DEMAND FOR THE SURRENDER OF FORT SUMTER.

317

"Gentlemen, unless you sprinkle blood in the face of the people of Alabama, they will be back in the old Union in less than ten days." The "sober second thought" of the people was dreaded. The conspirators knew that there was solemn truth in the assertion, that "the big heart of the people is still in the Union. It is now subjugated temporarily to the will of the politicians. Less than a hundred thousand politicians are endeavoring to destroy the liberties and usurp the rights of more than thirty millions of people."

At two o'clock in the afternoon of Thursday, the 11th of April, Beauregard sent Colonel James Chesnut, Jr., Colonel Chisholm, and Captain Stephen D. Lee, of his staff, with a letter to Major Anderson, in which he conveyed a demand for the evacuation of Fort Sumter. This reached the fort at four o'clock. Major Anderson, who was in expectation of such demand, at once replied, that his sense of honor and obligations to his Government would not allow him to comply. At the same time he informed Beauregard's aids, orally, that the condition of his supplies was such that he would be compelled, by menaces of starvation, to leave the fort in a few days. They returned to Beauregard under a red flag, thereby indicating to the commanders of the forts and batteries that no peaceful arrangement had yet been made. That officer instantly communicated Anderson's remark to Walker, the "Confederate Secretary of War," at Montgomery, giving as his words:-"I will await the first shot, and if you do not batter us to pieces, we will be starved out in a few days." Walker telegraphed back, that if Major Anderson would state the time when he would evacuate, and agree that, meanwhile, he would not use his guns against them, unless theirs should be employed against Fort Sumter, Beauregard was authorized thus to avoid

1 Speech of Jeremiah Clemens, formerly United States Senator from Alabama, at Huntsville, in that State, on the 18th of March, 1864.

* Raleigh (North Carolina) Banner.

The original of Beauregard's letter is before me while I write. It is as follows:

"HEAD-QUARTERS PROVISIONAL ARMY, C. S. A., Į CHARLESTON, S. C., April 11, 1861.

SIR:-The Government of the Confederate States has hitherto forborne any hostile demonstrations against Fort Sumter, in the hope that the Government of the United States, with a view to the amicable sijustment of all questions between the two governments, and to avoid the calamity of war, would voluntarily evacuate it. There was reason at one time to believe that such would be the course pursued by the Government of the United States, and, under that impression, my government has refrained from making any demand for the surrender of the fort. But the Confederate States can no longer delay assuming actual possession of a fortification commanding the entrance of one of their harbors, and necessary to it.

I am ordered by the Government of the Confederate States to demand the evacuation of Fort Sumter. My aids, Colonel Chesnut and Captain Lee, are authorized to make such demand of you. All proper facilities will be afforded for the removal of yourself and command, together with company arms and property, and all private property, to any post in the United States which you may elect. The flag which you have upheld so long, and with so much fortitude, under the most trying circumstances, may be saluted by you on taking it down.

"Colonel Chesnut and Captain Lee will, for a reasonable time, await your answer. "I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

"G. T. BEAUREGARD,

“Brigadier-General Commanding.

It is a noteworthy fact, that the paper on which was written this demand from the conspirators for a recognition of their right and power to destroy the Union, bore, in its water-mark, the emblem of Union, namely, the Union shield, with its full complement of stars on and around it, and in the segment of a circle over it the words, E PLURIBUS UNUM. In a corner, surrounded in an ellipse formed by the words Evans and Cogswell, Charleston, was a picture of the National Capitol at Washington.

A PART OF BEAUREGARD'S LETTER.

I

am,

Brig

FAO-SIMILE OF A PART OF BEAUREGARD'S LETTER TO ANDERSON.

A MEMORABLE NIGHT IN CHARLESTON.

319

the effusion of blood." "If this or its equivalent be refused," he said, "reduce the fort, as your judgment decides to be the most practicable."

At eleven o'clock the same night, Beauregard sent Colonels Chesnut, Chisholm, Pryor (Roger A.), and Captain Lee, with the proposition of Walker, to Major Anderson, when the latter replied that he cordially united with them in a desire to prevent bloodshed, and would therefore agree, in accordance with the proposed stipulations, to leave the fort by noon on the 15th, should he not, previous to that time, "receive controlling instructions" from his Government, or additional supplies. The messenger had arrived at one o'clock on the morn ing of the 12th, and the answer was written at half-past two. At the request of Chesnut and his companions, it was handed to them unsealed.

Anderson was ignorant of what his Government had been doing for his relief during the last few days. He had notice of its intentions, but his special messenger, Lieutenant Talbot, who had been sent to Washington after the notice was given, had not been allowed by the authorities at Charleston to return to the fort.' These authorities had better information than Anderson. Scouts had discovered, during the previous evening, the Pawnee and the Harriet Lane outside the bar, and had reported the fact to Beauregard. That there might be no delay, that officer had directed his aids, sent to Anderson, to receive an open reply from him, and if it should not be satisfactory, to exercise discretionary powers given them. They con. sulted a few minutes in the room of the officer of the guard, and, deciding that it was not satisfactory, at twenty minutes past three o'clock in the morning, they addressed a note to Anderson, saying:"By authority of Brigadier-General Beauregard, commanding the provisional forces of the Confederate States, we have the honor to notify you that he will open the fire of his batteries on Fort Sumter in one hour from this time." They immediately left the fort, when the flag was raised, the postern was closed, the sentinels were withdrawn from the parapet, and orders were given by the commander, that the men should not leave the bomb-proofs without special orders.

⚫ April 12, 1861.

The night of the 11th of April, 1861, will be long remembered by the then dwellers in Charleston. It became known early in the evening that a demand for the surrender of Fort Sumter would be made. Orders had been issued for all the military in the city, and surgeons, to hasten to their respective posts. The telegraph called four full regiments of a thousand men each from the country. Conveyances for wounded men were prepared, and every

1 Governor Pickens professed to give his permission with great cheerfulness for Talbot to go to Washington. A perfidious trick was practiced. At Florence, the car in which Talbot was seated was detached. by order. It is said, of the authorities at Charleston, and the train went on, thus detaining Anderson's messenger while they were preparing to attack Fort Sumter.

320

ATTACK ON FORT SUMTER.

thing necessary to meet the demands of suffering caused by battle was made ready. At midnight, seven discharges from heavy cannon aroused all sleepers. They were signals for the assembling of all the reserves immediately. The people rushed to the streets in alarm. The roll of the drum, the tramp of horses, and the rumbling of wagons were heard in every direction, while from the south western horizon a heavy thunder-storm was approaching. The streets were soon crowded with people, who hurried to East Bay Battery and other places, and watched eagerly for an attack on Fort Sumter.

"In the town-through every street,
Tramp, tramp, went the feet,
For they said the Federal fleet
Hove in sight;

And down the wharves they ran,
Every woman, child, and man,
To the fight."

Hours passed on, and all was quiet. The disappointed inhabitants made their way slowly back toward their homes, and very soon the gathering thunder-storm burst over the city.

Patiently, firmly, almost silently, the little band in Fort Sumter awaited the passage of that pregnant hour. Each man could hear his own heart beat as the expiring moments brought him nearer to inevitable but unknown perils. Suddenly the dull booming of a gun at a signal-battery on James Island, near Fort Johnson, was heard,' and a fiery shell, sent from its broad throat, went flying through the black night and exploded immediately over Fort Sumter. It was a malignant "shooting star," coursing through the heavens like those, in appearance, which in the olden time affrighted the nations. It was one of fearful portent, and was the "forerunner" of terrible calamities. Then, no man was wise enough to interpret its full augury.

The sound of that mortar on James Island was the signal for battle. It awakened the slumberers in Charleston. The streets of the city were again thronged with an excited populace. After a brief pause, the heavy cannon on Cummings's Point, comprising Battery Stevens (so named in honor of the inventor), opened fire upon Fort Sumter. To the late Edmund Ruffin, of Virginia, belongs the infamy of firing its first shot, and the first hurled against that fort, the mute representative of the nationality under whose benign overshadowing he had reposed in peace and security for more than seventy years. He had hastened to Morris Island when hostilities seemed near, "and when asked there to what company he belonged, he replied, "To that in which there is a vacancy." He was assigned to duty in the Palmetto Guard, and implored the privilege of firing the first gun on Fort Sumter. It was granted, and he at once acquired Ephesian fame. That wretched old man appears in history only as a traitor and a suicide-a victim to the wicked teachings of stronger and wiser men.

That first shot from Cummings's Point was followed quickly by others. from the Floating Battery, which lay beached on Sullivan's Island, under the

1 That signal-gun was fired by Lieutenant H. S. Farley,

3 Charleston Mercury, April 13, 1861.

2 See page 48.

4 See note 1, page 45.

THE GARRISON OF FORT SUMTER

321

command of Lieutenants Yates and Harleston; from Fort Moultrie, commanded by Colonel Ripley; from a powerful masked battery on Sullivan's Island, hidden by sand-hills and bushes, called the Dahlgren Battery,' under Lieutenant J. R. Hamilton; and from nearly all the rest of the semicircle of military works arrayed around Fort Sumter for its reduction. Full thirty heavy guns and mortars opened at once. Their fire was given with remarkable vigor, yet the assailed fort made no reply. The tempest of lightning, wind, and rain that had just been skurrying through the heavens, leaving behind it heavy clouds and a drizzling mist, and the angry storm of shot and shell, seemed to make no impression on that "Bastion of the Federal Union." For two hours and more, Fort Sumter seemed to the outside world as silent as the grave, bravely bearing the brunt of assault with wonderful fortitude or the stolidity of paralysis. This silence mortified the insurgents, for they longed for the glory of victory after resistance. A contemporary poet sang:

"The morn was cloudy, and dark, and gray,
When the first columbiad blazed away,
Showing that there was the devil to pay

With the braves on Morris Island;
They fired their cannon again and again,
Hoping that Major Anderson's men

Would answer back, but 'twas all in vain,
At first, on Morris Island."

It had been plainly seen by Anderson and his officers that the barbette and area guns could not be used, if all the batteries of the insurgents should open upon the fort at the same time. This was a fatal misfortune, for the barbette guns could have hurled heavy crushing shot upon the Floating Battery and the armored work on Cummings's Point. On the parade, in the fort, were five heavy columbiads, arranged for throwing shells. These, too, would have been effective, but they could not be mannel with safety. For this reason, Anderson gave his orders for the men to remain in the bombproofs. He had men sufficient to work only nine guns well, and it was necessary to guard against casualties as effectually as possible.

At half-past six o'clock, the garrison were summoned to breakfast in the usual manner, and they ate as hearty a meal as their scanty supplies would allow, little disturbed by the terrible uproar around them. It was now broad daylight. The officers and men in Fort Sumter 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 they went to work, under the most trying disadvantages. They had plenty

1 This battery was composed of two heavy Dahlgren guns, which had been sent from the Tredegar Works at Richmond, and arrived at Charleston on the 28th of March. Five 10-inch mortars were put into the same battery with the Dahlgrens. On the same day, fifty thousand pounds of powder, sent from Pensacola, reached Charleston, and twenty thousand pounds from Wilmington, North Carolina. At that time neither Virginia nor North Carolina had passed ordinances of secession. See Charleston Mercury, April 13, 1861.

From The Battle of Morris Island: a “Cheerful Tragedy," in Vanity Fair, April 27, 1861 Fort Sumter was armed at this time with fifty-three effective guns. Of these, twenty-seven were mounted en barbette, twenty-one were in the lower tier of casemates, and five were on the parade. The embrasures of the second tier of casemates had been filled with masonry. One of the guns on the parade was a 10-inch columbiad, arranged to throw shells into Charleston. (See page 180.) The others were 4-inch columblads, to throw shells upon the Cummings's Point Battery. There were only seven hundred cartridges when the action commenced.-Engineer's Journal of the Bombardment of Fort Sumter: by Captain J. G. Foster. VOL I-21