Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1861-08-14
From the Southern Guardian.
Evacuation Of Fort Sunter-.SeCret
History,
STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA,


Headquarters, August 3, 1861.
l have every reason, from information re-
ceived by me in the most confidential manner,
(not forbdding publication, however, and
through one very near the most intimate
counsels of the President of the United States,
to induce ME to believe that the following ar
ticle was submitted, as o proof sheet, to Mr..
Lincoln and his Cabinet; that q proclamation,
in conformity with its general views, was to
be issucd; and that change in the decision
of the Cabinet was made in one night, when
exactly the contrary course was adopted. 1t
is asserted in this article, (Which in all pro-
bability is proof sheet from confidential
New York papcr,) that if the President de-
sired to excite and madden the whole North
tc war oil extermination against alaTery,
ard in favor of the absolute plumber and con.
y'H>' ri the South, he had only to resolve
tai Major Anderson and his garrison at Fort
Sumter should perish, as it appears was well
known would have to be the case. Major An
derson and his men were TO be used as flle' /,
to be thrown in TO kinde the flames of fana
cisn, and to force the Northern people into a
united war, which would give the abolition
leaders absolute control over the Government
and country What must be the feelings of
the civilized world, when it is known that
the President of the United States and his
Cabinet did so act, and with view expressly
to carry out tlis policy of exciting the whole
Northern mind ?
Major Anderson had officially informed the
former Administration tha. he could hold
Fort Sumter; and, of course, if the object Of
that Administration was to betray the Gov
ernlncnt into The hands Of the scccssionistS
as is charged in the article, then Major An.
erSon must have been a party to the treason !;
and il he informed the new President. on the
fourth Of March, as is said to be the case, that
he could not hold the fort. then lie acted ont
his part fully in aiding TO place Mr.. Lincoln
and his Cabinet exactly where they were, and
to compel them to cvacualc the fortress, or
to use the garrison as victims to be slaugh-
tered on the unhoy altar Of blind ianatcism
and mad ambition.
know the fact from Mr. I.incoln's most
intimate friend and accredited agent, Mr.. La.
mon, that the President Of the United States
prcftssrd desire to cvacnate Fort Sumter,
and he (Ir. l.amonl actually wrote me, after
'his return to Washington, that he would be
back III Il few days 10 ali in that purpuse.
Mnior Anderson was induced to expect the
same Thing, Us his notes 10 me prove. know
the fact that Mr.. Fox, Of the United States
navy, after obtaining permission from me,
upon The express galiaran.re Of u former gal
liant Ass yciate in the n=:::::, 10 visi' Maj Am
dcrSon +" for pacific purposes" planned the
pretended attempt to reicv ana r"in!"ltc tie
garrison by a fleet, anal that Major Anlcrso;
protested against it. I now believe that i!
was all scheme, and t!lt Fox's dsgrarclii
expedition was gotten up, in Concert with MIR.
Lincoln, erey TO delGde tie Northern pub,
lie into the belief that they intended to sls.
tain and protect Major Anderson, when, in
fact, according to the article Eow published
for tic first time. they decided 10 10 10 such
thing, aud acted with the deliberate intention
to le; the garrison perish. that they might
thereby excite the North, and rouse them to
unite in this unholy and unnatural war, by
which the desperate and prohIgatc leaders OF
an nluriatcd and lawlcss party might CRAFTY
their vengeance and lust OF power over the
ruins Of their country, and amid the blind
passions of maddened people.
The document now published, and the pc
culiar circumstances, show the basest and
most infamous motives that have ever actua.
ted the rulers Of any people, except, perhaps,
in the days Of the first French revolution,
when history shows that wholesale murder
was often planned by insurrectionists in Pa
ris, under the deliberate guidance Of malig
nant leaders, whose whole objects were uni
vcrsal plundcr and MURDER in order to cxter-
inmate one party and ride into power them
suiyes.
\ moments review OF the line of arsu-
mcnt pursued in the article, will show that
the policy finally adopted in regard to Fort
Sumter was intended and desired by Mr..
Lincoln and bis advisers TO lead 10 a war, not
to b. regulated by the rules aud usagcs
among civilized and enlightened people, bit to
one Of rapine, murder, and utter cxternlina-
ton Of the people against whom it was in
tended to be wagel, founded upon no princi-
pie Of right, seeking not to re-cstabli,h any
disputed authority, or accomplish any other
object than 10 crafty lust for power and
revenge.
For the purpose OF directly proving the
motives aud impulses Of the United States
Govcrnmentn in the Inauguration Of this war;
ii is only necessary to make several extracts
from the article in question, as they will serve
also to direct the special attention of the
public to those portions which most wildly
prove the nnhallowcd purposes Of P.eslu,
Lincoln and his advisers
One of the chief ends Of the article seems
to have been the proof of treason on the part
of President buchanan, and through all of
it runs the of-repcated alternative" left them
by him, Of "pcrmil,ing Major Anderson and
his command to starve within fifteen days, or
Of ANONYMOUSLY abandoning it TO nest of
traitors" &C. This "alternativc' is dwelt
upon as if to direct special attention to it;