ion of the city. He might, indeed, have arrested the
commissioners for high treason; but his Unionism was of a very mild
type, and far from being aggressive.

One of the commissioners, Mr. Adams, hastened to telegraph to the
authorities of Charleston, on the 28th, to prepare for war immediately,
as there were no longer any hopes of a peaceful settlement.

This dispatch caused a great uproar and excitement in Charleston. The
banks at once suspended specie payments. All was terror and confusion,
for it was expected that a fleet would bombard the city and land troops,
and there were no adequate means of opposing its entrance. Castle
Pinckney, indeed, might offer some resistance, but as it had been a
dependency of Fort Sumter, and unoccupied, little, if any, ammunition
was kept there. The governor rushed frantically down to Fort Moultrie to
hasten the preparations for defense. Non-combatants were urged to leave
Moultrieville at once. The laborers formerly employed by Captain Foster
were again hired by the State engineers, and were kept at work
thereafter, night and day, in piling up sand-bags to shield the troops
from the fire of Fort Sumter. The batteries at the north-eastern
extremity of Sullivan's Island, which were made up of a few old
field-pieces brought from the Citadel Academy in the city, were hastily
put in order to protect the entrance by that channel. As for Fort
Moultrie, before we left we had rendered its armament useless. At this
time the guns were still spiked, and the workshops in the city were
going night and day to replace the gun-carriages that had been burned.
In place of these, some of the guns and carriages were sent over from
Castle Pinckney.

No attempt had been made to fortify the Morris Island channel, and
vessels could enter there without the slightest difficulty. It took
several days to transfer the guns and make the preparations I have
mentioned. It follows, therefore, that if the Administration had acted
promptly, Charleston could have been taken at once, and full reparation
exacted for all the wrongs perpetrated against the United States. Why
this was not done will be explained hereafter.

Foster had not been able to settle with all his workmen, and the rebels
frequently sent them over under a flag of truce to demand their back pay
and act as spies. I was enabled through this channel to keep up a
correspondence with my wife, who was still in Moultrieville. I learned
all that was going on