Besides being the most Holy day for Christians – Easter Sunday – today is the 148th Anniversary of the bombardment of Fort Sumter. An act that irrevocably spun the country into a fratricidal war – brother fighting brother, father fighting son and neighbor fighting neighbor.
Prior to taking office, on March 4, 1861, President-Elect Abraham Lincoln was monitoring the news from South Carolina, and Florida. With the secession of South Carolina, and later of Florida, the coastal forts of the United States became sources of friction. Forts Moultrie and Sumter, in South Carolina and Fort Pickens in Florida were property of the U.S. Government and with his inaugural address Lincoln forcefully stated he intended on holding them – and collecting tariffs.
“The power confided in me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government and to collect the duties and imposts; but beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere.” – Abraham Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861.
Upon arriving at the White House, after his inauguration, inevitably one of the first matters of business was the situation at Fort Sumter. One of the first documents Lincoln received was a situation report detailing that Fort Sumter had days – not months – of supplies for the garrison. US Major Robert Anderson, in command of the fort, believed they could only hold out until mid-April unless resupplied.
Lincoln looked at many options, with regards to Fort Sumter. Rumor had it that he had offered a trade of the fort, turning it over to South Carolina, in exchange for a promise that Virginia would stay in the Union. A contemporary of Lincoln provided a quote, Lincoln was said to have made, regarding the trade of Fort Sumter for a promise from Virginia, to adjourn their convention without seceding, “A state for a fort is no bad business.”(i) A second option was to reinforce the fort. However, based on rough estimates by General In Chief Winfield Scott, this plan was quickly dismissed. The third option, the one Lincoln opted for, was a brilliant diplomatic move. It supported the second to last paragraph of his First Inaugural Address:
“In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow country-men, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I have the most solemn one to “preserve, protect, and defend it.” – Abraham Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861.
Taking the third option, on April 6, Lincoln contacted South Carolina Governor Francis W. Pickens and advised him that, “an attempt will be made to supply Fort Sumpter (sic) with provisions only, and that if such attempt be not resisted, no effort to throw in men, arms or ammunition will be made without further notice, except in case of an attack on the fort.”(ii) Clearly the momentous issue of civil war rested with the newly organized government of the Confederate States of America – a government the United States did not recognize.
So it came to be, that at 3:20 A.M., on April 12, 1861, the Confederate Provisional Army informed US Major Robert Anderson that in one hour they would open fire. The promise made, the first mortar shell arched through the sky, towards Fort Sumter, at 4:30 A.M. Over the next 34 hours the fort would be besieged. At 2:00 P.M. on April 13, Robert Anderson formally surrendered Fort Sumter. This move, by the Confederacy, signaled the start of the bloodiest war in U.S. history.
Over the coming days, Abraham Lincoln would make a passionate call for 75,000 state militia troops, for 90 days, to suppress the rebellion. This call was patriotically received, in the north, with more than 75,000 troops answering the call. The same call was viewed as an open act of war, in the south, and was answered quickly with the secession of Virginia. Other states would soon follow. Events were now truly on course for the Civil War.
May God bless our great country for having endured this calamity, and may all of us take heart that no matter how bad things seem, the United States is the greatest country on earth.
(i) McPherson, James M., Lincoln Speaks, manuscript can be viewed here.
(ii) Fort Sumter at Wikipedia.
