By ELMO SCOTT WATSON ECEMBER 25, 1860, was one of the most fateful Christmases in the his- tory of the United States, On that night 75 years ago a little force of soldiers stole quietly out of a fort, located on a sandy island outside an Atlantic seaport, entered boats and silently rowed across the water to the shelter of another fort in the middle of the entrance to the har- bor. Although their commander had a perfect right to lead his garrison from one fortification to the other, this move was fraught with the consequences, most serious For he was Robert Anderson, major of the First artillery of the United States army; the post which he evacuated was Fort Moultrie and the one he entered was Fort Sumter in the har- bor of Charleston, 8. C. Four months later a shot went screaming across the water of that harbor and when it struck Fort Sumter’s brick walls it set 2.000000 Americans against each other in the greatest civil war In history. » " * The story of the firing on Fort Sumter, the curtain-raiser to the drama of the War Between the States, is a familiar one to most Americans, for it is found in every school history ever pub- lished, ful Christmas nig opening of hostilities In April, well known. 3ut the story of the events on that fate- which led inevitably to the 15861, is not so tobert Anderson was a hentuckian who had been graduated from West Point in 1825, He had served with distinction in two Indian wars the Black Hawk in Hlinois In 1532 and the campalgns Seminoles in Florida later—and was promoted to captain in 1841. jutant-general to ly wounded in the attack on El Molino del Rey in the Mexican war and promoted to major In 1857. uprising against the Subsequently he served as assistant ad- , WAS severe. When he took command of the United States military post of Charleston harbor on November 20, 1860, the dispute over slavery between the North and the South had drifted inevitably. into the question of the right of a state to secede from the Union and he found himself in the hot- bed of the Secession movement-—South Carolina. That state's withdrawal from the Unlon seemed certain and when it did withdraw It was almost a certainty also that the South Carolinians would seize all United States property within the bor- ders of their state. Insofar as Anderson was a native of one slave state and connected by marriage with the of another, It was hoped by some that he would hand over the forts, which had been entrusted to him, to the South Carolinians, and it was feared by others that he would resign his commission and join the Secessionists, But, as later events proved, neither side understood the true character of the man. Ten days before the South Carolina conven tion took the final step of severing the bonds of that state with her sister states in the Union, Anderson busied himself strengthening the de fenses of both Fort Moultrie, which he had gar risoned, and Fort Sumter, which was also under his command, His force was a small one. It consisted of nine officers, 55 artillerymen, 15 musicians and 30 laborers—a total of 100, of which only 63 were combatants, With this little band he determined to defend the flag to which he had sworn allegiance and to maintain his post to the last, Watchful of all approaches to Fort Moultrie, after December 11 no one was admitted within the works unless he was known to some officer of the garrison. His justification for this action was the fact that the South Carolinians were arming and it seemed almost a certainty that they Intended to seize Forts Moultrie and Sumter and Castle Pinckney. On December 20 South Carolina adopted its Ordinance of Secession and the South Carolinians immediately began to act as though they were free citizens of another country. In fact, the Charleston papers, as an indication of the independence of their state, began announcing occurrences in the Northern states under the head of “foreign news" Soon volunteer troops began to pour into Charleston where thelr equipping and drilling began, Anderson was well aware of the danger and delicacy of his position. In a private letter which he wrote on December 24 he set forth the pre- carious nature of his position--with a garrison of only 60 men, in an uged fortress, the walls of which were only 14 feet high and within a hun- dred yards of sandhills which commanded the position and afforded good cover for sharpshooters to pick off his gunners, he confessed that “if attacked In force by any one but a simpleton, there Is scarce a possibility of our being able to hold out long enough for our friends to come to our succor.” people a WEA 05 a CE —— cs We Si Gen. Winfleld Scott, commander-in-chief of the United States army, was also aware of the situ- ation and declared that the fort conld be taken by 500 men in 24 hours. Both President Bu- chanan and John B. Floyd, secretary of war, were in a stafe of uncertainty as to what course to pursue in this crisis, Their Instructions to Anderson were to “cares fully avoid any act which would needlessly pro. voke aggression and not, without take any position the assumption of a hostile attitude.” however, direct him to forts in the Barbor, and If attacked, you are to defend yourself to the last extremity. The small ness of your force will not permit you, perhaps, tn occupy more than one of the three forts, but an attack on, or attempt to take possession of either of them, will be regarded as an act of hostility, and you may then put your command into either of them which you may deem most proper to increase its power of resistance. You are also authorized to take similar steps when- ever you have tangible evidence of a design to proceed to a hostile act” necessity, to that could be construed into They did, “hold possession of the It was that last sentence in his Instructions which gave Anderson the necessary latitude for making the move which he did. According to a contemporary historian: “Christmas day dawned upon Major Anderson under these circumstances and bound by these Instructions. It may be sup- posed that he was not in a festive mood; but, whatever his apprehensions or his purposes, he kept them to himself, | . . “During the day, the wives and children of the troops were sent away from the fort on the plea that, as an attack might be made upon It, their removal was necessary, Three small schooners were hired, and the few inhabiiants of Sullivan's island saw them loaded, as they thought, with beds, furniture, trunks and other luggage of that kind, “About nine o'clock In the evening, the men were ordered to hold themselves in marching order, with knapsacks packed, ready to move at 2 moment's notice. No one seemed to know the reason for the movement, and probably no one but Major Anderson himself and his next In command knew thelr destination. The little garrison was paraded, inspected and then em barked on boats which headed for Fort Sumter, “The schooners had taken, or then took, all the provisions, garrison furniture and munitions of war which could be carried away on such short notice, and with such slender means of transportation—enough to enable fourscore men A Fort Moultrie Cannon. (Fort Sumter in the Distance.) themselves in a strong, sea -girt fortress for a long time, What could pot be carried away was destroyed. Not a keg of powder or a cartridge was left in the mags- zine; the small arms and military supplies of all kinds were removed: the guns were spiked, the gun-carriages burned, and the guns thus dis- mounted ; partly-finished additions and aitera- tions of the work were destroyed; the flagstaff was cut down: and nothing, in fact, was left un. harmed but the round shot which were too heavy to carry off, and which the spiking and dismount. ing of the guns had made useless, to sustain and defend “The dawn saw Major Anderson safely estab lished with his command in Fort Sumter, secure from immediate attack, though Fort Moultrie was occupied only by a corporal’'s guard, left there to complete the work of destruction. He saw what a responsibility he had assumed, and fully appreciated the delicacy and the importance of the trust committed to him. Perhaps, if he conld have looked forward for three months and fore- seen all the consequences of his act during that period, he would have remained at Fort Moultrie until summoned to yield by a force too great for him to resist, or until he received orders to yield his post.” » * . Although Anderson and his men must have real. fzed the extreme gravity of the situation in which this move had placed them, this Christmas season was probably a happier one than they or any of their fellow-Americans, both North and South, were to know for the next four years, Despite the fact that South Carolina had seceded from the Unlon and that other southern states were ready to follow her lead, there was still the possibility that the threatened war might be averted. No doubt, in many a church and In many a home, both North and South, during that Christmas season 75 years ago, there were of- fered up prayers that the spirit of “peace on earth, good will to men” would prevail and save the nation from the horrors of a civil conflict, trol were at work in both the North and the caust and In April, 1861, the decisive step was taken, It was taken at Fort Sumter and it was the logical result of the events of that fateful Christmas night 75 years ago. Gen, P. T. Beaure. gard, commander of the Confederate forces In Charleston, called upon Major Anderson to sur. render Fort Sumter, Anderson refused and the Southern batteries opened fire. By the time an other Christmas had come hundreds of American boys had died and thousands more were to die before the Christmas bells were to ring out again their message of peace and good-will over a re united nation, © Western Newspaper Union. Appreciation of Beautiful Things | i Shown in Treatment That | Is Accorded Articles of Value. An appreciation of beautiful things | 18 not a matter of words, nor neces garily a matter of collecting the artl- | cles of merit, It these things, It shows itself in the | way in which articles are handled | pefore they are purchased, when | they belong to some one else, or are | merely being examined in a ehop. | The person who handles the articles | goes deeper than carelessly, does not appreciate them. | It is the care of choice pleces what- | ever they be, that gives evidence of true appreciation, Handsome Silk Textiles. Have you ever noticed how dress makers handle beautiful silk seem to manipulate the textile gers skim over butterfly brushes flower ly with his wings, tually express love of appreciation thus when quisite lifted lightly, tur: died so well laid down, it from rumples as when in the bolt, Beauty in Books. A person handles them almo wio To be careless with unthinkal over, pages 3 er is a ! n easily nor corners of pages folded down to way in which is expressive Books are laid Immost an the shelves o woving ly, so cherished Home Furnishings. homemaker who a Silver, an expect rial things reflect beauty are treated well there were q workmanship, pieces ele. treated ths ly gloomy and shining better, if wife's disposal to have put those she could The apprecia is sadly Ia © Beil 8 PEOPLE FEAR THE THINGS THEY DO The opera g forth in caused a panic on board a ship! beautiful volee of a ginger issuin gong Australia where an carrying explorers was recently an through a audience among whom it ran in terror from they did not understand. It may seem incomprehensible to us that a beautiful volce should in- still dislike or fear. Whatever the language of the song, you may say, is somethi who can hear—as the trilling of a bird must sound the same to men of any color and any language? But the beauty of the volce Is is something the natives do not un- derstand. For that reason it is an object of suspicion—and of fear. If we stop to think about it, it will surprise many of us to realize how much we have in common with those Australian natives In that we fre quently refuse to see beauty in the things we do not understand. We too are suspicious and fearful eof things we do not know. Most of the world’s bigotry and prejudice springs from ignorance. And many of us, if we but realized it, create a spectacle | those natives in panic over a beauti- | ful voice issuing from a gramophone when we condemn without investiga- tion from things which are new, things i which are different, ways to which | we are not accustomed, © Rell Ryndicate «WNT Service, Be sure to NAMI ADDRESS, Send your order Live Now ired years oh Quick, Safe Relief For Eyes Irritated By Exposure To Sun, Wind ond Dust — [A= FOR YOUR ah And Should Help We do not expect people to make the world heavenly, but endurable THEead ol e day found her tired out, nervous, headaches, ten with al Ee RE TTR Yoda rune mane T a 250 box Aid Inigestion | . ul $C RTT Sore, Irritated Skin Whersver it is—however broken the Resinol ions have found in Calotabs a yi wid in the treatment Second, Calotabs diuretic to the the elimination 32 purpose of and diuretic, are needed in the treatment de~ Ry aay at Calotabs are quite Ra
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