M aj o r R o b e r t A n d e r s o n
an d
F o r t S u m te r
1861
"y
Eb a An derson Law ton
the R R‘CRCtbOC RC I Dress
’
N ew "
19 11
ork
CO" "
R I G HT ,
av
E" A
E b: k
A ND E RSO N LA WTO N
nic hcrboc kc r
Dress . n ew
“
oth
m
—
Th e D efen c e of Fort Su mt er a
Re c ord o f th e A c tu al History
of
th e
Even ts
this the fiftieth anniversary of the D e
fe nce of F ort Sumter by M aj or R obert
An ders on I am writin g to pre sent for the
v ete ran s who have memory o f the even ts an d
for th e ge neration whi c h has grown u p since
th e W ar a correct narrative of what actuall y
h appene d and to correct various mi s state
ments and misapprehensions which have dur
in g the past half ce n tury been pe rmitted to
confuse the history
If the que stion were to day asked who was
Ge neral An ders on the answe r from many
c itize ns of thi s youn ger ge nerati on mi ght
”
e asily be I never he ard o f him
Others
would say :
H e was in command of F ort
”
Sumter " be su rrendered the Fort
The services of this American p atriot and
ON
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I
all
that he su fle re d for the cause of hi s idol
ize d country and in the fulfilment of his duty
to the Government hi s di gnified silence under
in gratitude and lack o f appre ciation his
modesty in leaving credit to be give n to others
for work planned and c arried out by himself
"
his self e fl ace me n t during the days of the
bombardment and during the later long
—
months of the War these are to be recorded
in the full Memoirs whi ch Will pre sent the
Life of R obert Ande rson told in his diary and
lette rs and which is shortly to be publi shed by
G P Putnam s Sons of New " ork an d
London The pre sent monograph has to do
simply with the record of Anders on s service
in F ort Moultrie and Fort Sumter and with
the replacin g of the flag over Sumte r in April
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1 8 65
.
t
is time that Ameri cans generall y and
particularly the young people of the present
generation should know something about the
real ch aracter an d servic e of this patriot an d
earne st Christian
It
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’
.
At the time Major Anderson who had just
been promoted to the First Artillery was
placed in command at Fort Moultrie he had
personal ac quaintance with none of the offi
c e rs at Moultrie
He found the Fo rt in a
dilapidated conditio n The garrison was ah
su rdly small and all the munitions w ere in a
condition of ch aos He re al ized that the peo
ple of Charleston were highly excited an d
that the autho rity of the United States was
likely to be assailed Anderso n at once made
a full report to Washi n gton and demanded
immediate re inforceme n ts
O n the 1 1 th of De c ember Ma or An der
son received instructions brought to him by
Ma or Bue ll which instructions were at on ce
comm itted to writing O n S unday the 23 d
a se aled letter was handed to him by Maj or
Withers As sistan t Adjutant General which
letter had been writte n by Floyd Secretary
of War The letter is reproduced in fac
simile with this
The re aders of to day will realize the in
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famy of the in struction s given to Major
An de r on by the ofi c ial in authority the S ec
retary o f War
The public orders were to
de fend the Fort to the las t extremity The
”
secret
confidential
order instructed the
Maj or to give up th e F ort without a fight
It i s an evidence of the loyal reticence of the
man th at he kept this secret to himself through
out hi s life
If Maj or Anderson had made public that
confidential order the whole condi tion of
affairs mi ght have bee n change d
It is probable th at the White Hous e would
have been mobbed and B uchanan the weak
kn eed Pre sident and Floyd and the other
men in authority who were traitors to their
oath would have bee n justly c alled to
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Major An derson had from his childhood
been brought up with a reverence and love
not onl y for his c oun try but for his Go vern
ment He had a full heritage of loyal patriot
ism for hi s father had bee n an officer in
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,
,
Washin gton s army and hi s mother was a
cousin of Chief " ustice Marsh all It was his
loyalty to the Government that kept him from
’
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i in 1 8 7
tter was published by my c ousin
An derson in Harper s Weekly " un e to 1 8 76
i
”
in first " ol War of the Rebellion ab out te n y ears afte r
His tory of th e
th e c lose of th e War and in " ol III Rhodes
a tes
Unite d S t
pub lishe d 1 89 5
Father d ed
C a pta n E L
1
is l
Th
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E" A AND ERSO N Lav rou
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prayer and under the divine guidance he
was able to e scape the snare that had been
set fo r him
On the 26 th of D ecemb er 1 8 6 0 he aban
doued Fort M oultrie and moved hi s force to
F ort Sumter and not until the order was
given to man the boats di d even his officers
kn ow of hi s intention At S umter the flag
in
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T
fam y of the in struction s given to Ma or
An derson by the ofi c ial in authority the S ec
re t
ary of War
The public orders were to
de fend the Fort to the last extremity The
”
secret
c onfidential
order in structed the
Maj or to give up the F ort without a fight
It is an evidence of the loyal reticence of the
man that he kept this se cret to himself through
out his life
If Major Anderson had made public that
c onfidential order the whole condition of
affairs might have been changed
It is probable that the White House would
have been mobbed and Buchanan the weak
kn eed President and Floyd and the other
men in authori ty who were traitors to their
oath would have been justly c alled to
account
Major An derson had from his childhood
been brought up with a reverence and love
not only for his country but for his G overn
ment He had a full heritage of loyal patriot
ism for his father had bee n an officer in
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,
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,
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,
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Washin gton s army and his mother was a
cousin of Chief " ustice Marshall It was his
loyalty to the Government that kept him from
allowin g anythi ng to b e kn own of this in
famous order because he realiz ed that any
such kn owledge could only have brought the
Go vernment into c ontempt
No one but his
Fathe r in Heaven knew of this dastardly at
tempt that had been made t o brand him in the
eyes of the world as a trai tor to his trust and to
the Governmen t which would of course have
denoun ced him had he obeyed the confide ntial
order
In this emergen cy An derson turned to God
in prayer and un der the divin e guidance he
was able to escape the snare that had been
set for him
On the 26 th of D ecember 1 8 6 0 he aban
doued F ort Moultrie and moved his force to
F ort S umter an d not until the order was
given to man the boats did even his officers
know of his intention At S umter th e flag
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was raise d with prayer
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T
famy of the instructions given to Maj or
An derson by the ofi c ial in authority the S ec
re tary of War
The public orders were to
defend the Fort to the las t extremity The
”
se cret
confidential
order in structed the
Ma or to give up the F ort without a fight
It is an evidence of the loyal reticence of the
man that he kept this secret to himself through
out his life
If Ma or An derson had made public that
confi dential order the whole condition of
affairs might have been changed
It is probable that the White H ouse would
have been mobbed and Buchanan the weak
kn eed President and Floyd and the other
men in authority who were traitors to their
oath would have been justly called to
account
Major An derson had from his childhood
been brought up with a reverence and love
not onl y for his country but for his G overn
ment He had a full heritage of loyal patriot
ism for hi s father had been an officer in
,
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.
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.
,
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,
,
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,
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,
,
Washingt on s army and his mother was a
cousin of Chief " ustice Mar shall It was his
loyalty to the Go vernment that kept him from
allowin g an ythi ng to b e kn own of this in
famous order because he realiz ed that any
such kn owledge could only have brought the
No one but his
Government into contempt
Fath er in Heaven knew of thi s dastardly at
tempt that had been made to brand him in the
eyes o f the world as a trai tor to his trust and to
the Governmen t which would of course have
denoun ce d him had be obeyed the confidential
order
In this emergen cy An derson turned to Go d
in prayer an d un der the di vine guidance he
was able to escape the snare that had been
’
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set for
him
.
On the 26 th of Decemb e r 1 8 6 0 he aban
done d F ort Moultrie an d moved his force to
F ort S umter and not un til the order was
given to man the boats di d even his officers
kn ow of his inte ntion At S umter the flag
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,
.
was raised with prayer
.
famy of the in structions given to Maj or
An de rson by the ofi cial in authority the Sec
ary of War
re t
The public orders were to
defend the Fort to the last extremity The
”
secret
confidential
order instructed th e
Maj or to give up the F ort without a fight
It is an evidence of the loyal reticence of the
man that he kept this secret to himself through
out his life
If Ma or Anderson had made public that
confidential order the whole condi tion of
aff airs might have been changed
It is probable that the White House would
have been mobbed an d Buchanan the weak
kn eed President and Floyd and the other
men in authority who were traitors to their
oath would have been justly called to
account
Major An derson had from his childhood
been brought up with a re ve re n c c and love
not only for hi s coun try but for his G overn
ment He had a full heritage of loyal patriot
ism for his father had b ee n an officer in
,
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’
Washington s army and his mother was a
cousin of Chie f " ustice Marshall It was his
loyal ty to the Government that kept him from
.
famous order because he re alized th at any
such kn owledge could only have brought the
G overnment in to c ontempt
No one but his
Father in H eaven knew of thi s dastardly at
tempt that h ad been made to brand him in the
eyes of the world as a traitor t o his trust an d to
the Go vern men t which would of course have
denoun ce d him had he obeyed the co nfidential
order
In this emergen cy Anderson turned to God
in prayer an d un der the di vin e guidanc e he
was able to escape the sn are that had b een
,
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the 26 th of D ec emb e r 1 8 6 0 he aban
doued Fort Moultrie an d moved his force to
F ort Sumter and not until the order was
given to man th e boats di d even his officers
kn ow o f his inten tion At Sumter the flag
On
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,
,
.
was
raise d with prayer
,
.
famy of the in structions given t o Major
Anderson by the official in auth ority the S ec
ary o f W ar
The public orders were to
re t
de fen d the Fort to the
The
,
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6‘
kn eed President and Floyd an d the other
men in authority who were traitors to their
oath would have bee n justly called to
accoun t
Major An derson had from his childhood
been brought up with a reverence and love
not only for hi s c ountry but for his G overn
ment He had a full heri tage of loyal patriot
ism for hi s father had bee n an office r in
,
,
,
.
,
,
.
,
,
Washin gton s army and his mother was a
cousin of Chi ef " ustice Marshall It was his
loyalty to the Government that kept him from
allowin g anything to be kn own of this in
famous order because he realize d that any
such knowledge could only have brought the
No one but his
G overnment into contempt
Fath er in Heaven knew of thi s dastardly at
tempt that h ad been made to brand him in the
eyes of the world as a traitor to his trust and to
the Governmen t which woul d o f course have
denoun ce d him had he obeye d the confidential
’
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,
In this emergen cy An derson turned to Go d
in prayer and un der the di vin e guidance he
was able to escape the snare that had been
set for him
On the 26th of December 1 8 6 0 he aban
done d Fort M oul trie and moved his force to
F ort Sumter and not until the order was
given to man the boats did even his officers
kn ow of his intention At S umter the flag
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was raise d with prayer
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Promptly from Washington came a tele
gram which with answer is presented below :
,
R EC E I "
"
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To
CH
ED AT
M
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MA"
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"
ARLES TO N
TE LEGRA"
,
D EC 27 , 1 8 6 0,
AT
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WAe
H F RO M
Rn AN D ERS O N , U
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S
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A
2
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O C Loc x
N GTO N ,
27 T H,
.
MO U LTEIE
F O ET
.
Intelligence has reached here this morn
ing that you have abandoned Fort Moul trie
spiked your guns burnt the c arri ages and
gone to Fort Sumter It is not believed be
cause there is n o order for any such movement
E xplain the meaning of this report
" B F L O" D
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S ec y
r
a
W
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The telegram is c om e t I
abandoned Fort Moul trie because I was cer
tain that if attacked my men must have been
sacrificed and the command of the harbor lost
I spiked the guns and destroyed the carriages
to keep the guns from being used against us
A ns we r :
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If attacked the garrison would
surrendere d without a fight
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M aj or
FO RT S U MTE R S
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C
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I st A rty
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D e c 27 ,
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On the back of the te le g ram is written by
M aj or An de rs on the rough draft o f his re
ply I t is inte resting to note in conn ection
with Floyd s order An ders on s an swer that
the garri son would never have surren dere d
”
without a fight
Thi s is the officer who by
s ome was stigmatize d as not loyal to the
Un ion
There are few parallel cas es in his
tory Many men have di ed for their coun try
but few have been so devoted in th eir loyalty
as to be pre pared even at the ri k of lo ss of
reputation to protec t their gove rnment from
conte mpt The flag staff at Fort Moultrie
where " asper in the old days had rai sed the
national flag was c ut down by the order of
Major Anderson who said N o other flag
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but the S tars
”
that stafi
an d
Stripes shall ever float from
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the obituary notices that came
in to print after An derson s death an officer
raise s the cl ai m that he h ad advise d An derson
to tran s fer his force from M oultrie to Sumter
A le tter from this s ame office r will be given in
the forthcomin g M emoir an d th e world will
be able to judge between the words that were
given be fore an d those written after the death
In
one
of
’
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,
Further evidence in re gard to the re spon
n
sibilit
f
o
r
the
t
s
f
e
r
is
giv
e
n
the
le
tt
er
r
a
n
i
y
here cite d from Maj or Anderson to his wife :
F O RT S U M TER, S
“
8
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M
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D ec
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26 , 1 8 60
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Th anks be to Go d I give them with my
whole he art for His having given me the will
he way to brin g my comm an d
and shewn me t
to this F ort I can now breathe freely The
whole force of S Carolina would not ven
ture to attack us Our crossing was ae com
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be twe en six and eight o clock I am
s atisfie d that the re was no suspicion of what
we were goin g to do I have no doubt that
the new s o f what I have don e will be t ele
e
i
w
r
ph
e
t
o
o
rk
th
s
nig
h
t
W
e
a
w
"
s
a
d
N
g
signal rockets thrown up all aroun d just as
our last boat came over I have n ot time to
—
wri te more as I must make my re po rt to th e
Ad Ge n"
Praise be to God for His
merciful kin dn ess to us
I think th at the
whole coun try North an d S outh should thank
”
Him for this ste p
s
h
e
d
li
p
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Duri ng we ary month s with n o instruo
tions or no comprehensible instructions from
the Government An derson was left to his own
res ponsibility The harb or was closed s o
that no rein forcements could reach him
Provisions from Charleston were stopped an d
batteries were erected around the doomed fo rt
An derson was as he pitifully expre ssed it like
a sheep tie d watchi ng the butcher sharpenin g
”
a knife to cut his throat
By orders sub se
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IO
quently rec eived he had been forbidden to o pen
fire unl ess Fort S umte r was actuall y attacked
A devoted fri e nd wrote Maj or An derson
—
that he had heard from C olonel Lamon who
had been se nt from Washing ton to rep o rt on the
—
condition of a ffairs that he inte nde d to blow
up the F ort I quote part of hi s an swer :
I do not o f course know what te rms Col
one l L am on u se d in re peating th e decl aration
re fe rre d to
S o great was the excite ment in
S Carolin a against this command when I
came into th is Fort and for weeks afterwards
that I was satisfied that if attacke d and over
come nota soul would have been le ft alive and
I di d duri n g that time s ay more than once
that rather than let my garrison sn fle r that
fate I woul d blow up the Fort as they entered
the wal ls and all who might b e in it I told
C olonel Lamon that I had made that remark
Cut O E from all intercourse with my G ov
ern me n t I have b een comp ell e d to ac t acco rd
in g to th e dictate s of my own judgment and
h ad the contin gency referred to arise n I
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II
s hould after praye rfufly appeal in g to God
to teac h me my duty have c hee rqy an d
promptly performe d it
" ou have not time my dear Ge neral t o
read nor have I time to detail the delic ate
an d important p oints whi ch have aris en sinc e
I have been in this harbour I have tried to
perform al l my duty and I trust that I have
by the bles sin g of God so ac ted that the most
s earchin g investigation s hall show that I have
done nothin g amiss
I must say that I think the Gov has
—
l eft me too much to myself has not given
me in structions even when I have asked for
—
them and that responsibilities of a higher and
m ore delicate charac te r have devolved upon
—
me than was pm pe r and I frankly say that
su ch i s the fact at this pre sent moment
Were it not for my humble but firm re
lian ce up on G od my h ear t would have no
—
spring no hope but I know that He will
in H is own time dispel the cloud s which now
”
hang over our Country and give u s Light
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12
Offers came from the Confe derate author
ities to this comman der seemingly aban don ed
,
by his Go vernmen t which allowed him to
withdraw his garrison taking with him all
the pro pe rty public and pri vate an d saluting
his flag
The promi se was given that the
garri son would be sent to any point of the
United S tate s th at An derson might s elect
This Offer was respectfully declined Ander
son stood undaun te d firm in his faith th at God
woul d show the way
On the morning of the 1 2th of April just
fifty ye ars ago the r eb el force about te n thou
s and strong opened fire upon the devote d
garrison which compri sed in all office rs non
commi ssioned office rs privates an d th e h and
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some sixty men
After a glorious resistance the F o rt
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w as
evac uated " the te rms of evacuation being the
same that h ad been o ffered
refuse d a few
days before
That flag which has b een
raised with prayer sh all never be lowered
.
,
except with honor
”
.
an d
I4
S TEArrs a
Apri l 1 8, 1 861
"
ALTI C
A M
.
.
HOO "
S AND"
on
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,
vi a
Ne w "
,
ork
.
Havin g defended F ort S umte r for thirty
four hours un til the quarte rs were entirely
burned the main gate s de stroyed by fire the
s
o
rg
e
wall
s
e
i
o
s
ly
impai
e
d
mag
i
e
u
t
h
e
r
r
a
z
n
g
surroun de d by flames an d its door closed
from the e fle c ts of th e he at four barre ls an d
three cartridges o f powde r onl y bein g avail
able an d n o provi si on s re mainin g but po rk
I ac c epte d term s of evacuation ofi e re d by
Ge ne ral B eaure gard "being the s ame O ffere d
by him on the 1 1 th instant pri or to th e c om
me n ce me nt of hos tilitie s " an d marche d out of
the Fort on Sun day aftern oon the 1 4th in
stant with colors flyin g and drums beatin g
bringing away company and private property
and saluting my flag with fifty guns
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RO " ERT A N DERsO N ,
M aj or
H O N S I M O N CAM E RON
.
S e c re tary
F irst A rtill ery
,
,
r
W
a
f
o
7
,
Washing ton D C
,
.
”
.
IS
His heal th was completely shattered
from the fearful responsibility resting upon
him for so many months acting upon a con
stit
ut
ion enfeebled from want of food and
sleep But when the Legislature of " entucky
notified him through the P re sident that he
was the only Union officer whom the State
would allow to raise troops within her terri
to ry he answered the call He did not care
or think of himself his whole heart and soul
were absorbed in his determination to save his
”
State from the sin o f secession an d be se
complished the task
After organizing the
Army of the Cumberland and leavin g his old
Lieuten ants Thomas and Sherman to go on
—
with the work then and not un til then was
he forced to ask to be relieved He was never
after that date on active servic e But what
a glorious war record " H e save d his coun
try s honor in Charleston Harbor and kept
old " entucky 9 Union State
I want also to emphasize with the re aders
of this generation ce rtain things that were
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16
fully un derstood by me n whose loyalty
was o f a less exalted type than that which char
e rize d An de rso n
ac t
H e was bo rn in " e n
tucky butthe early influences that su rrounded
him were all in favor of the suppo rt o f the
Union Anderson knew no N orth and no
South Whe n still youn g he left home for
West P oint an d from the time O f his entry
in to th e army to the close O f his service his
duties had carried him into nearly every part
o f the United State s
H e was nothing of a politician He never
vote d in hi s life having an old fashioned idea
that a s oldier owed his allegiance to the Gov
e rnme n t no matt er o f what party
and that
there fo re be had no business to have any
p olitical bias
His fe eling about the duty of a s oldie r
c an b e wel l illustrated by his remarks to
an oflice r from the South who said that
while he loved the flag he loved his State
better an d who had convince d himself that
his duty l ay with his State Maj or An der
n ot
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son s reply was :
The s election of the
place in which w e were born was not an ac t of
our own volition " but whe n we took the oath
of allegian ce to our G ove rnment it was an
ac t of our manhood an d that o ath we cann o t
”
break
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An expre ssion has been quo ted by some who
coul d not understand his absolute devotion to
th e cause of the Union
The words we re :
My heart is not in thi s war
I quote what
my father often said an d what he felt from
his ve ry hear t His love was for the whole
country
O u r Southern brethre n have done grie v
ou sly wrong the y have re be ll ed and have at
tacked their father s house and the ir loyal
brothers
They must be punished an d
brought back but thi s nece ssity breaks my
”
he art
Is this loyalty or treason "
On the 1 4th of April 1 8 6 5 the origin al
flag which had be en taken down by Major
Anderson was again rais ed by himover the
I give a facsimil e of
r uins o f Fort S umte r
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the order for the raising
That flag now
rests in a glas s case in the Office O f the
S ecretary Of War in Washin gton with this
inscri ption :
.
Thi s flag floated over Fort Sumte r S outh
Carolin a during the bombardme n t April 1 2th
an d 1 sth 1 8 6 1
an d up o n the evacu ation of
the fort April 1 4th 1 8 6 1 was saluted and
lowere d by Ma or Robert Anderson First
U S Artill ery C ommanding On April
1 4th 1 8 6 5 Brevet Maj or Ge ne ral An derson
rai sed this same flag and plan te d it upon the
ruins of F ort S umter when it was s alute d
by one hundre d guns and by a National
sal ute from every fo rt and batte ry that fired
”
upon Fo rt S umter
To all children o f the pre sent day I com
mit thi s brief sketch of the service s rendered
by Ma or An derson to his coun try during the
bombardment of F ort S umte r L et his ex
ample o f devotion as a Christian a s a soldi er
an d as a patriot b e for you a g uide an d in
Never forget that this Christian
ive
c en t
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