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Chapter 71 The Battle of Fort Sumter
Chapter 71 The Battle of Fort Sumter
"By a strong majority of 157-50, the House of Representatives has formally approved upon the impeachment of President Robert Toombs for the highest crime of treason to the United States."- Speaker of the House Nathaniel Banks 1861
"I shall never join the likes of such rebel scum. Death before treason!"- Major Robert Anderson 1861
"When the drumbeat of war plays then I shall do my duty and serve my country. My only prayer to the Lord is that Virginia shall not commit such treason against the Union."- Colonel Robert E. Lee 1861
Before 1861 in the history of the United States there had been only two formal rebellions against the government of the United States. The first was Shay's Rebellion in 1786 that was formed in protest to the unfair taxation of the farmer's after the American Revolution and the corruption that had taken place in the state of Massachusetts at the time. The rebellion lasted near a year before being disbanded as the rebels fled under threat of battle with the state militia. In the end it could be said that Shay's Rebellion was a hidden blessing to America as it began the start of the Constitutional Convention. The next rebellion was the Whiskey Rebellion in 1791 where tax protestors living in the frontier of Western Pennsylvania rose up in protest of a new tax on the production and sale of whiskey by the federal government. This rebellion also suffered little to no bloodshed as the rebels broke apart when President Washington headed to deal with the issue with the support of the army. The events of this rebellion proving the power of the federal government to enforce national laws and the low toleration for rebellion in the new nation. Since then while there have been multiple periods of unrest and defiance to the government by multiple parties, there has not been another organized resistance to the federal government in the form of a largescale rebellion or revolution (though some historians like to claim the Nullification Crisis is such an event). This all changed in 1861 with the active secession of the Deep South and the formation of the Confederate States of America. The lawmakers who were left in Washington were stunned at such a move as no state had ever before actively put into threat the leaving of the union. Yet here it was in the form of the Confederacy, a blatant sign of treason against Washington and a mockery to the rest of the world of the stability of America's democracy. Between February and April there were many calls on both sides for a diplomatic solution to allow the states to peacefully integrate back in or have them leave the United States without any conflict. These calls would fall on deaf ears as the Battle of Fort Sumter would be the start of what would become the darkest point in American history.
In the days after the formation of the Confederacy and Toombs ascension as President of such nation, the American population of the North and those southern states who were still loyal to the Union were in a state of collective shock at such an event. While many had been predicting that the rebel states would come together and form a new nation in defiance of Washington, no one could have possibly seen that the nation's president would so willingly abandon his post and instead take up arms for the rebels. Even those few in the south who had wanted Toombs to become president thought he would at least come after he stepped down for the incoming Lincoln administration. In foreign capitols across the world American ambassadors were mocked once news was received on how their democracy which the United States prided itself on, was collapsing on itself as America looked like it might be no more. Within the halls of Congress there was a short panic upon such an act, and then a rallying of Republicans against both the South and the Democratic Party. Numerous Republican Senators and Representatives stood on the floors of the House and the Senate and made grand speeches on the treachery of the South and the Democratic Party, for the states that did make up the Confederacy had all Democratic legislatures and congressmen. Attention in particular was driven to those few allies of Toombs left in congress with various questions upon why the President would commit such a vile treason by siding with the rebels who would break apart the nation. Some Democrats pointed out that Toombs was merely following loyalty to his home state of Georgia that was a founding member of the Confederacy. These cries of state loyalty were rebuked by the North as their politicians said that loyalty to the nation was second to none and as President, Toombs' first duty was to the United States as a whole by trying to defuse the crises and helping Lincoln transition into office. On both regards he failed utterly with his dereliction of duty and defection against the nation. Sensing a huge opportunity that would tarnish the legacy of the Democrats forever and depending on how the crises went, could keep them out of the White House for a generation, Speaker of the House Nathaniel Banks called upon an impeachment trial against Toombs. The charges, high treason against the United States of America. While a normal impeachment would take several months in both Texas and America in modern day, the process only took a few days as the Republicans worked tirelessly to do such a case before Lincoln was inaugurated. Historians over time have admitted that the whole process of impeachment for Toombs was rather murky as many legal procedures were skipped by Congressional Republicans in the House Judicial committee and many Democrats were blocked from involvement in what was a clear act of a partisan coup. Yet there was little that could be done in the opposition as few could successfully vouch for Toombs' act of treason and the evidence was clearly there without any way to spin the story. The House successfully voted on the Impeachment on February 25th with a 157-50 majority, the vote having been made up of all Republicans along with some Northern Democrats who wished to save their chances of reelection, the opposition being made up of mostly Democrats from the border and loyalist southern states. The vote was then rushed to the Senate the next day for a proper conviction. Here was where the formation of the Confederacy hurt the Democratic opposition the most as the Senate was absent 14 Senators of Democratic affiliation, giving the Republicans a 2/3rds majority with their membership. On February 26th the vote was finalized with 32 Republican and 9 Democrats voted for the conviction of Toombs upon treason with 9 Democrats in opposition. When Senate Majority Leader Benjamin Wade stuck down his gavel with the completion of the vote, Robert Toombs became the first and only President in American history to have been successfully and fully impeached.
Impeachment of President Robert Toombs.
With Toombs impeachment happening a little over a week before Lincoln's inauguration, the agenda of congress then switched over to who would succeed Toombs. There was no public opposition to Lincoln taking over on March 4th as he was the winner of the election and the Republican controlled congress would be sure to strike down any measures that said no. It was just that until then there would be a six day vacancy in the United States, something that was unprecedented before in American history. The American Constitution explicitly stated that upon the impeachment of the President the Vice President shall assume the office of the Presidency, yet the Vice Presidency had not been replaced in the aftermath of Douglas' assassination. Under the line of succession in the 13th amendment, the presidency would then go to the Secretary of State, James Buchanan. Yet Buchanan had been away from Washington ever since the election and was currently in his home in Pennsylvania, some Radical Republicans in the meanwhile suggesting that it was very possible he could go to the Confederacy along with his former boss. Because of this many Republicans in the House wished for Speaker Banks to assume the presidency as he was the next in line after the Secretary of State. Doing so however would create a flimsy constitutional crises since it would bypass the Secretary of State who had not yet committed treason. Creating a horrible precedent for future presidencies down the line. Republicans also made calls that Abraham Lincoln should just assume office immediately since he was the President-Elect. This was a sentiment actually shared by Banks as the situation proclaiming him president would only have him in power for six days at most, making him a mere footnote in the history of the American presidency. In the couple days afterwords there was much talk between Congress and the Supreme Court in order to try and solve the issue so that future presidencies would know what to do and they would have clear leadership moving forward. Chief Justice Roger Taney made a final decision on February 28th by proclaiming that in a situation where a clear succession by the presidential cabinet in the midst of a transition could not occur, that the President-Elect would assume power immediately. This legal precedent which has since then been called the Lincoln Assumption, gained much criticism by contemporary Democrats as a coup and a clear disregard for the Constitution. However, since 1861 there has never been another case for the Lincoln Assumption to take effect and as such little reason for the Supreme Court to overturn it, with many historians today still debating the legality of it. Nevertheless, the decision was final and as such Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as President three days early on March 1st, 1861. His first task in office being to unite the nation and prevent the coming of a civil war, something which he sadly failed in.
Lincoln's inauguration
One common misconception that exists about the American Civil War is that both sides were actively pushing for war and that there was a clear division between both the North and the South. In reality the lines between both the Confederacy and the Union are very easily blurred as both sides were once Americans and in many cases after Petersburg, would very literally be fighting against their family members in the same battle. One classic example of this that many people tend to overlook is Abraham Lincoln himself as Lincoln was born in Kentucky along with his wife Mary Todd being from there, the Todd family have many notable members with pro-Confederate sympathizers during the war. Also in the 1860 election which was in many ways the primary cause of the Civil War, the candidacy of John Bell in the Constitutional Union did show that there were sizeable sections of the South who did have Unionist sympathies. These range from many different reasons such as former Whig ties, family in the North, apathy for the practice of slavery, or the feeling that secession was just a cause for the rich plantation owners, not the southern people. In the North there were also high amounts of opposition to Lincoln early on though these were mostly from Democrats and Northerners who felt that this was a war for slaves and they had no reason dying for it. Within the Confederate Congress there were many calls for peaceful negotiations with the United States that could include a possible existence of a slavery amendment and concessions involving greater states rights, with the pro-compromise faction led by new Vice President Jefferson Davis. The calls for compromise in the Confederate Congress, and across the South, unfortunately died down as the result of Toombs impeachment. This action by House Republicans which in many ways was more than just because of Toombs treason, backfired incredibly as they only riled up much of the south as in their point of view Lincoln was enacting a coup and they were treated as traitors when they were only fighting for their rights as said in the Declaration of Independence. Lincoln, who made his entire campaign platform based on reconciliation, was put in a tight spot between the Radical Republicans who wanted the Confederacy to be squashed with lethal force, and the moderates who were willing to compromise on states rights and slavery. On the matter of the Confederacy as a whole, Lincoln refused to formally recognize them as an independent nation and instead referred to them as "an unruly band of insurrectionists." Yet correspondence was mailed out several times in March and early April form the White House to prominent Southern leaders asking for general negotiations. When it came to the use of military force, Lincoln was very reluctant in this manner as war had not yet broken out and by sending federal troops to quell the rebellion, Lincoln would be seen as the aggressor and would cause multiple neutral southern states to possibly secede. So in the meantime all Federal troops that were still loyal to the Union were merely put on standby at the Mason-Dixon border and Canada while the State Department did its best around the world to prevent any taking advantage of America during the crisis. For all of March there existed an uneasy tension over what course the nation would take. These matters would all come to a climax with Fort Sumter.
Since Major Anderson's defiance of the South Carolina government began in February, there had been an ongoing siege in the Charleston harbor yet no military bombardment had been undertaken by either side, guns merely pointed at each other across the harbor in a silent staring contest. Colonel James Longstreet who commanded the bombardment was quite reluctant to commit any action as he had served with Anderson in the Oregon War and knew several defenders of Fort Sumter who were South Carolinian Unionists (along with the fact that as a cavalry expert Longstreet wasn't too knowledgeable on siege warfare). Anderson did not want to fire the first shots as doing so would formally start a war with the Confederate Rebels and in the situation of a prolonged bombardment Fort Sumter would lose due to the low manpower. It was Anderson's hope in the end that Lincoln could somehow find a way to relieve the besieged fort or that negotiations with the South would prevail. In the middle of all this was a impatient Governor Pickens who was embarrassed for being made a mockery of in the other Confederate States for having not been able to bring to heel the only Federal fort still standing in the south. Pickens didn't care for the potential consequences of a war, he merely wanted to bring Fort Sumter into the fold to restore his honor and up his advancement in southern politics along with being the leader of the first state to secede. For two months the standoff went on until early April where the situation in Fort Sumter was getting desperate for supplies. Lincoln, knowing he had to do something to relieve the men of the fort before ti was too late, wrote a letter to Pickens informing him that ships of the Union Navy would be coming into Charleston to bring supplies for the troops. This was done in the guise of a humanitarian manner as the supplies were food, clothing, and medicine for the troops, not weapons. Upon receiving the notification Pickens consulted with President Toombs who by telegram over which action to take. Despite contemporary views that Toombs ordered a general assault, historical evidence points to Toombs wanting to withhold on any action for the time being as he wanted to get more southern states on board with secession as well as general pressure in the North to force Lincoln to come to the table and recognize independence. Pickens was torn on this as while he did want to obey his new President, at the same time he didn't want to suffer any further embarrassment over allowing Union ships to just waltz into his harbor and continue the siege further. Going with his glut and notions of honor over reason, Pickens ordered Longstreet to deliver one last ultimatum to Fort Sumter, any refusal resulting in a bombardment on the fort. On April 11th Anderson refused such an offer. Thus the next day the first shots of the Civil War began as Confederate artillery started a barrage on Fort Sumter to which Anderson and his men retaliated. For the next four days an endless string of bombardment continued, miraculously no men on either side had died or even got wounded during this time. Seeing the continuation of such bombardment as senseless, Longstreet sent new terms to Anderson on the 16th in which the Union soldiers were offered to "evacuate" the fort, meaning they wouldn't formally surrender to the Confederates. Anderson being low on supplies, the fort having suffered much damage, and the men tired and on low morale, agreed to the new terms as he had done his duty and defended the fort with honor. The surrender occurred at 2:30 P.M on April 16th as the Union flag was given a 100-gun salute by the defenders before being lowered down. The flag was then carried by Anderson as he along with his men made their way out of Charleston in multiple boats to journey back to Washington.
Colonel James Longstreet, commander of the Sumter siege fort and soon to be infamous Confederate General (Left). Bombardment of Fort Sumter (Right).
When news of the outcome Battle of Fort Sumter reached the across the country the reactions were varied. In the Confederacy the people rose in celebration as they had driven the Yankee menace out and secured their borders. In the border states the reactions were varied as some celebrated, some were saddened, and most were unsure of what was to come. In the North the people rallied for President Lincoln in order to quell the Southern Rebellion, secure the forts, and maintain the Union. Massive patriotic rallies took place all across the North and thousands of men made their way to their local army base to volunteer. For Lincoln it was a disappointing outcome as the man had advocated for peace several times and yet war was now a certainty. Not wanting to call upon congress for a declaration of war as doing so would legitimize the Confederate government, Lincoln made a call for the creation of a 75,000 man militia to quell the Southern Rebellion, the call to arms being addressed to men in any American state or territory who wished to serve, with no set quota enacted for any particular state. This call to arms would play an important factor in the events to come within the next month. Though the most important event that many historians agree shaped the Civil War in its entirety, would take place on April 18th, the same day that Lincoln's call to arms was sent out. The Battle of Petersburg.
"By a strong majority of 157-50, the House of Representatives has formally approved upon the impeachment of President Robert Toombs for the highest crime of treason to the United States."- Speaker of the House Nathaniel Banks 1861
"I shall never join the likes of such rebel scum. Death before treason!"- Major Robert Anderson 1861
"When the drumbeat of war plays then I shall do my duty and serve my country. My only prayer to the Lord is that Virginia shall not commit such treason against the Union."- Colonel Robert E. Lee 1861
Before 1861 in the history of the United States there had been only two formal rebellions against the government of the United States. The first was Shay's Rebellion in 1786 that was formed in protest to the unfair taxation of the farmer's after the American Revolution and the corruption that had taken place in the state of Massachusetts at the time. The rebellion lasted near a year before being disbanded as the rebels fled under threat of battle with the state militia. In the end it could be said that Shay's Rebellion was a hidden blessing to America as it began the start of the Constitutional Convention. The next rebellion was the Whiskey Rebellion in 1791 where tax protestors living in the frontier of Western Pennsylvania rose up in protest of a new tax on the production and sale of whiskey by the federal government. This rebellion also suffered little to no bloodshed as the rebels broke apart when President Washington headed to deal with the issue with the support of the army. The events of this rebellion proving the power of the federal government to enforce national laws and the low toleration for rebellion in the new nation. Since then while there have been multiple periods of unrest and defiance to the government by multiple parties, there has not been another organized resistance to the federal government in the form of a largescale rebellion or revolution (though some historians like to claim the Nullification Crisis is such an event). This all changed in 1861 with the active secession of the Deep South and the formation of the Confederate States of America. The lawmakers who were left in Washington were stunned at such a move as no state had ever before actively put into threat the leaving of the union. Yet here it was in the form of the Confederacy, a blatant sign of treason against Washington and a mockery to the rest of the world of the stability of America's democracy. Between February and April there were many calls on both sides for a diplomatic solution to allow the states to peacefully integrate back in or have them leave the United States without any conflict. These calls would fall on deaf ears as the Battle of Fort Sumter would be the start of what would become the darkest point in American history.
In the days after the formation of the Confederacy and Toombs ascension as President of such nation, the American population of the North and those southern states who were still loyal to the Union were in a state of collective shock at such an event. While many had been predicting that the rebel states would come together and form a new nation in defiance of Washington, no one could have possibly seen that the nation's president would so willingly abandon his post and instead take up arms for the rebels. Even those few in the south who had wanted Toombs to become president thought he would at least come after he stepped down for the incoming Lincoln administration. In foreign capitols across the world American ambassadors were mocked once news was received on how their democracy which the United States prided itself on, was collapsing on itself as America looked like it might be no more. Within the halls of Congress there was a short panic upon such an act, and then a rallying of Republicans against both the South and the Democratic Party. Numerous Republican Senators and Representatives stood on the floors of the House and the Senate and made grand speeches on the treachery of the South and the Democratic Party, for the states that did make up the Confederacy had all Democratic legislatures and congressmen. Attention in particular was driven to those few allies of Toombs left in congress with various questions upon why the President would commit such a vile treason by siding with the rebels who would break apart the nation. Some Democrats pointed out that Toombs was merely following loyalty to his home state of Georgia that was a founding member of the Confederacy. These cries of state loyalty were rebuked by the North as their politicians said that loyalty to the nation was second to none and as President, Toombs' first duty was to the United States as a whole by trying to defuse the crises and helping Lincoln transition into office. On both regards he failed utterly with his dereliction of duty and defection against the nation. Sensing a huge opportunity that would tarnish the legacy of the Democrats forever and depending on how the crises went, could keep them out of the White House for a generation, Speaker of the House Nathaniel Banks called upon an impeachment trial against Toombs. The charges, high treason against the United States of America. While a normal impeachment would take several months in both Texas and America in modern day, the process only took a few days as the Republicans worked tirelessly to do such a case before Lincoln was inaugurated. Historians over time have admitted that the whole process of impeachment for Toombs was rather murky as many legal procedures were skipped by Congressional Republicans in the House Judicial committee and many Democrats were blocked from involvement in what was a clear act of a partisan coup. Yet there was little that could be done in the opposition as few could successfully vouch for Toombs' act of treason and the evidence was clearly there without any way to spin the story. The House successfully voted on the Impeachment on February 25th with a 157-50 majority, the vote having been made up of all Republicans along with some Northern Democrats who wished to save their chances of reelection, the opposition being made up of mostly Democrats from the border and loyalist southern states. The vote was then rushed to the Senate the next day for a proper conviction. Here was where the formation of the Confederacy hurt the Democratic opposition the most as the Senate was absent 14 Senators of Democratic affiliation, giving the Republicans a 2/3rds majority with their membership. On February 26th the vote was finalized with 32 Republican and 9 Democrats voted for the conviction of Toombs upon treason with 9 Democrats in opposition. When Senate Majority Leader Benjamin Wade stuck down his gavel with the completion of the vote, Robert Toombs became the first and only President in American history to have been successfully and fully impeached.
Impeachment of President Robert Toombs.
With Toombs impeachment happening a little over a week before Lincoln's inauguration, the agenda of congress then switched over to who would succeed Toombs. There was no public opposition to Lincoln taking over on March 4th as he was the winner of the election and the Republican controlled congress would be sure to strike down any measures that said no. It was just that until then there would be a six day vacancy in the United States, something that was unprecedented before in American history. The American Constitution explicitly stated that upon the impeachment of the President the Vice President shall assume the office of the Presidency, yet the Vice Presidency had not been replaced in the aftermath of Douglas' assassination. Under the line of succession in the 13th amendment, the presidency would then go to the Secretary of State, James Buchanan. Yet Buchanan had been away from Washington ever since the election and was currently in his home in Pennsylvania, some Radical Republicans in the meanwhile suggesting that it was very possible he could go to the Confederacy along with his former boss. Because of this many Republicans in the House wished for Speaker Banks to assume the presidency as he was the next in line after the Secretary of State. Doing so however would create a flimsy constitutional crises since it would bypass the Secretary of State who had not yet committed treason. Creating a horrible precedent for future presidencies down the line. Republicans also made calls that Abraham Lincoln should just assume office immediately since he was the President-Elect. This was a sentiment actually shared by Banks as the situation proclaiming him president would only have him in power for six days at most, making him a mere footnote in the history of the American presidency. In the couple days afterwords there was much talk between Congress and the Supreme Court in order to try and solve the issue so that future presidencies would know what to do and they would have clear leadership moving forward. Chief Justice Roger Taney made a final decision on February 28th by proclaiming that in a situation where a clear succession by the presidential cabinet in the midst of a transition could not occur, that the President-Elect would assume power immediately. This legal precedent which has since then been called the Lincoln Assumption, gained much criticism by contemporary Democrats as a coup and a clear disregard for the Constitution. However, since 1861 there has never been another case for the Lincoln Assumption to take effect and as such little reason for the Supreme Court to overturn it, with many historians today still debating the legality of it. Nevertheless, the decision was final and as such Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as President three days early on March 1st, 1861. His first task in office being to unite the nation and prevent the coming of a civil war, something which he sadly failed in.
Lincoln's inauguration
One common misconception that exists about the American Civil War is that both sides were actively pushing for war and that there was a clear division between both the North and the South. In reality the lines between both the Confederacy and the Union are very easily blurred as both sides were once Americans and in many cases after Petersburg, would very literally be fighting against their family members in the same battle. One classic example of this that many people tend to overlook is Abraham Lincoln himself as Lincoln was born in Kentucky along with his wife Mary Todd being from there, the Todd family have many notable members with pro-Confederate sympathizers during the war. Also in the 1860 election which was in many ways the primary cause of the Civil War, the candidacy of John Bell in the Constitutional Union did show that there were sizeable sections of the South who did have Unionist sympathies. These range from many different reasons such as former Whig ties, family in the North, apathy for the practice of slavery, or the feeling that secession was just a cause for the rich plantation owners, not the southern people. In the North there were also high amounts of opposition to Lincoln early on though these were mostly from Democrats and Northerners who felt that this was a war for slaves and they had no reason dying for it. Within the Confederate Congress there were many calls for peaceful negotiations with the United States that could include a possible existence of a slavery amendment and concessions involving greater states rights, with the pro-compromise faction led by new Vice President Jefferson Davis. The calls for compromise in the Confederate Congress, and across the South, unfortunately died down as the result of Toombs impeachment. This action by House Republicans which in many ways was more than just because of Toombs treason, backfired incredibly as they only riled up much of the south as in their point of view Lincoln was enacting a coup and they were treated as traitors when they were only fighting for their rights as said in the Declaration of Independence. Lincoln, who made his entire campaign platform based on reconciliation, was put in a tight spot between the Radical Republicans who wanted the Confederacy to be squashed with lethal force, and the moderates who were willing to compromise on states rights and slavery. On the matter of the Confederacy as a whole, Lincoln refused to formally recognize them as an independent nation and instead referred to them as "an unruly band of insurrectionists." Yet correspondence was mailed out several times in March and early April form the White House to prominent Southern leaders asking for general negotiations. When it came to the use of military force, Lincoln was very reluctant in this manner as war had not yet broken out and by sending federal troops to quell the rebellion, Lincoln would be seen as the aggressor and would cause multiple neutral southern states to possibly secede. So in the meantime all Federal troops that were still loyal to the Union were merely put on standby at the Mason-Dixon border and Canada while the State Department did its best around the world to prevent any taking advantage of America during the crisis. For all of March there existed an uneasy tension over what course the nation would take. These matters would all come to a climax with Fort Sumter.
Since Major Anderson's defiance of the South Carolina government began in February, there had been an ongoing siege in the Charleston harbor yet no military bombardment had been undertaken by either side, guns merely pointed at each other across the harbor in a silent staring contest. Colonel James Longstreet who commanded the bombardment was quite reluctant to commit any action as he had served with Anderson in the Oregon War and knew several defenders of Fort Sumter who were South Carolinian Unionists (along with the fact that as a cavalry expert Longstreet wasn't too knowledgeable on siege warfare). Anderson did not want to fire the first shots as doing so would formally start a war with the Confederate Rebels and in the situation of a prolonged bombardment Fort Sumter would lose due to the low manpower. It was Anderson's hope in the end that Lincoln could somehow find a way to relieve the besieged fort or that negotiations with the South would prevail. In the middle of all this was a impatient Governor Pickens who was embarrassed for being made a mockery of in the other Confederate States for having not been able to bring to heel the only Federal fort still standing in the south. Pickens didn't care for the potential consequences of a war, he merely wanted to bring Fort Sumter into the fold to restore his honor and up his advancement in southern politics along with being the leader of the first state to secede. For two months the standoff went on until early April where the situation in Fort Sumter was getting desperate for supplies. Lincoln, knowing he had to do something to relieve the men of the fort before ti was too late, wrote a letter to Pickens informing him that ships of the Union Navy would be coming into Charleston to bring supplies for the troops. This was done in the guise of a humanitarian manner as the supplies were food, clothing, and medicine for the troops, not weapons. Upon receiving the notification Pickens consulted with President Toombs who by telegram over which action to take. Despite contemporary views that Toombs ordered a general assault, historical evidence points to Toombs wanting to withhold on any action for the time being as he wanted to get more southern states on board with secession as well as general pressure in the North to force Lincoln to come to the table and recognize independence. Pickens was torn on this as while he did want to obey his new President, at the same time he didn't want to suffer any further embarrassment over allowing Union ships to just waltz into his harbor and continue the siege further. Going with his glut and notions of honor over reason, Pickens ordered Longstreet to deliver one last ultimatum to Fort Sumter, any refusal resulting in a bombardment on the fort. On April 11th Anderson refused such an offer. Thus the next day the first shots of the Civil War began as Confederate artillery started a barrage on Fort Sumter to which Anderson and his men retaliated. For the next four days an endless string of bombardment continued, miraculously no men on either side had died or even got wounded during this time. Seeing the continuation of such bombardment as senseless, Longstreet sent new terms to Anderson on the 16th in which the Union soldiers were offered to "evacuate" the fort, meaning they wouldn't formally surrender to the Confederates. Anderson being low on supplies, the fort having suffered much damage, and the men tired and on low morale, agreed to the new terms as he had done his duty and defended the fort with honor. The surrender occurred at 2:30 P.M on April 16th as the Union flag was given a 100-gun salute by the defenders before being lowered down. The flag was then carried by Anderson as he along with his men made their way out of Charleston in multiple boats to journey back to Washington.
Colonel James Longstreet, commander of the Sumter siege fort and soon to be infamous Confederate General (Left). Bombardment of Fort Sumter (Right).
When news of the outcome Battle of Fort Sumter reached the across the country the reactions were varied. In the Confederacy the people rose in celebration as they had driven the Yankee menace out and secured their borders. In the border states the reactions were varied as some celebrated, some were saddened, and most were unsure of what was to come. In the North the people rallied for President Lincoln in order to quell the Southern Rebellion, secure the forts, and maintain the Union. Massive patriotic rallies took place all across the North and thousands of men made their way to their local army base to volunteer. For Lincoln it was a disappointing outcome as the man had advocated for peace several times and yet war was now a certainty. Not wanting to call upon congress for a declaration of war as doing so would legitimize the Confederate government, Lincoln made a call for the creation of a 75,000 man militia to quell the Southern Rebellion, the call to arms being addressed to men in any American state or territory who wished to serve, with no set quota enacted for any particular state. This call to arms would play an important factor in the events to come within the next month. Though the most important event that many historians agree shaped the Civil War in its entirety, would take place on April 18th, the same day that Lincoln's call to arms was sent out. The Battle of Petersburg.
- Kaiser Chris
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