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

General Beauregard exchanged telegrams with the Confederate leadership in Montgomery, telling them that he would demand Fort Sumter surrender on April 11 and attack the fort if Major Anderson declined.

Despite the thousands of men at his disposal—compared to only 75 in Fort Sumter—and superior firepower, General Beauregard had a problem. Most of his troops were raw recruits and volunteers, untrained and unorganized.

Edmund Ruffin received the honor of firing the first shot at Fort Sumter. He took up his position on the evening of April 11, but then was told to stand down. He hoped the attack would begin the next morning and slept in his clothing to be ready at a moment’s notice.

On the evening of April 11, Lincoln and his cabinet received word about the Confederate ultimatum to Fort Sumter. The reporter Russell left for Charleston the next day but wouldn’t arrive in time for the battle.

Before dawn on April 12, Gustavus Fox arrived at his naval force’s rendezvous point outside of Charleston Harbor but couldn’t find the rest of his ships. The mighty Powhatan was in Florida, having been sent on another expedition without Fox’s knowledge.

At the same time, James Chesnut and two other Confederate officers delivered Major Anderson the ultimatum: Surrender or face attack. Edmund Ruffin and the rest of the Confederate forces took up their positions. The people of Charleston awoke to watch the ensuring fight, full of “joy, and dread” (426).

At 4:30 am—slightly later than planned—the Confederates fired a signal shot to announce the attack. Ruffin fired his cannon, and his shot struck Fort Sumter. After that, the rest of the Confederate guns began firing, smashing cannonballs into the sturdy walls and lobbing explosive shells into the fort’s interior.

Major Anderson’s men did not return fire, since they couldn’t accurately aim in the dark. This fact upset Ruffin, who found it less honorable to shoot at an enemy who didn’t fight back.

At 6:30 am on April 12, Major Anderson authorized his men to fight back. Captain Doubleday fired the first shot against the Confederacy. Doubleday was slightly disheartened that the garrison couldn’t use the columbiads—their largest cannons—since the top parapet where the guns were placed was too exposed to enemy fire. The Confederate positions were so well fortified that the cannonballs from Fort Sumter had little effect.

The Confederate gunners took special aim to try to take out Fort Sumter’s immense American flag. Some of their shots set brief fires inside the fort, which the garrison quickly extinguished before they could put the fort’s powder magazine in jeopardy. Various gun crews let Edmund Ruffin fire their cannons. Observers from Charleston praised the honorable firing of both sides. At this point the fight was “an elaborate if perilous form of sport” (431).

Though another ship eventually arrived, Gustavus Fox’s naval force was still massively underpowered. At 7:00 am he tried to sail into Charleston Harbor with provisions for Fort Sumter but had to retreat once he realized the fort was already under attack.

The firing continued all day on April 12. The Fort Sumter garrison ceased shooting at nightfall, since they lost visibility, but the Confederates continued firing one shot every 20 minutes all night long, hoping to disturb the garrison’s sleep.

Both sides could spot the ships of Fox’s expedition lingering outside the harbor. The fort’s garrison hoped that the ships would approach under cover of night with reinforcements and provisions for them.

A small boat with two drunk Confederates got blown off course and landed near Ruffin’s position. The men were momentarily confused for being part of the Union’s forces and were nearly shot before convincing the other Confederates that they were on the same side.

Floating outside the harbor on the night of April 12, Fox felt it would be foolish to attack without his full contingent, including the Powhatan. Instead, he planned to send a small vessel to ferry a modest number of provisions and men to Fort Sumter. That vessel would sail under cover of darkness the next night, April 13.

The morning of April 13, the Confederates resumed their attack in earnest and the Fort Sumter garrison began shooting back. A mortar shell eventually started a fire inside the fort in a position where the garrison couldn’t put it out without exposing themselves to enemy cannons. Watching from afar, the Confederates celebrated as the fire spread to cover a fifth of the fort.

Inside the fort, Anderson had his men move the gunpowder out of the magazine to prevent it from exploding. The garrison had to stop firing their cannons as the fire continued to spread, working desperately to control the blaze. Around noon the cannoneers finally hit the staff holding up the fort’s American flag, taking it down and bringing cheers from the Confederates.

Fox still did not know that the Powhatan would never arrive. He saw the smoke rising over Fort Sumter, but didn’t join the fight, thinking it would be disastrous without the support of his full naval force.

In Charleson, Mary Chesnut and other female members of the Southern elite listened anxiously to the cannon-fire while trying to go about their normal daily activities. Mary wrote that the loud booms made “regular meals impossible” (446).

A member of the Fort Sumter garrison bravely rushed out and reset the American flag on a long spar to keep it waving in defiance of the Confederate attack. Fires continued to spread, creating smoke and hampering the garrison’s ability to consistently shoot their cannons.

Infuriated, Captain Doubleday had two cannons fire at a hotel the Confederates were using as a barracks. He was pleased when the two shots smashed into the hotel, giving everyone there a mighty scare and sending them scurrying.

No one on either side died in the fighting, though the garrison suffered injuries.

Some of the Confederates scattered about the Charleston Harbor could no longer see the restored American flag on Fort Sumter, since it wasn’t flying as high as before. Viewing this as a sign of impending surrender, they dispatched former US Texas Senator Louis Wigfall—a fiery and prideful secessionist—to go to the fort and inquire if Anderson wished to end the fighting. Wigfall and a younger soldier took a small boat rowed by three enslaved people and headed toward the fort.

Other Confederates could see that the fort’s flag was still flying, so they tried to shoot warning shots at Wigfall’s boat to get it to turn around. Wigfall ignored these. He and the other soldier fashioned a crude white flag out of a handkerchief. Their boat barely made it to the fort without capsizing; one of the enslaved people had to constantly bail water to keep it afloat. Arriving under constant cannon-fire from his own side, Wigfall was eventually admitted to speak with Major Anderson.

Confronted by Wigfall, Major Anderson knew the time had come to surrender; Fort Sumter was burning, and his men were out of food and totally exhausted. Anderson told Wigfall he accepted terms of surrender, and Wigfall agreed the garrison would be safely transported to a destination of their choosing and allowed to salute the American flag upon departure. Wigfall and the other Confederate soldier returned to Charleston and were hailed as heroes, with Wigfall shouting “Sumter is ours” (457).

In final negotiations, Anderson asked for a 100-gun salute to the American flag when he was to surrender the fort the next day. The Confederates agreed, respecting “Anderson’s gallantry” (458). Edmund Ruffin received the honor of carrying the Palmetto Guard’s flag into Fort Sumter.

On April 14, Anderson and his men departed Fort Sumter. Anderson sobbed upon boarding the ship meant to carry them away. He kept the fort’s American flag.

The 100-gun salute was interrupted part-way through when one of Sumter’s cannons abruptly exploded, killing one US Army soldier and mortally wounding another. These were the sole deaths during the conflict. Confederate and Union representatives buried the dead soldier together, each side paying their solemn respects to the fallen man. As the Union ships carrying the Fort Sumter garrison departed, the Confederate forces lined the harbor and removed their hats in respect.

The Confederate and South Carolina leadership did not expect the events at Fort Sumter to lead to civil war. They hoped that now the North would take them seriously. It is “the greatest of ironies” (462) that this bloodless battle triggered a war that would kill more Americans than any other conflict in history.

Learning that Fort Sumter had surrendered, the English reporter Russell regretted that he hadn’t gone to Charleston in time to see what had transpired. He witnessed widespread celebrations as he traveled South, though he did not share in that excitement, suspecting that war would soon follow.

On April 15, Lincoln issued a proclamation to create a militia of 75,000 soldiers to “reassert the authority of U.S. law” (467) in the seceded states. The first mission of this force would be to retake federal property—like Fort Sumter—seized by the Confederacy. The Northern states rejoiced at the proclamation, but it was the final straw for some border states who were still considering whether to join the Confederacy. Virginia—which had long refrained from seceding—now voted to leave the Union, much to Edmund Ruffin’s delight. Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee followed.

Robert E. Lee—the man General Scott considered to be America’s best army officer—was torn between his duty to his country and to his home state of Virginia. Lee believed enslavement was “evil” and secession was “anarchy” (468) but could not fight against his beloved home. He resigned from the US Army and joined the Confederacy.

The reporter Russell arrived in Charleston on April 16, where he found the city amid jubilant celebrations. James Chesnut and John Manning assured Russell that his home country of England would support the Confederacy, since it needed access to the South’s cotton supply. Russell doubted the accuracy of this view. The next day Russell visited Fort Sumter and was surprised by what a large role this “very small affair” (472) had played in the country’s politics.

Major Anderson and his men returned to the North as heroes and received special gratitude from President Lincoln.

Edmund Ruffin returned to his home state of Virginia after it seceded. He was proud when three of his sons joined the Confederate army. Ruffin expected a swift Southern victory against the North. A couple of months later his son Charles was encamped near Richmond and a stream called Bull Run.