April 12, 1861 The War Between The States Begins!

Civil War.com ^ | Unknown | Unknown

[TexConfederate1861]

On March 5, 1861, the day after his inauguration as president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln received a message from Maj. Robert Anderson, commander of the U.S. troops holding Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. The message stated that there was less than a six week supply of food left in the fort.

Attempts by the Confederate government to settle its differences with the Union were spurned by Lincoln, and the Confederacy felt it could no longer tolerate the presense of a foreign force in its territory. Believing a conflict to be inevitable, Lincoln ingeniously devised a plan that would cause the Confederates to fire the first shot and thus, he hoped, inspire the states that had not yet seceded to unite in the effort to restore the Union.

On April 8, Lincoln notified Gov. Francis Pickens of South Carolina that he would attempt to resupply the fort. The Confederate commander at Charleston, Gen.P.G.T. Beauregard, was ordered by the Confederate government to demand the evacuation of the fort and if refused, to force its evacuation. On April 11, General Beauregard delivered the ultimatum to Anderson, who replied, "Gentlemen, if you do not batter the fort to pieces about us, we shall be starved out in a few days." On direction of the Confederate government in Montgomery, Beauregard notified Anderson that if he would state the time of his evacuation, the Southern forces would hold their fire. Anderson replied that he would evacuate by noon on April 15 unless he received other instructions or additional supplies from his government. (The supply ships were expected before that time.) Told that his answer was unacceptable and that Beauregard would open fire in one hour, Anderson shook the hands of the messengers and said in parting, "If we do not meet again in this world, I hope we may meet in the better one." At 4:30 A.M. on April 12, 1861, 43 Confederate guns in a ring around Fort Sumter began the bombardment that initiated the bloodiest war in American history.

In her Charleston hotel room, diarist Mary Chesnet heard the opening shot. "I sprang out of bed." she wrote. "And on my knees--prostrate--I prayed as I never prayed before." The shelling of Fort Sumter from the batteries ringing the harbor awakened Charleston's residents, who rushed out into the predawn darkness to watch the shells arc over the water and burst inside the fort. Mary Chesnut went to the roof of her hotel, where the men were cheering the batteries and the women were praying and crying. Her husband, Col. James Chesnut, had delivered Beauregard's message to the fort. "I knew my husband was rowing around in a boat somewhere in that dark bay," she wrote, "and who could tell what each volley accomplished of death and destruction?"

Inside the fort, no effort was made to return the fire for more than two hours. The fort's supply of ammunition was ill-suited for the task at hand, and because there were no fuses for their explosive shells, only solid shot could be used against the Rebel batteries. The fort's biggest guns, heavy Columbiads and eight-inch howitzers, were on the top tier of the fort and there were no masonry casemates to protect the gunners, so Anderson opted to use only the casemated guns on the lower tier. About 7:00 A.M., Capt. Abner Doubleday, the fort's second in command, was given the honor of firing the first shot in defense of the fort. The firing continued all day, the federals firing slowly to conserve ammunition. At night the fire from the fort stopped, but the confederates still lobbed an occasional shell in Sumter.

Although they had been confined inside Fort Sumter for more than three months, unsupplied and poorly nourished, the men of the Union garrison vigorously defended their post from the Confederate bombardment that began on the morning of April 12, 1861. Several times, red-hod cannonballs had lodged in the fort's wooden barracks and started fires. But each time, the Yankee soldiers, with a little help from an evening rainstorm, had extinguished the flames. The Union garrison managed to return fire all day long, but because of a shortage of cloth gunpowder cartridges, they used just six of their cannon and fired slowly.

The men got little sleep that night as the Confederate fire continued, and guards kept a sharp lookout for a Confederate attack or relief boats. Union supply ships just outside the harbor had been spotted by the garrison, and the men were disappointed that the ships made no attempt to come to their relief.

After another breakfast of rice and salt pork on the morning of April 13, the exhausted Union garrison again began returning cannon fire, but only one round every 10 minutes. Soon the barracks again caught fire from the Rebel hot shot, and despite the men's efforts to douse the flames, by 10:00 A.M. the barracks were burning out of control. Shortly thereafter, every wooden structure in the fort was ablaze, and a magazine containing 300 pounds of gunpowder was in danger of exploding. "We came very near being stifled with the dense livid smoke from the burning buildings," recalled one officer. "The men lay prostrate on the ground, with wet hankerchiefs over their mouths and eyes, gasping for breath."

The Confederate gunners saw the smoke and were well aware of the wild uproar they were causing in the island fort. They openly showed their admiration for the bravery of the Union garrison by cheering and applauding when, after a prolonged stillness, the garrison sent a solid shot screaming in their direction.

"The crasing of the shot, the bursting of the shells, the falling of the walls, and the roar of the flames, made a pandemonium of the fort," wrote Capt. Abner Doubleday on the afternoon of April 13, 1861. He was one of the Union garrison inside Fort Sumter in the middle of South Carolina's Charleston harbor. The fort's large flag staff was hit by fire from the surrounding Confederate batteries, and the colors fell to the ground. Lt. Norman J. Hall braved shot and shell to race across the parade ground to retrieve the flag. Then he and two others found a substitute flagpole and raised the Stars and Stripes once more above the fort.

Once the flag came down, Gen. P.G.T. Beaugregard, who commanded the Confederate forces, sent three of his aides to offer the fort's commander, Union Maj. Robert Anderson, assistance in extinguishing the fires. Before they arrived they saw the garrison's flag raised again, and then it was replaced with a white flag. Arriving at the fort, Beaugregard's aides were informed that the garrison had just surrendered to Louis T. Wigfall, a former U.S. senator from Texas. Wigfall, completely unauthorized, had rowed out to the fort from Morris Island, where he was serving as a volunteer aide, and received the surrender of the fort. The terms were soon worked out, and Fort Sumter, after having braved 33 hours of bombardment, its food and ammunition nearly exhausted, fell on April 13, 1861, to the curshing fire power of the Rebels. Miraculously, no one on either side had been killed or seriously wounded.

The generous terms of surrender allowed Anderson to run up his flag for a hunderd-gun salute before he and his men evacuated the fort the next day. The salute began at 2:00 P.M. on April 14, but was cut short to 50 guns after an accidental explosion killed one of the gunners and mortally wounded another. Carrying their tattered banner, the men marched out of the fort and boarded a boat that ferried them to the Union ships outside the harbor. They were greeted as heroes on their return to the North.

[stand watie]

fyi, N-S is "The DAMNyankee Minister of PROPAGANDA".

he denies the WELL documented FACTS of what GARBAGE that some of the DYs were.(you might also ask him what he does NOT know about EVERY subject. my guess is that he'll deny that he doesn't know EVERYTHING about everything. at least that's what he told me.)

believe ANYTHING "Mr Minster" says at your peril, as he is filled with deceit.

otoh, he's the only SMART/EDUCATED one of the "DY coven". the rest are just DUMB-bunnies & HATERS.

free dixie,sw

[stand watie]

btw, have you met "bubba, the TROLL"

he also is at least HALF-educated. otoh, he is a TROLL, so his words are worth ZILCH.

when (IF) you've been around for a while, you'll learn who/what the "major players" are.

free dixie,sw

[stand watie]

fyi, before midnight, i'll go lay flowers at the shrine.

STONEWALL's death was the "blow that killed dixie's chance" for FREEDOM.

free dixie,sw

[stand watie]

shall i leave flowers at the shrine for you,tonight, as well???

free dixie,sw

[Non-Sequitur]

STONEWALL's death was the "blow that killed dixie's chance" for FREEDOM.

Nah, firing on Sumter was the "blow that killed dixie's chance" for winning their REBELLION.

Jackson's death hurt, but the rebellion didn't revolve around him. Jackson live or Jackson dead the Union would have continued to wipe the floor with the rebel army in the west, Grant would still have come east, Atlanta still falls, Sherman still marches, and in the end the rebels still lose.

[stand watie]

i'm IMPRESSED. at least, UNLIKE the other members of "the DAMNyankee coven", you KNEW what day it is.(the remainder of "the coven" have NO IDEA what you're talking about. they're just PITIFULLY dumb.)

free dixie,sw

[stand watie]

thank you for your opinion, "Mr Minister".

you said that like a good little DAMNyankee.

free dixie,sw

[Non-Sequitur]

i'm IMPRESSED. at least, UNLIKE the other members of "the DAMNyankee coven", you KNEW what day it is.(the remainder of "the coven" have NO IDEA what you're talking about. they're just PITIFULLY dumb.)

Oh most do. I'm mildly amazed as so few of you Rebs do. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to work on the toast I'm going to give tonight in honor of the 18th North Carolina.

[stand watie]

peasant revolts (and that is what the TBTS was, from the southern standpoint) have LITTLE chance of success anyway, but take away one of the FEW "trained/talented professionals" and it is COSTLY, if not FATAL to winning.

dixie had FEW leaders, and perhaps nobody else but REL,who had Stonewall's ability & success leading/motivating troops.

free dixie,sw

[stand watie]

actually, most of "your side" have little or NO knowledge. what they have to excess is:

1.arrogance,

2.ignorance,

3. hatefulness,

4.sanctimoniousness,

5. SELF-righteousness &

6. MEAN-spirited PREJUDICE.

free dixie,sw

[x]

President Ronald W. Reagan stated that CSA President Jefferson Davis was a "hero" to him.

So Roger Wilkins says at every possible opportunity.

I haven't been able to find any reliable independent confirmation that Reagan actually said it.

I did find out that Davis, like Lincoln, was active in Reagan's native north central Illinois during the Black Hawk War, and a "Jefferson Davis" character appears in The Santa Fe Trail along with Reagan and Errol Flynn. Nancy's maiden name was Davis as well.

There are different versions, too. Wilkins has Reagan making the quote at a large rally at Stone Mountain, "where the Ku Klux Klan used to burn its crosses," while others who cite the supposed quote have Reagan making the comment "before a crowd" in Atlanta.

I'm not saying that Reagan definitely didn't say that Jefferson Davis was one of his heroes. But it's strange that only a few people have the memory, and that the sources aren't the most reliable. They tend to be blog and e-mail idiots who pass on whatever comes across their screens.

For me, for now, it looks more like an urban myth, than a fact. But if Reagan did say it it's still not clear what he may have meant. "A hero of mine" or "a hero for me" isn't necessarily a hero for the whole country. Even Benedict Arnold's leg is an acknowledged American hero with its own monument.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

I did find out that Davis, like Lincoln, was active in Reagan's native north central Illinois during the Black Hawk War, and a "Jefferson Davis" character appears in The Santa Fe Trail along with Reagan and Errol Flynn. Nancy's maiden name was Davis as well.

And Davis' Postmaster General was named Reagan. COINCIDENCE?

[Non-Sequitur]

And Davis' Postmaster General was named Reagan. COINCIDENCE?

Ummm....yes.

[theanonymouslurker]

That’s too funny.

[Badeye]

“We’ve had Ed from time to time over the years. I wish I could put a spigot in the guys head so I could tap into all his knowledge without having to listen to him speak. His knowledge of the time is almost unparalleled. But his delivery is agonizing.”

(chuckle) he is a character, no denying it.

Wish I could have met Shelby Foote. I began rereading ‘Stars in their courses’ last night.

[Lee'sGhost]

Sorry I did get to this earlier. Thanks for the thought, though.

[stand watie]

"i haven't been able to find-----" ====> in order to find anything, "x", you have to WANT to find it.

in my experience, NO arrogant/prejudiced BIGOT wants to find (and thus cannot find) ANYTHING that makes their PREJUDICES/arrogance/ignorance of facts/hatefulness look like the DISHONESTY & WILLFUL IGNORANCE of contrary facts & their UNthinking PREJUDICE, that ordinary people know it to be.

free dixie,sw

[stand watie]

fyi, i remembered you (with some flowers for the General), about 1030PM, at the shrine.

free dixie,sw

[DanielLongo]

"I can think of no greater calamity to befall this people than the dissolution of the Union and I will sacrifice everything, save honor, for its preservation"-General Robert E. Lee (quoted as near as I can remember it)

One of the more significant turns in Western history, beyond it being a "modern" war, was that fighting for and with honor was replaced in the starkest of ways with fighting to kill. The gentility of former wars was forcefully replaced with "total war". It was no longer about dying for your country, but was instead (in the words of George S. Patton) about,"making the other miserable ba***rd die for his." The First Families, though bravely and gallantly fighting, were worn down by an indomitable machine called the common man. On both sides the prime lesson was learned, that every free man is a king and fights with a king's heart.

[smug]

Bad, so bad. Witty, but bad.