South Carolina Ping
Posted on 04/04/2005 6:24:42 PM PDT by TexConfederate1861
The Fort Sumter Crisis
In 1853, Secretary of War Jefferson Davis tried to replace federal troops with state militia in all forts, mainly to shift the financial burden to the states. Had he succeeded, Fort Sumter probably would have little historical significance. But the states balked, and Sumter was fated for a major role, albeit mostly a symbolic one, in the American Civil War.
Once South Carolina leaders meeting in Charleston voted for secession on December 20, 1860, Ft. Sumter, just three miles across the harbor, became a symbol of the tense standoff between federal and state authority that was ultimately resolved by four years of war. Named for South Carolina Revolutionary War hero Thomas Sumter, the fort was a newly-constructed federal outpost situated on a man-made island of granite for the purpose of defending Charleston from hostile ships attempting to enter the harbor. Sumter posed no overt threat to the city; it was just an annoying symbol of the federal government--a bone in the throat of the secessionist South Carolinians--and a rallying point for both sides inexorably sliding toward war. As Bruce Catton once wrote, the war was going to start somewhere, and Charleston just happened to be the place where the first shots were fired. Since that is where secession began, it was fitting. Prior to the crisis, while construction of Sumter was nearing completion, the federal garrison had been posted at Fort Moultrie, just recently placed under the command of Major Robert Anderson. (Ironically, Anderson's father, Major Richard Anderson, had unsuccessfully tried to defend Fort Moultrie from the British in 1780.) Lame-duck President James Buchanan ordered Anderson to stay put, and on December 10, Buchanan unofficially promised not to alter the status quo, but Anderson was not informed of this. Fort Moultrie, located on Sullivan's Island, was built to help defend Charleston from hostile ships; it was virtually defenseless against a land attack, and by all indications an attack was eminent. Acting under orders to take all necessary defensive steps to protect his garrison, under cover of darkness on the night of December 26th, Anderson quietly moved to the stronger position of Fort Sumter. Charleston officials were outraged and demanded that he return to Moultrie, but Anderson refused. Week after week, as the crisis worsened, Anderson stubbornly stuck to his post. A highly respected career soldier who had fought in Indian wars and the Mexican War; Anderson was also a former slaveholder from Kentucky, openly sympathetic to the South. He dreaded the prospect of war between the states and hoped to avoid it at all costs, but he was duty-bound to follow orders.
Located offshore and solidly built, Sumter gave Anderson a much better position to defend, but it was nowhere near full strength. First, designed to house a garrison of 650 soldiers manning 146 big guns, the pentagon-shaped fort was built to stop anything trying to enter the harbor, but it was not designed for attack from Charleston itself. (It's walls were made of brick and concrete, 60 feet high and 10 feet thick, facing the ship channel with its back to Fort Johnson on James Island.) Second, Anderson had only about 70 men and 48 guns in place, no fuses for artillery shells, not much powder, and a limited supply of provisions for his men. Buchanan sent an unarmed vessel, the Star of the West, from New York with 200 reinforcements on January 5th, arriving at Charleston Harbor on the 9th. The South Carolina militia was ready and waiting; a few artillery rounds from Morris Island sent the ship steaming off to safety. (Anderson was unwilling to provide cover from Sumter's big guns because he had received no instructions from Washington regarding the mission.)
Beauregard and Anderson
Commanding the Confederate forces in Charleston was General Pierre G. T. Beauregard of Louisiana. Ironically, Anderson had been his artillery instructor at West Point. Beauregard graduated second in his class at the academy and served with Anderson in the Mexican War. In early March he was sent by President Jefferson Davis with instructions to make preparation for taking Sumter by force if necessary. As Anderson knew and had advised General Winfield Scott in Washington (and Beauregard), it was only a matter of days until Sumter would be starved into submission. Not wanting to give up the fort, on April 6th Lincoln sent a supply boat carrying food and water--not reinforcements--and left it to the Confederates to fire the first shot. Davis did not want to allow time for the relief ships to arrive; moreover, he was determined to assert the power and independence of the Confederacy.
The First Shot
Ordered by Davis to reduce the fort before reinforcements could arrive, Beauregard gave Anderson one last chance to surrender.1 Shortly after midnight on April 12, Beauregard's staff brought Anderson a note that read, "If you will state the time at which you will evacuate Fort Sumter we will abstain from opening fire upon you." Anderson conferred with his officers. They had just two days of food left. Still hoping to avoid a fight, Anderson replied that he would evacuate the fort by noon on the 15th unless he received supplies or other instructions from Washington. As this was unsatisfactory, given Davis' instructions to Beauregard, Anderson was officially notified that the Charleston batteries would open fire in one hour. At 4:30 a.m. a signal shot was fired from Fort Johnson to the east of Sumter, followed by the mortar batteries on Sullivan's Island to the right, and Cumming's Point at the mouth of the harbor [see attached map].2 After 33 hours of bombardment, during which 3,400 shots battered Sumter and set fire to its interior, the fort was still secure, but Anderson was nearly out of ammunition, food, fresh water, and hope. Unable to get the fire under control and resigned to the inevitability of defeat, Anderson surrendered the fort on the morning of April 14, 1861.3 The Confederate attack on Ft. Sumter started the war. Lincoln promptly called 75,000 state militia into federal service for ninety days with hopes of quickly putting an end to the rebellion. Likewise, thousands of Confederate volunteers rushed to defend their newly-proclaimed independence. Little did anyone know that the war would last not ninety days but four years. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Much has been written and said about the question of who was the aggressor, Lincoln or Davis. Arguably, Lincoln baited Davis into starting the war by announcing that a supply ship was en route to Sumter. If the ship was allowed to pass, so much the better for the North, but the crisis would simply be prolonged. If the Confederate batteries fired on the unarmed ship with food for Anderson's starving men, they would be guilty of an atrocious act of war. Davis chose instead to take the fort BEFORE the ship arrived. 2 According to his own diary, Edmund Ruffin, a 67 year old Virginian and honorary member of the South Carolina Palmetto Guard, had the honor of firing the first shot. Aside from this dubious claim, the most reliable evidence points to Lieutenant Henry S. Farley at Fort Johnson. Inside Fort Sumter, Captain Abner Doubleday (who helped defend Gettysburg, and, incidentally, was falsely credited with inventing the game of baseball) had the honor of firing the first Union shot in reply. It could also be argued that the first shot actually was fired by George E. Haynesworth on January 9th when the militia chased off the Star of the West. 3 The only casualties were six federal soldiers wounded, two mortally, when a powder charge accidentally exploded during the ceremonial lowering of the flag. Private Daniel Hough was killed outright, the first casualty of the war.
Deo Vindice, April 12, 1861
Southron Rights Ping!
Southern Rights Ping!
WOW! Thanks TexConfederate...........I can't get my hands on enough stuff since Hub and I got back from Louisiana in January. We both have a renewed interest in the Civil War.......(Amazon loves me). This is a great read.
It would have created an interesting political situation if the fort was handed over to the Confederates without a shot being fired.
If your interested try a book called "The Siege of Charleston 1861-1865" It is very informative and an easy read. I lived on the Isle of Palms. just North of Sullivan's Island, and found that book while visiting the Fort Moultrie Museum.
My pleasure....:)
Probably. There would have beeh two countries, co-existing in peace, until some event in the future caused them to re-join, but on equal & amicable terms.....
Better yet, what if Pompey had a 50 cal machine gun to use on that Piper Cub? :)
I had the pleasure of being stationed at the US Naval Base there.....As a WBTS Buff, it was like I died and went to heaven! Worked for the National Park Service giving tours of Ft. Sumter later on.....
That would be a great job for me, I long to return to the Low Country.
WBTS=WNA
Naaaaaa...not me. Charleston natives are too stuck up for this Texas boy!
That's why they call'em S,O,B's
South of Broad St.
hehehe.....
More likely there would be long term political and economic tensions, with varying alliances with European powers, and by WW1, a re-fight of the civil war. If that did not provide closure, WW2 might have turned out quite differently, with one side belonging to the Axis.
Thanks smug. I would love to visit Charleston and maybe we can before too long. I'll check on that book. *~*
Heehee........funny you should say that. Hub used to travel (doing background investigations for law enforcement recruits), way back when and believe it or not the Northerners were more friendly and helpful than the Southerners. Go figure. *~*
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