time when it first became evident that
civil war was inevitable, Fort Sumter was vacant. The only United
States troops stationed at Charleston were two companies of artillery
under Major Robert Anderson. The fortifications of Charleston Harbor
consisted of Fort Moultrie on the main land (in which Anderson's
command was stationed), Fort Pinckney, and Fort Sumter standing
massive and alone in the centre of the harbor. Anderson, with his
handful of troops in the most vulnerable of the three forts, saw day
by day the secession sentiment growing stronger. Almost daily some of
the privileges of the soldiery were cut off; such as the right of
passing through the city, and the right to buy supplies in the public
markets. Daily could be heard the drum and the tread of the newly
organized bodies of State soldiers. Anderson saw that his position was
a weak one, but could get no orders from headquarters. Finally he
decided to assume the responsibility of evacuating Fort Moultrie and
occupying Fort Sumter. To-day it hardly seems as though he could have
thought of doing otherwise, but at that time it was a grave
responsibility for a man to assume. The whole voice of the North was
for compromise, and it was his part to commit the first overt act of
war. But he was nobly upheld in his decision by his Northern brethren.
Having decided, he lost no time in carrying his plan into effect. His
little corps of troops was drawn up at midnight on the parade, and for
the first time informed of the contemplated movement. The guns of Fort
Moultrie were hurriedly knocked from their trunnions, and spiked; the
gun-carriages were piled in great heaps, and fired; and every thing
that might in any way be used against the United States Government was
destroyed. Then the work of evacuation was begun. A small fleet of
row-boats carried the troops to the entrance of the great, sullen
fort, standing alone in the middle of the harbor, and made frequent
trips bringing supplies and ammunition from the deserted fortress. All
was done silently: the oars were muffled, and the commands of the
officers were whispered, that no tidings should be told of the
movement under way. Before sunrise all was completed; and when the
rays of the rising sun fell upon the stars and stripes floating from
the flagstaff of Sumter, the people of Charleston turned their eyes
from the starry flag to the clouds of smoke arising from Fortress
Moultrie, and comprehended that the war had beg