requisition for the immediate withdrawal of the troops from the harbour of Charleston.

Mr. Buchanan answered this communication on the 30th. He said that his position as President was clearly defined in his Message to Congress on the 3rd instant. His ideas on the subject were still the same, and he could therefore only meet the Commissioners as private gentlemen, though he was quite willing to communicate to Congress any proposition they might have to make to that body on the subject of their mission. It was his earnest desire that such arrangements might be made by Congress as would avoid the inauguration of a

taken not to reinforce the forts in the harbour until they were actually attacked, or until he had certain evidence that they were about to be attacked. From a "Memorandum of verbal instructions to Major Anderson," sent by Assistant Adjutant-General Butler on the 11th of December, in accordance with the directions of Mr. Floyd, it appeared that Anderson was authorised to shift his quarters to any one of the forts in case of his being positively attacked, or of a hostile attempt being made, or should there be tangible evidence of a design to proceed to such an attempt; but, in the absence of these reasons, he was to refrain from

every act which might tend to provoke aggression. Major Anderson, therefore, according to President Buchanan, had acted without authority, unless he had the "tangible evidence" contemplated by Mr. Floyd, but which that gentleman would certainly have been very slow to recognise as existing. So little was Mr. Buchanan disposed to support the commandant, that, on his own admission, his first promptings were to order him back to his former position; but the seizure of Castle Pinckney and Fort Moultrie by the South Carolinians, without any explanation having been asked of the Federal Government, and the raising of the Palmetto-flag over the Custom House and Post Office, left the President no choice but to refuse the request of the Commissioners to withdraw the troops from the harbour of Charleston. To this letter from Mr. Buchanan, the Commissioners responded on the 1st of January, 1861; but the tone adopted by the writers was so personally offensive, and the allegations of breach of faith were so disrespectfully expressed, that the President returned the communication, with the simple statement that he declined to receive it. The Commissioners left Washington on the 5th of January.

In

The New Year had dawned very gloomily. the streets of the Federal capital itself, the disaffected openly wore Secession cockades, and the prospects of strife grew darker and more imminent with each day. From two facts, however, the loyal drew comfort. The treason of South Carolina, and the insolence of the so-called Commissioners, had stung the President into taking a more decided stand on behalf of the Union; and by the middle of January the places of the traitorous Ministers had been filled by men on whom the country felt it could repose with confidence. In addition to the other new Ministers, the Cabinet now enjoyed the services of Mr. Edwin M. Stanton (ultimately Secretary of War under President Lincoln), who, on Mr. Black becoming Secretary of State after the resignation of General Cass, succeeded him as Attorney-General. The situation was so perilous that the assistance of all honest and capable men was greatly needed. It was well known at Washington that the conspirators contemplated seizing the seat of Government itself, and creating a revolution there in favour of the South. The plan was to occupy the city with a large military force, to proclaim Buchanan Provisional President, if he would consent to do exactly as the slave-owners wished, and, if not, to choose some one in his place; at all events, to prevent the rule of Lincoln. To counteract these plots, General Scott was consulted by the Cabinet, and measures were taken for

defending the capital from any hostile movement. The strengthening of the Southern forts was also a matter of grave importance. It had been resolved, in the middle of December, to despatch thither a reinforcement of troops; but the intention was betrayed by some traitor in the Government, and the consequences were that the lights in Charleston harbour were extinguished, and the buoys removed from the channel. The enterprise was countermanded for a time; but on the 5th of January, 1861, a merchant-steamer, the Star of the West, which had been chartered by the Government, was sent southwards with troops and supplies. This act was so highly resented by Mr. Thompson, the treasonable Secretary of the Interior, that he resigned office, and hastened to his own State (Mississippi), to assist the work of Secession. The people of Charleston were by this time making great preparations for attacking Fort Sumter. Heavy batteries were erected; military companies were drilled in large numbers; Fort Johnson was occupied; a close watch was kept on all vessels approaching the harbour; and Major Anderson was cut off from telegraphic intercourse with his Government.

Such was the situation at Charleston when, on the morning of January 9th, the Star of the West was seen approaching Fort Sumter. The ill-advised scheme to reinforce Sumter in a clandestine way, instead of openly sending troops in a Government vessel, was doomed to failure. The fact of the steamer being there had been made known at an early hour to the South Carolinian authorities, who were already in possession of full information as to what was intended. Traitors at Washington had taken good care that intelligence should be sent at once, and the rulers of Charleston lost no time in preparing to resist the attempt. The Federal vessel was received by a shot from a masked battery on Morris Island; and, although the American colours were displayed by her, the battery continued to fire for ten minutes, and a few shots also came from Fort Moultrie. Two steam-tugs and an armed schooner now took up a position to intercept the Star of the West, the captain of which, seeing that he was in imminent danger of capture, put to sea, and returned to New York. Major Anderson had not received any information that relief was coming; but the attack on the vessel, and the running up of the national flag at the fore, left him no reason to doubt the real character of the steamer. He could have opened fire on the hostile schooner, or on Fort Moultrie, without the slightest difficulty; and he would probably have done so, upon seeing the vessel

attacked, had not the latter taken the more prudent course of retiring. Yet he was in great doubt as to whether his instructions would warrant him in any display of force. The orders of Mr. Floyd (whose resignation was unknown at Fort Sumter) hung like lead upon his arm, and paralysed his will.

After the withdrawal of the steamer, the Major sent a flag of truce to Governor Pickens, with a demand for explanations; at the same time intimating that, if the outrage were not disavowed by him, he should regard it as an act of war, and should not thenceforward allow vessels to pass within range of his guns. The Governor, in reply, acknowledged the act as that of the State of South Carolina, and gave Anderson to understand that any attempt to reinforce Sumter would be resisted. The commandant felt the difficulty of his position,

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and determined to refer the matter to his Govern ment for further instructions; expressing to Pickens a hope that he would not prevent the bearer of his letter from proceeding to Washington. It was a sad humiliation for Anderson, to be thus obliged to beg from local authorities permission to communicate with the administrators of the whole Confederation. But no alternative remained open to him under the doubtful and perplexing circumstances of the time; and a lieutenant was sent off with the despatch, which Governor Pickens did nothing to intercept. A day or two after, the surrender of Fort Sumter was demanded of Anderson, and refused by him in rather high-flown language. The channel was then blocked, to obstruct the entry of vessels into the harbour; and the Revolutionary Government awaited in eager suspense the issue of the struggle it had provoked.

Ox New Year's Day, 1861, South Carolina was the only State which had actually seceded from the Union; but it was certain that the example would be very speedily followed in many other quarters, and such proved to be the case. The Mississippi convention assembled on the 7th of January at Jackson, the capital of the State, and proceeded to discuss the question of an immediate and absolute separation from the old league. In this State there were two parties-both strongly opposed to the principles of Abolitionism, and equally resolved to maintain what were regarded as Southern interests, but in one respect disagreed as to the method of treating existing difficulties. The Secessionists pure and simple were for cutting the bond of union at once, and in the most peremptory fashion. The others, who called themselves "Co-operationists," desired, before taking that extreme step, to lay before the North a series of demands, to which the whole South should have previously agreed, and the acceptance of which by the Federal Government and the Free Labour States should put an end to the

quarrel. Undoubtedly, the latter course had the greater semblance of legality; but it had also the disadvantage of indicating hesitation in a movement which could only succeed, if at all, by a policy of boldness and confidence. The composition of the convention showed that the Co-operationists were in a rather small minority, and it is said that they were intimidated by actual threats, and prevented from giving free utterance to their views. In the final result, only fifteen of the compromisers voted against the Ordinance of Secession which, on the 9th of the month, was carried by eighty-four affirmative votes. The disaffected were not long in want of funds. Citizens in various parts of the State sent money to the Governor; and Jefferson Davis, together with Mr. Jacob Thompson, guaranteed the payment, in May or June, of 25,000 dollars for the purchase of arms. Thompson had resigned his post, as Secretary of the Interior in the Federal Government, only the day before the Mississippi Ordinance of Secession was passed-that is to say, on the 8th of January.

So quickly did Mississippi take hostile action on the resolve of her convention, that three days later a company of artillerists planted cannon at Vicksburg, on the great river after which the State is named, and, on the 18th of January, fired on a steamer to bring her to. The ruling men in the State were all in favour of Secession; but a feeling of loyalty towards the Union prevailed in some quarters, and expressed itself as far as it dared. This, however, was a very dangerous exercise of the right of individual judgment, for terrorism prevailed throughout the State. A speech delivered at a public meeting by one of the most furious of the Secessionists contained phrases which showed the desperate lengths to which Southern enthusiasts were prepared to go, and indeed actually did go, and the utter demoralisation that had been caused by the institution of slavery wherever it existed. Alluding to the election of Lincoln, the speaker asked :-"Shall he be permitted to take his seat on Southern soil? No, never! I will volunteer, as one of thirty thousand, to butcher the villain, if he ever sets foot on slave territory. Secession or submission! What patriot would hesitate for a moment which to choose? No true son of Mississippi would brook the idea of submission to the rule of the baboon, Abe Lincoln-a fifth-rate lawyer, a broken-down hack of a politician, a fanatic, an Abolitionist. The halter is the only argument that should be used against the submissionists, and I predict that it will soon, very soon, be in force. We have glorious news from Tallahatchie. Seven Tory submissionists were hanged there in one day, and the so-called Union candidates, having the wholesome dread of hemp before their eyes, are not canvassing the county."* The reference to Lincoln reads like a dismal prophecy of the tragedy which occurred rather more than four years later. But what is to be thought of politicians who openly encouraged murder as their most effective party weapon?

Florida was next in the field. Her Ordinance of Secession was passed on the 10th of January, the day after that of Mississippi; and even before this formal act had been accomplished, the Governor of the former State had made arrangements for seizing the Federal forts. Some of these, however, were too strong to be taken; so the Governor's attention was chiefly confined to the national works in the Bay of Pensacola. They were under the command of Lieutenant Slemmer, a native of Pennsylvania;

*The speech is to be found in a work called "The Iron Furnace, or Slavery and Secession," by the Rev. John H. Aughey, a Presbyterian clergyman of Mississippi; and is here quoted from Lossing's "History of the Civil War."

and not far off was the Navy Yard, then under the direction of Commodore Armstrong. The former received very positive instructions from Washington to do his utmost for the protection of the forts. As in the case of Anderson at Charleston, it was found impossible to defend more than one; and the lieutenant accordingly withdrew into Fort Pickens, as being the strongest of the three. This was on the 10th of January, and on the same day a body of troops, consisting chiefly of men belonging to Florida and Alabama, with a few from Mississippi, appeared before the Navy Yard, and demanded its immediate surrender to the Secessionists. Armstrong was so surrounded by traitors, even amongst the officers and men under his command, that he had not the means of resistance, and was compelled to do as he was bidden. His conduct was at the time imputed to disloyal feelings, especially as he had previously failed to perform a promise of aiding Lieutenant Slemmer in removing to Fort Pickens. But it would appear that the defection of his own subordinates left him without the capability of defending the Federal interests which had been committed to his charge; and it is possible that he had no improper motives, though some of his acts have a rather suspicious aspect. Florida was a perfect nest of rebels, and the authority of the Union was speedily subverted. About the same time that the Navy Yard was thus snatched from its rightful masters, Forts Barrancas and M'Ree, in the Bay of Pensacola, were entered by the insurgents, and turned to their own uses. Some days earlier on the 6th and 7th of January -the Floridans had seized the Chattahoochee Arsenal, and Fort Marion, at St. Augustine. The latter was a building erected by the Spaniards in the eighteenth century, and had formerly been called the Castle of St. Mark. These acts placed a large number of guns, together with a considerable amount of ammunition, at the disposal of the conspirators.

The position of Slemmer at Fort Pickens was now very serious. The work was calculated to hold twelve hundred men, but he had not more than eighty-one under his command. Armstrong, of the Navy Yard, had been either unable or unwilling to send him any reinforcements, or to do more than despatch a steamer to lie off the walls, with instructions to fire only in case of being herself attacked, and not if any assault were made on Fort Pickens. Slemmer, however, was well provided with guns, shot, and powder, and was furnished with food for five months. When, therefore, on the 12th of January, a demand was made for the surrender of the fort, he at once refused. Three days later, he

1861.]

had an interview with Colonel William H. Chase, of Massachusetts, who, despite his New England birth, had thrown in his lot with the Southern slave-owners and malcontents, and, after having served in the army of the United States, had just accepted the command of all the insurgent troops in Florida. The object of Chase's visit was to endeavour to overcome Lieutenant Slemmer's scruples as to betraying his trust. He represented to the commandant that he might save a great deal of bloodshed, without any compromise of honour, by surrendering the fort, subject to an agreement to be afterwards entered into between the Commissioners of the State and the Federal Government. To Slemmer, such an arrangement appeared in the highest degree dishonourable, and he refused to enter into any terms with the enemies of his country. Further proposals were made on the 18th of January, but with the same result; and the Floridan authorities then commenced preparations for besieging the fort.

The Secession movement in Alabama encountered a good deal of opposition. When the convention met at Montgomery, on the 7th of January, several Union men were found to be members, and the opinions expressed were far from unanimous. Much violent and excited discussion took place; but on the 11th of January the Ordinance of Secession was passed by 61 to 39 votes. In this State, as in others, the national forts were seized, together with the Arsenal at Mount Vernon, and the most frantic joy was expressed by the populace of the towns. Georgia followed in the same path, and on the 18th of January resolved in convention, by a decisive majority, to separate from the Union. Many of the Georgians were in favour of remaining within the Union. Mr. Alexander H. Stephens, as we have already observed, spoke in the convention itself against Secession, though he soon afterwards found his way to accepting it. But Mr. Toombs, so long as he retained his position as a Senator at Washington, kept sending the most exciting telegrams to his native State, imputing remorseless intentions to the Federal Government, and recommending resistance at all hazard; and these had a considerable effect on the waverers. Intimidation was also resorted to, and the Union sentiment was completely suppressed. As early as the 3rd of January, Forts Pulaski and Jackson, on the river Savannah, were taken by the conspirators; for in many of the Southern States the national property was seized before it had yet been determined by the elected representatives whether the Union should be abandoned or not.

This was the case in Louisiana. The leading

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politicians of that State were confident that the convention, when elected, would approve an Ordinance of Secession; and on the 9th of January, the Governor sent expeditions from New Orleans to seize Forts Jackson and St. Philip, on the Mississippi,-Fort Pike, on Lake Pontchartrain,— and the Arsenal at Bâton Rouge. The forts, which were weakly manned, at once surrendered, and others were given up at later dates. Arsenal was also delivered into the hands of the insurgents; the Marine Hospital was appropriated; and Louisiana, elated by her easy triumphs, was in a very hopeful mood by the time the members of the convention met at Bâton Rouge, which was on the 23rd of January. The President of this body was Mr. Alexander Mouton, formerly Governor of the State-a gentleman who seems to have been little more than the nominee of Mr. John Slidell, whose influence was paramount in Louisiana. Nine days before the convention assembled, a letter, the joint production of Mr. Slidell, Mr. Judah P. Benjamin, Mr. John M. Landrum, and Mr. J. G. Davidson, all of Louisiana, had been sent from Washington to Mr. Mouton, who was there described as "President of the Convention," though at that time he held no such office. The object of this letter was to urge the immediate necessity of secession as a matter of self-protection. The appointment of Mr. Holt to the War Department was denounced as an open attack upon the South, and that gentleman was said to have submitted to the Government the plan of a campaign on a gigantic scale for the subjugation of the seceding States. The writers of the letter exclaimed that without slavery they would perish; but they were willing to reconstruct the Confederacy with any materials that were not absolutely hostile. This was in allusion to certain ideas which had for some time been prevalent in the South, and which pointed to the formation of a new Federal pact, excluding Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and all the New England States, but otherwise following the old lines.* The secession of Louisiana was clearly a settled fact before the convention met, and the ordinance decreeing that result was carried on the 26th of January by 113 ayes to 17 noes. Previous to the members separating, it was unanimously resolved that Louisiana would recognise the right to a free navigation of the Mississippi and its tributaries by all bordering States who were influenced by friendly feelings, and would acknowledge a right to egress and ingress, as respected the mouths of the Mississippi, in all friendly States and Powers. These resolutions were plainly levelled in part at the hasty *Lossing.