A defensive work in the harbor of
Charleston, S. C. Major Anderson had long urged his government, but in vain, to strengthen the military works in
Charleston Harbor.
The burden of the few replies was: “Be prudent; be kind; do nothing to excite the South Carolinians.
It will not do to send you reinforcements, for that might bring on hostilities.”
At length he was satisfied that the people were about to attempt to seize
Fort Sumter.
This would insure the capture of all the other forts and his garrison, and he resolved to take position in
Sumter before it should be too late.
He was commander of all the defences of the harbor, and, in the absence of orders to the contrary, he might occupy any one he chose.
Vigilant eyes were watching him. He revealed his secret to only three or four officers, for he did not know whom he might trust.
He first removed the women and children, with a supply of provisions, to
Fort Sumter.
This was done by deceptive movements.
They were sent first to
Fort Johnson (Dec. 26) in vessels, with an ample supply of provisions, where they were detained on board until evening, under the pretext of preparing accommodations for them.
The firing of three guns at
Moultrie was to be the signal for them to be conveyed to
Sumter.
In the edge of the evening the greater part of the garrison at
Moultrie embarked for
Sumter.
The people of
Charleston were aware of the women and children of the garrison being before
Fort Johnson, and concluded
Anderson was going there also with his troops.
Then three signal guns were fired.
The voyage was short and successful; and the little garrison of seventy men, with the women and children, and several weeks' provisions, were soon safe within the strong granite walls of
Fort Sumter.
A few officers and men had been left at
Fort Moultrie to spike the guns, destroy their carriages, and cut down the flagstaff, when they were to follow to
Sumter.
The next day (Dec. 27), at noon, the stars and stripes were seen floating from the flag-staff of
Sumter.
The garrison wanted
Anderson to hoist it at dawn.
He would not do it until his chaplain, who had gone to the city, had returned.
Around the flag-staff, not far from a great columbiad, the inmates of the fort were gathered.
The commander, with the halyards in his hand, knelt at the foot of the staff.
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The chaplain prayed reverently for encouragement, support, and mercy; and when he ceased an impressive “Amen” fell from many lips.
Anderson then hoisted the flag to the head of the staff.
It was greeted with cheer after cheer, and the band struck up
Hail Columbia!
Governor Pickens sent a message to
Anderson demanding his immediate withdrawal from
Fort Sumter.
The demand was politely refused, and the major was denounced in the State convention, in the legislature, in public and private assemblies, as a “traitor to the
South,” because lie was a native of a slave-labor State.
The Confederates in
Charleston and
Washington were filled with rage.
Floyd declared the “solemn pledges of the government” had been violated by
Anderson, and he demanded of the
President permission to withdraw the garrison from
Charleston Harbor.
The President refused; a disruption of the cabinet followed.
Floyd fled; and
Anderson received (Dec. 31) from
Secretary of War Holt —a Kentuckian like himself—an assurance of his approval of what he had done.
Earlier than this words of approval had reached
Anderson.
From the legislature of
Nebraska, 2,000 miles away, a telegram said to him, “A happy New year!”
Other greetings from the outside world came speedily; and a poet in a parody on the old Scotch song of
John Anderson, my Jo, made “
Miss Columbia” sing:
Bob Anderson, my beau, Bob, when we were first aquent,
You were in Mex-i-co, Bob, because by order sent;
But now you are in Sumter, Bob, because you chose to go;
And blessings on you anyhow, Bob Anderson, my beau!
Bob Anderson, my beau, Bob, I really don't know whether
I ought to like you so, Bob, considering that feather;
I don't like standing armies, Bob, as very well you know,
But I love a man that dares to act, Bob Anderson, my beau.
Governor Pickens, nettled by
Anderson's refusal to give up
Sumter, treated him as a public enemy within the domain of
South Carolina.
Armed South Carolinians had been sent to take possession
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of
Fort Moultrie, where they found the works dismantled.
When, the next morning,
Anderson sent to inquire by what authority they were there, the commander replied, “By the authority of the sovereign
State of South Carolina, and by command of her governor.”
From that time until the close of
President Buchanan's administration, and even longer,
Major Anderson was compelled, by government policy, to see the
Confederates gathering by thousands around
Charleston, erecting fortifications within reach of his guns, and making every needful preparation for the destruction of
Fort Sumter, without being allowed to fire a shot.
Major Anderson keenly felt the firing upon the
Star of the West (q. v.). He accepted it as an act of war, and sent a letter, under a flag of truce, to
Governor Pickens, as to a belligerent enemy, asking him for an explanation of the outrage.
Pickens replied that it was an act authorized by the
State of South Carolina, and that any attempt to reinforce
Sumter would be resisted.
Anderson referred the whole subject to his government, and wrote to
Pickens to that effect, expressing a hope that he would not prevent the bearer of his despatches (
Lieutenant Talbot) from proceeding at once to
Washington.
No objection was interposed, and
Talbot carried to the
North the first full tidings of the failure of the expedition of the
Star of the West. Two days after the attack on that vessel,
Pickens sent his
Secretary of State
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(
Magrath) and
Secretary of War (
Jamieson) as commissioners to
Anderson to make a formal demand for the immediate surrender of
Fort Sumter to the authorities of
South Carolina.
They tried every art to persuade and alarm him, but in vain.
He assured them that sooner than suffer such a humiliation he would fire the magazine and blow fort and garrison into the air. They perceived that the only hope of gaining possession of the fort was in an assault or the starvation of the garrison.
That afternoon the authorities had four old hulks, filled with stones, towed into the ship-channel and sunk, to prevent reinforcements reaching the fort.
When the wife of
Major Anderson (a daughter of
Gen. D. L. Clinch) heard of the perilous position of her husband, she was very anxious that he should have a tried and faithful servant with him. She was then in New York City and an invalid; but she resolved to take an old and tried sergeant, who had served her husband in the war with
Mexico, into
Fort Sumter.
His name was
Peter Hart, and she heard that he was somewhere in New York City.
After searching for him among all the Harts whose names were in the city directory, she found him connected with the police.
At her request he called upon her, accompanied by his wife.
After telling him of
Major Anderson's peril, she said, “I want you to go with me to
Fort Sumter.”
Hart looked towards his young wife, a warm-hearted Irishwoman, for a moment, and then said, “I will go, madam.”
“But I want you to
stay with the major.”
Hart looked inquiringly towards his Margaret, and replied, “I will go, madam.”
“But, Margaret,” said
Mrs. Anderson, “what do
you say?”
“Indade, ma'am, it's Margaret's sorry she can't do as much for you as
Pater can,” was the reply.
“When will you go,
Hart?”
asked
Mrs. Anderson. “To-night, madam, if you wish.”
“To-morrow night at six o'clock I will be ready,” said
Mrs. Anderson.
In spite of the remonstrances of her physician, the devoted wife left New York on Jan. 3, 1861, for
Charleston, accompanied by
Peter Hart in the character of a servant, ready at all times to do her bidding.
None but her physician knew her destination.
They travelled without intermission, and arrived at
Charleston late on Saturday night. She had neither eaten, drunk, nor slept during the journey, for she was absorbed with the subject of her errand.
From
Wilmington to
Charleston she was the only woman on the train.
Therein, and at the hotel in
Charleston, she continually heard her husband cursed and threatened.
She knew
Governor Pickens personally, and the next morning she sought from him a permit for herself and
Hart to go to
Fort Sumter.
He could not allow a man to be added to the garrison.
Regarding with scorn the suggestion that the addition of one man to a garrison of seventy or eighty, when thousands of armed men were in
Charleston, could imperil the “sovereign
State of South Carolina,”
Mrs. Anderson sent a message to the governor, saying, “I shall take
Hart with me, with or without a pass.”
Her words of scorn and her message were repeated to the governor, and he, seeing the absurdity of his objection, gave a pass for
Hart.
At 10 A. M. on Jan. 6, accompanied by a few personal friends,
Mrs. Anderson and
Peter Hart went in a boat to
Fort Sumter.
As she saw the banner over the fort she exclaimed, “The dear old flag!”
and burst into tears.
It was the first time emotion had conquered her will since she left New York.
As her friends carried her from the boat to the sally-port, her husband ran out, caught her in his arms, and exclaimed, in a vehement whisper, “My glorious wife!”
and carried her into the fort.
“I have brought you
Peter Hart,” she said.
“The children are well.
I return to-night.”
In her husband's quarters she took some refreshments.
The tide served in the course of two hours, and she returned to
Charleston.
She had reinforced
Fort Sumter with
Peter Hart, a more efficient power at the right hand of
Major Anderson at that critical moment than a hundred soldiers would have been, for he was ever vigilant, keen, faithful, judicious, and brave, and was the major's trusted friend on all occasions.
On a bed placed in the cars, and accompanied by
Major Anderson's brother, the devoted wife started for New York that evening.
She was insensible when she reached
Washington.
A friend carried her into Willard's Hotel. Forty-eight hours afterwards she started for New York, and there she was for a
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long time threatened with brain fever.
This narrative, in more minute detail, was from the lips of
Mrs. Anderson.
On the day on which
President Lincoln was inaugurated (March 4, 1861), a letter was received at the War Department from
Major Anderson, dated Feb. 28, in which he expressed an opinion that reinforcements could not be thrown into
Fort Sumter within the time specified for
his relief, and rendered necessary by the limited supply of provisions, and with a view of holding possession of the same, except with “a force of not less than 2,000 good and well-disciplined men.”
This letter was laid before the cabinet March 5.
General Scott was called in. The letter was considered, and
Scott concurred in the opinion of
Anderson.
No sufficient force was at hand under the control of the government, nor could they be raised and taken to
Charleston Harbor before
Anderson's supplies would be exhausted.
The President, anxious for peace, was in favor of abandoning the fort, as there seemed to be no power in the government to save it. Nearly every member of the cabinet agreed with him.
Gustavus V. Fox (q. v.), who had been a lieutenant in the navy, and had already through
Secretary Holt presented (Jan. 7) to
President Buchanan a plan for provisioning and reinforcing
Sumter, was sent for. The plan was to have supplies put up in portable packages; to have vessels appear with them and troops off Charleston Bar in a large ocean steamer; to have three or four men-of-war as a protecting force; to have this vessel accompanied by three fast New York tug-boats, and, during a dark
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night, to send in supplies and troops in these tugs or in launches, as should seem best after arrival and examination.
Fox convinced the
President of the feasibility of this plan.
The President believed, if there seemed even a small chance of success, that it would be better to attempt sending aid to
Anderson whether it should succeed or not. He thought that to abandon the position, under the circumstances, would be ruinous.
Fox was sent to visit
Charleston Harbor.
With
Captain Hartstene of the navy, who had joined the
Confederates, he visited
Fort Sumter, March 21, by permission of
Governor Pickens, and ascertained that
Anderson had supplies that would last him until April 15.
On his return,
Fox reported to the
President that any attempt to reinforce
Anderson must be made before April 15.
The President yearned for peace.
He sent for a professed Union man in the Virginia convention then in session, and told him that if the convention would adjourn, instead of staying in session menacing the government, he would immediately order the evacuation of
Fort Sumter.
Instead of showing a willingness to preserve peace, the professed
Unionist said to the
President, “The
United States must instantly evacuate
Fort Sumter and
Fort Pickens, and give assurances that no attempts shall be made to collect revenues in Southern ports.”
This demand for the national government to recognize the Provisional Confederate government at
Montgomery as a sovereign power decided
President Lincoln that all temporizing must end. He had said at
Trenton, on his way to
Washington, “It may be necessary to put the foot down firmly.”
He did so at once.
Overruling the persistent objections of
General Scott and other military authorities, he verbally authorized
Mr. Fox to fit out an expedition according to his former plan for the relief of
Fort Sumter.
A written order to that effect was given to
Fox April 4.
In order that faith might be kept “as to
Sumter,” the
President notified
Governor Pickens that he was about to send a supply of provisions only to the garrison, and that if these provisions were allowed to enter, no more troops should be sent there.
This must be done peaceably if possible; if not, by force, as the governor might choose.
In spite of all official hinderances,
Fox, with wonderful energy and skill, fitted out the expedition at New York, and sailed with it for
Charleston Harbor on the 9th in the steamship
Baltic with 200 recruits.
The entire relief squadron was composed of the
United States ships
Pawnee,
Powhatan,
Pocahontas, and
Harriet Lane, and three tugs.
the
Powhatan was the flag-ship of the expedition.
While passing down New York Bay, the
Powhatan was boarded by
Lieutenant (afterwards
Admiral)
Porter, and by order of the
President went directly to
Fort Pickens, then, like
Sumter, threatened by the
Confederates.
A terrible storm on the way deprived the expedition of all the tugs, and only the
Baltic,
Pawnee, and
Harriet Lane arrived in a heavy storm off Charleston Bar. Before the storm abated it was too late to relieve the fort.
The judgment and energy displayed by
Mr. Fox on this occasion caused him to be appointed assistant
Secretary of the Navy, and as such he performed important services during the war.
For three months after the expulsion of the
Star of the West from
Charleston Harbor,
Major Anderson and his little garrison suffered and toiled until their provisions were exhausted, and a formidable army and forts and batteries, all prepared for the reduction of that fort, had grown up around them.
The
Charleston newspapers and politicians at public gatherings were constantly inflaming the public mind with political excitement, calling the fort the “Bastile of the federal Union,” and declared that “the fate of the Southern Confederacy hung by the ensign halyards of
Fort Sumter.”
The legislature of South Carolina authorized the organization of 10,000 men, and
M. L. Bonham, late member of Congress, was appointed major-general of the
State forces.
Volunteers from every part of the
Confederacy flocked into
Charleston, and at the close of March not less than 7,000 armed men and 120 pieces of cannon, mounted on logs and earthworks, were menacing
Major Anderson and his garrison.
These were under the general command of
Pierre G. T. Beauregard (q. v.), who had been commissioned a brigadier-general by
Jefferson Davis.
He had arrived at
Charleston on March 4.
Fort Sumter had been built for defence
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against external, not internal, foes.
Its strongest sides were towards the sea; its weakest side was towards
Morris Island, three-fourths of a mile distant.
On that side were its sally-ports and docks.
On that island the insurgents erected a formidable battery, shielded by
railroad iron, making it bomb-proof.
Two other batteries were erected on the same island, and armed with columbiads and mortars.
They were all fully manned.
At
Fort Moultrie and other points were batteries bearing on
Sumter.
The insurgents had also created a curious monster for the water, in the form of a huge floatingbattery, made of pine and palmetto logs, and plated with
railway-iron.
Major Anderson's bearing had won for him the most cordial esteem of the civil authorities in
Charleston.
The faithful
Peter Hart was his judicious messenger on all occasions, and his trusted caterer for the garrison in fresh provisions in the
Charleston market.
A source of great anxiety had been removed when, on Feb. 3, the women and children (twenty in number) were removed from the fort and taken to New York.
During March rumors were everywhere afloat that the government was about to give up
Fort Sumter.
Anderson was perplexed by these rumors, but held firmly to his determination to defend it.
Beauregard made (March 25) a proposition for its surrender on degrading terms, to which the major replied with warmth, “If I can only be permitted to leave on the pledge you mention, I shall never, so help me God, leave this fort alive.”
Beauregard apologized.
The message of the
President to
Governor Pickens produced a crisis.
It caused intense excitement throughout the
Confederacy, and especially at
Charleston.
Beauregard received a despatch from the government at
Montgomery (April 10), conditionally authorizing him to demand the surrender of
Fort Sumter.
He determined to make the demand at 12 M. the next day. All the military and the batteries around
Charleston Harbor were made ready for action.
Politicians had been urging this blow for some time.
Roger A. Pryor (q. v.), lately a member of Congress from
Virginia, and
Edmund Ruffin were among the foremost in urging an attack upon
Fort Sumter. They wished it for its effect on the politics of the
State.
The Virginia Convention was yet full of
Unionists.
On the night of the 10th, while
Charleston was rocked with excitement,
Pryor harangued the multitude on the occasion of his being serenaded.
He thanked the Carolinians for having “annihilated this cursed Union, reeking with corruption, and insolent with excess of tyranny.
Thank God,” he said, “it is at last blasted and riven by the lightning wrath of an outraged and indignant people.”
Referring to the doubtful position of
Virginia, he said: “Do not distrust
Virginia.
As sure as to-morrow's sun will rise upon us, just so sure will
Virginia be a member of the Southern Confederacy.
And I will tell you, gentlemen, what will put her in the Southern Confederacy in less than an hour by
Shrewsbury clock—
Strike a blow! The very moment that blood is shed, Old Virginia will make common cause with her sisters of the
South.”
This cry for blood, sent to
Montgomery by telegraph, was repeated at the capital of the
Confederacy.
Mr. Gilchrist, a member of the Alabama legislature, said to
Davis and his compeers, “Gentlemen, unless you sprinkle blood in the faces of the people of
Alabama, they will be back in the old Union in less than ten days.”
The order went to
Beauregard to strike the blow.
At noon, on April 11, he sent messengers to demand the surrender of the fort.
Anderson promptly refused, but told the messengers that, unless his government sent him relief before the 15th, he would be compelled to evacuate the fort for want of supplies.
Towards midnight, after communicating with
Montgomery,
Beauregard sent the same messengers to
Anderson, telling him if he would agree to evacuate the fort on the 15th it should not be attacked.
He promised to do so, unless he should be relieved.
This answer was given at 2 A. M. on the 12th.
Anderson did not know what his government was doing for him, for a messenger from
Washington had been detained in
Charleston.
The Confederates did know.
On the previous evening scouts had discovered the
Pawnee and
Harriet Lane outside Charleston Bar, battling with the storm.
Their report startled the
Charleston authorities.
No time was
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to be lost, for relief for
Anderson was nigh.
At midnight the discharge of seven heavy guns had given a signal for all the reserves to congregate.
The people rushed to the streets and were scarcely in
repose again, when they were awakened by another alarm.
Word had been sent to
Anderson that a bombardment of the fort was about to commence.
Suddenly the dull booming of a mortar at
Fort Johnson was heard, and a fiery shell went flying through the black night.
Then the great guns on
Morris Island opened upon
Fort Sumter, and a furious attack began.
At his own request, the venerable
Virginian Edmund Ruffin fired the first shot at
Sumter.
Other batteries opened.
Fort Sumter remained silent.
The men were in the bomb-proofs, for there were not enough to man the guns properly.
The officers and men were arranged in three reliefs.
The first was commanded by
Captain Doubleday, the second by
Surgeon Crawford, and the third by
Lieutenant Snyder.
Thus prepared,
Anderson ordered, at 7 A. M., a reply to the attack.
The first shot was sent by
Captain Doubleday at the strong battery on
Morris Island, when all the other batteries were assailed by shots from
Fort Sumter.
The first shot sent against
Fort Moultrie was fired by
Surgeon (afterwards
Major-General)
Crawford.
It was caught in the sand-bags, and afterwards sent as a present to
George P. Kane,
chief of police of
Baltimore.
For four hours this combat lasted, when the firing from the batteries became more concentrated, and told fearfully upon the walls and parapets.
Some of the barbette guns were dismounted and otherwise disabled, and the barracks were set on fire.
The garrison had heard rumors of approaching relief, and when the storm of shot and shell beat hardest
Surgeon Crawford ascended to the parapet and beheld the relief vessels through the misty air. They could not get over the bar, for its sinuous channel was uncertain.
The workmen at the guns in the fort received food and drink while at their posts, and they toiled on wearily until dark, when the port-holes were closed.
The ensuing night was dark and stormy, with high wind and tide.
A slow bombardment of the fort was kept up all night.
The storm ceased before the dawn.
The sun rose in splendor.
The cannonade and bombardment was fiercely renewed.
Redhot shot were hurled into the fort.
The barracks and officers' quarters were consumed.
The powder-magazine was shielded as well as possible.
On the morning of the 13th no food was left for the garrison to eat but salted pork.
The flames spread, and the sally-port was consumed.
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To prevent explosion ninety barrels of gunpowder were rolled into the water.
The heat and vapor became stifling in the fort, yet the exhausted garrison kept the old flag flying.
Eight times its staff had been hit without serious injury; but at near 2 P. M. that day the staff was shot off near the peak, and, with the flag, fell among the gleaming cinders.
Lieutenant Hall rescued the precious bunting before it took fire.
Peter Hart carried it, with the piece of the staff, and fastened it, where the soiled banner was kept flying defiantly.
Not far off, eighty-five years
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474]
before, a flag had been planted by
Sergeant Jasper, battling for the establishment of American nationality; now defenders of the flag were battling for its maintenance.
At about this hour
Senator Wigfall appeared at the fort to persuade
Anderson to surrender, but failed.
Soon afterwards aides came from
Beauregard for the same purpose; and then other deputations appeared; but
Anderson refused to surrender the fort.
Finally, when shot and shell and flame and lack of food had rendered the garrison helpless, he agreed to evacuate the fort, the garrison departing with company arms and property and all private property, and the privilege of saluting and retaining the old flag.
Not one of the garrison had been killed or seriously injured.
That night they enjoyed undisturbed repose.
The bombardment had lasted thirty-six hours, and over 3,000 shot and shell had been hurled at the fort.
The evacuation took place the following day—the Sabbath (April 14, 1861) —and the garrison was carried in a small steamboat out to the
Baltic, and all sailed for New York.
The fort had been evacuated, not surrendered.
Anderson bore away the flag of
Sumter, which was used as his winding-sheet, and was buried with him.
As soon as the garrison were on board the
Baltic, the flag of
Sumter was raised to the mast-head and saluted with cheers and firing of great guns from the other vessels.
The vessel (the
Isabel) that conveyed the garrison to the
Baltic did not leave
Fort Sumter, on account of the tide, until Monday morning, April 15.
The
|
Fort Sumter medal executed by order of the New York Chamber of commerce. |
[
475]
Baltic sailed for New York.
The praises of
Major Anderson and his little band were upon every lip, while the people of the country were deeply moved by the outrage in
Charleston Harbor.
Before the evacuation, the citizens of
Taunton, Mass., impressed with his prowess and patriotism, had voted him an elegant sword; the authorities of New York gave him the freedom of the city in an elegant gold box. The citizens also presented him with a gold medal, suitably inscribed.
The citizens of
Philadelphia gave him an elegant sword, and societies and legislative bodies presented him with tokens of the good — will of his countrymen.
Finally, the Chamber of Commerce of New York ordered (June 6, 1861) the execution of a series of medals to be presented to
Major Anderson and to each man of the garrison.
When news reached
Washington of the evacuation of
Charleston, in February, 1865, the
President appointed the anniversary (April 14) of the evacuation of the fort when the old flag which
Anderson took with him should be again raised over the fortress by his hand.
A large number of citizens left New York in the steamer
Oceanus to assist in the ceremonies.
When the multitude were assembled around the flag-staff, the songs of
Victory at last and
Rally round the flag were sung.
Rev. Mr. Harris, who made the prayer at the raising of the flag over
Fort Sumter, Dec. 27, 1860, now offered prayer and pronounced a blessing on the old flag.
Rev. Dr. Storrs read selections from the Psalms.
General Townsend read
Major Anderson's despatch announcing the fall of
Sumter.
Then the faithful
Sergeant Hart appeared with a
carpet-bag containing the flag.
It was attached to the halyards, when
General Anderson, after a brief and touching address, hoisted it to the peak of the flag-staff amid loud huzzas, followed by singing
The Star-spangled banner. Six guns on the fort were then fired, and were responded to by all the batteries that took part in the bombardment in 1861.
Henry Ward Beecher, the orator of the day, pronounced an address.
So, four years from the time of the evacuation of
Fort Sumter it was “repossessed” by the government.