ing between South Carolina and other States, under the name of the United States of America, is hereby dissolved." 6. Six days afterward, Major Anderson, of the national army, commanding at Fort Moultrie, withdrew the garrison of eighty men from that

of greater security. This being regarded by the South Carolinians as a hostile

act, they at once

FORT SUMTER, IN 1860.

seized the custom-house at Charleston, as well as other property belonging to the general government, and commenced operations to drive Anderson from his new position. (See map, p. 143.)

7. Six other States-Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas-following the

lead of South Carolina, passed secession ordinances in the early part of 1861. In February a Congress of delegates from all these States, except Texas, met at Montgome

The

Southern ry, and formed a governConfederacy. ment called The Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was elected by the Congress President of the Confederacy, and, Texas being then represented, was duly inaugurated. 8. A steamer, sent from New York with supplies and reinSecession forcements for Fort Sumter, arrived off Charleston, but being fired upon by the batteries which had been erected by the Confederates, was compelled to put back.

deeds.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

1861

Minnesota, Oregon, and Kansas.

257

Thus South Carolina commenced the war by firing at the Amer. ican flag; and “the frantic tumult spread along every river and over every mountain in the slave States from Chesapeake bay to the Mexican frontier." Forts, arsenals, navy-yards, and other property of the nation, were seized by State authority for the Confederacy. Fort Pickens, near Pensacola, Fort Sumter, and the forts at the southern extremity of Florida, were all that remained to the general government within the limits of the seceded States. General Dix, Secretary of the National Treasury, ordered two revenue cutters, stationed at New Orleans, to be taken to New York, New Orleans being at the time in virtual possession of the secessionists; but the captain of one of the cutters refusing to obey, he sent a telegram to the lieutenant, ordering the arrest of the captain and losing with the command, "If any one attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot.'

9. Three States were admitted to the Union during the admin istration of Buchanan. Minnesota, admitted in 1858, though of recent settlement, had long been the seat of traffic with the Indians. Catholic missionaries had also estab

The eastern por

New States.

'ished stations at an early date. tion of the State, that east of the Mississippi, was originally a part of the Northwest Territory; the other portion, embracing more than two thirds of the area of the State, was originally a part of the "Louisiana Purchase." Oregon, admitted in 1859, was first occupied in 1811, when a fur-trading post was established by John Jacob Astor, a wealthy merchant of New York, at the mouth of the Columbia river, and called Astoria. The river had been entered, for the first time, Swenty years before, by the ship Columbia, Captain Gray, from Boston. The report made by Gray led President Jefferson to send the expedition, conducted by Lewis & Clarke, which, ascending the Missouri river and descending the head branches of the Columbia and the Columbia itself, reached the Pacific ocean (see page 196). Kansas, after six years of angry agitation, was quietly admitted into the Union in 1861.

Lincoln's Administration.

1. The affairs of the country, when Lincoln entered upon the office of President, March 4th, 1861, were in a sadly distracted condition. "Menaces that the President-elect would never Lincoln's be permitted to take inauguration.the oath of office had been freely and loudly made;" consequently General Scott took every precaution, and the "inauguration took place amid a greater display of military than had ever before been witnessed on such an occasion." In his address, which was mild. and conciliatory, the President declared, with special emphasis, that he had no purpose or inclination to interfere with slavery where it already existed, further declaring that he had "no lawful right to do so."

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

2. This assurance, however, had no effect whatever upon the Southern leaders. Avowing their duty to their States as more binding upon them than their obligations to the general

Fall of government, they continued to prepare for war. Fort Sumter. A force of several thousand men was put under the command of General Beauregard (bo'-re-gard), who was ordered to reduce Fort Sumter; and, accordingly, "the roar of a mortar quickly followed by the rushing shriek of a shell, gave notice to the world that the era of compro. mise and diplomacy was ended" (April 12, 1861). Soon all the guns of the assailiants were in operation, and in the course of thirty-four hours, more than three thousand shot and shell struck the works. The defense was feeble, owing to the smallness of the garrison and the scanty supply of ammunition. In his report to the Secretary of War, Anderson said: Having defended Fort Sumter until the quarters were en

36

1861

Secession of other States.

259

tirely burned, the main gates destroyed by fire, the gorge wall seriously injured, the magazine surrounded by flames, and its door closed from the effects of the heat, four barrels and three cartridges of powder only being available, and no provisions but pork remaining, I accepted the terms of evacuation offered by General Beauregard, and marched out of the fort on Sunday afternoon, the 14th inst." On the following day Anderson sailed with his command for New York.

66

received.

3. "The welcome event," said a Southern writer, was instantly announced in every part of Charleston by the ringing of bells, the pealing of cannon, the shouts of couriers dashing through the streets, and by every indica- How tion of general rejoicing." "It was regarded as the news was the greatest day in the history of South Carolina." While exultation prevailed at the South, the news that the national flag had been fired upon and that Fort Sumter had fallen produced an intense feeling of indignation at the North. Thousands of northern men who had previously been in sympathy with the South, now declared themselves in favor of the Union; and President Lincoln's call for seventy-five thousand troops met with a hearty and favorable response from all the free States.1 Political differences were forgotten in the impulse to defend the national government. Two days after Lincoln's call for troops, Davis issued a proclamation inviting privateers to prey upon the commerce of the United States; and this was followed by one from Lincoln, declaring the ports of the Confederate States to be in a state of blockade (April, 1861).

4. With the exception of Delaware, not one of the slave States arranged itself promptly and decidedly on the side of the Union. Lincoln's call for troops had been addressed to all

A Massachusetts regiment, on its way to the defense of the capital, was attacked, April 19th, in the streets of Baltimore by a mob of Southern sympathizers. Bricks, stones, and pieces of iron were thrown fror the upper windows of houses, and two of the soldiers were killed. Thus the anniversary of the battle of Lexington was signalized by the com mencement of bloodshed in the Great Civil War.