salt pork and water. On April 10,
Major Anderson received an ultimatum from Confederate Brigadier General Pierre Gustave Toutant
Beauregard, who had taken command of the Rebel forces around Charleston. Beauregard sent emissaries
to Fort Sumter to demand that Anderson immediately surrender or else face attack. After consulting with
his officers, who unanimously voted against surrender, Anderson rejected Beauregard's demand. As the
Confederate emissaries were leaving Fort Sumter, Major Anderson told them, "I will await the first shot,
and if you do not batter us to pieces, we shall be starved out in a few days anyway." After another day of
negotiations, General Beauregard informed Major Anderson that he intended to commence bombarding
Fort Sumter at dawn on April 12. On the evening of April 11, the men of Fort Sumter made their beds in
the "bombproof" casemates under the walls of the fort. Major Anderson instructed everyone to stay in
bed until reveille was sounded at the usual hour the next morning. Most of the Union soldiers were
therefore still in bed when the Confederate bombardment began at 4:30 a.m.
Captain Abner Doubleday was awakened by a Confederate cannonball that "seemed to bury itself in the
masonry about a foot from my head, in very unpleasant proximity to my right ear...In a moment the
firing burst forth in one continuous roar, and large patches of both the interior and the exterior masonry
began to crumble and fall in all directions....Nineteen batteries were now hammering at us, and the balls
and shells from the ten-inch columbiads, accompanied by shells from the thirteen-inch mortars which
constantly bombarded us, made us feel as if the war had commenced in earnest." The men arose as usual
at 6:30 and breakfasted on salt pork and water. Despite his scanty rations, Captain Doubleday admitted
to feeling "somewhat merry" at the prospect of finally striking a blow against slavery. Captain
Anderson, in contrast, was in a grim mood. Worried about potential casualties, he ordered his men to
man only the light cannon in the lower tier of casemates, where they would be relatively safe. Captain
Doubleday wrote: "As I was the ranking officer, I took the first detachment, and marched them to the
casemates, which looked out upon the powerful iron-clad battery of Cummings Point. "In aiming the
first gun fired against the rebellion I had no feeling of self-reproach, for I fully believed that the contest
was inevitable...To me it was simply a contest, politically speaking, as to whether virtue or vice should
rule." To his dismay, Captain Doubleday soon discovered that the light cannon he was firing could not
harm the Confederate fortifications. He wrote, "My first shot bounded off from the sloping roof of the
battery opposite without producing any apparent effect. It seemed useless to attempt to silence the guns
there; for our metal was not heavy enough to batter the work down, and every ball glanced harmlessly
off."
Hoping to do some damage to the enemy, Captain Doubleday asked permission to fire the heaviest guns
in Fort Sumter, which were mounted on top of the parapet. Major Anderson, however, felt that those
heavy guns should not be manned because they were exposed to enemy fire. He insisted that his men
should fire only the protected, lower tier of lightweight cannons. Captain Doubleday wrote, "I regretted
very much that the upper tier of guns had been abandoned, as they were all loaded and pointed, and were
of very heavy caliber. A wild Irish soldier, however, named John Carmody, slipped up on the parapet
and, without orders, fired the pieces there, one after another, on his own account. One of the ten-inch
balls so aimed made quite an impression on the Cummings Point battery; and if the fire could have been
kept up, it might possibly have knocked the iron-work to pieces."
As the battle raged, the men in Fort Sumter kept hoping to be rescued by a fleet of United States Navy
warships. President Lincoln had dispatched a fleet to save the fort, but due to secrecy and confusion
among the bureaucracies of Washington, the most powerful warships in the fleet sailed to the wrong
destinations. Several small Navy ships reached the approaches to Charleston Harbor on April 12, but
they lacked sufficient firepower to fight their way past the Confederate Forts. Unable to assist Fort
Sumter, they remained outside the harbor, watching the battle from a safe distance. Captain Doubleday
wrote: "The firing continued all day, without any special incident of importance, and without our
making much impression on the enemy's works. They had a great advantage over us, as their fire was
concentrated at the fort, which was in the center of a circle, while ours was diffused over the
circumference. Their missiles were exceedingly destructive to the upper exposed portion of the work,
but no essential injury was done to the lower casemates which sheltered us.
"Some of these shells, however, set the officers' quarters on fire three times; but the flames were
promptly extinguished..."The night was an anxious one for us, for we thought it probable that the
launches, filled with armed men from the fleet, might take advantage of the darkness to come in with
provisions and supplies. Then, too, it was possible that the enemy might attempt a night attack. We were
on the alert, therefore, with men stationed at all the embrasures; but nothing unusual occurred. The
batteries fired upon us at stated intervals all night long. We did not return the fire, having no ammunition
to waste. "On the morning of the thirteenth, we took our breakfast; or rather, our pork and water ; at the
usual hour, and marched the men to the guns when the meal was over.
"From 4 to 6:30 a.m. the enemy's fire was very spirited. From 7 to 8 a.m. a rainstorm came on, and there
was a lull in the cannonading. About 8 a.m. the officers' quarters were ignited by one of the enemy's
incendiary shells, or by a shot heated in the furnaces at Fort Moultrie. The fire was put out; but at 10
a.m. a mortar shell passed through the roof, and lodged in the flooring of the second story, where it
burst, and started the flames afresh. This, too, was extinguished; but the hot shot followed each other so
rapidly that it was impossible for us to contend with them any longer. It became evident that the entire
block, being built with wooden partitions, floors, and roofing, must be consumed, and that the magazine,
containing three hundred barrels of powder, would be endangered; for, even after closing the metallic
door, sparks might penetrate through the ventilator. The floor was covered with loose powder, where a
detail of men had been at work manufacturing cartridge bags out of old shirts, woolen blankets, etc.
"While the officers exerted themselves with axes to tear down and cut away all the woodwork in the
vicinity, the soldiers were rolling barrels of powder out to more sheltered spots, and were covering them
with wet blankets. The labor was accelerated by the shells which were bursting around us...We only
succeeded in getting out some ninety-six barrels of powder, and then we were obliged to close the
massive copper door, and await the result. A shot soon after passed through the intervening shield,
struck the door, and bent the lock in such a way that it could not be opened again. We were thus cut off
from our supply of ammunition, but still had some piled up in the vicinity of the guns...
"By 11 a.m. the conflagration was terrible and disastrous. One-fifth of the fort was on fire, and the wind
drove the smoke in dense masses into the angle where we had all taken refuge. It seemed impossible to
escape suffocation. Some lay down close to the ground, with handkerchiefs over their mouths, and
others posted themselves near the embrasures, where the smoke was somewhat lessened by the draught
of air. Everyone suffered severely. I crawled out of one of these openings, and sat on the outer edge; but
[the Confederates] made it hot for me with their case-shot, which spattered all around. Had not a slight
change of wind taken place, the result might have been fatal to most of us. "Our firing having ceased,
and the enemy being very jubilant, I thought it would be as well to show them that we were not all dead
yet, and ordered the gunners to fire a few rounds more. I heard afterward that the enemy loudly cheered
Anderson for his persistency under such adverse circumstances.
"The scene at this time was really terrific. The roaring and crackling of the flames, the dense masses of
whirling smoke, the bursting of the enemy's shells, and our own which were exploding in the burning
rooms, the crashing of the shot, and the sound of masonry falling in every direction, made the fort a
pandemonium. "When at last nothing was left of the building but the blackened walls and smoldering
embers, it became painfully evident that an immense amount of damage had been done. There was a
tower at each angle of the fort. One of these, containing great quantities of shells, upon which we had
relied, was almost completely shattered by successive explosions. The massive wooden gates, studded
with iron nails, were burned, and the wall built behind them was now a mere heap of debris, so that the
main entrance was wide open for an assaulting party. The sally-ports were in a similar condition, and the
numerous windows on the gorge side, which had been planked up, had now become open entrances."
Major Anderson had ordered his men to avoid firing at any target that was not clearly a military
installation. Captain Doubleday, in his eagerness to punish the Rebels, felt that his commander was
being overly finicky. Captain Doubleday wrote: "There was a large, first-class wooden hotel, near the
shore, on Sullivan's Island, called the Moultrie House. It was only kept open during the summer, and
was a favorite resort, for planters and others, to enjoy the fresh sea-breezes, and the beautiful drive to the
beach at low tide. Since the Rebel occupation of Fort Moultrie, this hotel had been used as a depot and
barracks for the troops in the vicinity. Just before the attack was made upon us, the Palmetto flag, which
had waved over the building, was taken down; but I noticed with a spyglass that there was still quite a
number of people, apparently troops, remaining in the house. I saw no reason why the mere lowering of
the flag should prevent us from firing at them. I therefore aimed two forty-two pounder balls at the
upper story. The crashing of the shot, which went right through the whole length of the building among
the clapboards and interior partitions, must have been something fearful to those within. They came
rushing out in furious haste, and tumbled over each other until they reached the bottom of the front
steps, in one writhing, tumultuous mass."
At 12:48 p.m. on April 13, the flagstaff of Fort Sumter was shot down, and the American flag fell.
Hoping that the fort was trying to surrender, a Confederate officer named Louis T. Wigfall, a former
United States Senator from Texas, decided to visit the fort to negotiate. Without bothering to obtain
authorization from his commander, General Beauregard, ex-senator Wigfall arrived unexpectedly at the
fort in a skiff rowed by two slaves. Sergeant James Chester described Wigfall's appearance at the fort as
follows: "It came the turn of one of the guns on the left face of the work to fire; we were now firing once
in five minutes; and as the cannoneer approached for the purpose of loading, he discovered a man
looking in at the embrasure. The man must have raised himself to the level of the embrasure by grasping
the sill with his hands. A short but lively altercation ensued between the man and the cannoneer, the man
pleading to be taken in lest he should be killed with his own shot and shell. He was hauled in,
Thompson, the cannoneer, first receiving his sword, to the point of which a white handkerchief was
attached...Once inside, the bearer asked to see Major Anderson. The major was soon on the spot and
opened the conversation by asking, "To what am I indebted for this visit?" The visitor replied, "I am
Colonel Wigfall, of General Beauregard's staff. For God's sake, Major, let this thing stop. There has
been enough bloodshed already." To which the major replied, "There has been none on my side, and
besides, your batteries are still firing on me." At which Wigfall exclaimed, "I'll soon stop that," and
turning to Thompson, who still held the sword under his arm, he said, pointing at the handkerchief,
"Wave that out there." Thompson then handed the sword to Wigfall, saying, in substance, "Wave it
yourself." Wigfall received back his sword and took a few steps toward the embrasure, when the major
called him back." After some discussion with ex-senator Wigfall, Major Anderson offered to surrender
on condition that he and his men be allowed to salute the flag before departing from the fort. Wigfall
agreed, and Major Anderson ordered a white bed-sheet to be raised above the parapet. When the
Confederate gunners saw this white flag, they ceased firing. Everyone except ex-senator Wigfall was
somewhat embarrassed when it turned out that he had exceeded his authority. The surrender had to be
renegotiated by Major Anderson and three properly-authorized Confederate officers from General
Beauregard's staff.
One of those Confederate officers, Stephen D. Lee, was astonished to learn that nobody in Fort Sumter
had been killed by the Confederate bombardment. Lee later described the scene inside the fort as
follows: "At this time the fire was still raging in the barracks and settling steadily over the
magazine...Many shells from the Confederate batteries, which had fallen in the fort and had not
exploded, as well as the hand grenades used for defense, were exploding as they were reached by the
fire. The wind was driving the heat and smoke down into the fort and into the casemates, almost causing
suffocation. Major Anderson, his officers, and his men were blackened by smoke and cinders, and
showed signs of fatigue and exhaustion, from the trying ordeal through which they had passed." During
the negotiations, one of the Confederate officers, mistaking a bottle of medicine for whiskey, helped
himself to a drink, and swallowed a lethal dose of poison. His life was saved when Fort Sumter's
surgeon applied a stomach pump. After this near-fatal accident, one of the other Confederate officers
remarked to Major Anderson that no Confederates had been wounded by fire from Fort Sumter. "Thank
God for that!" said Anderson. Captain Doubleday was annoyed by Anderson's remark. He later wrote,
"As the object of our fighting was to do as much damage as possible, I could see no propriety in
thanking Heaven for the small amount of damage we had inflicted."
Unfortunately, the defenders of Fort Sumter suffered some casualties the next day, April 14, 1861,
during the formal ceremony of surrender. They were firing their cannon in salutes to the American flag
when a cartridge exploded prematurely, setting fire to a pile of cartridges. One soldier was killed
outright, one was fatally wounded, and three others were badly hurt, creating a scene of carnage worse
than any that had occurred during the actual battle. On Monday morning Fort Sumter's defenders were
carried by a chartered steamer to the small United States Navy fleet that still lay anchored outside the
harbor. As the Union soldiers sailed past the Confederate battery at Cummings point, they were
astonished to receive a show of respect from the Rebel gunners, who lined the beach and silently
removed their hats as the federal soldiers sailed past.
Doubleday wrote, "When we reached New York we had a royal reception. The streets were alive with
banners. Our men and officers were seized and forced to ride on the shoulders of crowds wild with
enthusiasm. When we purchased anything, merchants generally refused all compensation." As a reward
for his service at Fort Sumter, Major Anderson was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in the
regular army; but he retired from regular service, saying that his nervous system had been undermined
by the strain of events at Charleston. Captain Abner Doubleday was made a brigadier general of
volunteers and served with distinction in several major battles of the Civil War.
SOURCES:
From Moultrie to Sumter, by Abner Doubleday Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Century Press.
1887
Reminiscences of Forts Sumter and Moultrie, by Abner Doubleday. Harper Brothers, Publishers. New
York. 1876
posted by Chuck Demastus at 2:48 PM
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