Ron Collins’

Confederate States of America

[NOTE: Text in RED are active links. TEXT in BLUE are for emphasis.]

Article on the Birth of Robert E. Lee

Jefferson Davis’ Family Lineage

Confederate Pledge of Allegiance

“I am a Loyal Confederate Southern in the service of the just and honorable cause of the South, in behalf of the Citizens of the Confederate States of America.

It is my purpose and mission to reclaim the honor of our forefathers who fought, suffered, bled and died in agony in our nation’s defense.

Unfurl and raise our Confederate States National Flag to it’s rightful place and glory.

Duty, responsibility and my own personal honor require of me to do whatever is lawful, peaceful and honorable, in order to restore the Confederate States Constitution to power, reseat the Confederate State Government, and reinstate the Confederate States of America to it’s rightful independence.

With these words I swear my pledge of loyalty forever!”

Deo Vindice!

Disclaimer: The purpose of this site is neither to condemn nor glorify the eleven original states and the two Provisional Governments that voted to secede from the United States to form the Confederate States of America. It is my belief that the North AND the South were to blame equally for causing a war that took the lives of 620,000 fathers, brothers, uncles, cousins, nephews and sons. Perhaps Mankind will never learn that the preservation of life should be the ultimate goal of the human race, and should not be influenced by the dominance of one society over another.

While freedom is the ultimate goal of society, we must ask ourselves "Freedom from What?" As a country founded on freedom, we have become prisoners of that same freedom that we are trying so hard to achieve. It is that self-centered attitude that causes wars and separates families. The freedom to be free does not include the right to destroy other's lives in order to achieve our goals.

The Black Race has a justifiable organization called the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). It is a worthy cause; promoting the rights of the Black population in this free country. To be fair, the Southern Caucasian Race should have their version of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement and Conservation of Patriotism). It should be established to promote unity among all races and to lend to the understanding that all Southerners DO NOT see the Confederate Flag as a symbol of slavery or racism, but as one of heritage; one that caused great loss of life defending State's Rights. Granted, WAR is foolish. So are hate crimes, racism, and disharmony among all people. Neither “version” of the aforementioned NAACP should be used to erase the history of the other. However, if the history of the Confederacy and the Confederate Flag is to be impugned by the removal of Civil War Memorials, flags and other items that remind the rest of the population of that “Peculiar Institution” of slavery, then the history and monuments to African-Americans that fought in those wars and that were slaves during that time need to be removed so that the rest of the population will not be reminded that there were a class of people called slaves. Of course, this is ridiculous ! Leave history alone !

I am an American, with a Scottish/Irish heritage. Many generations ago, my ancestors were Scottish/Irish. If a person actually is something or someone else, they have the right to use the hyphenated name. For example: If Jane Doe marries Mr. Smith, she can then rightfully be called Jane Doe-Smith. She was Jane Doe, now she is Jane Doe-Smith. I'm NOT Scottish-American. If anything I'm Southern-American. I was born in America and, therefore, am 100% American, and always will be. Had I been born in Scotland and moved to America, that, and only that, would make me a Scottish American. The same applies for the misnomer African American. If you are born in America, YOU ARE AN AMERICAN. Period. For instance, if a pregnant Mexican woman swims across the border, lands on U.S. soil, and delivers the baby on the riverbank, that child is American. He/she can then partake of all the benefits of American citizenship, and has the same rights under the law, as you or I. We should not let certain factions try to persuade us into thinking that we are something we're not. This is certainly no intention to disparage anyone's heritage. . .that is what makes America what it is today. The question is. . .if Bureaucrats wan to insure that we are so attuned to the "political correctness" of today's society, which is more proper? American is.

The Confederate Flag, to the modern Southerner is a flag of Heritage, not Hate. The Civil War was fought for the right of the Southern States to secede from the Union, not just because of slavery. If anything, the Confederate Flag can and should be seen by those who oppose its existence, as a symbol of society's movement away from something that no longer exists. Too often we become confused and think that slavery existed only in the South. If we ban the Confederate Flag as a sign of past oppression toward Blacks, shouldn't it figure that we'll soon have to ban the U.S. Flag as offensive to Native Americans? I agree. . .fans should stop waving the flag at ballgames; not because it's perceived by some as a symbol of racism, but simply because it's hard to see the game with all the flags waving. But. . .if we don't want to put up with the flag-waving, maybe we should stay home. How can the Confederate symbol hurt a football team's recruitment of "quality" players? Have we become so concerned with the money we think we'll lose from the lack of quality players because of a flag? Looks as if they really didn't have much quality at all. Schools have become so preoccupied with their sports programs that they ban the flag, and thus the fans, from the game. Seems as if it's time to stay home anyway.

In March, 2000, the Jackson, Mississippi City Council voted to remove the Confederate Flag from City Hall. Apparently, these misguided individuals have made another attempt at seceding from the Union. The last time that happened, the Federal Government ceased any funding of the seceded entities. Maybe this time, the Mississippi Legislature will do the right thing and cut all funding for the City of Jackson, or, in the least, provide funds for another election so the God-Fearing, Patriotic People of Jackson can elect officials that are more interested in preserving our patriotism than seeing just how much coverage they can get in the media.

** UPDATE TO THE FLAG ISSUE IN MISSISSIPPI **

On May 4, 2000, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled that the "Mississippi Flag" -- claimed by many Black Citizens to violate their constitutional rights -- was NOT an "official" state flag. The Court found that the Mississippi Flag had been officially adopted in 1894, but the law that designated it as a state flag had been repealed in 1906. The Court thus ruled that, since the Mississippi flag is not "officially" the State Flag, it CANNOT violate the constitutional rights of Black Citizens. As an answer to the lawsuit filed on March 10, 1993, by the NAACP citing the violation of the Black Citizens' rights...the Court concluded that "...it is beyond this Court's power and intent to order the removal of the flag currently used." The fate of the flag now rests in the hands of the Mississippi Legislature in the 2001 session, unless the Governor calls for a Special Session this summer.

** UPDATE **

On April 17, 2001, the people of the Great State of Mississippi, voted 488,630 (64.6%) to 267,812 (35.4%) to keep the 1894 version of the Mississippi Flag. Although we know the flag controversy will never be concluded, we sincerely hope that it will. There will always be people who think that a piece of cloth is far more important than the heritage behind it. Here's a word of advice for them (sung to "Dixie"):

"Oh, I'm glad we live in the Land of Cotton
Where Heritage is not forgotten;
Move Away, Move Away;
If you don't like Dixieland."

02/28/2016 – African-American Attorney Carlos Moore files suit against Governor Phil Bryant and the State of Mississippi to do away with the Mississippi State Flag, saying that Mississippi flag’s Confederate imagery incites ‘acts of racial violence

September 2016, African-American U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves dismissed Moore’s suit but leaves door open for future case – COPY OF RULING

03/31/2017 - 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that it would not revive a lawsuit rejected by the lower court – COPY OF RULING

06/29/2017 - Case is appealed to SCOTUS - Attorneys for Carlos Moore said lower courts were wrong to reject his argument that the flag is a symbol of white supremacy that harms him and his young daughter by violating the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection to all citizens

08/07/2017 - Black Lawmakers Ask U.S. Supreme Court to Hear State Flag Case - Members of the Congressional Black Caucus, including civil-rights leader Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., and the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Mississippi attorney Carlos Moore's state flag case.

08/30/2017 - Supreme Court asks Mississippi governor to defend Confederate emblem

10/18/2017 - Moore v. Bryant (Governor's Brief Oct. 18, 2017) – COPY OF BRIEF

10/20/2017 - Governor to Court: State Flag Doesn't Violate Rights as Marriage Bans Did - Offending black citizens is not enough to block the Mississippi flag, attorneys for Gov. Phil Bryant argued to the U.S. Supreme Court this week; they must instead show that the flag caused discrimination in order for a court to declare it unconstitutional.

11/21/2017 - Supreme Court axes suit over Mississippi Confederate emblem - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from an African-American attorney who called the Confederate battle emblem on the Mississippi flag "an official endorsement of white supremacy." The justices did not comment as they ended a lawsuit by lawyer Carlos Moore that sought to have the flag declared an unconstitutional relic of slavery. – CERTIORARI DENIED

My Suggestions to Change the Mississippi Flag

Whether Black or White, Union or Confederate -- AMERICANS died in the Civil War. They are part of our heritage.

It all comes down to this: "The Circumstances of One's Birth are Irrelevant. It is what You do with the Gift of Life that Determines Who You are."

Ron Collins

Below is a letter written by J.S., a 16-year-old Louisiana resident, that is certainly worth reading:

"MY DEFENSE OF THE CONFEDERATE FLAG"

I have heard people whine and cry that the Confederate flag represents hate, racism, bigotry, and slavery. It has been equated with hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. It has been compared with such hate symbols as swastikas. Those who know better, realize that these views of the Confederate flag project the idiocy on this subject by those with these views. Research on the subject can change such bad views. I suggest research be done before someone goes shooting off their mouth about something he or she does not understand. Without true knowledge of the Confederate States of America, one must go on the lies and misunderstandings of the Klan. I do not see any other heritage that is spit on as often and as widely as this in America. Some think that since we do not fly Nazi flags in the name of heritage, we should not fly Confederate flags. The Nazi party committed horrid acts of genocide, but the Confederates fought for more states' rights. How can someone insinuate that something like genocide is of equal stature with something like fighting for more states' rights? Misuse of the Confederate flag by the Ku Klux Klan has reduced it to its low stature. Oh, and in case no one else noticed, the Klan flies the American flag as well. Oh yeah! Then there's that slavery thing. I understand that slavery was wrong and I do not approve of it whatsoever. Slavery was not the major issue of the Civil War. It just happened to be "the straw that broke the camel's back." At one point, President Lincoln stated that the war was not to abolish slavery. Even the noble General Ulysses S. Grant owned a few slaves. Just under 20% of Southerners had slaves. Those who did had only 5 or fewer. While we are on the subject of racism, I feel compelled to query as to why it is so wrong to use the term "White power!," but no one gives "Black power!" a second thought. I, for one, am very offended by the term "Black power!" It is an outright expression of black supremacy. If this is allowed, why can't I say "White power?" My skin may be white, but my blood is red, just like that of a black person. Sometimes I feel that if humans had the minds of dogs, we would all be truly equal. A woman's article was printed in my local newspaper, the Lake Charles American Press, on Sunday, February 13, 2000. She writes, "Robert E. Lee surrendered his sword at Appomattox. Men fly flags when they win. What other defeated warriors fly their flags?" I believe that I can provide her with an answer. The United States of America. I suppose she thinks that the USA won the Vietnam War. Reality check! We lost! Unless I have completely lost my mind, every day I stand and praise the great and beautiful "Stars and Stripes." I don't believe that I am praising the Vietnamese flag. Hopefully, she does not mean to remove the American flag. I know that the CSA lost, but I enjoy expressing my heritage. So, do not brand me as a racist or a bigot. In my blood line, I can trace my background to England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany, China, Japan, the Philippines, and probably others I do not know of. I am not affiliated with any hate group of any kind, nor do I condone their actions. I have friends of many different races and ethnic backgrounds, including blacks. In fact, until the ninth grade I went to schools that are more than 90% black. I will not deny it. I am in possession of a Confederate flag. I fly it proudly, not out of hate, but out of love for my Southern heritage. The flag can be removed from before our eyes, but not from our minds or our hearts. Mark this, as long as I am alive, the noble Confederate flag will fly !

Image Courtesy of Wayne Strahan

Monetary Reparations for Descendants of Slaves

One of the latest movements is the thought that the descendants of slaves should be compensated because their ancestors were "owned" by others. Don't get me wrong; SLAVERY WAS, IS, AND WILL FOREVER BE WRONG. But, in today's money-hungry society, someone always has to drag some skeleton out of the closet to forever tangle the already-complicated web of judicial decisions. What it all boils down to is that the families think that, just because their great-great grandfathers, or great-great grandmothers were slaves, they have a right to get rich off the deceased. It's not about human values and family respect, it's just about the money.

There is a solution, though. There should be compensation paid concerning the slavery issue. Every man, woman, child, aunt, uncle, sister, brother, mother, father, or grandparent that is living that was actually a slave should be compensated. So, in other words, anyone that is AT LEAST 150 YEARS OLD, should get a million dollars. If we want to stretch the reparations a little more, let ONLY the immediate family of a former slave reap the rewards. Leave it at second generation only. My roots go all the way back to the time of King Charles in England. Do you think that, if I find out that the King mistreated one of my family members, that I'm going to jump up and sue England ? If the descendants of slaves that were "irreparably harmed" want to file a lawsuit so badly, they need to sue their own people in Africa, which were the ones that sold their families into slavery in the first place. I’m willing to bet that, here in 2018, you won’t find over a handful of people that were born in 1900, much less the 1860s.

Regardless of how wrong slavery might have been, we need to concentrate more on the poverty, killing, and violence of today than on something that our present generation had absolutely nothing to do with. Once again, the ONLY issue of RACE that we should be concerned with is the HUMAN RACE.

Pre-Civil War Slave Revolts and Abolitionist Movements

In The United States

The "Free State of Jones"

People Places and Events of the Civil War

Thanks Danny !

National Park Service Underground Railroad Site

The Underground Railroad (Charles H. Wright Museum)

13th Amendment

14th Amendment

15th Amendment

Gettysburg Address

The Constitution of the Confederate States of America

The Murder of William Bruce Mumford

Lincoln’s View on Slavery

From a letter to Horace Greeley, Editor of the New York Tribune, dated 08/22/1862, Lincoln said, to-wit:

“I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored; the nearer the Union will be "the Union as it was." If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.” SOURCE: Library of Congress: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025760/1862-09-13/ed-1/seq-1/

I repeat the declaration made a year ago, that 'while I remain in my present position I shall not attempt to retract or modify the emancipation proclamation, nor shall I return to slavery any person who is free by the terms of that proclamation, or by any of the Acts of Congress.' If the people should, by whatever mode or means, make it an Executive duty to re-enslave such persons, another, and not I, must be their instrument to perform it. Lincoln's Fourth Annual Message to Congress, December 6, 1864.

Copy of Newspaper Article

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Lincoln Was for Secession – 01/12/1848

Abraham Lincoln, January 12, 1848 – in the first session of the thirtieth congress, said:

“Any people, anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable, a most sacred right - a right which, we hope and believe, is to liberate the world. Nor is this right confined to cases in which the whole people of an existing government may choose to exercise it. Any portion of such people that can, may revolutionize and make their own use of such territory as they inhabit. More than this, a majority of one portion of such people may revolutionize and put down a minority intermingled with, or near about them, who may oppose their movements. – Such minority was precisely the case of the tories of our own revolution. It is a quality of revolutions not to go by old lines, or old laws, but to break up both, and make new ones.” The Western Democrat. (Charlotte, N.C.), 28 May 1861. P.2.

Newspaper Article 1 Newspaper Article 2 Newspaper Article 3

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Eli Whitney’s Invention of the Cotton Gin Revived the Declining Need for Slavery

“A large number of Southern men, among them their ablest and best leaders, thought slavery was a moral and political evil to be got rid of gradually. In due time, the foreign slave trade was prohibited, but the Yankee invention of the cotton-gin [in 1793] made slavery apparently profitable in the culture of cotton on the virgin soil of the new states in the South; and Southern opinion changed. From being regarded as an evil, slavery began to be looked upon as the only possible condition of the existence of the two races side by side and by 1850 the feeling had grown to be that slavery was ‘no evil, no scourge, but a great religious, social and moral blessing.’ As modern society required hewers of woods and drawers of water, the slave system of the South, so the argument ran, was superior to the industrial system of England, France, and the North.” The Causes of the Civil War, Revised Edition. Edited by Kenneth M. Stampp, 3^rd ed. Simon & Schuster, 1991, P. 157.

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Mary Todd Lincoln’s Family Owned Slaves

Although they rejected slavery, the Todds owned one slave for every member of the family. (From: The Life Of Mary Todd Lincoln by Kimberly J. Largent - https://ehistory.osu.edu/articles/life-mary-todd-lincoln). She had been raised in a slave-owning family, but came to abhor slavery. Her best friend was her seamstress, the freed slave Elizabeth Keckley. As a well-bred woman of Kentucky, she was reviled by Southerners as a turncoat, while Northerners doubted her loyalty. Seven of her close relatives fought in the war (four of her brothers and three of her brothers-in-law) -- all for the Confederacy -- and of those, two of her stepbrothers and a brother-in-law were killed in battle. Of one of her dead stepbrothers, she said, "He made his choice long ago. He decided against my husband, through him against me. He has been fighting against us and since he chose to be our deadly enemy, I see no special reason why I should bitterly mourn his death." Yet when her brother-in-law Ben Hardin Helm was killed fighting for the Confederates in the Battle of Chickamauga, the Lincolns took in his widow, her stepsister Emilie, to live with them in the White House.

Step-Brother: Samuel Brown Todd (Confederate soldier, b. 25-Mar-1830, d. 7-Apr-1862 Civil War) – killed at Battle of Shiloh

Step-Brother: Alexander Humphreys "Aleck" Todd (Confederate soldier, (b. 18-Feb-1839, d. 5-Aug-1862 Civil War) – killed at Battle of Baton Rouge

Brother-in-Law: Benjamin Hardin Helm (Confederate soldier, her half-sister Emilie Helm's husband) – (b. 02-Jun-1831, d. 21-Sept-1863 Civil War) was a Confederate general killed at Battle of Chickamauga. Mary Ann Todd Lincoln (from: http://www.nndb.com/people/802/000024730/)

Mary’s older brother, George Rogers Clark Todd, served as a surgeon in a Confederate hospital in Camden, South Carolina. Mary’s nephew, David Todd, was in charge of a Confederate prisoner of war camp in Richmond, VA, where it was rumored that he tortured Yankee prisoners. He was mortally wounded at Vicksburg in 1863. Baker, Jean H., Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography. W.W. Norton & Co., New York. Pp. 222-23.

In all, of Robert Smith Todd’s fourteen living children, 8 supported the Confederacy and 6 supported the Union. Ibid., 222.

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In 1862, Union General David “Black Dave” Hunter issued his own Emancipation Proclamation (General Order 11), immediately freeing slaves in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina. Abraham Lincoln did not like this and rescinded it, believing that gradual emancipation was a better route. Hunter would appear again later as president of the military commission trying the conspirators involved with the assassination of Lincoln. Lincoln’s response (below) is also seen HERE.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

A PROCLAMATION

Whereas, there appears in the public prints what purports to be a proclamation by Maj. Gen. Hunter in the words and figures following, to wit:

Headquarters Department of the South, Hilton Head, S.C., May 9, 1862.

General Orders No. 11

“The three states of Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, comprising the Military Department of the South, having deliberately declared themselves no longer under the protection of the United States of America, and having taken up arms against the United States, it becomes a military necessity to declare them under martial law. This was accordingly done on the 25th day of April, 1862. Slavery and martial law in a free country are altogether incompatible. The persons in these three states, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, heretofore held as slaves, are therefore declared forever free.

[Official] David Hunter, Maj. Gen. Commanding. E.W. Smith, Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.”

And, whereas, the same is producing some excitement and misunderstanding, Therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, proclaim and declare that the Government of the United States has no knowledge or belief of an intention on the part of Gen. Hunter to issue such a proclamation, nor has it yet any authentic information that the document is genuine; and, further, that Gen. Hunter nor any other Commander or person has been authorized by the Government of the United States to make proclamation declaring the slaves of any State free, and that the supposed proclamation, now in question, whether genuine or false, is altogether void as respects such declaration. I further make known that whether it is competent for me, as commander-in-chief, of the army and navy to declare the slave of any State or States free, and whether at any time, or in case it shall have become a necessity indispensable to the maintenance of the Government to exercise such power, are questions which under my responsibility I reserve to myself, and which I cannot feel justified in leaving to the decisions of commanders in the field. These are totally different questions from those of police regulations in armies and camps. On the 6th day of March last, by a special message I recommend to Congress the adoption of a joint resolution to be substantially as follows:

Resolved, That the United States ought to cooperate with any State which may adopt a gradual abolishment of slavery, giving to such State in its discretion for the compensation for inconvenience, public and private, produced by such change of system.

Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation

[FROM: WIKIPEDIA]

The Emancipation Proclamation was a war measure aimed only at freeing slaves in Southern territory that came under Union military control after January 1, 1863. In a single stroke, it changed the federal legal status of more than 3 million enslaved persons in the designated areas of the South from "slave" to "free." It had the practical effect that as soon as a slave escaped the control of the Confederate government, by running away or through advances of federal troops, the slave became legally free. Eventually it reached and liberated all of the designated slaves. It was issued as a war measure during the American Civil War, directed to all of the areas in rebellion and all segments of the executive branch (including the Army and Navy) of the United States.

It proclaimed the freedom of slaves in the ten states that were still in rebellion. Because it was issued under the President's war powers, it necessarily excluded areas not in rebellion - it applied to more than 3 million of the 4 million slaves in the U.S. at the time. The Proclamation was based on the president's constitutional authority as commander in chief of the armed forces; it was not a law passed by Congress. The Proclamation also ordered that suitable persons among those freed could be enrolled into the paid service of United States' forces, and ordered the Union Army (and all segments of the Executive branch) to "recognize and maintain the freedom of" the ex-slaves. The Proclamation did not compensate the owners, did not outlaw slavery, and did not grant citizenship to the ex-slaves (called freedmen). It made the eradication of slavery an explicit war goal, in addition to the goal of reuniting the Union. Around 20,000 to 50,000 slaves in regions where rebellion had already been subdued were immediately emancipated. It could not be enforced in areas still under rebellion, but as the Union army took control of Confederate regions, the Proclamation provided the legal framework for freeing more than 3 million slaves in those regions. Prior to the Proclamation, in accordance with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, escaped slaves were either returned to their masters or held in camps as contraband for later return.

The Proclamation applied only to slaves in Confederate-held lands; it did not apply to those in the four slave states that were not in rebellion (Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware, and Missouri, which were unnamed), nor to Tennessee (unnamed but occupied by Union troops since 1862) and lower Louisiana (also under occupation), and specifically excluded those counties of Virginia soon to form the state of West Virginia. Also specifically excluded (by name) were some regions already controlled by the Union army. Emancipation in those places would come after separate state actions and/or the December 1865 ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, which made slavery and indentured servitude, except for those duly convicted of a crime, illegal everywhere subject to United States jurisdiction.

An interesting note is that, during 4^th Lincoln-Douglas Debate on September 18, 1858, Lincoln emphatically stated that “. . .there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.”

The History Place -- Abraham Lincoln

The Civil War

South Carolina – Seceded 12/20/1860

On December 26, 1860, six days after South Carolina seceded, Major Robert Anderson of the U.S. Army abandoned Union-occupied Fort Moultrie on the mainland, due to it being indefensible against the Confederacy. Anderson spiked (made unserviceable) the large guns at Fort Moultrie and burned the gun carriages. Taking some of the smaller cannon with him, he secretly relocated 82 men (13 were musicians), their wives and children [totaling 127] from companies E and H of the 1^st Artillery at Fort Moultrie, to Fort Sumter. He did this on his own initiative, with no prior orders from his superiors. Fort Sumter, the only remaining part of newly-seceded South Carolina that was still held by Union troops, was named for Revolutionary War hero, General Thomas Sumter. Construction of the fort had begun in 1829 and, by 1861, still was unfinished. Fort Sumter appears to have five sides, but, in fact, has twelve. The current (2015) circumference of the fort is 1213 feet, with the fort itself taking up less than three acres. Including the land outside the fort, the entire area is less than 8 acres. In December 1861, more than half of the cannons at Fort Sumter were not in place, due to military downsizing by President Buchanan. The smaller cannons taken by Anderson from Fort Moultrie would be used to supplement the few already at Fort Sumter. The personnel in place at Fort Sumter when South Carolina seceded were described, as follows:

"Fort Sumter is not completed, and is now occupied by the Engineers, under the direction of Lieutenant Snyder (Captain Foster being absent [J. G. Foster, Captain of Engineers]) who has employed upon it some hundred and ten men. A portion of the armament is  mounted, but for its defense a few regular soldiers, to overawe the workmen and to control them, only would be necessary at present. The lower embrasures are closed, and if the main gate be secured a storming-party would require ladders twenty feet in length to gain admission. No arms are here, and I doubt if they would be serviceable in the hands of workmen, who would take the side of the stronger force present. Unless it should be necessary I think it advisable not to occupy this work so long as the mass of engineer workmen are engaged." (Official Records of the War of Rebellion, Series I, Volume 1, pg. 72). Letter dated November 11, 1860 from F. J. Porter, Assistant Adjutant-General, to Col. S. Cooper, Adjutant-General, Washington City.

[See the Dimensions of Fort Sumter HERE and a modern aerial view HERE. The Deed of Conveyance of Fort Sumter can be seen HERE.]

Anderson moved his men to Sumter just in time, as Fort Moultrie was seized by State Troops the following day, December 27, 1861.

Mississippi – Seceded 01/09/1861

There were 384 principal battles in the Civil War; Mississippi was host to sixteen.

Mississippi Battle Sites & Maps

Mississippi Battles

Corinth (First) -- April 29 - June 1862
Iuka -- September 19, 1862
Corinth (Second) -- October 3 & 4, 1862
Chickasaw Bayou -- December 26 - 29, 1862
Grand Gulf -- April 29, 1863
Snyder's Bluff -- April 29 - May 1, 1863
Port Gibson -- May 1, 1863
Raymond -- May 12, 1863
Jackson -- May 14, 1863
Champion Hill -- May 16, 1863
Big Black River Bridge -- May 17, 1863
Vicksburg -- May 18 - July 4, 1863
Meridian -- February 14 - 20, 1864
Okolona -- February 22, 1864
Brice's Cross Roads -- June 10, 1864
Tupelo -- July 14 - 15, 1864
 
Mississippi's Confederate Generals
 

President Buchanan ordered the Star of the West to leave New York on January 5 loaded with arms, munitions provisions and 200 new Federal recruits on board. General Winfield Scott, Commander of the United States Army had originally planned to send the U.S.S. Brooklyn, a navy steam sloop, but finally thought that it would be easier for an unarmed merchant steamer to reach Sumter. The same day, Scott realized that the news of the mission had already been intercepted by the South Carolina authorities in Charleston. Scott tried to stop the mission, but the Star of the West had already departed. Scott sent the USS Brooklyn in pursuit, commanded by Captain David Farragut, but it could not overtake the Star of the West, even after the Star, commanded by Captain John McGowan, paused off the coast of North Carolina to fish. The Star of the West arrived at the mouth of the Charleston Harbor at midnight on January 8. After waiting for first light, McGowan started his high-speed run to reach Sumter. When McGowan entered the harbor, the guard boat General Clinch fired signal rockets but received no response from McGowan. The General Clinch then fired flares to alert the batteries of the fast-moving ship. Cadet William Stewart Simkins (08/25/1842 – 02/27/1929) saw the U.S. flag displayed on the Star of the West and alerted the Citadel cadets and officers manning the batteries at Fort Morris. Fort Morris began firing on the Star of the West. Captain Abner Doubleday, second to Major Robert Anderson, saw the Star taking fire from Fort Morris and alerted Major Anderson. Anderson awakened his troops and debated whether or not to enter the fight, but thought that by doing so, it would only make the situation worse. Also, none of Sumter’s guns were big enough to reach the cadets on Morris Island. Still, the Star gave no signs of slowing until, after realizing that the guns of Fort Moultrie would soon be capable of hitting his ship, and with the cadets of the Citadel already firing on it, McGowan and the Star of the West finally withdrew from the area. The resupply effort had failed. The men aboard the Star of the West left confused and enraged, not understanding why Fort Sumter had not fired to support them. Anderson was also enraged because the Star of the West had been fired on. He sent Lieutenant Norman Hall, under a flag of truce and in full dress uniform, to deliver a letter to Governor Pickens. It read:

To His Excellency, the Governor of South Carolina:

Sir: Two of your batteries fired this morning upon an unarmed vessel bearing the flag of my government. As I have not been notified that war has been declared by South Carolina against the government of the United States, I cannot but think this hostile act was committed without your sanction or authority. Under that hope, and that alone, did I refrain from opening fire upon your batteries. I have the honor, therefore, to respectfully ask whether the abovementioned act – one, I believe, without parallel in the history of our country or any other civilized Government – was committed in obedience to your instructions, and to notify you, if it is not disclaimed, that I must regard it as an act of war; and that I shall not, after a reasonable time for the return of my passenger, permit any vessel to pass within the range of the guns of my fort. In order to save, as far as is in my power, the shedding of blood, I beg that you will give due notification of this, my decision, to all concerned. Hoping, however, that your answer will be such as will justify a further continuance of forbearance on my part, I have the honor to be very respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

Robert Anderson

Major, First Artillery U.S.A. Commanding Fort Sumter

January 9, 1861

Governor Pickens responded with his own lengthy letter, ending it with the statement, “This act is perfectly justified by me.”

An interesting point here is that the Citadel fired on the Star of the West on the same day that the second state - Mississippi – seceded from the Union. The Confederacy had not yet been formed or declared at this time.

Florida – Seceded 01/10/1861

Alabama – Seceded 01/11/1861

Georgia – Seceded 01/19/1861

The Marion had formerly been a steamship before it was seized under the January 10 orders of Governor Pickens and converted to a man-of-war, in order to patrol the harbor and shipping channel and to fend off any future attempts to reinforce or resupply Fort Sumter. On January 12, 1861, Governor Pickens sent a letter to President Buchanan via South Carolina Attorney General I.W. (Isaac William) Hayne, demanding that he surrender Fort Sumter due to safety concerns for South Carolina and adding that, if Anderson didn’t surrender Sumter, the only potential outcome was to have Anderson forcibly removed. Buchanan did not relinquish the fort.

Governor Pickens allowed the resumption of mail service to and from Sumter. By mid-January, authorities in Charleston had agreed to take orders for provisions and to have them delivered to the fort. On January 19, the quartermaster general for the South Carolina Militia shipped two hundred pounds of beef and fresh vegetables to the fort. That same day, David Jamison in Charleston received a letter from U.S. Secretary of War Joseph Holt thanking him for the provisions and admitting some confusion since neither the U.S. government nor Major Anderson had requested the supplies. In return, Jamison asked for assurance from President Buchanan that “the public peace will not be disturbed by an act of hostility toward South Carolina.” No assurance was given. Holt reminded Jamison that only Congress has the power to declare war. Attorney General Hayne informed Federal authorities that commerce and mail between Sumter, the City of Charleston and President Buchanan was being allowed and “. . .will continue. . .until the door to negotiation has been closed.” The Union Is Dissolved: Charleston and Fort Sumter in the Civil War. By Douglas W. Bostick. P. 69.

By January 20, the food shortage had become acute enough that Governor Francis Wilkinson Pickens of South Carolina was under criticism from moderates. He sent food to Fort Sumter, which was refused by the commander, Major Robert Anderson. On January 21, Anderson reported to Washington that work on the fort had progressed well and that 51 guns were in position, should the need arise. On January 21, Anderson requested and received permission from Governor Pickens to evacuate all non-military personnel from Sumter. Pickens agreed, allowing the evacuation of 45 women and children to provide some measure of relief. They were sent to New York aboard the Marion on February 3. One of the wives aboard the Marion wrote: “When the ship was passing, [the fort] fired a gun and gave three heart-thrilling cheers as a parting farewell to the dear loved ones on board, whom they may possibly meet again this side of the grave. The response was weeping and waving adieux to husbands and fathers. A small band put up in an isolated fort, completely surrounded by instruments of death, as five forts could be seen from the steamer’s deck, with their guns pointing toward Sumter.” Ibid., 72. The Marion made the voyage to New York successfully, arriving there around February 7 with all its passengers in good health.

Louisiana – Seceded 01/26/1861

On January 31, 1861, Attorney General Hayne was still in Washington. Governor Pickens once again sent a letter to President Buchanan via Hayne, demanding that he surrender Fort Sumter to the state. Hayne also extended an offer from the State of South Carolina to purchase Fort Sumter. Both letters were ignored by Buchanan. Ibid., 71.

Texas – Seceded 02/01/1861 (Referendum 02/23/1861)

Passions ran high in the 36^th Congressional session, which began in December 1860. Over 200 resolutions, with 57 of them proposing constitutional amendments, were offered to resolve the problem of slavery. Ohio Congressman Thomas Corwin was chairman of the House Committee of 33, a group appointed to negotiate peace between the North and the South. On March 2, 1861, Corwin introduced the Corwin Amendment, that stated: No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give Congress the power to abolish or interfere, within any State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of said State. On February 28, 1861, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Corwin Amendment by a vote of 133 to 65. On March 2, 1861, the U.S. Senate approved it with no alterations, by a vote of 24 to 12. [It is interesting to note that the Corwin Amendment - officially known by this time as H.J.R. 80 - was introduced in the Senate by New York Senator William H. Seward who - 3 days after the Senate approved the amendment – became the first U.S. Secretary of State in President Abraham Lincoln’s Administration.] Out-going President James Buchanan endorsed it by signing it, although his signature on the joint resolution was unnecessary, having been determined by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1798 in the case of Hollingsworth v. Virginia that the President has no formal role in the constitutional amendment process. On March 4, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln took office. In his first inaugural address, he said of the Corwin Amendment, I understand a proposed amendment to the Constitution—which amendment, however, I have not seen—has passed Congress, to the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of the States, including that of persons held to service. To avoid misconstruction of what I have said, I depart from my purpose not to speak of particular amendments so far as to say that, holding such a provision to now be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its being made express and irrevocable. Just weeks prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, Lincoln sent a letter to the governor of each state transmitting the proposed amendment, noting that Buchanan had approved it. It would then be sent to the states for ratification. However, by the time ratification commenced, the Civil War had already begun. It is interesting to note that, regardless of the war, three states—Ohio on May 13, 1861, Maryland on January 10, 1862, and Illinois on February 14, 1862—ratified the amendment. If the Corwin Amendment had been ratified by the required number of states prior to 1865, the “Reconstruction Amendments” (13^th, 14^th and 15^th) would not have been permissible because they explicitly abolished or interfered with the domestic institution of the states. [By the time of Lincoln’s second inaugural address in 1865, , he was blaming the South for wanting to destroy the way of life.]

To add to the conflict, the day after Lincoln took office, he received a message from Major Robert Anderson from Fort Sumter, stating that Sumter would run out of food and supplies by April 15, 1861. Lincoln ordered a fleet of ships under the command of Gustavus V. Fox, to attempt entry into Charleston Harbor and supply Fort Sumter. The ships assigned were the steam sloop-of-war USS Pawnee, steam sloop-of-war USS Powhatan, transporting motorized launches and about 300 sailors (secretly removed from the Charleston fleet to join in the forced reinforcements of Fort Pickens, Pensacola, Florida), armed screw steamer USS Pocahontas, Revenue Cutter USRC Harriet Lane, steamer Baltic transporting about 200 troops, composed of companies C and D of the 2^nd U.S. Artillery, and three hired tug boats with added protection against small arms fire to be used to tow troop and supply barges directly to Fort Sumter. By April 6, 1861, the first ships began to set sail for their rendezvous off the Charleston Bar. The first to arrive was the Harriet Lane, on the evening of April 11, 1861. Many historians think that this act by Lincoln was ordered to provoke the South into firing the first shot. In a March 15, 1861 letter to Secretary of State William H. Seward, Lincoln asks Seward “Assuming it to be possible to now provision Fort Sumter, under all the circumstances is it wise to attempt it?” Seward replies: “If it were possible to peacefully provision Fort Sumter, of course I should answer that it would be both unwise and inhuman not to attempt it. But the facts of the case are known to be that the attempt must be made with the employment of military and marine force, which would provoke combat, and probably initiate a civil war, which the government of the United States would be committed to maintain through all changes to some definite conclusion.

[NOTE: Lincoln wanted Robert E. Lee to command the Union forces invading the South. Immediately after Fort Sumter was fired on, General Winfield Scott (commander in chief of the armies of the North) summoned Lee to Washington. On April 18, 1861, Scott (who was too old to command forces in the field) offered Lee command of all the Union armies. Lee sought spiritual guidance in making the decision, and about midnight returned with his resignation from the Union Army. He had been torn between his love for the Union and his strong feelings against slavery and his love for his home state of Virginia, and he chose Virginia. He wrote his sister saying “With all my devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, and my home. I have therefore resigned my commission in the army.” Page, Thomas Nelson, Robert E. Lee (New York, 1908), chap. 3.]

. . . .

I may be asked whether I would in no case, and at no time, advise force -- whether I propose to give up everything? I reply, no. I would not initiate war to regain a useless and unnecessary position on the soil of the seceding States. I would not provoke war in any way now. I would resort to force to protect the collection of the revenue, because this is a necessary as well as a legitimate minor object. Even then it should be only a naval force that I would employ for that necessary purpose, while I would defer military action on land until a case should arise when we would hold the defense. In that case we should have the spirit of the country and the approval of mankind on our side. In the other, we should imperil peace and union, because we had not the courage to practise [sic] prudence and moderation at the cost of temporary misapprehension.”

Secretary of State William H. Seward “…did not believe that Sumter should be reinforced or resupplied, since this would be exactly the sort of incident likely to increase the tension [between the North and South] to the snapping point. In this, he was supported by most of his fellow cabinet members, for when Lincoln polled them on the issue of the resupply of Sumter, …they voted five-to-two to abandon the fort. The Army, too, had advised against any attempt at reinforcement, estimating that over 20,000 troops would be required, a number far beyond its present means. Only the Navy seemed willing to undertake it.” The Civil War, by Shelby Foote. Volume 1: Secession to Fort Henry. P. 74.

Three Confederate Commissioners were sent from Montgomery to Washington to accomplish “the speedy adjustment of all questions growing out of separation, as the respective interests, geographical contiguity, and future welfare of the two nations may render necessary.” The Confederate Congress had opened the navigation of the lower Mississippi to the northern states and expected to secure in return the evacuation of Sumter and the Florida forts, along with much else. Lincoln would not see them. To have done so, according to Lincoln’s reasoning, would have meant that Lincoln saw the secession as nothing more than a rebellion by private persons, rather than a sanctioned government. As an official of the U.S. Government, Seward was not allowed to meet with the commissioners, as well. U.S. Supreme Court Justice John A Campbell of Alabama [Alabama hadn’t seceded at this time] visited Seward’s office to urge Seward to meet with the commissioners. Seward regretfully declined, but added “If Jefferson Davis had known the state of things here, he would not have sent those commissioners. The evacuation of Sumter is as much as the Administration can bear.” Campbell understood Seward’s meaning. Seward was guaranteeing for the Union the concession that the commissioners were seeking. Campbell pressed for a more definite answer, saying that he, Campbell, would write to Jefferson Davis at once. Campbell asked, “And what shall I say to him [Davis] on the subject of Fort Sumter?” Seward replied “You may say to him that before that letter reaches him, the telegraph will have informed him that Sumter will have been evacuated.” Ibid., 74.

Lincoln’s close friend and self-appointed bodyguard, Ward Hill Lamon, went as far as assuring South Carolina’s Governor Pickens that Sumter would be evacuated. However a high-ranking naval observer, having secured an interview with Major Anderson at Fort Sumter, returned to declare that a relief expedition was possible. Ibid., 75.

Lincoln, rather than heed Seward’s advice, ordered the navy to assemble the necessary ships and await further orders. Virginia’s state convention had just voted against leaving the Union, but remained in session, prepared to reverse itself if Lincoln decided not to abandon Sumter. Lincoln proposed that, if the Virginia convention would adjourn sine die (adjourn for an indefinite period), he would evacuate Sumter. “A state for a fort is no bad business,” Lincoln said. Nothing came of this. Ibid., 76.

When Justice Campbell returned on April 1 to ask Seward why the promise of evacuation had not been carried out, Seward backtracked and told Campbell “I am satisfied that the government will not undertake to supply Fort Sumter without giving notice to Governor Pickens.” When Campbell asked Seward if that meant that Lincoln would undertake to supply Sumter, Seward answered, “No, I think not….There is no design to reinforce it.” Ibid., 76.

Campbell reported this to the Confederate commissioners. However, on April 6, Lincoln signed an order dispatching the naval expedition to Fort Sumter. Justice Campbell immediately asked Seward to confirm or deny that a fleet was on the way to resupply Sumter. Seward replied “Faith as to Sumter fully kept. Wait and see.” Campbell took this as a confirmation of Seward’s first promise that Sumter would be evacuated, whereas Seward only meant to repeat that there would be no action without warning to Governor Pickens. On April 8, Governor Pickens received an envoy who read the following message: “I am directed by the United States to notify you to expect an attempt will be made to supply Fort Sumter with provisions only, and that if such an attempt is not resisted, no effort to throw in men, arms, or ammunition will be made without further notice, or in case of an attack upon the fort.” Ibid., 76-77.

Pickens forwarded the communication to the Confederate authorities at Montgomery. Lincoln had put the South in the position of firing the first shot that would be seen by the world as an attempt to keep food from the mouths of hungry men. Jefferson Davis, however, saw it as Lincoln forcing the issue rather than simply abandoning the fort. Davis sent the following message to General Beauregard: If you have no doubt as to the authorized character of the agent who communicated to you the intention of the Washington government to supply Fort Sumter by force, you will at once demand its evacuation, and, if this is refused, proceed in such manner as you may determine to reduce it. Ibid., 77.

Click Above Photo to Enlarge

Correspondence Between the War Department, Gen. Beauregard and Maj. Anderson

How Fort Sumter is to Be Relieved and Reinforced

On April 11, 1861, P.G.T. Beauregard (Pierre Gustave Toutant- Beauregard), the Confederate Commander, sent three aides, Col. James Chesnut, Jr., Captain Stephen D. Lee, and Lieutenant A.R. Chisolm to demand the surrender of the fort with a note demanding evacuation and surrender that read: “All proper facilities will be afforded for the removal of yourself and command, together with company arms and property, and all private property, to any post in the United States which you may select. The flag which you have upheld so long and with so much fortitude, under the most trying circumstances, may be saluted by you on taking it down.” Maj. Robert Anderson, the Union Commander of Fort Sumter, declined this demand for surrender – made on April 11, 1861 at 3:45 p.m., saying “Gentlemen, if you do not batter the fort to pieces about us, we shall be starved out in a few days.” The aides were sent back to report this to Beauregard. Beauregard consulted with the Confederate Secretary of War, Leroy Pope Walker, receiving instructions to get Anderson to state a definite time for the surrender. Without delay – and after seeing that the Sumter relief expedition had arrived off the Charleston bar - Beauregard sent four men back to the fort and authorized Col. Chesnut to decide whether the fort should be taken by force. The second demand for surrender was made at 12:45 a.m. on April 12, 1861. The aides waited for hours while Anderson considered his alternatives and stalled for time. It was about 3 a.m. on April 12, 1861 when Anderson announced his conditions to the aides. Hoping that the relief expedition would arrive before then, Anderson said that he would surrender at noon on April 15. Col. Chesnut, after conferring with the other aides, decided that the conditions were “manifestly futile and not within the scope of instructions verbally given to us.” The Confederate aides told Anderson that Beauregard would open fire “in one hour from this time.” Upon hearing this, Anderson shook the hands of the four men and told them upon their departure, “If we never meet in this world again, God grant that we may meet in the next.” The aides then left the fort and proceeded to the nearby Cummings Point on Morris Island. There, Chestnut ordered the fort to open fire on Fort Sumter.

At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, the bombardment commenced *. Sumter fired back intermittently,** wanting to use sparingly the small amounts of gunpowder and fuses that were left. Sumter could only fire solid iron cannon balls at the Confederacy because of the shortage of powder needed to make the cannon balls explode. Also, shots fired from Sumter were ineffective in part because Anderson did not use the guns mounted on the highest tier, the barbette tier, where gun detachments would be more exposed to Confederate fire. Using heated shot, the Confederate volley started fires. The ensuing smoke and danger to the powder magazines also made it difficult for Sumter to return fire. After receiving Confederate fire all day long on April 12, at nightfall, Anderson stopped firing and the Confederates reduced their fire but resumed it the next morning. On April 13, the barracks at Sumter again caught fire and threatened the ammunition store, in spite of the rainy day. At about 1 p.m. the flagstaff was shot away*** and the flag was raised on the ramparts on a makeshift staff. The lull from the Union guns that followed was thought to be a prelude to surrender. When the Union guns finally resumed firing, the Confederates rose from their parapets and cheered them. ***On seeing the flag shot away, Louis Wigfall - aide to Beauregard, fire-eater, and former U.S. senator - rowed out to Fort Sumter on his own initiative, without the knowledge or approval of Beauregard, amid the continuing barrage to see if Anderson was attempting to surrender. Although initially told that Anderson was not surrendering, Wigfall was able to negotiate a surrender. At 1:30 p.m., the flag was replaced with a white sheet. On seeing the flag of surrender, Beauregard ceased firing and sent his envoys to the fort, where they learned of Wigfall’s unofficial mission. After further negotiation, the same terms were eventually agreed to: surrender would occur April 14 at noon.

With the conditions of honor satisfied and after 34 hours of continuous pounding by the Confederate artillery, Maj. Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter to the Confederates on April 14. Anderson and his men were allowed to leave, not as prisoners, but as free men, aboard a paddle steamer, the Isabel, bound for New York. Detailed communications between Major Anderson and various Union commanders and offices concerning the abandonment of and move from Fort Moultrie and the subsequent surrender of Fort Sumter can be found HERE. At 10:30 a.m. on April 18, 1861, Anderson sent a telegram to U.S. Secretary of War Simon Cameron, detailing the surrender.

Eyewitness Accounts of the Bombardment

There were no casualties from the bombardment of Fort Sumter. However after the surrender and before they left Fort Sumter, two mishaps occurred. The first occurred when Col. Roger Pryor, the soldier that declined the opportunity to fire the first shot of the war, was sent to the fort to assist in the conclusion of the formal terms of surrender. Having developed a thirst, he poured himself a drink from a bottle sitting nearby. After drinking it, he read the label, discovering that it was potassium iodide. The Federal surgeon took him outside and pumped his stomach which ultimately saved Pryor’s life. The second mishap occurred when Maj. Anderson’s men were firing a 100-gun salute to the flag before it was lowered during the surrender activities. On the 47^th discharge, a cannon exploded, shearing off the arm of Union Private Daniel Hough, killing him instantly. Private Hough was the first casualty of the Civil War. He was hastily buried at Sumter. The April 18, 1861 edition of the Memphis Appeal reports that the grave is near the center of the parade ground. The location of his grave is now unknown. It is believed that Hough’s mother, two sisters, and brother (William) lived in or near New York City in 1861. His family petitioned the US government to have his body returned from South Carolina to New York for a proper burial. It is possible that he was re-interred in the Ft. Moultrie burial ground on Sullivan's Island nearby. The location of this cemetery, however, is unknown today. His body may have been taken to the St. Lawrence Cemetery in Charleston. This cemetery has no records concerning Hough, however. If Hough's remains stayed at Ft. Sumter, it is highly possible that they were destroyed by the heavy Union bombardments of the fort during the Second Battle of Charleston Harbor in the Summer of 1863. Five other soldiers near Hough were wounded by the explosion. One of them – Edward Gallway – was taken to the Gibbes Hospital in Charleston, where he died five days later on April 19, 1861.

After the explosion of the gun, the salute was stopped at the 50^th firing. As the weary artillerymen passed silently out of the harbor, the Confederate soldiers lining the beaches removed their caps in salute. There was no cheering. The Civil War, by Shelby Foote. Volume 1: Secession to Fort Henry. P. 81.

It should be noted that Maj. Robert Anderson was a former graduate of West Point, as was P.G.T. Beauregard. Anderson was Beauregard’s military instructor at West Point, and recognized Beauregard as extremely talented in the areas of gunnery. Anderson liked Beauregard so much that he kept Beauregard at West Point for an extra year as his assistant. Anderson was from Kentucky and his family owned slaves, making him sympathetic toward the South. In 1860, Anderson stated, “In this controversy between the North and the South, my sympathies are entirely with the South.” When Anderson was at West Point, he became good friends with Jefferson Davis. This led Abner Doubleday - Anderson’s second in command - to question Anderson’s loyalty to the Union. Others saw Anderson as a hero.

On September 8, 1863, the Union forces under Major General Quincy Gillmore would again attempt to take Fort Sumter. P.G.T. Beauregard was once again in command of the Confederate forces. Nine gunboats pounded Sumter for 2 ½ hours, reducing it to rubble. Beauregard, anticipating a landing attempt by Gillmore’s forces, replaced the artillerymen and all but one of the fort’s guns with 320 infantrymen. The Union attack was repulsed and the Confederate Flag still waived over the fort.

On April 14, 1865, exactly four years from the date of the surrender of the fort, Robert Anderson (having been promoted from Major to Brigadier General) was invited to raise the same U.S. Flag that had been lowered on April 14, 1861 over the remains of Fort Sumter. Filled with emotion, Anderson held the flag up for all to see. He stood to speak and said “I thank God that I lived to see this day, and to be here, to perform this, perhaps the last act of my life, of duty to my country.” He was so overwhelmed that he could not raise the flag alone. With the help of his friend, police Sergeant Peter Hart and several sailors, the tattered flag was raised to the top of the flagstaff.

After the ceremonies, a great banquet was given at the Charleston hotel by the commanding general of now occupied Charleston. Of the many speeches and toasts during the three-hour dinner, the final toast was reserved for Anderson. As he raised his glass for the toast, Anderson said: “I beg you now, that you will join me in drinking to the health of another man whom we all love to honor, the man who, when elected President of the United States, was compelled to reach the seat of government with an escort, but now could travel all over the country with millions of hands and hearts to sustain him. I give you the good, the great, the honest man, Abraham Lincoln.” The Union Is Dissolved: Charleston and Fort Sumter in the Civil War. By Douglas W. Bostick. The History Press, Charleston, SC., 2009. P. 123. President Lincoln had been invited to attend the ceremonies that day at Fort Sumter, but chose not to, due to a promise to his wife to see Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theater.

*There have also been questions as to what Confederate soldier actually “pulled the trigger” of the first shot of the War. Confederate Captain George S. James at Fort Johnson gave the order to fire the first shot (which was a signal shell to be launched over Fort Sumter). The order was first given to Confederate Colonel Roger Atkinson Pryor, but he declined, saying “I could not fire the first gun of the war.” The order was then given to Lieutenant Henry Saxon Farley, who jerked the lanyard on the 10-inch mortar, launching a signal shell which burst over Sumter, signaling the opening of the Civil War. The first shot fired to actually strike Fort Sumter was claimed to have been fired from a Columbiad at the Iron Battery on Cummings Point, Morris Island by Confederate officer Edmund Ruffin, an outspoken secessionist. However, this claim is unsubstantiated.

**The shot fired by Ruffin hit the parapet and lodged in the wall about one foot from the head of Abner Doubleday, who retrieved the cannonball and then fired the first shot in defense of Fort Sumter. The cannonball was handed down in the Doubleday family for 123 years. In 1986 Betty Doubleday Frost, grand-niece of Abner Doubleday, donated this family treasure to the Polk County Historical Association Museum in Columbus so future generations could see it and perhaps reflect upon the four years of horrific conflict that followed.

Doubleday later described the scene at Sumter from the Confederate’s bombardment: “The roaring and crackling of the flames, the dense masses of whirling smoke, the bursting of the enemy’s shells and our own which were exploding in the burning rooms, the crashing of the shot, and the sound of masonry falling in every direction, made the fort a pandemonium. When at last nothing was left of the building but the blackened walls and smoldering embers, it became painfully evident that an immense amount of damage had been done.” The Civil War: A Nation Divided, by Don Nardo. Compass Point Books, Mankato, MD, 2011, Pp. 51-52.

Doubleday is more widely remembered as the supposed inventor of the game of baseball, in Elihu Phinney’s cow pasture in Cooperstown, New York in 1839. This is not conclusive, however, as part of the confusion could stem from there being another man by the same name in Cooperstown in 1839. At his death on January 26, 1893, Doubleday left many letters and papers, none of which describe baseball or give any suggestions that he considered himself a prominent person in the evolution of the game. Neither his New York Times nor his New York Tribune obituary mentions the game at all.

After the war, Doubleday spent much of his time writing. He published two important works on the Civil War: Reminiscences of Forts Sumter and Moultrie (1876), and Chancellorsville and Gettysburg (1882), the latter being a volume of the series Campaigns of the Civil War.

To read Reminiscences of Forts Sumter and Moultrie, CLICK HERE. If you had rather listen to Reminiscences of Forts Sumter and Moultrie, CLICK HERE.

Four of the upper-south states – Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina had initially rejected secession until the clash at Fort Sumter. On 04/15/1861, Lincoln called up 75,000 troops to stop the Southern rebellion. From 04/17/1861 to 05/20/1861, those 4 states seceded.

Virginia – Seceded 04/17/1861 (Referendum 05/23/1861)

Arkansas – Seceded 05/06/1861

Tennessee – Seceded 05/07/1961 (Referendum 06/08/1861)

North Carolina – Seceded 05/20/1861

There were 13 Confederate States. Neither Kentucky nor Missouri was declared in rebellion in Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. The Confederacy recognized pro-Confederate claimants in both Kentucky and Missouri and laid claim to those states, granting them Congressional representation and adding two stars to the Confederate flag. Voting for the representatives was mostly done by Confederate soldiers from Kentucky and Missouri. On October 31, 1861, part of Missouri unofficially seceded, forming the Provisional Government of Missouri at Neosho, and becoming the 12th State. In November, 1861, part of Kentucky also "unofficially" seceded, forming the Provisional Government of Kentucky at Russellville. Kentucky was admitted to the Confederacy on December 10, 1861, with its capital at Bowling Green. Despite their acceptance of slavery, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri did not officially secede to join the Confederacy. Although divided in their loyalties, a combination of political maneuvering and Union military pressure kept these states from officially seceding. Fifty (50) counties in Virginia decided to remain with the Union. West Virginia was admitted to the Union as a state on 06/20/1863.

Missouri – Recognized by the Confederacy as a Seceded State – 10/31/1861

 

 
Kentucky – Recognized by the Confederacy as a Seceded State – 12/10/1861
 

Civil War Information

Library of Congress

The History Place

Underground Railroad

The Three Flags That Flew Over the Confederacy

First Flag: The Stars and Bars

1^st Iteration – 03/04/1861 to 05/21/1861 – 7 Stars

2^nd Iteration – 05/21/1861 to 07/02/1861 – 9 Stars

3^rd Iteration – 07/02/1861 to 11/28/1861 – 11 Stars

4^th (Final) Iteration – 11/28/1861 to 05/01/1863 – 13 Stars

Second Flag: The Stainless Banner – 05/01/1863 to 03/04/1865

Third Flag: The Blood-Stained Banner – 03/04/1865 to 05/09/1865 (by Declaration) or to 06/22/1865 (Last Shot Fired)

Rebel Flag: The Current Confederate Battle Flag (St. Andrew’s Cross)

(This Flag NEVER flew over the Confederacy or over any Slave Ship – It is also known as the REBEL FLAG)

Recommended Confederate Reading Material

Were the Confederates Traitors for Seceding From the Union ?

Was Abraham Lincoln Really “The Great Emancipator?”

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