Lincoln Calls for Troops to Attack the South

Abraham Lincoln

The attack on Fort Sumter had very sudden political effects. While the South saw the fort as part of their territory occupied by a foreign nation which could rightfully be removed, the North saw it as an attack and insurrection on the government. Therefore, the day after the surrender, President Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for the states to call out 75,000 militia to suppress the rebellion. He said,

Whereas the laws of the United States have been for some time past, and now are opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed, in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings...

He said that the first responsibility of the militia summoned would be to repossess the forts from which they were driven, and he assured the people of the South that, “utmost care will be observed ... to avoid any devastation, any destruction of, or interference with, property, or any disturbance of peaceful citizens in any part of the country.”

We have discussed earlier how the Upper Slave states of the south had not yet seceded. While they wished to keep their slaves and desired to remain in the Union, they would not participate in an invasion of the seceded states. Just two days before President Lincoln told a prominent Virginian that no invasion would take place, just as he had said in his inauguration, “beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion - no use of force against or among the people anywhere.” But now he was calling upon the South to raise troops to attack the states who had exercised their right to leave the Union.

Fort Sumter Surrenders

Ruins of the Fort

Today, 150 years ago, Fort Sumter was surrendered. After almost being reinforced from the sea and after a two day siege, it had fallen to the fierce bombardment. The fort was officially handed over at 2:30 pm. One term Anderson requested in the surrender is that a 100 gun salute be given to the American flag. While this was being done, a spark ignited a pile of ammunition, exploding and injuring a gun crew. Private Daniel Hough was killed instantly, and Private Edward Gallway died a few days later. These were the first casualties of the war, since no one was killed during the siege.

Bombardment of Fort Sumter - Day 2

On April 13th, 1861, the bombardment of Fort Sumter continued. The Confederates began to fire "hot shot," cannon balls heated in ovens, to attempt to set the buildings of the fort on fire. They were successful, and although the Union garrison was able to prevent the explosion of the powder magazine, they were not able to successfully fight the flames. The Confederates recognized the valor of the defenders, and cheered on their efforts.

At 12:30 Sumter's flagstaff was shot down, and soon after it was replaced the occurred occur the next day. Anderson reported to Washington:

Having defended Fort Sumter for thirty-four hours until the quarters were entirely burned the main gates destroyed by fire, the gorge walls seriously injured, the magazine surrounded by flames and its door closer from the effects of heat four barrels and three cartridges of powder only being available and no provisions remaining but pork, I accepted terms of evacuation offered by General Beauregard being on same offered by him on the eleventh inst. Prior to the commencement of hostilities...

One man described Fort Sumter after the siege thus:

It was a scene of ruin and destruction. The quarters and barracks were in ruins. The main gates and the planking of the windows on the gorge were gone; the magazines closed and surrounded by smoldering flames and burning ashes; the provisions exhausted; much of the engineering work destroyed; and with only four barrels of powder available. The command had yielded to the inevitable. The effect of the direct shot had been to indent the walls, where the marks could be counted by hundreds, while the shells, well directed, had crushed the quarters, and, in connection with hot shot, setting them on fire, had destroyed the barracks and quarters down to the gun casemates, while the enfilading fire had prevented the service of the barbette guns, some of them comprising the most important battery in the work.

Even with the heavy fire on the fort no one was killed. In the coming days we will see some of the effects of this first battle of the war.

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Bombardment of Fort Sumter - Day 1

150 years ago yesterday, Major Robert Anderson, commander of Ft. Sumter, agreed to surrender on April 15th if he did not receive additional supplies. But at 3:20 AM the next day, General Beauregard received the news that the ships carrying reinforcements were gathering outside Charleston. Since their arrival was so imminent, he sent a message to Anderson telling him that he would open fire in one hour.

Captain George James

Roger A. Pryor, a Virginia politician who since his own state would not secede had come to South Carolina to urge the attack on Fort Sumter, was offered the opportunity to fire the first shot, but he refused saying, "I could not fire the first gun of the war." Therefore Captain George S. James, the commander of the battery, fired the first shot of the siege at 4:30 AM. The Civil War had begun.

The firing of the mortar woke the echoes from every nook and corner of the harbor, and in this the dead hour of the night, before dawn, that shot was a sound of alarm that brought every soldier in the harbor to his feet, and every man, woman and child in the city of Charleston from their beds. A thrill went through the whole city.¹

Fort Sumter answered at 7:30 AM, firing accurately and slowly. The fort was designed to resist a naval attack from the ocean, so the only guns that could be safely fired could not fire directly on the opposing Confederate works. Even though both sides were low on ammunition, they continued firing throughout the night and into the next day.

Firing on Fort Sumter

Fox, the commander of the naval relief expedition, ordered small boats to be sent into the harbor with supplies. However, they were deterred by the artillery fire. At night the sea was too boisterous to land, so Fox hoped the fort would hold out until the next night so it could be relieved.

1. Battles and Leaders of the Civil War Source p. 77

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Beauregard Sends Final Request to Surrender

Since the secession of South Carolina in December, the Confederate authorities had requested that Fort Sumter be surredered many times, and Major Robert Anderson always refused. But after receiving the news that a relief expedition was being sent to the fort, General P. G. T. Beauregard, the Confederate commander in Charleston, South Carolina, gave Anderson one last chance to surrender the fort without bloodshed on April 11th, 150 years ago today.

General Beauregard

Beauregard sent this as the final request to surrender:

Headquarters Provisional Army, C. S. A. 

Charleston, April 11, 1861.

       Sir: The government of the Confederate States has hitherto foreborne from any hostile demonstrations against Fort Sumter, in hope that the government of the United States, with a view to the amicable adjustment of all questions between the two governments, and to avert the calamities 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 its defense and security.
       I am ordered by the government of the Confederate States to demand the evacuation of Fort Sumter. ... 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 select. 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 Chestnut and Captain Lee will, for a reasonable time, await your answer.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

G. T. BEAUREGARD, 

Brigadier-General Commanding

To which Major Anderson replied,

Fort Sumter, S.C., 

April 11, 1861.

       General: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication demanding the evacuation of this fort, and to say, in reply thereto, that it is a demand with which I regret that my sense of honor, and of my obligations to my government, prevent my compliance. Thanking you for the fair, manly and courteous terms proposed, and for the high compliment paid me,

I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

ROBERT ANDERSON, 

Major, First Artillery, Commanding.

Major Robert Anderson

Beauregard, knowing that the fort was nearly out of provisions, asked Anderson when that would occur. Anderson replied that if they received no aditional instructions or provisions, and the Southerners did not attack, they would leave the fort at noon on April 15th, just four days away.

Relief Fleet Departs from New York

Baltic, used as a transport ship

As we have discussed before, President Lincoln commissioned Gustavus V. Fox to attempt to execute his plan to resupply Fort Sumter. Therefore he left for New York City to procure ships and arrived there on April 5th, 1861. He hired a passenger steamship Baltic and three smaller tugs. They would rendezvous with Union warships at Fort Sumter. His work was hampered by several of the military officers, who believed that the attempt was hopeless and supplied useless soldiers. Additionally, he was hard-pressed to find ship owners who were willing to risk their ships in the dangerous attempt. He was finally able to depart on April 8th. On the journey they encountered a gale which slowed their progress. As we will see, their arrival was Providentially delayed just enough to be of no service to the fort.

Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1896) Source  Series 1, Volume 1 p. 248-249

Preparations to Attack Fort Sumter

Map of the Forts in Charleston Harbor

Since being appointed Confederate commander in Charleston on March 1 to drive the Northern troops out of Fort Sumter, Major General P. G. T. Beauregard was making preparations to launch the attack. When Beauregard had attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, Major Robert Anderson, the commander of the fort, was actually his artillery instructor. After graduation Beauregard became his assistant. Later on Beauregard was an engineer and one of the foremost US military officers. Just before coming South he had been appointed superintendent of West Point.

When he arrived in Charleston, Beauregard began to prepare for the possibility of having to attack the fort. He trained the South Carolina militia, 6000 of which were available, but they were very inexperienced. Additionally he gathered a large strength of artillery, numbering almost 50 guns of various sizes. The position of Fort Sumter was unfavorable for the Northern defenders. Aside from their lack of provisions, although they had 60 cannons, they did not have nearly enough men to man them and the guns were pointed seaward, and not toward the coastal positions.

Fort Sumter