THE "STAR OF THE WEST."
Promise of Succor;--Fatal Delay.--A Contumacious Chaplain.--Visit
from our Ladies.--Governor Pickens's Cabinet.--Appearance of the
_Star of the West_.--The Vessel fired upon from Morris Island and
Fort Moultrie.--Major Anderson's Protest.--Governor Pickens's
Reply.
About the close of the year a great fear fell upon Charleston, for they
had received positive information that a United States naval vessel was
on its way to the city. The President had indeed acted promptly. On the
31st of December, he ordered the _Brooklyn_, man-of-war, under Captain
Farragut, to take three hundred veteran soldiers on board from Fortress
Monroe, as a re-enforcement for us, and then proceed to Charleston
harbor to drive out the State troops, and resume possession of the
public property. General Scott, the commander-in-chief, assented to the
arrangement at the time; but, unfortunately, he was afterward seized
with doubts as to whether the withdrawing of so many men from Fortress
Monroe might not endanger its safety; and that being a far more
important work than Fort Sumter, he did not like to run any risk in
relation to it. He therefore induced Mr. Buchanan to change the order,
and substitute for the _Brooklyn_ a merchant vessel, loaded with
supplies and two hundred and fifty recruits.[9] This was a fatal error,
for the steamer chosen, the _Star of the West_, was, from its nature,
wholly unfitted to contend with shore batteries. The general, who at
this time was quite pacifically inclined, may have thought that if this
vessel could slip in, and land its cargo unawares, he would have secured
the harbor of Charleston without increasing the war fever in the South.
Be this as it may, there is no doubt that his policy was too peaceful in
the early days of the war. When a company of the most distinguished men
in Washington was formed, under Cassius M. Clay, to prevent the capture
of the President, and the destruction of the public buildings, he gave
positive orders to Senator Nye, who was on duty at the Navy-yard, not to
fire upon the enemy in case they came there to take possession.
The original plan to succor us was excellent: the substitute was an
utter failure. A change of this kind always occasions more or less
delay, and in the present instance nearly a week elapsed before the
vessel left New York. The enemy took immediate advantage of the time
thus gained, to put up a work to control the main channel which passes
by Morris Island, and which had previously been wholly unobstructed.
They received the telegraphic notice on the 31st of December that a
man-of-war would be sent, and the very next day the cadets of the
Citadel Academy were hard at work at the new battery. It was located so
that it would command the channel, and at the same time be beyond the
reach of our guns. The day was cold and rainy, and the wind blew
fiercely. We wondered how long those boys would keep up their enthusiasm
amidst the hardships and trials of the real war which was now fast
approaching.
Our chaplain, who had been present at the raising of the flag, and had
then returned to his family in Moultrieville, desired to make us another
visit. For this purpose, he called upon the rebel commander at Fort
Moultrie, and asked if there would be any obstacle thrown in the way of
his crossing over to see us. The answer was, "Oh no, parson; I think I
will give you a pass." The chaplain replied, "I did not ask you for a
pass, sir! I am a United States officer, and I shall visit a United
States fort whenever I think proper, without asking your permission. I
simply desire to know whether you intend to prevent my going by force."
He was not allowed to cross; and as he soon gave new proofs of contumacy
by persisting in praying for the President of the United States, when
asked to hold services in the chapel, before the rebel soldiers, he was
soon banished, and his property confiscated.
The ladies we had left behind naturally felt a strong-desire to be with
us once more. My wife did not wish to ask permission of the rebel
authorities, and I saw little chance of her coming in any other way.
Nevertheless, to my surprise, she made her appearance at the wharf at
Fort Sumter on the afternoon of the 3d of January. It seems she found a
boat-load of laborers about to make the passage, for the purpose of
obtaining their back pay from Captain Foster. She took a seat in the
stern of the boat, and told them to take her with them. The sentinel who
was there to examine the passes did not interfere or ask her any
questions, so she came over without difficulty. Mrs. Foster and her
sister, Mrs. Smith, were already with us, having obtained a permit from
the governor. Mrs. Seymour had made an unsuccessful application to the
commander of Fort Moultrie, and had been somewhat rudely refused. Two
clever little boys, sons of our generous-hearted sutler, Dan Sinclair,
volunteered to row her across. After dark, they pulled a boat out from
under a house up the beach; and as there was no guard there, Mrs.
Seymour came over without difficulty.
The ladies were desirous of remaining an indefinite length of time; but
we had no means of making them comfortable, and Major Anderson thought
their presence would merely add to our embarrassment. In accordance with
his wishes, they left that night and the next day. The cold was intense,
and as all the wood was retained for cooking purposes, I was obliged to
split up a mahogany table for fuel, to keep my wife from suffering
during her brief visit. She and Mrs. Seymour went back with the Sinclair
boys at midnight. They succeeded in making a landing, and in reaching
the chaplain's house without being observed.
In the mean time, an amusing scene had occurred there. A very chivalrous
gentleman, Ex-Governor Means, of South Carolina, had learned in some
way that Mrs. Seymour had been rudely refused permission to visit her
husband in Fort Sumter. He thought this action of the commandant of Fort
Moultrie harsh and unnecessary, and was kind enough to take the trouble
to call at the chaplain's house to assure Mrs. Seymour that he would
procure her a pass from higher authority. The chaplain hardly knew how
to act. He did not like to tell the ex-governor that Mrs. Seymour had
already gone, for fear it might get the Sinclair boys into trouble. He
therefore pretended that Mrs. Seymour was confined to her room with a
sick-headache. The ex-governor sent in repeated messages to beg that she
would see him, if it was only for a moment, but the answers made up by
Mrs. Harris were invariably in the negative. The chaplain afterward
laughed heartily at the equivocal position he had been forced to assume.
Now that we were alone once more, we went to work with a will. The
Baltimore laborers were of inestimable value. They did an immense amount
of labor in the way of mounting guns, and moving weighty materials from
one part of the work to another; but they showed no inclination to take
part in the fighting, should any occur.
On the 3d, the South Carolina commissioners finally shook off the dust
from their feet, and left Washington, having utterly failed to
accomplish the object of their mission.
On the same day, the governor, through Mr. Gourdin's[10] influence,
permitted us to receive our mails once more. By this date we had mounted
all the guns we were able to man on the lower tier, and had bricked up
the surplus windows, sally-ports, and embrasures, as we had no one to
guard them. The enemy, in the mean time, had erected a battery at Fort
Johnson, and marked out another directly opposite to us in
Moultrieville.
On the 6th, the mayor of New York, Fernando Wood, promulgated a message
to the effect that the Union was breaking up, and recommending that the
city of New York secede from the State. At this time the seeming
indifference of the politicians to our fate made us feel like orphan
children of the Republic, deserted by both the State and Federal
administrations.
On the same day, Governor Pickens graciously allowed Mrs. Anderson to
visit her husband, but coupled the permission with the ungenerous
stipulation that the interview must take place in presence of witnesses.
He disliked very much to disoblige her, as she belonged to one of the
most distinguished families of Georgia, and had many influential
relatives among the Secessionists. Mr. Gourdin too, who was a warm
personal friend of her husband, exerted himself in her behalf. While she
herself displayed great patriotism, several of her brothers in the final
attack on Fort Sumter were on the opposite side, fighting against her
husband. Under the circumstances, her visit to us was a brief one. She
brought a valuable addition to the fort in the shape of Peter Hart, a
gallant and trustworthy man, who had been Anderson's orderly sergeant in
Mexico. She felt much easier in her mind, now that the major had Hart to
look after him. He was only permitted to join us on condition that his
duties were to be those of a civilian, and not of a soldier.
On the 8th, the governor, who, like Louis XIV., might very readily have
said, "_L'etat, c'est moi!_" concluded to form a cabinet to assist him
in his onerous duties. He accordingly appointed J.G. Magrath Secretary
of State; D.F. Jamison, Secretary of War; C.G. Memminger, Secretary of
the Treasury; A.C. Garlington, Secretary of the Interior; and W.H.
Harlee, Postmaster-general.
On the same day, our ladies, who had assembled at the Mills House, in
Charleston, left for the North in a body, on account of the state of
public feeling in the city.[11]
Their presence with us threw a momentary brightness over the scene, but
after their departure every thing looked more gloomy and disheartening
than before. The fort itself was a deep, dark, damp, gloomy-looking
place, inclosed in high walls, where the sunlight rarely penetrated. If
we ascended to the parapet, we saw nothing but uncouth State flags,
representing palmettos, pelicans, and other strange devices. No echo
seemed to come back from the loyal North to encourage us. Our glasses in
vain swept the horizon; the one flag we longed to see was not there. It
did come at last, in a timid, apologetic way, and not as a
representative of the war power of the Government.
We had seen a statement in a Northern paper that a steamer named the
_Star of the West_, which belonged to Marshall O. Roberts, was to be
sent to us, under command of Captain John M`Gowan, with a re-enforcement
of several hundred men and supplies of food and ammunition; but we could
not credit the rumor. To publish all the details of an expedition of
this kind, which ought to be kept a profound secret, was virtually
telling South Carolina to prepare her guns to sink the vessel. It was
hard to believe the Government would send to us a mercantile steamer--a
mere transport, utterly unfitted to contend with shore batteries--when
it could dispatch a man-of-war furnished with all the means and
appliances to repel force by force. As the insurgents at this period had
but few field-guns, and a very scanty supply of cannon-powder, the
_Brooklyn_ alone, in my opinion, could have gone straight to the wharf
in Charleston, and have put an end to the insurrection then and there;
for we all know what its distinguished captain, Farragut, was able to
accomplish when left to his own resources.
It seems, however, the news was literally true. The expedition was
fitted out by Lieutenant Washington A. Bartlett, an ex-officer of our
navy.[12]
Although I had little faith in the announcement, I scanned with
increased interest every vessel that approached the harbor.
Soon after daylight, on the morning of the 9th, I was on the parapet
with my spy-glass; for I fancied, from a signal I had observed the
previous evening on a pilot-boat, that something must be coming. As I
looked seaward, I saw a large steamer pass the bar and enter the Morris
Island channel. It had the ordinary United States flag up; and as it
evidently did not belong to the navy, I came to the conclusion it must
be the _Star of the West_. I do not remember that any other officers
were on the lookout at this time. Anderson himself was still in bed.
When the vessel came opposite the new battery, which had just been built
by the cadets, I saw a shot fired to bring her to. Soon after this an
immense United States garrison-flag was run up at the fore. Without
waiting to ascertain the result of the firing, I dashed down the back
stairs to Anderson's room, to notify him of the occurrence. He told me
to have the long roll beaten, and to post the men at the guns on the
parapet. I ran out, called the drummers, and had the alarm sounded. It
took but a few minutes for men and officers to form at the guns in
readiness for action. The battery was still firing, but the transport
had passed by, and was rapidly getting out of range. At the same time it
was approaching within gun-shot of Fort Moultrie. The latter immediately
opened fire from one or two guns. Anderson would not allow us to return
this fire; and the captain of the vessel, wholly discouraged by our
failure to respond, turned about, and made his way back to New York. Two
shots had struck the steamer, but no essential injury was done. I think
the people in Fort Moultrie, who expected to be driven out to take
refuge behind the sand-hills, were especially astonished at our
inaction. It is very true that the Morris Island battery was beyond the
reach of our guns. Still, we did not know this positively at the time;
and our firing in that direction, even if ineffectual, would have
encouraged the steamer to keep on its course. We had one or two guns
bearing on Fort Moultrie; and as that was within easy range, we could
have kept down the fire there long enough to enable the steamer to come
in. It was plainly our duty to do all that we could. For any thing we
knew to the contrary, she might have been in a sinking condition. Had
she gone down before our eyes, without an effort on our part to aid her,
Anderson would have incurred a fearful responsibility by his inaction.
Mr. Dawson, in his account of these incidents in the _Historical
Magazine_, has it that a council of war was held by us to determine
whether we would fire or not, and that we decided not to fire. He founds
this upon verbal statements made by Foster and Davis. I know Foster was
under this impression; but upon my recalling the circumstances to his
recollection a short time before his death, he admitted his mistake. My
memory is very clear and distinct on this point, and I am sustained in
regard to it by both Seymour and Crawford. Davis I have not seen for
some time, but I have no doubt he will confirm what I have said when his
memory is refreshed.
Indeed there was no time for deliberation while the troops were at the
guns, for the vessel was moving very rapidly, and the whole affair was
over in a few minutes. The council was held after the steamer had gone,
to determine what action ought to be taken in consequence of the
attack. It was too late then for resistance, and all we could do was to
send Lieutenant Hall to the governor with a flag of truce, to demand an
explanation. In this communication, Anderson expressly stated that if he
did not receive a satisfactory reply, he would not, hereafter, allow any
vessel from Charleston to pass within reach of his guns. As might be
expected, the governor replied that he took the responsibility of the
firing, and would do it again under like circumstances. Anderson then
reconvened the council to lay this answer before them. Through his
influence it was concluded to send Lieutenant Talbot to Washington with
a full statement of the occurrence, and await his return with specific
instructions from the War Department. To carry out even this programme,
the major was obliged to obtain the governor's permission for Lieutenant
Talbot to pass through Charleston. It was urged by Anderson that the
delay would enable us to finish our preparations for defense; but it was
evident that time was far more valuable to the enemy than it was to us,
for it enabled them to complete and arm their batteries, and close the
harbor against our men-of-war, thus virtually imprisoning us in our
island home.
When Talbot left, we resumed our labors as usual. No attempt was made
to carry out the threat of stopping all passing vessels.
By the 14th of January our heavy guns were up; but by that time, too,
the greater part of Fort Moultrie and Castle Pinckney were shielded from
our direct fire by huge piles of sand-bags.[13]
We now began to get out of fuel, but we still had a resource in some
wooden sheds inside the fort, which had been used as a temporary shelter
for cement and building materials. Our position was greatly alleviated
in one respect. Owing, it is said, to the influence of Mr. Gourdin,
already referred to as a leading Secessionist, and an old friend of
Major Anderson, we were allowed to receive our mails once more. After
the _Star of the West_ affair, they probably thought we were very
harmless people, and deserved some reward for our forbearance.