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

In South Carolina, Ruffin found the planters much more amenable to his calls for secession than those in Virginia, Kentucky, or Georgia. Immediately after Lincoln’s election in November 1860, the South Carolina legislature—with Ruffin in attendance—voted to hold a special convention to decide whether to secede from the Union. Ruffin continued to galvanize momentum for secession and was confident that he might succeed in South Carolina where he had failed elsewhere.

In Springfield, Illinois, Lincoln’s supporters were initially overjoyed that he won the election, but their enthusiasm quickly dimmed when considering the immense task awaiting the new President. Many doubted Lincoln’s ability to handle the challenges of enslavement and secession.

Lincoln, in Springfield, chose not to make any public announcements or speeches after his Election, suspecting that anything he said might fire up the South to rebellion. Naively, Lincoln still thought that most Southerners favored the Union. He viewed himself as a moderate, opposing enslavement’s spread, but respecting the continued practice of enslavement where it already existed.

Through intermediaries, Lincoln sought to placate the South with the idea that Southern states would be left to their own affairs under Lincoln’s upcoming administration. This message had little success, with many planters still equating Lincoln taking office with widespread abolition. This wouldn’t happen for a few months. The Electoral College would certify Lincoln’s election on February 13, 1861, and Lincoln would take office 19 days later.

Mary Chesnut was a wealthy South Carolina planter. She and her husband James Chesnut controlled hundreds of enslaved people at their plantation. Mary kept a diary for years that chronicled this period in American history. Mary believed enslavement was “the foundation of Southern society” (94) and hated abolition, but she despised the sexual abuse of enslaved women and girls.

After Lincoln’s election, James Chesnut immediately resigned his position as US Senator. James Hammond—the other US Senator from South Carolina—followed suit, leaving his state with no US Senators as both men returned home to support the state’s secession movement. Hammond did not believe that secession would lead to violence, though he did worry about South Carolina trying to secede without support from other Southern states.

As he continued working on his final annual address, President Buchanan believed that South Carolina would secede. If it did, Buchanan worried about a conflict escalating from the federal forts in Charleston Harbor. His goal remained to placate the South, at least until March 4 when he would no longer be President.

In the address he delivered, Buchanan blamed the country’s problems on Northern anti-enslavement rhetoric, rather than on the enslavers. His address pleased no one.

Two members of Buchanan’s Presidential Cabinet resigned shortly after his address, one because of his perceived hostility to the South, another for his perceived passivity in addressing the threat of secession. Trying to preserve peace, Buchanan made a sort of gentleman’s agreement with congressmen from South Carolina. He agreed to not re-supply the forts in Charleston Harbor, as long as no one attacked the forts.

At this time the US Army men occupying Fort Moultrie near Charleston, South Carolina, began to seriously worry about being attacked by secession forces. Major Anderson—the commander of US forces in Charleston Harbor—received unclear orders from Washington. Anderson was instructed not to make any hostile moves that would invite attack, but also to prepare his forces in case any attack should suddenly come upon them.

In mid-December 1860, South Carolina held a convention on whether to secede from the Union. The delegates were all men, members of the state’s social elite. The majority were enslavers. The convention was supposed to take place in Columbia—a politically moderate city—but was moved to radical pro-secession Charleston after an outbreak of smallpox in Columbia.

On December 20, the delegates voted unanimously for South Carolina to secede from the Union. Edmund Ruffin was in attendance, having made an arduous journey from Richmond just four days after the funeral of one of his daughters, who died in childbirth. There was widespread jubilation in Charleston at news of the secession, with music and fireworks. From Fort Moultrie, Major Anderson and his soldiers observed the celebrations somberly, knowing that their position was now more dangerous than ever.

In Washington, Jefferson Davis—then a US Senator from Mississippi—and his wife Varina celebrated the news that South Carolina had seceded. President Buchanan did nothing to immediately respond to the secession.

In Illinois, Lincoln wished to act, but could not, since he was not yet certified as the new President. Consulting with various generals, Lincoln began planning how to support the US forts in Charleston Harbor once he became President. Lincoln was furious when he heard rumors that Buchanan might surrender the forts to appease the South.

The US Army men at Fort Moultrie began fortifying the fort against a possible attack. Major Anderson received confusing commands from US War Secretary John Floyd—a sympathizer with the Southern secessionist cause. In written instructions, Floyd suggested that Anderson should not sacrifice himself and his men if attacked, but instead yield up the forts to the forces of South Carolina.

Anderson rightly suspected that Floyd’s real purpose was to convince Anderson to give up the forts without a fight. Anderson, remaining loyal to the Union, decided to ignore Floyd’s instructions. Recognizing the vulnerabilities of Fort Moultrie to attack, Anderson began to plot how to move his entire garrison to Fort Sumter without arousing suspicions from Carolina officials.

On Christmas Eve 1860, South Carolina issued a formal declaration explaining their reasons for seceding from the Union, with enslavement as the “central issue” (129). The state dispatched three envoys to Washington to negotiate details of the secession with the US government.

On Christmas Day, Mary Chesnut enjoyed a grand dinner at a plantation, while other planters like James Hammond followed tradition by easing strictures on the enslaved workers on his property for that day.

On Christmas Day, Major Anderson began his operation by commissioning boats to supposedly take his troops’ wives and children to safety. Charleston officials helped this process, believing it was a chivalrous attempt to get non-combatants out of harm’s way. Anderson also sent many of Fort Moultrie’s supplies on the boats with the wives and children. He instructed the boats’ quartermaster to linger in the harbor and then to sail to Fort Sumter upon hearing two cannon blasts.

A rainstorm delayed the next move until December 26. After sunset that day, Anderson and his men boarded large rowboats and began making their way across the harbor from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter unseen. After a close call with a South Carolina patrol steamer, they made it across. Once inside Fort Sumter, they fired off two blanks from the fort’s cannons, signaling the boats with the wives, children, and supplies to join them. Overall, the mission was highly successful, with Anderson having transferred 75 troops and 45 women and children secretly to the more defensible Fort Sumter.

Edmund Ruffin learned of Anderson’s maneuver to Fort Sumter as he was traveling to Florida to urge that state to join South Carolina in seceding. He regretted not being in Charleston to see what the response would be.

Anderson had made his move without instructions from his superiors in Washington. He defended the action in a telegram to them, saying that it was the best way to maintain federal control of the Charleston Harbor and keep his men alive.

Fort Sumter was an imposing fortress; a brick pentagon built on a rock in the middle of Charleston Harbor, with three levels from which to fire cannons. However, the fort was not fully constructed at the time. In the days after their move, Anderson and his men set about to fortify and reinforce the fort as well as they could.

Anderson had the American flag raised over the fort, infuriating many in Charleston who could see the flag waving across the water, including newly elected South Carolina governor Francis Pickens. Pickens dispatched two officers to Fort Sumter to tell Anderson to return to Fort Moultrie. Though Anderson declined the invitation, the South Carolina officers found him “soldierly” and “courteous” (151).

In Washington, Southerners like Jefferson Davis were furious at Major Anderson’s move to Fort Sumter, viewing it as a betrayal of the government’s promise to retain the status quo in Charleston Harbor. Uncertain how to respond to Anderson’s move, which was made without explicit orders from Washington, Buchanan held a cabinet meeting to consider whether to withdraw federal troops from Charleston entirely.

Some of the cabinet—including War Secretary Floyd—wanted Buchanan to hand over Fort Sumter to South Carolina, while others said to do so was a sign of weakness and cowardice. Buchanan ultimately decided not to withdraw the troops, partially because Anderson’s daring move had inspired the North. Buchanan feared a blow to his own reputation if he withdrew Anderson from Sumter. Floyd—whom Buchanan already planned to fire because of an unrelated financial scandal—took this opportunity to resign from the cabinet, accusing Buchanan of breaking his pledge to South Carolina.

The day after Major Anderson moved his forces to Fort Sumter, South Carolina took over the now-empty Fort Moultrie, as well as the last federal fort in the harbor—Castle Pinckney—which was also empty. The South Carolina militia raised the state’s palmetto flag over both forts.

In Washington, the three South Carolina commissioners sent a letter to President Buchanan, urging him to withdraw Anderson from Fort Sumter, or risk civil war. In “a surprising display of backbone” (161), Buchanan ardently refused. His reply to the commissioners pointed out that, now that South Carolina had taken over the other Charleston forts, he could no longer command Anderson to return to his previous position in Fort Moultrie.

In the days preceding the new year, South Carolina Governor Pickens put a ban on all shipments of weapons and supplies to Fort Sumter. Meanwhile, the South Carolina militia began to build artillery batteries in various positions where they could fire at Fort Sumter if needed.

Meanwhile, Winfield Scott—“America’s top general” (164)—started planning how to support Major Anderson’s garrison. Scott planned to send a US warship with soldiers, supplies, and weapons to reinforce Fort Sumter. The soldiers already in Fort Sumter were unaware of Scott’s plan, but regularly cast their eyes toward the opening of Charleston Harbor in hope that some form of relieving force would arrive to help them.

In Illinois, Lincoln became increasingly frustrated that he could not do anything to prevent the crisis, since he was not yet the president. Instead, he began to compose his inaugural address, which would have particular importance given his choice to remain largely silent until taking office. Lincoln expressed concern about the certification of the electoral vote, since the certification would be overseen by Buchanan’s Vice President, who was both a Southern sympathizer and Lincoln’s leading opponent in the Presidential Election.

Lincoln did receive the welcome news that William Seward—a former political rival—had accepted the position as Lincoln’s Secretary of State.