The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-06-18

unqualified against any attempt to reinforce
or supply the garrison, which they pro-
nounced utterly impracticable, and which, il
attempted, would result in a failure, with
waste of blood and treasure.
These arguments, and an elaborate written
report which they submitted by order of the
President, had an influence on him and seve-
raj of the members of the Cabinet, who felt
that the opinions of military men should
have weight on q military question. 1t is
generally known, however, that one of the
members of the Cabinet had from the first
opposed any attempt to relieve the garrison,
and one had been and continued throughout
persistent and emphatic in its favor. For
some days the President was undetermined
what course to take. Delay was moreover
important until the Administration could
get in working order but the supplies at
Sumter were getting short, and he finally
decided, on the 3Oth of March, that an effort
should be made to send supplies to the gar
rison.
The attempt to relieve Major Anderson,
though a military question, was political
necessity. 1t became duty of the Govern
ment after all conciliatory efforts were ex-
hausted. The expedition to supply the garri-
son was under the direction of the War De-
partment in which the navy co-operated.
But the whole combined military and naval
force of the Government was feeble. Con-
without making any provision for increasing
the naval strength, although the danger of a
civil war was imminent; no increased appro-
priations were made. The navy was restricted
to a strictly peace establishment, with force
limited by law to eight thousand five hundred
men. But five vessels were in commission in
all our Atlantic ports. The Navy Department
had quietly commenced recruiting, and on the
29th of March Commodore Breese then in
nd of tha
ordseed to send two hundred and fifty sea-
men to Norfolk, q vulnerable point if Virginia
should attempt to secede.. On the next day,
however, the 30th of March, the President
informed me that he had come to the con-
clusion that supplies should be sent to Major
Anderson, and, if resistance was made, that
the garrison should be reinforced. To exc
cute, and, if it became necessary, to enforce
his orders, a naval force would be required.
AS we then had but three naval steamers that
were available-two having few days pre-
vious been sent to the Gulf by special re-
quest of General Scott-the Harriet Lane, q
revenue cutter, was transferred by the Secre-
tary of the Treasury to the navy to form a
part of the expedition. The two hundred and
fifty seamen on the receiving ship at Brook
| lyn, whom 1 had directed on the 29th to be
sent to Norfolk, were transferred to the
Powhatan, which was to be the flagship of
| the squadron. The Pocahontas, one of the
| vessels of the Home Squadron, which had
| detained and ordered to Norfolk by way of
precaution early in March, was one of the
three vessels temporarily detached and
detailed for the expedition. To
s"RPy "6 Of March heT place ss dav soenoa ON the the
| Presidents decision, ordered the sloop-
of-war Cumberland, then at Hampton Roads,
destined for the West Indies, to proceed to
| Norfolk. The Cumberland was sailing
vessel which could not be made available for
the Sumter expedition. She was the flag ship
of Commodore Pendergrast, who was in COM
mand of the Home Squadron, and if it was
satisfaction that so experienced an officer
could be associated with Commodore McCau-
ley, with full crew, in case of an emer-
| gency. The President and Secretary of State
proposed that Commodore Pendergrast should
go to Vera Cruz in consequence of certain
complications in that quarter; but the condi-
tion of affairs at home made it advisable that
he and his flagship should be detained in the
waters of Virginia. With the exception
of the Cumberland, the Sumter expedition
took from the Navy Department on the 9th
of April every available naval vessel.
1t was at this eliminating period that ves-
sells were most wanted in the Chesapeake and
on the Potomac; for, in case of conflict at
Charleston, it was uncertain what would be
the attitude of Virginia. felt hopeful, how
ever, that the Cumberland would be adequate
for the protection of the yard from any
attack by water. The defense by land was
military measure, in which she could also
participate, and render efficient assistance, if
necessary.
There were many circumstances attending
the Sumter expedition which are interviewer
with this subject, that are not generally
known; but, as have said, they belong to
the history of those times. Allusion to some
of them cannot be wholly omitted in stating
the proceedings of the navy and the Navy
| Department, and the acts of the administra-
tion attending the destruction of the navy
yard at Norfolk. The men on the receiving
ship at Brooklyn, whom Commodore Breese
had been directed on the Doth of March to
send to Norfolk, were diverted to
that expedition and placed on
the Powhatan. This important vessel
was, by an irregular and most extraordinary
proceeding, and against the final and express
orders of the President, detached from the
expedition she was to lead after she left the
Brooklyn Navy Yard, and withdrawn fer
several weeks, until after Sumter fell and
Norfolk was abandoned, from the control of
the Navy Department and sent to the Gulf,
where she was not needed, instead of going
to Charleston and then returning North,
where she was most wanted.
On the 9th of April every available naval
steamer at the disposal of the department,
and all the men excepting those on the Cum
berland, sailed for Sumter. What was to be
their reception, what would be the determine
tion of the secession organization at Charles
ton, and what the result of the attempt to
relieve the garrison, were matters uncertain,
but of deep anxiety. In a few days all
doubts were removed. The secessionists, on
being apprised of the determination of the