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.”
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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,
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