chips from the granite quarries of New England. These foundations alone had occupied ten years in their construction, and had cost the Government half a million of dollars. The fort itself was not quite completed at the time of its occupation by Major Anderson; but it was so nearly finished as to present a very formidable front to an enemy. The walls were of solid brick and concrete masonry, sixty feet high, and from eight to twelve feet in thickness. These were pierced for three tiers of guns on the northern, eastern, and western sides, and were built close to the water, without any interposing works. On the other hand, the fortifications of Charleston itself, and of those positions which were in the hands of the insurgents, were such as to enable effective operations to be carried on against Sumter. General Beauregard's batteries were erected at Fort Moultrie (situated on Sullivan's Island), and at Cumming's Point, a narrow piece of land extending northward from Morris Island. The distance from these works to Fort Sumter varied from 1,600 to 2,000 yards. On Morris Island were two mortar batteries, mounted on a hastily-constructed earthwork. Lines of batteries were reared to the east and west on Sullivan's Island. Cumming's Point, the nearest land to Fort Sumter, bristled with heavy guns, protected by an iron fortification of a novel character, and rendered still more formidable by a floating battery, composed of palmetto-timber, sheathed with plate-iron, and mounting four guns of heavy calibre.

The bombardment of the rebel batteries was not answered by the besieged until after it had continued two hours and a half. It was thought advisable to let the men have their breakfast first, as a hard day's work was clearly before them, and there were not too many hands to do all that would be required. Of regular soldiers there were only seventy-nine; but these were assisted by about thirty labourers employed on the fort, who helped to work the guns. The supply of cartridges was so inadequate that the whole stock was exhausted by noonday, and extemporary substitutes were made with linen, blankets, and other materials, as the bombardment proceeded. The guns were without screws, scales, or tangents, and were unprovided with sheers on which to mount them, until these were constructed out of some timber which casually floated past the island, and was hauled on shore under the enemy's fire. In other respects also the appointments of the fortification were of the worst. Major Anderson directed his men to keep in the bomb-proof galleries, and not to attempt to work their guns on the open parapet, where the position would hardly have been tenable. The fire of the

Confederates was continued without interruption for twelve hours, and very effective service was rendered by the iron battery at Cumming's Point, and by the floating battery immediately in front, which succeeded in dismounting two of the parapet guns. Shells were thrown into the fort every twenty minutes; but the guns in the casemates at Sumter replied steadily during the whole of the 12th until nightfall, when the fire of the besieged began to slacken. That of the besiegers continued throughout the night, and, as darkness closed in, the air was illuminated by the fiery interlacements of the projectiles, hurrying from the shores to the fort on their messages of ruin. During the day, the ships in the harbour, the steeples of the churches in Charleston, and all available points, were occupied by crowds of spectators, and many retained their posts even after sunset, to watch the fearful splendours of the scene. Fort Sumter resumed its fire at seven o'clock on the morning of the 13th; but its guns did not produce much effect, and the fleet which had been sent to Anderson's relief, and which was seen by the beleaguered garrison lying outside the harbour, could not get near enough to render any assistance. It was soon discovered that the officers' barracks at Sumter were on fire, and a flag at half-mast was discerned obscurely through the smoke as a signal of distress. The garrison themselves extinguished the flames for a time; but they burst out again and again. The fort was now so filled with smoke that the men could only breathe by lying on their faces, and catching the draught as it poured in under the hot and sulphurous air that hung above. The powder was hurriedly removed from the magazines, yet, despite all precautions, an explosion took place in the upper part of the fort. While the conflagration was at its height, a boat had been despatched by General Beauregard to Major Anderson, with offers of assistance in extinguishing the fire; but before it could reach the fort a flag of truce had been hoisted, and the news was announced to the city by the ringing of bells, the discharge of cannon, and the shouts of couriers dashing through the streets. The event had been precipitated by the unauthorised action of Mr. Wigfall, who until recently had sat in the Senate as the representative of Texas, and had criticised with so much insolence the inaugural speech of President Lincoln. During the morning of the second day, this person unexpectedly made his appearance at an embrasure of the fort, with a white handkerchief at the end of his sword. He had gone there in a small boat, and, on being conducted to Major Anderson, he stated that he was attached to General Beauregard's staff, and had

FORT SUMTER was now in full possession of the rebels, and its capture produced a most damaging effect on the national cause. The blame of that disaster lay chiefly with President Buchanan and the disloyal members of his Cabinet, who trifled with rebellion when it might have been crushed, and left Major Anderson without succour in the face of his enemies. Had they acted with the prompt decision of General Jackson in 1832-3, not merely might Sumter have been preserved, but Secession itself might have been nipped in the bud, and the Union have been saved from the agonies of eivil war. When the South Carolinian malcontents of that earlier date threatened disruption, on what Jackson himself described as the "pretext" of an oppressive tariff, the General, acting in his capacity as President, took such vigorous measures for the maintenance of Federal authority at Charleston that the Nullifiers were frightened and discouraged.* Mr. Buchanan, by abandoning Major Anderson, almost invited aggression; and even Mr. Lincoln hesitated for a long while as to rendering that officer any support. "I think," wrote Anderson to General Scott on the 1st of April, “the Government has left me too much to myself. It has given

me no instructions, even when I have asked for them, and I think that responsibilities of a higher and more delicate character have devolved on me than was proper." On the 5th he again wrote imploringly for instructions; and on the 6th he declared to his principals that the sooner they were out of the harbour the better,—that the flag ran an hourly risk of being insulted, and that he had not the power to protect it. Yet the South Carolinians knew that they would have a work of some difficulty to take the fort, and in the months of January and February, 1861, they had (through the agency of their Attorney-General, Mr. Isaac W. Hayne) conducted negotiations with President Buchanan for the surrender of the position. The proposals then made were rejected; but there was a moment when Mr. Buchanan seemed inclined to order Anderson back from Sumter to Moultrie. Lincoln himself was disposed to leave the commandant to his fate, and did in fact delay sending food and reinforcements until the proper time had passed. Well might Major Anderson complain that he had been left too much to himself.

History of the American War, by Lieutenant-Colonel Fletcher (London, 1865), Vol. I., chap. 3.-Pollard's First Year of the War, chap. 2.

transferred to the Baltic, one of the relief squadron, was raised to the mast-head, and saluted with cheers, and by the guns of the other vessels belonging to the small detachment. Shortly after the departure of Major Anderson and his comrades, a party from Charleston, consisting of Governor Pickens, the Executive Council, General Beauregard, and others, went to Fort Sumter in a steamer, and took possession of the place. By the Federals it was remarked with pride that the fort had been evacuated, not surrendered; that the flag had been

made a boastful speech, on the evening of the 13th, from the balcony of the Charleston Hotel. He thanked God that the war had begun, and he promised that they would conquer or perish. The flag of the United States, he said, had been humbled for the first time; it had been lowered in humility before "the glorious little State of South Carolina." The citizens of Charleston were wild with excitement, and on Sunday, the 14th of April, thanksgiving services were performed in all the churches.

The relief squadron, with the garrison of Fort Sumter on board, arrived at New York on the 18th of April, and was greeted with salutes from the forts, and by the acclamations of the people. Anderson was received with many honours. The freedom of the city was presented to him in a gold box; ornamental swords and medals were also given to the hero of the day; and the President raised him to the rank of Brigadier-General. The agitation throughout the North, on the reception of the news from Sumter, was extreme. If there had previously been any doubt as to the necessity of taking serious steps against the rising rebellion, it was now evident that pacific measures were no longer possible. Until then, the shrinking from civil war had been so great that men were willing to compromise matters with the South, even at the cost of not inconsiderable sacrifices. But now a spirit of determined resistance to Southern aggression was aroused in every one of the Northern States. It was seen that a bloody struggle was inevitable, and men nerved themselves to meet the terrible demands that would be made upon their patriotism. A national fort had been seized; a body of Federal troops had been defeated; the flag of the Union had been lowered at the demand of traitors. The time for hesitation had gone by, and the Government understood its duty. Mr. Lincoln issued a proclamation on the 15th of April. It declared that the laws of the Republic had been for some time, and were then, opposed in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, "by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals by law." The President accordingly called forth the militia of the other States of the Union, to the aggregate number of 75,000 men. He appealed to all loyal citizens to favour, facilitate, and aid his efforts to maintain the honour, integrity, and existence of the national Union, and the perpetuity of popular government. The first service assigned to the forces would probably be to repossess the forts, places, and property which had been seized from the Union; and in every event the utmost care would be observed, consistently with the objects enumerated, to avoid any devastation, destruction of property, or disturbance of peaceful citizens. The persons composing the combinations referred to were commanded to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes within twenty days from the date of the proclamation; and an additional paragraph summoned both Houses of Congress to assemble on the 4th of July.

Together with this proclamation, the Secretary of War issued a telegraphic despatch to the Governors of all the States of the Union, excepting those mentioned by the President as being the seat of disturbances, requesting each of them to cause to be detailed from the militia of his State a certain specified quota, to serve as infantry or riflemen for a period of three months, unless sooner discharged. The period mentioned was the utmost allowed by law, as far as the militia was concerned; and it was hoped that a quarter of a year would be sufficient for the suppression of the rebellion. It was not at that time believed that the resources of the South were equal to what they really were, or that the determination of the Secessionists was so fixed and deadly. The Federal army was to consist of none but young and vigorous men, and the oath of fidelity to the United States was to be administered to every officer and private. The responses of the several States to this requisition were of an exceedingly various character. Those from the North were all enthusiastically in favour of vigorously supporting the President in his efforts to sustain the Union. In the slave-holding States, however, a very different feeling was entertained. Governor Letcher, of Virginia, replied that the militia under his control should not be furnished for any such use or purpose as the authorities at Washington had in view. "Your object," he wrote, "is to subjugate the Southern States, and a requisition made upon me for such an object—an object, in my judgment, not within the purview of the Constitution, or the Act of 1795-will not be complied with. You have chosen to inaugurate civil war, and, having done so, we will meet it in a spirit as determined as the Administration has exhibited towards the South." The Governor of North Carolina, Mr. Ellis, affected to doubt the genuineness of the circular, but at the same time observed that any such levy of troops would be a violation of the Constitution and a usurpation of power. "I can be no party," said Governor Ellis, "to this wicked violation of the laws of the country, and to this war upon the liberties of a free people. You can get no troops from North Carolina." Kentucky would "furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subduing her sister Southern States." Tennessee would not supply a single man for coercion, but fifty thousand, if necessary, for the defence of her rights or of those of her Southern brethren. Governor Jackson, of Missouri, put a good deal in a few words when he wrote:-"Your requisition is illegal, unconstitutional, revolutionary, inhuman, diabolical; and cannot be complied with." And Governor Rector, of Arkansas, expressed much the