The National tribune., 1907-01-17

y
MAJ.-GEN. ROBERT ANDERSON.
i cure advantages in the conflict tina
they were resolute in precipitating.
One of the most clamOrouS of tho
mob leaders for an immediate attach
upon the fort was Lucius B. Northrup
a South Carolinian, graduate of this
Military Academy. who had been drop
from the rolls in 184S, but reinstatet
thru Jeff Davis's favoritism. and allow.
ed to live in Charleston Indefinitely ant
draw his full pay upon the pretext oI
sick leave He did not resign thi.
pleasant billet until Jan. 8, 1861, wher
he was taken into the service of Soutf
Carolina, and Jefferson Davis subse
i quently made him Commissary-G Genera
of the Southern Confederacy.
Il The President's Message.
The message of President Buchanan
laid before Congress Dec. brought
| very chill comfort to the garrison OF
| Fort Moultrie. He claimed that the
whole trouble was due ito long-con-
tinued and Incorporate interference oi
| the Northern people with the question
of slavery in the Southern States;" that
while State had no right to secedc
| lHcIS was iO poWCA "
coerce a State into submission. The
only way that rebellion or insurrection
could be met was by writ issued from
| United States Court, which United
States Marshal would have to execute.
AS the Judges and Marshals in South
Carolina had resigned in obedience to
the. popular demand, this method of
procedure was impossible. His MESA ge
concluded with a recommendation for
an exceedingly Pro-Slavery amendment
to the Constitution, a thing which abso-
Iutely defied and nullified all previous
expressions of the majority Of the peo-
pie in opposition to that twin relic OF
barbarism." The most charitable ex-
| planation Of this fatuous State paper is
that Buchanan's mental powers had de-
Perforated far more than any one COM
pretended, and that the message was
really the work of Cobb, Floyd and
| Thompson.
Dec. II the garrison had the good
| fortune to get the stock of provisions
| for which requisition had been made.
| The Captain of the schooner had de-
| livered them with some difficulty, and
| it was understood that they should be
1.-The, last The enemy began to build
batteries on Sullivan's Island to accom-
modatei the guns which had already
| been sent thither.
Don Carlos Buelrs Visit.
The Secretary sent another officer
from the Inspector-Generars Depart
| ment, Maj. Don Carlos Buell., to exam
| inc the fort and report. The written
orders which Buell. bore directed Maj.
Anderson not to provoke hostilities, but
in case of immediate danger to defend
| himself and take any steps that he
| might think necessary. Undoubtedly
| Buell., like his predecessors, carried
uarhaI inCtrnntinnc tn Anderson phipb
did not appear in his written orders.
| Maj. Anderson afterward said that his
| hands were tied by instructions which
| he received from Washington, and no
| one doubted that he told the truth, but
| no such embarrassing restrictions can
| be found in the records of the War
| Department. Floyd was quite capable
| of making Anderson scapegoat by
verbal instructions to surrender with
| out resistance, but it is hardly likely
that Buell. would allow himself to be
| instrumental in such trickery. He did
not, however, impress the officers with
| the idea that he approved of their de-
fensive preparations and he condemned
| the loopholes which they had made in
some walls as having tendency to
| irritate the people. This seemed strange
! to the officers, because if he had expect
ed them to. resist he most naturally
would have expected them to take every
! measure that they could think of to
make their resistance effective.
One thing that the garrison deeply
| deplored was that they had not enough
| men to spare to afford garrison for
Castle Pinckney. That fortifcation was
within a mile of Charleston, and could
| have overawed it by means of its NOR
| tars and heavy guns. The old Ordnance
Sergeant, Skillen, was thoroly loyal and
deeply incensed at the threats which
were constantly made. He begged hard
| for enough artillerists to man at Least
one gun, and at last Capt. Foster
thought that he could get some of his
| bricklayers to do this. He sent a squad
of them over under the command of
Lieut.. Meade, but the moment that the
| latter attempted to teach them the
drill they flunked, had to be sent away,
| and Castle Pinckney left to its fate.
beginning of the Confederacy.
| The actual beginning of the Confed-
eracy may be said to date from Dec
| 1914, in the Cabinet. The President
finally informed Gen. Cass that he
would not send reinforcements to
Charleston, whereupon the loyal old
Secretary of State rendered his resig-
nation and demanded it's immediate ac-
ceptance. Howell Cobb had already re-
signed as Secretary of the Treasury,
and Floyd and Thompson. with all their
effrOntery, were trembling in their
| hearts over the prospective Indictment
by the Grand Jury of the District of
Columbia of them both for the abstrac-
ton Of $4,000 In Indian bonds from
the Interior Department. The parting
of the ways had come in the Cabinet,
and Dec. IA the following document
was circulated thru both Houses of
Congress and signed by nearly half of
the Senators and Representatives from
- No I,
gia, Alabama. Mississippi, Louisiana,
Florida. Texas and Arkansas. It is re-
garded as the official beginning of the
| Southern Confederacy:
'"To Our Constituents.
washington, Dec. IA, 1860.
'"The argument Is exhausted. All
hope of relief in the Union, thru the
agency of committees, Congressional
legislation or constitutional amend
ments is extinguished, and we trust the
South will not be deceived by appear