omptly ordered by the Secretary of War. The officer thus
summarily dealt with was Lieutenant-Colonel J.C. Gardner, First
Artillery, U.S.A., a native of Massachusetts, and an old veteran of the
war of 1812. Thus, so far as history reveals, was a son of the old Bay
State the _first_ to resist the encroachments of the Southern
conspiracy. It is worthy of note, also, that the removal of Col. Gardner
was in a measure due to the recommendation of Major (afterwards General)
Fitz John Porter.

Major Robert Anderson was ordered, on November 15th, to take command of
Fort Moultrie. He was chosen probably in the belief that, being a
Southern man, he would eventually throw his fortunes with the South. On
the 21st of November Major Anderson arrived at the fort, and on the 23d
of the same month he wrote to Secretary Floyd as follows:--

Fort Sumter and Castle Pinckney _must_ be garrisoned immediately
if the government determines to keep command of the harbor.[2]

In the same letter he also expressed the opinion that the people of
South Carolina intended to seize all the forts in Charleston harbor by
force of arms as soon as their ordinance of secession was published.

The faith of Secretary Floyd must, indeed, have been shaken while
reading such words! He might have ordered the removal of the writer of
them had not a rather unexpected incident now occurred to divert his
attention.

The Secretary of State, the venerable Lewis Cass of Michigan, at once
denounced submission to the conspiracy as treasonable, and insisted that
Major Anderson's demand for reinforcements should be granted. This
episode was a political bomb-shell in the camp of the enemy. The
President became a trifle alarmed, and sent for Floyd. A conference
between the President and the Secretary was held, when the latter
"pooh-poohed" the actual danger. "The South Carolinians," said he, "are
honorable gentlemen. They would scorn to take the forts. They must not
be Irritated." But the President evinced restlessness; he may have
suspected the motive of his cabinet officer. Floyd, too, grew restless;
the obstinacy of the executive alarmed him. He was only too glad to
consent to the suggestion that General Scott should be consulted.

General Scott rose from his sick-bed in New York, and hastened to
Washington, on the 12th of December. On the 13th he had an interview
with the President, in which he urged that three hundred men be sent to
reinforce Major Anderson a