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. I had received an intimation fromhim through a distinguished Senator of one of the border states[Senator Hunter of Virginia], that he would be happy to receivea Commissioner or Commissioners from the ConfederateStates, and would refer to the Senate any communication thatmight be made, Davis explained.1The commissioners had apparently believed that theywould be received cordially, and that negotiations wouldbegin immediately to formalize the terms of the separationbetween their new nation and the United States.But PresidentBuchanan, with only a few days remaining in his presidency,refused to meet with them.The commissioners were alarmedat the hatred of many in the city when their arrival becameknown.Within Confederate territory there were four federal fortsstill flying the Union flag, and it was these forts that soonbecame the focus of efforts by the commissioners and thosewho were opposed to their mission.The four were Fort Sumterin Charleston Harbor, and three others in Florida: Fort Pickensin Pensacola Bay, Fort Taylor at Key West, and Fort Jefferson inthe Dry Tortugas.Fort Sumter s situation had become the most critical.Priorto South Carolina s secession, the fort had only been staffed bythe workers attempting to complete it.These workers arrivedby boat in the morning and then left in the evening when theirwork was finished.Shortly after secession was announced,Major Robert Anderson of the United States had evacuatedhis 82 men from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, believing thatSumter s position three miles out in the harbor was safer andeasier to secure.Officials in South Carolina had protested thismove.President Buchanan responded by sending an unarmedship with men and supplies to reinforce the fort.The unarmed ship quickly came under fire as it sailed intoCharleston, and the ship turned back.Buchanan took no fur-ther action, so the situation when the commissioners arrived74 The Outbreak of the Civil WarFort Sumter was the site of the Battle of the Ironclads, as Union forcesunsuccessfully attempted to recapture the fort.in Washington, just as Lincoln was preparing to assume thepresidency, was tense.The harbor at Charleston was ringedwith men whose guns were kept trained on Fort Sumter.TheUnion soldiers stationed there were no longer allowed to leavethe fort to buy food and supplies.On the day after Lincoln sinauguration, a message for him arrived in Washington.MajorAnderson reported that supplies at Fort Sumter were runninglow.There was not enough food to last more than six weeks.NEGOTIATIONS AND DEALSOne of Lincoln s first decisions as president was how torespond to the situation at Fort Sumter.The commissionerswere still in Washington.They attempted to meet with Lincoln,but he refused to see them, as did his secretary of state, WilliamH.Seward.Seward had little confidence in Lincoln, however,Fort Sumter 75and determined to do some behind-the-scenes negotiationin an effort to prevent the nation from slipping into civil war.Seward was worried about the growing tension, worried thatFort Sumter would become the tipping point that would pushthe nation over the brink.He was convinced that with properconsideration and negotiation, the states that had secededwould ultimately return to the Union.2Seward could not openly meet with the commissioners, buthe could meet with a justice of the Supreme Court.So, on March15, as Lincoln met with his cabinet to discuss the response toFort Sumter, Justice John Campbell entered Seward s office.Campbell was from Alabama but he had not yet returned to theSouth since the secession.He had come to Seward to persuadehim to meet with the commissioners.Seward refused, and indoing so made a startling statement that within three daysLincoln would order the evacuation of Fort Sumter.It was pre-cisely what the commissioners were hoping to achieve.As this message was carried back to the Confederacy, Lin-coln sent three men of his own to Charleston to report backfirst-hand on the situation there.Two reported that the situa-tion was impossible.The third suggested that it might be pos-sible to reinforce the fort with supplies and men.While the status of Fort Sumter remained in question, astate convention was taking place in Virginia.At the conven-tion, the delegates had voted against leaving the Union but werestill in session [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]