40 FIRST STEPS TOWARDS SECESSION. that no war would follow the act of secession, for a large portion of the north, they alleged, sympathized with them, and denounced, as bitterly as they did, the sectional, aggressive action of the republicans, and would never permit them to hold their power by force of arms. This was unquestionably true at the time. To all they said that submission now was vassalage forever. Meanwhile the whole south was tossed on a sea of agitation, some wishing to delay final action till there could be a convention of all the southern states, so as to secure harmony, others declaring that delay would give the north time to organize and consolidate its power. CHAPTER II. DECEMBER, 1860-APRIL, 1861. SOUTH CAROLINA TAKES THE LEAD-RECEPTION SOUTH OF ITS ACT OF SE- COMMISSIONERS-FORT SUMTER S SOUTH CAROLINA, with her accustomed arrogance and pride, cut the Gordian Knot, and in the latter part of December, declared herself a free and independent State. When the news was received at Mobile, a hundred guns were fired, and a military parade ordered in honor of the event. At New Orleans, the thunder of cannon, singing of the Marsellaise, and the unfurling of the Pelican flag, attested the excitement of the people; while secession flags were hoisted and meetings held over all the south. The State immediately took steps to get possession of the national forts in its borders. In the mean time, Major Anderson, commander of the forts in the Charleston harbor, having but a handful of men under him, and seeing that fort Moultrie, in which the garrison was quartered could not resist an attack of land forces, quietly withdrew on the night of the 28th of December, and took possession of fort Sumter, situated on an island near by, and considered well nigh impregnable. Great fears before this had been entertained for his safety-some even doubting his loyalty, he being a Kentuckian. This masterly move electrified the nation, while its open confession that civil war was inevitable, created the most profound sensation throughout 42 RESIGNATION OF SOUTHERNERS. the country. The south was loud in its denunciations of this act, declaring that he was guilty of inaugurating hostilities, while from the north, one shout of approval went up, showing the readiness of the people to sustain the government in defending its rights. John B. Floyd immediately resigned his position as Secretary of War, on the ground that the President had broken his promise, that no movement should be made in Charleston, while negotiations were pending for the adjustment of difficulties. The South Carolina troops then took possession of the arsenal of the city, containing many stand of arms and a large quantity of military stores, while strong fortifications were ordered to be erected around fort Sumter. The new year opened gloomy enough. Southern members of Congress had begun to resign their seats-the wildest excitement was sweeping the Gulf states, and before the rising storm, the general government seemed crumbling to atoms. Buchanan having surrounded himself with southern advisers, and lacking both the firmness and resolution necessary to a chief executive in such trying circumstances, vacillated, temporised and delayed-thus strengthening the confidence of the conspirators, and discouraging the loyal men of the north. Added to all this, the feeling of the north was divided. The exasperated feelings that had attended the campaign of the fall previous, had not yet subsided, and thousands were willing that an administration, which they asserted was coming into power on a sectional issue, and which had been pushed directly in the face of the very troubles which now threatened the Republic, should be hampered and if needs be, overthrown. All was confusion, doubt, and anger, and the nation reeled to and fro on the surging, conflicting elements of popular passion. Between those at the north, anxious only for the preservation of party, and those reckless of consequences in their U. S. MINT AT NEW ORLEANS. 43 fierce indignation against those who from mere political ambition they said had brought about this appalling state of things, and those who had foreseen and foretold all this, and now looked on in still despair, there seemed no hope for the Republic. South, also, there was almost equal distraction and division; for between the better class of people, still adhering to the old government, or at all events unwilling to hazard the experiment of inaugurating a new one, and those intent on dissolution, there seemed to be an irreconcilable antagonism. The southern leaders, alone, appeared calm and resolute, and pursued the course they had marked out with unfaltering determination. In the mean time, troops were drilling in the various southern states, and state after state went out of the Union, and ranged itself under the leadership of South Carolina. The Governor of North Carolina, celebrated the incoming year by the seizure of fort Macon at Beaufort, the forts at Wilmington, and the United States arsenal at Fayetteville; and the Governor of Georgia by the seizure of fort Pulaski. Southern Commissioners were sent to Washington to consult with the government, and to the border states to secure their co-operation. The North Carolina troops took possession of forts Caswell and Johnson, and Secretary Thompson resigned his seat in the Cabinet. The Mississippi state convention passed the ordinance of secession, followed by Florida, and fort Barrancas, and the navy yard at Pensacola fell into the possession of the state troops. Louisiana soon followed, completing her ignominy by seizing the United States mint, and subtreasury at New Orleans, in which were a half a million of dollars. In the mean time, the steamer Star of the West, sent to reinforce fort Sumter, was fired into in the bay of Charleston, and was compelled to return amid the suppressed murmurs of the people. The Little Rock arsenal with its munitions of war was seized by the state troops of Arkansas, and by the latter 44 THE NORTH DIVIDED. end of February, a Southern Confederacy was formed and a provisional government established at Montgomery, Alabama, at the head of which was placed Jefferson Davis as President. As the time drew near for the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln, and the assumption of the government by the republican party, the southern conspirators seemed to redouble their energy, for they knew that their career, which thus far had been smooth and unobstructed, would meet with a sudden check. In the mean time, the appointment of Mr. Holt of Kentucky, as Secretary of War, and Mr. Dix of New York, of the Treasury, in the places of Thompson and Floyd, arrested the government in its downward rush, infused some little life, and seeming patriotism into Mr. Buchanan, and erected a sort of breakwater, to check the devastating flow of the waves of sedition. General Twiggs, commanding the department of Texas, was dismissed from the United States service, for having surrendered the military posts and other property under his charge to the state authorities, and the most peremptory orders were issued by Mr. Dix to national officers in the southern states. The revolt of South Carolina, at the first, had awakened very different feelings in different classes at the north. The more thoughtful saw in it the beginning of evils, the end of which no man could foresee. Others, who had learned to despise this splenetic, captious, and disloyal state, only laughed at it, as an ebullition to be expected, and that would soon subside. But as the revolt rapidly spread, all saw that an abyss was opening under the nation, which would require the most consummate prudence to span. It is necessary now to go back a little to the meeting of Congress in December. Most of the southern members took their seats as usual. It was evident, however, that they had done this, not to allay excitement, or adjust difficulties, or even to obtain redress of grievances; but to endeavor to influence |