Confederate guns around the harbor opened fire on something. Its a symposium on the warren east, hosted by the emergency bill war blog. Welcome back to the emergence of a war symposium, great to have you with us my name is chris mackowski. Our next speaker today comes to us, actually from our sister site emerging revolutionary war. Mark maloy its a historian with a National Park service and hes like what can i do thats revolutionary war . And i said, mark know this is a civil war. So we decided we would let him come talk about fort sumter because its the closest we can get to the war to the revolutionary era. Mark is a delightful historian, a wonderful guy, i wish i could get him to laugh on cue. The most distinctive feature that we are like is his laugh. But we are delighted to have him, and he came here today to speak about the first shots of the civil war act fort sumter. Mark. Thank you very much for that introduction, chris. And its a pleasure to be able to speak out this symposium for the emerging civil war. We love we would love to have done an, inperson but being able to do a digitally like, this is a wonderful way to do it as well. As chris mentioned, my main passion is the American Revolutionary war. But i work for the National Park service, and we take care of a lot of important civil war sites. I actually started my career with the National Park service, as an intern down at fort sumter in charleston, South Carolina. I worked there for about a, year in Charleston South Carolina if youve never been its a beautiful town. Theres a lot of history. Revolutionary war history, but most People Associated with its important civil war history. And the war started there, like an 1861, in a. Probably over the next 45 minutes were gonna go over the buildup to the first shots of the civil war, there. Im going to tell you about the battle that happened on april 12th, and april 13th. And then im going to tell you what happened to fort sumter in the city, following that for the rest of the war. And then whats there today, in kind of what you can see. And definitely encourage hero, if you get a chance, to go down and visit at some point. Hopefully after covid, well be able to check out a lot of these important historical sites, that are pretty well preserved down there. But i really loved the battles at fort sumter. And theres a lot of highprofile characters and personalities involved in the opening shots of the war. Im gonna go through some of those, as we talk today. Fort sumter also is a microcosm of the civil war, and how it started off at as this kind of gentlemanly chivalry engagement, that was remarkably bluntless. And it led to the bloodiest war in american history. And the war really devolves, especially in charleston, where there its utah cities happening. And it becomes a very bloody war they are in charleston, towards the end. And its also a really important story to know and understand. If youre gonna study the civil war, historians often are debating the causes of secession, and why the south succeeded. But its also, the secession didnt necessarily mean there would be a shooting war. So its important to understand how the four shots actually came to be fired, to understand why the war broke out as well. And fort sumter, at its time was a symbol. It was a highly symbolic, and it still is to this very day. So its really important to understand that as well. But the story of fort sumter, of course starts with the secession of South Carolina. Which happened on december 20th, 1860. After Abraham Lincoln was elected in november, they held their convention. Originally was in columbia, then they went to charleston. Internals and what kind of a hotbed for secession. A lot of secessionists there. They were very eager to leave the union. And on the summer, 20th they voted unanimously, 169 zero to secede from the union. And that day was failed in charleston, in the city, with all sorts of celebrations. There were fireworks, bonfires, military braids, all sorts of things as day struck out on their own. And as you can see in the broadside, the charleston mercury, the newspaper down, theyre proclaimed loudly that the union is dissolved. But in order to understand the military situation in Charleston Harbor, you have to see what the geography looks like. So you can see this map, from about that time in 1861, showing the city of charleston. You notice its on a peninsula, founded by two rivers. Charles joni is like to say charleston is where the two rivers converge to flown form the atlantic ocean. You can see Charleston Harbor is rearended all around by numerous violence. And there were four main fortifications in the harbor, that historically, or in that harbor to defend the city against really foreign invasion. So you can see, just off of the side of the city, its a small little show, a little fortification. Lets see if i can use the pointer here, so you can see it right here. Just to the south of the city of charleston is james island, which i hadnt know forward they are called fort johnson. Here, in the middle of the harbor, on an island, was fort sumter. And then over here, on solomons island, in the north end of the harbor signed, was forum mortal treat. These were the four principal forts. And it was full forced, maltreat that United States soldiers were stationed at the time. And so, this is the commander of the Union Soldiers. They were in charleston when South Carolina succeeded. The name was major Robert Anderson. And he is in command of companies of the first u. S. Artillery. Really, only about 85 men, that hes commanding, that are in charleston. Its important to realize how small the United States army was. He only had about 15,000 Union Soldiers, across the entire nation, at the time. So they were kind of spread, out all across the country. And like i, said in less than 100 in Charleston Harbor. And of those 85 men, eight were musicians in the original band. So it was a pretty sleepy post most of them, and its interesting, who were in the artillery were immigrants. They came from, a lot of them came from ireland, and germany. In major Robert Anderson is an interesting figure as well, because hes actually a southerner. Hes from kentucky. And he was very much against the idea of secession, but he really was in favor of any sort of war. He writes that his heart wasnt really in the war that he foresaw coming. And he was in a tricky situation, here. Because basically it came down to Property Rights in Charleston Harbor, where these federal forests, these installations, were part of the new republic of South Carolina, or where they part of the United States government . And thats where, a lot of the argument will come over, as far as who should fire the first shot. But his father was a revolutionary war veteran, who actually fought with George Washington at the battle of trenton and princeton. And he had many other officers under his command go on to play Important Roles during the war. He had lieutenant norman hall, who would go on to have an Important Role as gettysburg. Same thing with saima crawford, who was a surgeon. He had lieutenant Jefferson Davis, not who was the president of the confederacy, but jefferson c davies, who would go on and fight in the western theater of the war. And captain truman see more. Who would lead troops later in the bottle. Interesting how many of his officers and up having Important Roles later, in the war. This was probably one of the officers under his command who would have a big role later in the war, to, captain Abner Doubleday. He will probably have a very big role at gettysburg. Hes probably more famous today because people think he started the baseballs, which is not true, but its how hes remembered. Most of the officers under Robert Anderson were not abolitionists, and were not really republicans. But Abner Doubleday why, is he was very outspoken about it. A lot of people in charleston like that. So he was singled out in a lot of the newspapers, for a lot of their things. But hes going to be outspoken in his defense of the union, and in haze wanting to get rid of slavery. Well Robert Anderson felt that what happened was South Carolina militias were flowing into the city of charleston. Anderson didnt think he would be able to hold his position. And on december 26, hes going to make a bold move. Hes gonna move his entire force across the harbor, into fort sumter. This act in and of itself, some south carolinians saws an act of war. Because they view these installations as going to South Carolina. So moving troops into that fort, they were very much opposed to. But anderson didnt think he could hold 40 mile, tree because you are so close to the mainland. And he felt that houses and things right around the fort, southerners would be able to get their inquiry into his men. So he didnt think he would be able to hold position. So he moves over to fort some tour. This is an image showing them rising the American Flag inside fort sumter. But its very interesting because it gives you a glimpse on the inside of fort sumter. Now fort sumter what started back in 1829, and it was still under construction when anderson moves his men there, in the summer of 1860. So they are still working, on it 30 years after they started it. As you can see, inside the forward, it was almost 90 complete. You can see there are imposing laws, that stood 50 feet high. There were three tiers of artillery placements. The fort was pretty massive for that time. And originally, it was built to hold over 600 men. Of course, anderson doesnt have that many. Hes not even going to be able to use all the canyons. It was built to hold 135 gannons, and there were only about 60 at the fourth, at this time. Because of his man, power he is mankind only have about ten cannons, during the actual battle. But let me also show you, this is what it looks like from the outside. Fort sumter was a pretty imposing fortress, sitting in the middle of the harbor. And whats gonna happen is, once Charles Jennings seal large American Flag in fort sumter, they are outraged. Immediately a governor is gonna order all of the installations around the harbor to be seized by South Carolina troops. So here you can see images at some of the South Carolina relations, a king over a castle. At this time they didnt even have a symbol for their state yet, you can see they are carrying a flag here with a star on, and they just took off the boat. But quickly, the south charlestonians are gonna dump as your symbol, a treat. And thats actually where was built, is to side of the famous revolutionary war battled back in 1776. During that battle, the fort that was in that location, was made out of palmetto trees. The softwood of the palmetto trees actually absorb the shock of british cannonball. And the british invasion force was bush backed, in june of 1776. And South Carolina is going to adopt this as their symbol. And you will still see it to the, state on South Carolina state flag. And that takes it back to the revolutionary war history. But this is the actually fly carried by the palmetto guards. Which was a local militia group, that is gonna be stationed over on one side, during the initial bombardment of fort something. This is giving you a good map about a good view of whats looks like in Charleston Harbor, in 1861. You can see sullivans island. They took four multi and started building batteries. Nearly even built a floating battery, which is basically a raft, and they put cannons on, and they covered it. Its almost like an ironclad. They float in the harbor, they could fire on the fort from their. They were going to take on for johnson and castle big. Me and this island, would play an Important Role, not only during the first battle, but then later in the war, as well. In that position, theyre gonna fortify that island as well. And theres a battery they, are manned by some students from the citadel. There was a military college, here in charleston. And in january, of 1861, president buchanan is going to send a ship down to resupply and reinforce fort sumter. As the ship is entering, the ship was cars start of the west. As it was entering, Charleston Harbor the citadel could then fire on the ship, and unifier a few rounds as warning shots and then when the fire actually hit the ship. The ship does not fire back. Its going to turn around and leave. You can see the drawing of the citadel cadets firing on the ship. Some claim these were the first shots of the civil war. That would probably be citadel cadets and alumni. But there was no return fire. What basically happens, it goes back into a stalemate in Charleston Harbor, trying to figure out whats going to happen next. So basically what happens, as the stalemate continues, six more Southern States are going to secede from the union in january, february, march of 1851. Sorry 1861. They come from alabama, form the Confederate States of america. Theyre going to create their own constitution, government, elected Jefferson Davis, and start forming an army. The new Confederate States are going to appoint this man pierre beauregard. He resigned to join the confederacy. When he was a student at west point, who was his professor . None other than major roger anderson. Now you have the pupil and teacher on opposite sides, what will turn out to be the first battlefield of the civil war. Now, sumter is going to continue to sit there as a symbol of the impasse thats happened in the country at that time. There was a woman, mary chestnut, who has a wonderful civil war diary, in charleston at this time. Mary chestnut writes, in april 1861, there stands fort sumter. There was this constant fear that eventually war would bring out and trusted harbor would be the scene of it. Basically, whats happening is nobodys sure whats going to happen once president lincoln becomes president. That happens in 1 1861. How is he going to handle a situation differently than buchanan . There are numerous political attempts to avert war. Theres a Peace Convention in washington, d. C. Theres numerous compromises to push off war. A peace delegation from the Confederate States. All these are rejected. Lincolns going to reject acknowledging the Confederate States of america, believing secession was illegal and had no actual authority. So, all the communications between the United States government and South Carolina in the confederates is going to be through governor francis pickens, who they viewed as legitimate. Something was. Happening on the ground. Anderson and his men were running out of food and supplies. Hewasnt going to stay there forever. What is lincoln going to do . Lincoln comes up with the idea to send a relief force that would just deliver food and supplies to andersons men. But if they were opposed, if they were fired upon, they would bring reinforcements as well. The confederate government views this, the delivering of food, as an act of war. Again, they didnt believe they had the right to the fort. So, on april 4, the relief expedition is sent by lincoln to Charleston Harbor. On april 10, president Jefferson Davis tells beauregard to tell anderson the next day, april 11, james chestnut, mary chestnuts husband, who used to be a senator and South Carolina, who resigned and was now a colonel. He, along with captain stephen lee and Alexander Chisholm are going to go out to fort sumter. They row out there. They meet with anderson. Anderson says he is going to be starved out in just four days, and he will leave then. Chestnut will take that message to beauregard. Around midnight, they say basically that they would need to leave immediately. And anderson doesnt agree to this. And so chestnut tells anderson we will fire on you in exactly one hour. The time was 3 30 in the morning. His wife is back in charleston. She writes in her diary, that time, i do not pretend to go to sleep. How can i . The orders are he shall be fired upon. I count four st. Michaels bells and i begin to hope. At half past 4 00, the heavy blooming of cannons. I pray like i never prayed before. Right after chestnut meets with anderson, hes in his group, going to go over james island to fort johnson. They were joined also by a former virginia congressman, we see on the right side here, named roger prior. And roger pryor was a fire eater. He was pushing to get virginia to secede. And whats going to happen is chestnuts going to tell the commander of the mortar battery, this man on the left,