The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War

Major Anderson was the US Army commander who led the garrison of Fort Sumter after South Carolina seceded from the Union. He was in his early fifties during the events of the Civil War. Anderson was deeply religious and devoted to his family; he had a wife—Eba—who suffered from a chronic health condition, as well as three daughters and one son, who was also named Robert. Anderson often regretted having to be away from his family due to his military responsibilities, but he was intensely loyal to his country and the army.

Despite being born in Kentucky and having been a former enslaver, Anderson remained committed to the Union cause during the events of 1860 and 1861. He bravely led his men against overwhelming odds during the conflict in Charleston Harbor, orchestrating a secret move to fortify Fort Sumter and refusing to surrender the fort until all hope was lost. He often showed great restraint in not firing toward the South Carolina militia, which would have ignited war. His steadfast, respectful, and calm demeanor when interacting with the enemy commanders earned him their respect, while his brave handling of his garrison’s dire circumstances made him a hero in the North.

Though he was eventually forced to surrender Fort Sumter, Anderson returned in glory after the war and raised there the same American flag that he had left with four years before.

Mary Chesnut was a South Carolina member of the upper-class society that called itself “the chivalry.” During the events of 1860 and 1861, Mary kept “[o]ne of the most famous diaries of American history” (10), which provided Larson with crucial insights into the views of the Southern elite during this period. Mary’s social status meant that she kept regular contact with prominent Southern political figures, including her husband James Chesnut, Jefferson Davis’s wife Varina, and the former governor John Manning, with whom she carried on a semi-romantic relationship. Mary’s recounting of her encounters with these people helped Larson accurately portray their views and personalities.

Though an enslaver, Mary at times expressed sympathy for the enslaved people of the South, with a particular focus on the plight of enslaved women. She was filled with both excitement and trepidation at the outset of the Civil War. After the Union victory, Mary and James lost much of their former wealth and status.

James Buchanan was the President of the United States who preceded Abraham Lincoln. Despite living his whole life in Pennsylvania, Buchanan—a Democrat—had an affinity with Southerners and the South and filled his cabinet with Southern planters. As conflict between the North and South increased, Buchanan’s greatest wish was to keep the peace long enough for him to pass on the presidency to Lincoln. In the months between Lincoln’s election and inauguration, Buchanan’s inability and unwillingness to act decisively in the face of the secession crisis exacerbated the country’s problems.

Physically, Buchanan was tall, blonde, clean-shaven, and handsome. His eyes were slightly misaligned, causing him to tip his head forward and to the side when speaking with people. He never married. He had a very successful political career, winning 11 elections in a row. His continual attempts to reconcile the North and South were a failure, with the Civil War beginning soon after he left office.

Abraham Lincoln was the United States’ 16th President and served from 1861 until he was assassinated in 1865. The Demon of Unrest describes the events between Lincoln’s election in 1860 until the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861. During much of that time, Lincoln was frustrated by his inability to act decisively to address the secession conflict. Since he had not yet been inaugurated as President, Lincoln had to watch as James Buchanan—Lincoln’s predecessor—tried unsuccessfully to bridge the gap between North and South.

Despite how he was characterized in the South, Lincoln was not initially an outright abolitionist. He disdained enslavement but supported protecting its practice in states where it already existed. Many in the South ignored Lincoln’s moderate stance, believing he meant to abolish enslavement across the United States. This view pushed the states closer to seceding after Lincoln’s election. Southern hatred toward Lincoln led some of his staff to suspect attempts on Lincoln’s life during his travel to Washington, so Lincoln had to sneak into the nation’s capital for his own inauguration.

Upon taking office, Lincoln continued to work to resolve the conflict with the South, while forcefully defending federal properties like Fort Sumter. He authorized expeditions to help support the fort, though none succeeded. His steadfast determination in defense of the Union helped lead the United States to eventual victory over the seceded states.

Physically, Lincoln was 6 feet 4 inches tall, and often wore a black silk stovepipe hat. The English reporter William Russell wrote of him: “the eyes dark, full and deeply set, are penetrating, but full of an expression which almost amounts to tenderness” (355).

James Hammond was a Southern planter who was born outside of privilege but rose to become one of South Carolina’s most prominent enslavers and pro-enslavement advocates. Ambitious and determined, Hammond was eventually appointed to the United States Senate, where he argued vehemently in defense of enslavement and in favor of secession. He is best known for the phrase, “Cotton is king,” which summed up his and other Southerners’ belief that their control of cotton production would prevent the North from ever making war upon seceded states. After Lincoln’s election, Hammond resigned his position in the Senate and returned to support his home state. 

Physically, Hammond was good-looking and tall. His wife Catherine Fitzsimmons was a member of one of South Carolina’s richest families, and Hammond used his marriage to Catherine to join the Southern elite. While married to Catherine, Hammond sexually abused four of his nieces, an enslaved woman named Sally who worked on his property, and Sally’s daughter Louisa. Having seen his cotton proclamation proven false by the events of the Civil War, Hammond died at his plantation in 1864, just after Lincoln’s reelection.

William Seward was a United States Senator from New York who eventually became Lincoln’s Secretary of State. Seward was a clever and intelligent ally of Lincoln’s, though he sometimes thought that he should be the one in charge instead of Lincoln. A virulent anti-enslavement advocate, Seward was much more outspoken on the issue than Lincoln during the events leading up to the Civil War. He viewed enslavement as an “irrepressible conflict” (59) that threatened the whole country. 

Seward helped Lincoln draft his inaugural address and showed deft political maneuvering in his interactions with the Southern commissioners after their states seceded. However, his misunderstanding of the Southern mindset sometimes hampered his efforts. Seward incorrectly believed that the secession movement would fizzle away if he could delay any outright hostility long enough, since he believed there was more pro-Union sentiment in the South than really existed.

Based on the English reporter William Russell’s description, Seward had white and silvery hair, a long neck, keen eyes, and a large head.

Edmund Ruffin was a pro-enslavement advocate who fiercely advocated for the Southern states to secede from the United States. Born into the Southern elite in Virginia, he viewed enslavement as a morally correct and beneficial practice. These views helped cement his friendship with John Hammond. In his sixties, Ruffin became frustrated by Virginia’s uncertainty about secession, so he traveled throughout the South to stir up various states to rebellion. He often carried around pikes from abolitionist John Brown’s failed uprising as a demonstration to Southern leaders that Northerners could not be trusted.

Well-known for his hatred of the North, and happy for the attention, Ruffin received the honor of firing the first cannon shot toward Fort Sumter. Later, he also participated in the First Battle of Bull Run, during which he celebrated killing retreating Union soldiers. In 1865, after the Confederates lost the war, Ruffin wrote a final vehement attack on the North in his journal before dying by suicide.

Abner Doubleday was a US Army Captain stationed at Fort Sumter under the command of Major Anderson. In contrast to Anderson’s constant restraint toward the South Carolina and Confederate combatants surrounding the fort, Doubleday often wished for more aggressive action. He was frustrated that Anderson did not let Sumter’s garrison fire in defense of the Star of the West or do anything to prevent the massive buildup of fortifications around Charleston Harbor.

Just as Edmund Ruffin fired the first cannon shot against Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, Captain Doubleday fired the first shot against the Confederacy. He viewed the battle against the Confederacy as a moral stand against enslavement. During the fighting at Fort Sumter, Doubleday fired two shots through a hotel the Confederates were using as a barracks. He was happy to see the chaos the shots caused for those inside the hotel.

Doubleday returned four years after Fort Sumter’s surrender to commemorate the events of 1861, having become a Union war hero in the meantime.

Robert E. Lee was an army officer torn between his allegiance to the United States and to his home state of Virginia. American General Winfield Scott considered Lee to be America’s best army officer, and Lincoln offered Lee leadership of Union forces in their conflict with the seceded states. However, Lee could not bear to fight against Virginians. Despite his personal view that enslavement was evil, he resigned his position in the United States Army and instead led the Confederate Army. In 1865 he and the entire Confederacy surrendered to the Union at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia.