Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1876-05-04

IA NatuC iipu iHt CITY 10 uetfatlu IN
insolent terms, the surrender of the fort,
and at the same time United States reye.
nue-cntter in the stream was seized BY the
Carolinians. War was begun.
News came from Washington that a
steamer would soon reach the harbo. to
reclaim the government property. On the
| 2Sth Charleston was IN "A wild uproar. the
banks suspended specie payment. tie peo-
pie were filled with terror; aud had the
government shown q proper resolution, il
is not impossible that the rebellion might
! have perished at its birth But treason and
timldity prepared the way tor the solution
| of mighty questions. and the little garrison
in Fort Sumter were made instruments in
destroying forever the rule of the slave
holders and the prevalence OF slavery on
the Western continent Their courage. en-
durance, and energy wcrr never wasted
| neglected BY the government that should
have protected them. they fixed the atten-
| tion OF the nation; surrounded by thouS-
! ands OF active foes, they showed no trace
| OF di>couTagemsnt or want OF resolution.
| A. their store, aud provisions wer. con.
sumed aud they wrrc reduced Ia extreme
/ priyaiion, they made no complaint, while
their enemies gathered Ia thousand. around
them. they enlarged and perfected their
deien>es. and the Immense aud costly prep
. @tAAfRH NAAA NNNNAA tue NNNAf -FiAtN Were
/ forced 20 meet the cAls. resistance - Sxfv
or seventy talon men lent an ar of Ai-
sGfdiiy to the unequal and almost prep1,-
I ferrous contest. A. last. amidst the famcs
1 % furi sumter anl TIE cAptArc 10 IT,
scorch"i and starving garrison, a new c.a
| opened upon mankind.
MhN motives prompted the couduc; of
~ commander, whether Major Anderson
Nas "a league with fhr rehs luou or huuud
E hy some secret orders from ht- superiprs
whether mistaken humanity or latent
7 ilmIdfy held him hack-W.ll PROBABLY new
. ,r Dr. AnoNu. lcf his want of an decisive
action. hi. plain resolution to taAr 10 w.
I ccs.Nrt measures uf defense rpr hI. feeble
garrison. aud thr open sympathy be ,AoN-
- inNAT. tbc lu-urgcut. are facts that
even thr most charitable construction faH,
[ % explain Nlth credit tn OIL. reputation.
PROM January !. l-El, when Ne took pp.-
s.>slpn OF Port Sumter hv a movement .iu.
suiariy bold AID Wril-mansgrl. almost the
/ hf'i upcu pledge of dchauce to the dIsaf-
I irCtrI. he seems to have done up morr.
! MN drAr Governor" be wrote - PIckcu.
| The rebel chief, my heart va never iA
| thts war. He repeated the sentiment often
aud openly, and when the guns OF Fort
I sumter might have saved hi, command
/ from capture, he refused u use them On
/ the Slst OF December Pre- sidrnt Buchanan
| IL /, asserted. ordered the BROOKLYN. man-
oi-~ar. commanded by Captain Farragut,
I 70 take three hundred soldiers from For
trcss Monroe and sail at once 10 Charles
ton Harhor; and IL l. not unlikely that had
the plan been carried out, the conqreror Of
Mobile would have easily oyerlwcd the Sc
I ccsslon capital. But some one interfercI
| he Stir Of the West. a merchant vessel,
Was sent 10 place Of the BROOKLYN. filed
with raw recruits. and the news was soon
/ carried 10 the rebels OF the nature of the
! force with which they must contend. They
began al once % throw up Intrcurhmcnts
on Morris Island. The cadets from Char-
lesion were seen AZ work ON the new bat
terry. But Ma jor Anderson made no effort
to Interrupt them, and their guns soon
commanded the channel. 80 strangely and
50 early were the plans OF the government
told 10 the rebels. that the sr.t Intelligence
the garrison received OF the approaching
expedition was an account of IL they read
in newspaper. They refused To believe
the news. How could they suppose that 4
i national government would send u mcr-
chant steamer 10 au armed harbor, and
even appri,e the enemy OF its coming: Bot
on the 9Th of January Captain Doubleday
saw with his glass large steamer pass
the bar and enter the Morri, Channel Her
/ United state, hag was up; it was plainly
the star Of the West. A- she came near
the new battery snpt was fired. Captain
Doubleday ran to call Major Andri son
who was Ia bed; the drums beat, the guns
were manned. But Anderson ordered them
not 10 be fired. The steamer meantime had
passed the battery on Morris Island safely.
/ and had come within the range OF Fort
Noultrie. The latter opened fire upon her;
her friends In Sumter lent her no and, aud,
turnin. back, the Star of the West sailed
swiftly out OF the harbor Two shots struck
her, but DID little damage. The affair oc-
cupiei only few minutes and the relief
which had been promised 10 the weary
garrison was snatcheI from them at the
moment il seemed 10 lie within their grasp.
A few well-dlrected guns from Sumter.
our author thinks, would have siIenced
Fort Moultrie and brought the steamer
safely in; and had she sunk before their
eyes, Il was Major Anderson who must
have borne the fearful responsibility.
With such a commander and 50 utterly
abandoned by all their countrymen, the
garrison from January 10 April We're left
In singular and painful isolation. Some
times half starved by the refusal OF the
secessonlsts 10 allow them provisions. or
living on their charity, they sent all the
women and children To the North. and liv-
ed alone. Once some photographers came
over 10 take their portraits IN Il group, one
o: whom proved to be spy. But this vas
| little. since Major Anderson suffered Con
| federate officers TO wander through the
! fort and inspect it all at will. In January
small force might easily have entered the
! harbor. driven the enemy from Morris Is
land, and saved the enormous cost OF life
| and money that was finally paid for Char
! leston. But still nothing was done. The
Lincoln Administration came into power
| Ill March, and yet no relief reached sum
! ter. The Carolinians began now to repent
! OF their rash rebellion. since the new Con-
| federate government showed them little at
tention and they at last knew why Savan-
| nah had so willingly furnished them with
| Old hulks to close up their harbor. Their
commerce was gone; their property ex-
/ treme and urenGurab.c. Bat there was no
chance Ol Retreat; the Confederate govern
ment held them in rigid grasp, and the
forces OF the new despotism began the real
| siege OF Sumter. The tort was slowly en-
veloped in "a series OF batteries and redoubts
! All the "chyalry" of the South were gath
cred around the little band OF Union men,
| who still held their position unterritied.
BeaureSard commanded the besieging
| forces. Often, as he saw the batteries rise
around him unopposed the cannon mount
ed, the countless hostile flags waving over
the barren sands, did Captain Doubleday
long to destroy the imperfect works with
q well-aimed tire of his guns, to sweep
away the raw troops OF the Confederacy,
and lay Charleston in abject submit ssion at
the feet # the nation ii had sought to des-
! troy. There was no moment from Novem-
Der until March when a resolute officer in
Charleston Harbor would not have driven
the rebellion from the coast, and raised
the Union flag on the ruins Of secession.
But Anderson's imperative orders restrain
ed Doubleday from every act that might
disturb the foe. Sumter was repaired,
strengthened, and made tolerably secure,
but It's officers and men had often only
pork and biscuit for their dinner
On :he west side of the fort, where the
wall was thlnnest and weakest, on the land
nearest to them, called Cummings Point.
the enemy began TO build the most formid-
able OF all their batteries. 1t was slowly
rising for several weeks. and might have
been readily destroyed b, few shot or