1861.]

LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS.

51

the bar, and had opened an office in Springfield, where he became noted as a successful jury lawyer.

In 1846 Mr. Lincoln was elected to Congress, but he did nothing there to distinguish himself. He declined to be a candidate for re-election, and for a few years afterward paid more attention to his business than to politics, though in 1849 he was an unsuccessful candidate for United States Senator. In 1854, when the Missouri Compromise was repealed by the KansasNebraska Act, he again took part in politics, and soon became the leader of the Anti-Nebraska Whigs in the State. At one time (October 4), Stephen A. Douglas, the father of the KansasNebraska Bill, made a speech in Springfield in defence of his course in the Senate. Mr. Lincoln replied to him in one of the best speeches of his life, and from that time people looked upon

him as a rising man. He had often met in debate with Mr. Douglas, who was deemed so able that he was called the "Little Giant," but never before so successfully; and in 1858 Mr. Lincoln was nominated for the United States Senate, against Mr. Douglas, who was a candidate for re-election. Lincoln challenged Douglas to debate with him the subjects at issue, and the two spoke together at different places seven times, the principal question being the right of Congress to prohibit slavery in the Territories. Though Douglas was successful in the contest, Lincoln made such a reputation that he came to be looked upon all over the country as one of the strongest upholders of Republican principles; and it finally led to his nomination and election to the Presidency in 1860.

In his inaugural address, Mr. Lincoln took the ground that

give it up without an effort to hold it would demoralize the North, and certainly lead to a dissolution of the Union. His father had been a friend of General Jackson's, and had aided him in putting down secession in 1832; and he believed that if the government should act as energetically as Jackson had done, the new attempt might also be crushed. Mr. Seward disagreed with him, and thought that all the forts should be given up without a struggle. He believed that it was best to "let the wayward States go in peace," and to seek to bring about a reunion through a convention of all the States. The rest of the members of the

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

Cabinet finally agreed with Mr. Seward that the fort should be given up.

But Mr. Blair still believed that Sumter should and could be reinforced by means of ships, and he sent for his brother-in-law, Captain G. V. Fox, who had proposed to President Buchanan a plan for relieving Sumter. Mr. Fox explained to Mr. Lincoln his plan, which was to go in some ships to the entrance of Charleston harbor, and to send in the provisions in armed launches, or small boats, manned by sailors, and the President finally agreed to let him try to carry provisions to the fort. The ships-of-war Powhatan, Pocahontas, and Pawnee, the steamer Baltic, the revenue-cutter Harriet Lane, and some tug-boats were made ready, and the expedition sailed for Charleston early in April, 1861. But at the last moment, unknown to Mr. Fox, the Powhatan had been ordered to sail for Fort Pickens instead of Fort Sumter, and as she had on board the launches and most of the sailors, the expedition failed. This change of orders was spoken of by the President as "an accident," but it was really due to the interference of Mr. Seward, who was opposed to sending provisions to the fort. Mr. Fox was much annoyed at the failure, but the energy which he showed in trying to make the expedition a success led to his appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, an office which he held through the war.

1861.]

ANDERSON AND BEAUREGARD.

55

The Confederates meanwhile had not been idle. A large number of troops from the different Southern States had been assembled at Charleston, and put under the command of General P. G. T. Beauregard, formerly a major of engineers in the United States army, but who had joined the Confederate service when his State (Louisiana) seceded, and had received the rank of colonel of engineers. On his arrival in Charleston, he had at once strengthened the fortifications, and built new batteries bearing upon Sumter. President Lincoln had kept his promise, and had sent word to Governor Pickens of the intention to provision Fort Sumter. As soon as this was known, General Beauregard telegraphed to Mr. Walker, the Confederate Secretary of War, at Mont

gomery, for orders. Mr. Walker ordered General Beauregard to demand the surrender of the fort, and if refused, to take it by force. General Beauregard sent two officers (April 11) to Major Anderson, demanding the evacuation of the fort. Major Anderson replied: "I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication demanding the evacua-' tion of this fort; and to say

in reply thereto that my sense of honor and of my obligations to my Government prevent my compliance."

In his conversation with the officers, Major Anderson had remarked that he would be starved out in a few days, and would have to evacuate. General Beauregard thought it best to telegraph to Mr. Walker for further instructions, and, in pursuance of orders received, again sent, on the night of April 11, a message to Major Anderson to the effect that if he would state the time when he would evacuate Sumter, he would not open fire upon him. Major Anderson replied as follows: "I will, if provided with the proper and necessary means of transportation, evacuate Fort Sumter by noon on the 15th instant, should I not receive, prior to that time, controlling instructions from my Government, or additional supplies.

This was unsatisfactory, because General Beauregard knew that the fleet was then on its way to relieve the fort. General Anderson was therefore notified that fire would be opened on Fort Sumter in one hour from that time (3:20 A. M., Friday, April 12). At half-past four o'clock a signal shell was fired from the mortar battery at Fort Johnson, on James's Island. The shell exploded high in the air above Fort Sumter, and it was at once followed by a shot from the Cumming's Point Battery, which buried itself deep in the masonry of the wall. This, the first hostile shot, is said to have been fired by Edmund Ruffin, an old Virginia gentleman, whose long white locks fell over his shoulders. He was a firm believer in secession, and had begged

EDMUND RUFFIN.

the privilege of firing the first shot against Sumter. In 1865, when the last hope of the Confederacy was gone, and he was more than seventy years old, he committed suicide by shooting himself with a gun, saying in a note which he left, "I cannot survive the liberties of my country." His shot was followed by shot and shell from Moultrie and the other batteries, until the firing beThe Civil War had begun.

The situation of Charleston harbor and the forts and batteries by which it was then defended will be best understood from the map. It will be seen that Fort Sumter lies in the mouth of the harbor, about three and a half miles from Charleston, and nearly in the middle of a line drawn east and west between Forts Moultrie and Johnson, each of which are distant about a mile from Sumter. The Cumming's Point Battery, on Morris Island, is about two thirds of a mile nearly south of it. A floating battery, made of logs covered with railroad iron, was moored a little north of Fort Johnson, and several other batteries were built at different places, some against Sumter, and some to guard the entrance of the harbor. Though a strong fortification, Sumter was intended only to keep ships from