potent motive would thus be offered to England to induce her to resume her commercial intercourse with the Southern States. And if this result occurred, it was highly proper and necessary that the formal recognition of the new Republic should have previously taken place.

The commissioners furthermore urged, in their informal interviews with the English and French ministers, that the seceding States, rather than return to the Federal Government, after all that had occurred to irritate and alienate them, would greatly prefer to become a colony of England or France. If they were unable to maintain their separate attitude, rather than again become members of the Federal Union, they would be willing to descend to the humbler relation of dependants upon a royal or imperial sovereign. In that view it would be prudent, in the very beginning of the contest, for France and England to recognize the new republic; because by so doing they would render the subsequent act of submission to either of their own monarchs more legitimate and and binding. Strange and utterly false ideas were also set forth by the commissioners in regard to slavery, as it existed in the Rebel States. They asserted that the opposition of the inhabitants of the North to that institution was based solely on the fact that, before secession took place, the whole nation was held responsible for it in the eyes of the world; that as soon as the Southern Republic was recognized by European powers, whereby the stigma of slavery would be removed from the North, the latter would in no respect interfere with it, and it would never constitute any ground of future trouble or conflict between the two governments. As a proof of this position, it was alleged that the black servants of the inhabitants of the West Indies, while sojourning in the Northern States, were never disturbed, nor were any efforts made to entice them from their masters. To overcome that repugnance which all intelligent Englishmen and many Frenchmen feel to slavery, it was urged that the existing slavery in the South was in reality a patriarchal institution; that the negro race flourished under it; that in 1808, when the foreign slave trade was abolished, there were but one million negroes in the slave States; that now, after half a century of experiment, the negroes have increased fourfold; and that when English and French statesmen closely examined the institution as it now exists, it would be found to be not only profitable for the master, but also most advantageous for the slave.

While Mr. Yancey and his associates were zealously proclaiming and defending these questionable doctrines in England and France, and were oscillating between London and Paris with alternate hope and despair, important events were transpiring at Charleston. Until the 7th of April, 1861, friendly relations had existed to some extent between Major Anderson, in command of Fort Sumter, and the authorities of Charleston. Till then he had been permitted to obtain fresh provisions from the markets of the city; but on that day General Beauregard issued an order to the

BEAUREGARD DEMANDS THE SURRENDER OF SUMTER.

91

effect that no further intercourse would be allowed between the fort and the shore. He then sent a messenger to Major Anderson apprising him of that determination.

The immediate cause of this decision seemed to be, that the commission ers who had been recently dispatched from the Rebel Government to Washington for the purpose of settling all questions in regard to rival interests, geographical boundaries, and other issues which necessarily resulted from the full and absolute withdrawal of the seceding States from the Union, sent word to the Rebel President that all their efforts had proved abortive. Mr. Seward, on the part of the Administration of Mr. Lincoln, first refused their request for a private and unofficial interview. He then further informed them that it would be impossible for him, as Secretary of State for the United States, to hold any official intercourse with them whatever, to recognize them even as diplomatic agents of anybody; and he declined to appoint a day on which they might present the evidences of their authority and the purpose of their visit to the Federal Government. The commissioners, Messrs. Forsyth, of Alabama, and Crawford, of Georgia, received this intimation as an insult; flew into a passion of the most approved southern intensity, informed the Rebel Government at Montgomery of the treatment which they had received, and left Washington in high dudgeon. When the inhabitants of the seceding States received the intelligence of these events, they caught the general and infectious rage; a universal outburst of execration resounded over the South, and curses both loud and deep were unmercifully heaped upon the head of Mr. Lincoln, who had thus dared to snub the southern chivalry.

Immediately after the occurrence of these events General Beauregard dispatched Messrs. Chesnut and Lee, his aids-de-camp, to Major Anderson, to demand of him formally the immediate surrender of Fort Sumter. To this polite requisition Major Anderson returned an equally courteous refusal. He declared that his sense of honor, and his obligations to his Government, would absolutely prevent his compliance with the demand. On the 12th of April, about 3 o'clock, A. M., a second deputation was sent by the Rebel general to the commandant of the fort, who were commissioned to say, that, if the latter would designate the time, at some future, and perhaps even distant period, when it would suit his convenience, from want of provisions, or from any other sufficient reason, to abandon the works, they would give him the assurance that, in the meantime, he should not be fired upon. The reply of Major Anderson to this proposition was equally unsatisfactory to the deputation; who consequently left the fort, giving him the agreeable assurance that the batteries of Charleston would open on him within an hour.

And now the most startling and momentous event which had taken place since the commencement of the Rebellion was about to occur. For

the first time since the foundation of the Federal Government, the alienated children of the once glorious Union commenced actual hostilities against each other; and brothers strove to stain their hands with fratricidal blood. Yet, melancholy as was the spectacle which was now presented to the view of mankind, it exhibited at the same time some ludicrous features. At this very period, according to the statement of the Charleston Mercury-a journal which will not be suspected of injustice to their own side-there were seven thousand men under arms, and a hundred and forty pieces of heavy ordnance, which were more guns than Napoleon had at Waterloo, actually in position, and ready for use, in and around the harbor of Charleston; and this formidable armament was marshaled by the chivalrous and invincible State of South Carolina, in order to capture a fort garrisoned by seventy half-starved men. The fortification which was about to become the scene of conflict, and around which the events and the interest of the whole Rebellion were now to cluster, was named after Thomas Sumter of Revolutionary fame, and was one of the strongest and largest which had been erected by the Federal Government. In form Fort Sumter was a truncated pentagon, one of the five sides being parallel with the shore. On that side was the landing and entrance to the fort from a wharf which extended along the entire length of the fortress and projected toward the land. The height of the walls above the water line was sixty feet, and they were from eight to twelve feet in thickness. The whole number of guns mounted at the period of the attack was seventy-five, although the full armament was a hundred and forty. These were placed in three tiers. The heaviest, consisting of thirty-two and sixty-four pounders, were arranged on the lowest tier. The guns next in size, being twenty-four pounders, frowned from the port-holes of the second tier. From the lofty parapet thirteen-inch columbiads and heavy sea-coast mortars menaced the foe. In the area within the fort there were two furnaces for heating shot. On the eastern and western sides were the barracks and mess halls of the privates. On the southern side were the quarters of the officers. The magazines of powder were well supplied; the only deficiency under which the garrison labored was that of fuses, men and provisions.

The fortress was at this period under the command of Major Robert Anderson. This meritorious officer was born in 1810, and graduated with honor at West Point. His first important service was in the Black Hawk war, in which he behaved with gallantry. His superior merits are indicated by the fact that, in 1838, he was appointed assistant instructor and inspector at West Point. In the following year he published a work entitled "Instruction for Field Artillery, Horse and Foot; arranged for the service of the United States." He was brevetted captain in April, 1838. He afterward was made assistant adjutant-general. In March,

COMMENCEMENT OF THE BOMBARDMENT.

93

1848, he proceeded to Mexico with the Third Regiment of Artillery, and assisted in the siege of Vera Cruz. On that occasion he had command of one of the batteries. He accompanied General Scott in his triumphal march to the city of Mexico. For his gallant services in the war he was promoted to the brevet rank of major; and in October, 1857, received the position of major in the First Artillery. Throughout his whole military career Major Anderson had been remarkable for his bravery, coolness, general ability as a soldier, and his incorruptible integrity as a patriot.

The officer who commanded the rebel forces in Charleston, and who was about to conduct the assault upon the fort, was not unworthy, in some respects, to be the rival of so admirable a soldier. General Peter G. T. Beauregard was a native of Louisiana, and was born in 1817. He was descended, on his mother's side, from Italian ancestors, who are said to trace their lineage to the illustrious ducal family of Reggio. He gratuated at West Point with honor in 1838, and was immediately appointed to the corps of Engineers. In January, 1840, he obtained a first lieutenancy; and afterward served with distinction through the Mexican war. After the battle of Churubusco he was brevetted on the field as captain, for his gallant and meritorious conduct. After the conflict of Chapultepec he received a similar compliment, with the higher grade of major. His conduct during the entire war was distinguished for superior skill and fortitude; and he had already attained the reputation of possessing engineering talents of a high order. It would doubtless have been impossible for the President of the Southern Confederacy to have confided the important service of reducing Fort Sumter to more able and experienced hands.

Major Anderson had informed the deputation from Charleston, which waited upon him before daybreak on the 12th of April, that his provision would be exhausted on the following Monday, the 15th of April. This information was given in an unofficial manner; and the communication was perfectly proper under the circumstances. Accordingly, when the chivalrous warriors of South Carolina commenced the bombardment of the fort, it was done with the perfect knowledge of the fact that the siege must end in its capture, if it were only continued for three days. In truth, the commandant would have been compelled to evacuate at that period, whether attacked or not; or else starve to death. Therefore it is evident that the bombardment of the fort was in reality a complete farce, a mere dumb show of unnecessary, superfluous, ostentatious bravado. This important fact should be borne in mind when we contemplate the events which ensued, and the boundless boastings of the victors.

At length, on Friday morning, April 12th, at half-past four o'clock, the commencement of the attack was announced by the discharge of a single bombshell, which, after describing a graceful curve through the murky heavens, descended, and burst directly over the fort. The darkness of the early dawn was suddenly illumined, far and near, by the flash

The sound reverberated over the silent fort, over the watery waste, over the adjacent shores, and over the slumbering city, starting thousands from their repose, and announcing that the last act of the drama had commenced. Major Anderson instantly ordered the sentinels to descend from the parapets, the posterns to be closed, the stars and stripes to be unfurled from the summit of the flag-staff, and the men to remain within the bomb-proofs. After a short pause of preparation, the Rebels commenced to fire upon Sumter from all directions, not only from the forts which had previously existed in the harbor, but also from those works which they had recently erected; from the iron masked batteries at Cumming's Point, at a distance of sixteen hundred yards; from the iron floating battery at the end of Sullivan's Island, distant two thousand yards; and from the enfilading batteries on Sullivan's Island and on Mount. Pleasant. In consequence of the smallness of the garrison, Major Anderson did not return a single shot until his men had breakfasted, that they might husband their strength as much as possible. At seven o'clock they were divided into three equal relief parties, with orders to work the batteries by turns for four hours each. Then old Sumter opened her iron mouths, and poured forth an indignant and contemptuous hail-storm of shot and shell upon her multitudinous assailants, which told that the ancient vigor of her garrison had not degenerated. They displayed the utmost enthusiasm in working the guns; and the several reserve parties could scarcely be restrained from service till their proper turns arrived. The first relief was commanded by Captain Doubleday, of the Artillery, and Lieutenant Snyder, of the Engineer corps. Their compliments were chiefly paid to Fort Moultrie, whose shattered embrasures soon testified to the superior skill and vigor of their gunnery.

The immense superiority of the rebel batteries in numbers soon began to tell effectively upon the fortress. Their fire was uninterrupted and vigorous. A deluge of shot poured into Sumter from every quarter at once; and the assailants must have been pigmies in warfare had they not been able to overpower the feeble garrison and demolish the solitary fort. Loose brick and stone now flew in every direction; portions of the parapet were torn away; six of the guns were disabled; and it became certain death to undertake to work the barbette guns on the upper uncovered casement. About one o'clock, on Friday, the cartridges in the fort were exhausted; and a party was detailed to use the blankets and shirts in the magazines to supply the deficiency. At length a greater evil than the shot of the enemy began to assail the heroic garrison. During the first day of the siege the barracks caught fire three several times; and soon the fort was filled with smoke, which blinded the men and almost stifled them. By prodigious exertions the fire was extinguished. In the meanwhile the guns were served with the same alacrity. The men their faces begrimed with powder, the flames roaring within the works