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EXECUTIVE DOOUMENTS .
N o . ! .
C O R R E S P O N D E N C E
A N D OTH E R
PA PERS,
R E LA TJN G T O
F O R T S U M T'
E R .
INCLUD ING! CORR ESPOND ENCE O F
HON . ISAAC W. HAYNE WITH THE PRESIDENT .
SECOND ED ITI ON .
(HI A R L E S T O N
ST E AM - POW' ER PR E SSES O F E V AN S S; COGSW ELL ,N o . 3 Broad an d 1 03 East Bay Stree t
EXECUTIVE DOCUMENTS.
N o . 2 .
C O R R E S P O N D E N C E
A N D OTHER
PA PE RS ,
RELAT I NG T O
F O R T S U M T E R .
I NCLUD I NG CORRESPOND ENCE O F
HON . ISAAC W. HAYNE WITH THE PRESIDENT .
SECOND ED ITION .
C HARLE STONS T E A M - P O W E R P R E S S E S O F E V A N S 6! C O G S W E L L .
N o. 3 Broad an d 1 03 E ast Bay S treet.1861 .
C O RRE SPO N D E N C E .
N o . 1 .
[MAJOR ANDERSON TO THE GOVERNOR !
T o 11 58 E xcellency , the Governor of S ou th Carol ina.
S I R T W O of your batterie s fired th i s morning upon anunarmed vesse l bearing the flag of my Government . As I hav e
n ot been notifi ed that war has been declared by South Carolina
agains t the Government of the United States,I cannot b u t.
think that th i s hosti le act was committed W i tho u t your sanction or authority . Under tha t hope
,and that a lone
,d id I
refrain from opening fire upon your batterie s .
I have the honor,there far e
,respectfu l ly to ask whether th e
above - mentioned act— one I beli eve W i th out a paral le l i n th e
history of our country,or of any o ther c ivi l ized Governmen t.
was commi tted in obedience to your instructi ons,and to n otifv
y ou i f i t be not di sc laimed , that I must regard i t as an act o fwar
,and that I shall not
,after a reasonable time for the return
of my messenger,permit any vessel s to pass W i th in range o f
the guns of my Fort .I n order to save as f ar as in my power the sh edding of blood
,
I beg that you wil l have due not ificati on of thi s my deci sion .
given to al l concerned .
Hoping,however
,that your an swer may be such as wi l l ju s
t ify a further continuance Of forbearance on my part , I hav e
the honor to be,
Very respectfully,
Your obedi ent se rvan t,
ROBE RT ANDE RSONMajor 1 st Arti l lery U . S . A .
, Commandin g .
FORT SUMTER,S . (1
,January 9 . 1861 .
No . 2.
[THE GOV ERNOR T o MAJOR ANDERSON !
STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA .
E X ECUTIVE O FFICE,HEAD !UARTERS ,
C harleston,9 January , 1861 .
S I R ! Your letter has been rece ived . In i t you make certains tatements which very plainly show that y ou have not beenfu l ly informed by your Government
,of th e precise relations
which now exist between i t and the State of South Carol ina .
O fficial information has been communicated to the Governmen to f th e United States that the poli tical connecti on
,heretofore
exi sting between th e State of South Carol in a an d the Stateswh ich were known as the Un ited States
,had ceased and that
th e State of South C arol ina had resumed al l th e power . it haddelegated to the United States under th e compact known asth e C on stitution of the United State s . The right which theS tate of South C arolina possessed to change the poli tical relat i ons i t he ld wi th other States
,u nder the Consti tution of the
Uni ted States , has been sol emn ly asserted by the people of th isS tate , in C onvention , and n ow does not admit of discussion .
In anticipati on of the Ordinance of Secession,of wh ich the
President of the United States had received official notification,
i t was understood by him,that sending any reinforcements of
the troops of th e United States in the harbor of Charl eston,
would be regarded by the constituted auth oriti es of the Stateof South Carol ina as an act of hosti l i ty ; and at th e same timei t was understood by him
,that any change in the occupation of
the forts in the harbor of Charleston would,in like manner
,be
regarded as an act of hosti l ity . E ither or both of these eventso ccurring during the period in whi ch the State of South Carol i n a constituted a part of the United States , was then di stinctlyn otified to the Presi dent of the United States as an act or actso f hosti li ty ; because ei ther or both would be regarded and couldon ly be intended to dispute the right of the State of SouthCarol ina to that pol itica l Independence wh ich sh e has always
asserted and wil l always main tain .
Whatever would have been during the continuance of thi s
S tate,while a member of the United States
,an act of hosti l ity ;
O
became much more so , when the State of South Carolina haddi ssolved i ts connection with the Government of the Uni tedStates .After the secession of the State of South Carol ina
,Fort
Sumter continued in the possession of troops of the UnitedStates . How that fort i s at thi s time in the possessi on of th etroops of the United S tates , is n ot n ow necessary to di scuss .
It wil l suffice to say that the occupancy of that fort has been
regarded by the State O f South Carol ina as the first act of
posi tive hosti l ity committed by the troops of the Uni ted State swi thin the l imits of thi s State ; and was in thi s l igh t regardedas so unequivocal , that i t occasi oned th e terminati on of the n e
got iat ion s , then pending at NV ash in g t-on ; between the Commission ers of the State of South Carol in a and the Presiden t of th eUnited States .The attempt to rei nforce th e troops now at Fort Sumter. or
to retake and resume possession of the forts with i n the w atersof thi s State , which you have abandoned , after spik ing th e
guns placed there,an d doing otherwise much damage
,cannot
be regarded by the authori t i e s of thi s Sta te as indicat ive of anvother purpose than the coercion of the State by the armed forceof the Govermn c n t . To repe l such an attempt i s too plainlyits duty , to allow i t to be discussed . Bu t
, whi le defending i tswaters
,the authoritie s of th e S tate have been carefu l so to con
duct the affairs of t li e‘
S tate that no act, however necessary for
its defence , should lead to an useless waste of l ife . Speci a lagents
,therefore
,h ave been off the bar , to warn al l approach
ing vessel s,if armed ; or u narmed an d having troops to rei nforce
the forts on board ; n ot to en ter the harbor of Charleston ; andspecial orders have been given to the commanders of al l th eforts and batterie s
,not to fire a t such vesse ls
,unti l a sho t fired
acros s the ir bows would wa rn them of the prohibi tion of th eState .
Under these c irc umstances,the Star of the
“
West,it is under
stood,th is morn ing attempted to en ter th i s harbor
,with troops
on board ; and having been n otified that she could n o t en ter.was fired into . The act i s perfectly justified by m e .
I n regard to your threat in regard to vessel s in th e harbor , i ti s only n ecessary to say
,that. you must j udge of your responsi
bil ities . Your position in thi s harbor has been tolerated by th eauthori ti e s of th e State . And whi le th e act of which you com !
6
p lain i s in perfect con si stency with the rights and duti es of th eState
,i t i s not perceived how far the condu ct which y ou pro
pose to adopt,can fin d a paral le l i n the history of any country ;
or be reconci led wi th any other purpose of your Government,
than that of imposing upon this State the condition of a con
quered province .
F . W . PIC! E NS .
T o M ijor ROBERT ANDERSON ,C omma nd ing Fort S umter .
No 8 .
[MAJOR ANDERSON T o THE GOVERNOR !
HEAD ! UARTERS , FORT SUMTER , S . C .
,
January 9 , 1861 .
T o h is E xcellency , F . W . P I C ! EN S,
Governor of the S tate of S outh Carolina
S I R ! I have th e honor to acknowledge the receipt of your
communication of to - day,and to say that
,under the circum
stan ces,I have deemed it proper to refer the whole matter to
my Government ; an d that I inten d deferring the course in di
cated i n my note of th is morning unti l th e arrival from Washi ng ton of th e in structi ons I may receive . I have the honoralso to express a hepe that no obstructions w i l l be placed inthe way of
,and that y ou wil l do me the favor to afford every
faci l i ty to,the departure and return O f the bearer
,L i eut . T .
Talbot,U . S . Army
,who has been di rected to make the j ourney .
I have the honor to be,
Very respe ctfu lly ,ROBE RT ANDE RSON
,
M ajor U . S . A rmy , C ommand ing .
No . 4 .
[THE GOVERNOR T o MAJOR ANDERSON .!
STATE OF SOUTH C AROL INA,
E X ECUTIVE O FFICE,CHARLESTON
,
1 1 th January , 1 861 .
T o M ajor ROB ERT ANDERSON ,C ommand ing Fort S umter
S I R ! I have thought proper,under al l the circumstance s of
the peculiar state of publ ic affairs in the country at presen t,to
appoint the Hon . A . G . Magrath and Gen . D . F . Jamieson,both
members of the E xecutive Counci l,an d of th e highest p osition
in the State,to present to y ou consideration s of the gravest
publ ic character ; and of the deepest interest to al l who deprecate the improper waste of l ife ; to. induce the del ivery of Fort
Sumter to the con stituted authori tie s of the State of SouthC aro lin a
,wi th a p ledge
,on its part
,to account for such publ ic
property as i s under your charge .
Your obedi ent servant,
F . W . PIC ! E NS .
No . 5 .
[MAJOR ANDERSON T o THE GOVERNOR !“1HEAD ! UARTERS , FORT SUMTER , S . C
January 1 1 , 1 861 .
T o His E xcellency , F . W . P IC! EN S ,Governor of S outh Carol ina
S I R ! I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of yourdemand for th e surrender of thi s fort to th e authori ti es of SouthCarol ina
,and to say
,i n reply ,
that the demand i s one withwhich I cannot comply . Your E xcel lency knows th at I h averecently sent a messenger to Wash ington
,and that i t wi l l be
impossibl e for me to rece ive an answer to my dispatches , for
warded by him,at an earl ier date than next Monday . What
the character of my in struct i on s may be , I cannot foresee .
Should your E xcel lency deem fit,prior to a resort to arms ,
8
to refer th is ma tter to Wash ington,i t would afford me the
sincerest p leasure to depute on e of my officers to accompanyany messenger y ou may deem proper to be the bearer of yourdemand .
Hoping to God that in th i s,and all other matters in which
the honor, welfare and l ives of ou r fel low countrymen are concerned , we shal l so act as to meet His approval ; and , deeplyregretting that y ou have made a demand of me w i th which Icannot comply
,
I have the honor to be,
With th e highest regard,
Your obedient servant,
ROBE RT ANDE RSON,
M ajor U . S . A rmy , C ommand ing .
No . 6.
[THE GOV ERNOR T o THE PRE SIDENT OF THE UN ITED STATE S .!
STATE OF SOUTH C AROL INA,
E X ECUTIVE O FF ICE,HEAD ! UARTERS ,
C harleston,January
S I R ! At the t ime of th e separation of the State of SouthCarol in a from the United States, Fort Sumter was, and sti l l I s,in the possess ion of troops of the United States
,un der the
command of Major Anderson . I regard that possession asnot con si stent with the digni ty or safety of the State of South
C arol ina ; and I have th i s day addressed to Maj or Anderson acommu n i cation to obtain from him the possession of that fort
,
by the authoriti es of th i s State . T h e rep ly of Maj or An d ersoni nforms me th at he has no authority to do what I required
bu t he desire s a reference of the deman d to the President ofthe United States .
Under the circumstances n ow exi sting,and which n eed no
comment by me , I have determined to send to you the Hon .
I . W . Hayne,the Attorney General of the State of South Car
ol ina,and have in structed h im to demand the delivery of Fort
Sumter,i n th e harbor of C harle ston; to the con sti tuted au thor i
ti es of the State of South C arol ina .
9
The demand I have made of Maj or Anderson,an d wh i ch I
now make of you , i s suggested because of my earnest desire toavoi d the bloodshed which a persi stence in your attempt toretain the possession of that Fort wi l l cause ; and which wil l b eu navai l ing to secure y ou that possession , but induce a calami ty
most deeply to be deplored .
If con sequences so unhappy shall ensue,I wil l secure for thi s
State,i n the demand which I n ow make
,the sati sfacti on of
having exhausted every attempt to avoid i t .In relation to the publ i c property of the Uni ted State swith in Fort Sumter
,the Hon . I . W . Hayne
,who wil l hand you
thi s communication , i s authoriz ed to give y ou the pledge of theState that the valuation of such property wil l be accounted
for,by thi s State
,upon the adj ustment of i ts re lation s w i th th e
Uni ted States,of wh ich i t was a part .
F . W . PIC ! E NS .
T o the PRE S IDENTof the U n ited S tates .
N o . 7 .
[IN STRUCTION S FROM THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF THE EX ECUTIVEO FFICE T o HON . I . w . HAYN E !
STATE OF SOUTH C AROLINA.
E X ECUTIVE O FF I CE,STATE DEPARTMENT .
C harleston,January 12, 1 861 .
S I R ! T he Governor has con sidered i t proper,in view of the
grave question s which now affect the State of South Caroli naand the Uni ted States
,to make a demand upon th e President of
the United States,for the del ivery to the State of South Caro
l ina of Fort Sumter,now w i thi n the territori al l imits of thi s
State , and occupi ed by troops of the United States .The Conven t ion of the People of South C arol ina authorized
and empowered i ts C ommissi on ers to enter into negotiation sw i th the Government of th e United States
,for the del ivery of
forts , magazines , l igh t houses , and other real e s tate within thel imits of South Carol ina .
The circumstances which caused th e interruption of that
1 0
negotiati on are known to you ! w i th the formal notification of
i ts cessation,was the urgent expressi on of the n ecessity for th e
withdrawal of th e troops of the United States from the harborof Charleston .
The interruption of these negotiation s left al l matters con
n ected with Fort Sumter and troops of the United Stateswithi n the l imits of thi s State
,affected by the fact ; that the
continued possession of the Fort was n ot consi stent with thed ignity or safety of the State ; and that an attempt to reinforce the troops at that fort would not be al lowed . Thi s
,
therefore,became a state of hosti l ity ; i n consequence of which
the State of South C arol ina was placed i n a condition of defence . During the preparation for thi s pu rpose
,an attempt
was made to reinforce Fort Sumter,and repelled .
You are n ow in structed to proceed to Washington,and there
,
i n th e name of the Government of the State of South C arol ina,
enquire of the Presiden t of the United States,wheth er i t was
by his order that troops of the United States were sent intothe harbor of Charl eston to reinforce Fort Sumter ; i f h e avowsthat order
,you will then enquire
,whether h e a sserts a right to
introduce troops of th e United States within the limits of th isState
,to occupy Fort Sumter ! and you wil l
,in case of hi s
avowal,inform him that neither wil l be permitted ; and ei ther
w i l l be regarded as hi s declarati on Of war against the State ofSouth Carol ina .
The Governor,to save l ife
,and determined to omit n o course
of proceeding usual among civi li zed nations,previous to tha t
condition of general h osti l iti e s which belongs to war ; and notknowin g under what order
,or by what authority , Fort Sumter
i s now held ; demanded from Maj or Robert Anderson , now incommand of that fort
,i ts delivery to the State . That offi cer ,
i n hi s reply,has referred th e Governor to the Governmen t
l
of
the U nited States at Wash ington . You wil l,therefore
,demand
from the President of the United States the with drawal of th etroops of the Uni ted State s from that fort
,an d i ts del ivery to
the State of South Carol ina .
You are instructed not to allow any question of propertyclaimed by the United States to embarrass th e asserti on of thepolit ica l right of the S tate of South Carolina to the possessi on of
Fort Sumter . The possession of that fort by the State i s aloneconsi stent with the dignity and safety of the State of South
1 1
Carol ina but such possessi on i s n ot i nconsi stent with a rightto compensati on i n money i n another Government
,i f i t has
again st the State of South C arolin a any j ust claim connectedwith that fort . Bu t the possession of the fort cannot
,in regard
to th e State of South Carol ina , be compensated by any c on sid
cration of any k ind from the Government of th e United States,
when the possession of i t by the Governmen t i s invasive of thedigni ty and affects the safety of the State . That possessioncannot become n ew a matter O f discussion or negotiati on . You
wil l,therefore
,require from the Presiden t of the United States
a posi tive an d distin ct answer to your demand for the del ivery
of th e fort . And you are furth er authori zed,to give the pledge
of th e State to adj ust al l matters which may be,and are in
their nature,susceptibl e of valuati on in money ; in the man ner
most usual,an d upon the prin ciple s of equity an d j usti ce
always recogn ized by independent nati ons , for the ascertain
ment of thei r relative rights and Obligation s in such matters .You are furth er in structed to say to the Pres ident of the
Uni ted States,that th e Governor regards the attempt Of the
Presiden t of the United State s,i f avowed
,to continue the pos
sessi on of Fort Sumter ; as i nevitably leading to a bloody i ssue ,a questi on which
,i n th e j udgmen t of the Governor
,can have
bu t one conclusi on ; reconci labl e wi th a due regard to the State
of South Carol in a,the welfare of th e oth er States which n ow
con stitute the Un ited States,and that human ity which teaches
al l men,bu t particularly those
,who in authori ty control th e
l ives of others ; to regard a resort to arms , as the last whi chshou l d be con sidered . To shed their blood in defence of th eir
rights i s a duty,which th e c itizen s e f the State of South Caro
lina fully recognize . A n d i n such a cause,th e Governor
,whil e
deploring the stern n ece ssity wh ich may compel h im to cal l forthe sacrifice ; w i l l fee l that h is Obl igat ion to preserve inviolatethe sacred rights of th e S tate of South Carol ina
,j ustify the
sacri fic e necessary to secure tha t end . The Governor does notdesire to remind the President of the responsibi l it i e s which areupon h im .
Respectfu l ly,your obedient servant
,
A . G . MAGRATH .
T o Hon . 1 . W . HAYNE,
Sp ecial E nvoy from the S tate of S outh Carol inato the P res id ent of the U n ited S tates .
12
No . 8.
[LETTER O F SENATORS OF SECED ING STATE S T O HO N . I . W . HA YN E J
WASHINGTON C ITY,January l 5 th , 1 861 .
Hon . I SAAC W . HAYNE '
S I R ! We are apprised that y ou V i si t Washin gton,as an
E nvoy from the State of South Carol ina,bearing a commun i
cation from the Governor of your State to the President of theUnited States
,i n relation to Fort Sumter . Without knowing
its Contents , we venture to request you to defer its del ivery to
th e President for a few days,or unti l you and he have con s id
ered the suggestion s which we beg leave to submit .
We know that the posse ssi on of Fort Sumter by troops ofthe United States
,coupled with the circumstances under which
i t was tak en,i s the ch i ef
,if n ot only
,sou rce of difficulty be
tween th e Government of South Caro lina an d that of theUnited S tates . We would add
,that we
,too
,think it a j ust
cause of i rritation an d of apprehension on the part of yourState . Bu t we have also assurances
,notwithstanding the cir
cumstan ces under which Maj or Anderson left Fort Moultrie
and entered Fort Sumter with th e forces under h is commandthat it was not taken
,and i s not held
,with any hosti l e or u n
fri endly purpose towards your State ; but merely as property ofth e United States
,which the President deems i t h is duty to
protect an d preserve .
We wil l not di scuss the question of right or duty on the part
of eith er Government touching that property,or the late acts
of either in relati on thereto ; but We th ink that , without any
compromi se of right or breach of duty on either side,an ami
cabl e adj ustment of the matter of differen ces may and shouldb e adopted . We d esire to see su ch an adjustment
,and to pre
vent war or the shedding of blood . We represent States whichhave already seceded from the United States
,or wi l l have done
so before the firs t of February next,and which wi ll meet your
State in C onvention on or before the fifteenth of that month .
Our people fee l that they have a common destiny wi th your
people,an d expect to form with them
,i n that Conven tion
,a
n ew C onfederation and Provi sional Government . We must
an d w i l l share your fortunes,suffering with you the evi ls of
1 8
war,if i t cannot b e avoi ded ; and enj oying with you the ble ss
ings of peace,if i t can be preserved . We
,therefore
,think i t
e special ly due from South Carolina to our Sta tes— to say nothing of other slaveholding States— that she should
,as far as sh e
can,con sistently with her honor
,avoid initi ating hosti l itie s
between her and the United States or any other Power . Wehave th e publ i c declarati on of the President , that he has notthe con sti tutional power or th e wil l to mak e war on SouthCarol ina
,and that the public peace shal l n ot be disturbed by
any act of hosti li ty towards your State .
We , therefore , see n o reason why there may not. be a settl ement of exi sti ng d ifficultie s
,if time be given for calm and
del iberate counsel w i th those State s wh ich are equal ly involvedwith South Carol ina . We
,there fore
,trust that an arrange
men t wi l l be agreed on between y ou and th e President , at leastti l l th e fi fteenth February next ; by which time your and ou r
States may , i n Conventi on , devise a w ise , ju st and peaceableso luti on of existing difficulti e s .In the meantime
,we think your State should suffer Maj or
Anderson to obtai n necessary suppli e s of food , fuel or water,and enj oy free communication
,by post or special messenger
,
with the President ; u pon the u nderstanding that the Presi den twi ll n ot send h im reinforcements during the same period . We
propose to submit thi s preposi tion and your answer to thePresiden t .
If not clo thed with power to make such arrangement,then
we trust that y ou wil l submit ou r suggestions to the Governor
of you r State for hi s instruction s . Unti l you have rece ived
an d communicated h is response to th e President,of course
you r State wi l l not attack Fort Sumter,and the President wi l l
n ot offer to re inforce i t .We most respectfu l ly submit these propositions
,i n the earnest
hope that you,or the proper authority O f your State , may accede
to them .
We have th e honor to be,
With profound esteem
Your obedi ent servants ,
LOUI S T . WIGFALL , C . C . CLAY,Jr .
JOHN HEMPH ILL,
BENJAMIN FIT! PATRI C!,
D . L . YULEE,
A . IV ERSON ,S . R . MALLORY
,JO I I N SLIDELL
,
JEFFERSON DAV I S , I . P . BENJAMIN .
1 4
No . 9 .
[LETTER OF HON . I . w . HAYNE IN REPLY T o SENATORS FROM S E C E D
ING STATE S !
WASHINGTON,January , 1 861 .
GENTLEMEN ! I have j ust received your communi cation,dated
the 1 5 th instant . You represent,you say
,States which have
already seceded from the United States,or will have done so
before the 1 st of February next,and which will meet South
Carolina in Convention,on or befo re the 1 5 th of that month
that your peopl e fee l they have a common destiny withou r people
,and expect to form w ith them i n that C onven
ti on a n ew C onfederacy an d Provisi onal Government ! that youmust
,and wi ll share our fortunes
,sufferin g with us the evi ls of
war,if i t cannot be avoided
,and enj oyin g w i th us the blessin gs
of peace,if i t can be preserved .
I feel,gentlemen
,the force of thi s appeal
,and
,so far as my
authority extends,most cheerfully comply wi th your request .
I am not clothed with power to m ake the arrangements you
suggest,bu t provided you can get assurances
,with which you
are entirely satisfied,that no re inforcements wi ll be sent to
Fort Sumter in the interval,and that publ ic peace shal l not be
di sturbed by any act of hosti li ty towards South Carol ina , I
wi l l refer your communication to the authorities of South C arol ina
,and withholding the ir communicati on
,with wh ich I am
at present charged,wi ll awai t for their in structions .
Maj or Anderson,and h is comman d
,let me assure you
,d o
n ow obtain al l necessary suppl i e s O f food , (including fresh meat
and vegetable s,! and , I bel ieve , fuel an d water ; and d o now
enj oy free communication by pos t,and special messengers with
the President,and wil l continu e to do so
,certai nly
,unti l the
door of negotiation Shall be closed .
If your proposition i s acceded to, y ou may assure the Presi
dent that no attack wi ll b e made on Fort Sumter, unti l a
response from the Governor of South C aroli na has been received
by me , and communicated to him .
With great con siderati on and profound esteem,
Your obedi ent servant,
ISAAC W . HAYNE,
E nvoy from the Governor and C ou ncil of S outh Carol ina .
1 6
to him to defer the del ivery of a message from the Governor ofSouth Carol ina to th e President
,with which he has been en
trusted,for a few days
,or unti l the President and C ol . Hayne
shal l have considered the suggestions which you submit . It i sunnecessary to refer special ly to these suggestions
,because the
l etter addressed to you by C ol . Hayne,of the 1 7th in stant
,
presents a clear and specific an swer to them . In this h e saysI am not clothed with power to make the arrangement yousuggest but provided y ou can get assurances , w i th which youare entire ly sati sfied
,that n o reinforcements w i l l be sent to
Fort Sumter,i n the interval
,and that the publ i c peace wi l l n ot
be disturbed by any act of hosti li ty towards South C arol ina,I
will refer your communicat ion to the authoriti es of South C arol ina
,and
,w i thholding the commun ication w i th which I am
at presen t charged,wi ll await further instructions .!
From the beginning of the present unhappy troubles,the
President has endeavored to perform hi s executive dutie s insuch a manner as to preserve the peace of the country
,and to
prevent bloodshed . This i s sti l l h i s fixed purpose . You,
therefore,do him no more than j usti ce i n stating that you
have assurances, (from hi s publi c messages , I presume ,! that ,
“ notwithstandin g the circumstances under which Maj or Ander
son left Fort Moultri e,and entered Fort Sumter with the forces
under his command,i t was n ot taken
,and i s not he ld with any
hosti le or unfri endly purpose towards your State , but merelyas property of the United States
,which the President deems i t
h i s duty to protect and preserve,
! you have correctly stated
what the Presi dent deem s to be h is duty . His so le obj ect n owi s,and has been
,to act strictly on the defensive , and to author
iz e n o movement against the people of South C arol ina , unlesscl early j ustified by a hosti le movement on their part . He couldnot have given a better proof of hi s des ire to prevent the effu
s ion of b lood , than by forbearing to resort to the use of force ,under th e strong provocation of an attack , (happi ly wi thout a
fatal re sult,! on an unarmed vesse l bearing the flag of the
Uni ted States .
I am happy to observe that,i n your letter to C ol . Hayne
,you
express the opi n ion , that i t i s especial ly due from South C arol ina to ou r States
,to say nothing of other slavehold ing States ,
that she should,as far as she can consistently with her honor,
avo id in itiating hosti l it i es between her and the Uni ted States,
1 7
or any other power . To initiate such hosti li ties against FortSumter
,would
,beyond question
,be an act of war against the
U n ited States .In regard to the proposition of Col . Hayne , “ that no r e
in for cemen ts wi l l be sent to Fort Sumter, in the ' in tc rva l,and
that the publi c peace wi l l n ot be dis turbed by any act of hos
t il ity towards South Carolina , i t i s impossible for me to give
y ou any such assurances . The Presiden t has no authority toenter into such an agreement or understanding . As an executiveofficer
,he i s simply bound to protect the public property
,so far
as thi s may be practi cable ; and i t would be a mani fest violation of hi s duty to place himself under engagements that h ewould not perform th is duty eith er for an indefini te or a limited period . At the present moment
,i t i s not deemed necessary
to reinforce Major Anderson,because he makes no such request
,
and feel s quite secure in h is position . Should hi s safety,how
ever , requi re reinforcements , every effort w i l l be made to
supply them .
In regard to an assurance from the President,
“ that the publ i c peace wil l n ot be disturbed by any act of hosti l ity towards
South C arol ina,
! the an swer wil l readi ly occur to yourselves .
To Congress,and to C ongress alone , belongs the power to
make war,and i t would be an act of usurpation for the E xe cu
t ive to give any assurance that Congress would not exercise
th i s power,however strongly he may be convin ced that no
such intention exists .I am glad to be assured
,from the letter of C ol . Hayne
,that
Maj or Anderson and h is command do now obtain al l n ecessarysuppl i es
,including fresh meat and vegetable s
,and
,I bel i eve ,
fuel and water,from the Ci ty of Charleston
,and do now enj oy
communication,by post and special messenger
,w i th the Presi
dent,and will continue to do so
,certain ly unti l the door to
n egotiation has been closed . I trust that these faci l i ti e s maysti l l be afforded to Major Anderson . This i s as i t Should be .
Major Anderson i s not menacing Charleston ; and I am con
vin ced that the happie st result wh ich can be attained i s , thatboth he and the au thorities of South Carol ina shal l remain onthei r presen t amicable footing
,neither party be ing bound by
any obligat ion s whatever,except the high C hri stian and moral
2
1 8
duty to keep th e peace,and to avoid al l cau ses of mutual irri
tat ion .
Very respectfully , y our obedient servant,J . HOLT
,
S ecretary of War, ad interim.
No . 12.
[LETTER OF SENATORS OF SECED ING STATE S TO HON . I . w . HAYNE !
WASHINGTON,23 January , 1 861 .
HO N . ISAAC W . HAYNE .
S I R ! In answer to y our letter of the 1 7th i nst ., we have
n ow to inform you that, after communicating with the President
,we have rece ived a letter signed by the Secretary of War
,
and addressed to Messrs . Fitzpatrick,Mallory and Slidel l
, on
the subj ect of ou r pr eposit ion , which letter we n ow en'
close toyou . A l though its terms are n ot as sati sfactory as we couldhave desired, in relation to the ulterior purposes of th e E xecut ive
,we have no hesitation in expressing our entire c onfidence
that no reinforcements w i l l be sent to Fort Sumter,nor wil l the
publi c peace be di sturbed within the period requi site for fu l lcommunication between yourself and your Government ; andwe trust
,therefore
,that y ou wil l fee l j ustified in applying for
further instructions before de livering to the Presiden t any message with wh ich y ou may have been charged .
We take thi s occasion to renew the expression of an earnesthepe that South Carol in a wil l n ot deem it incompatible withher safety
,dignity or honor
,to refrain from initiating any
hosti l itie s against any Power whatsoever ; or from tak ing anysteps tending to produce col li s ion
,unti l ou r States, which are
to share her fortun es, shal l have an Opportunity of j oining theircounsel s with hers .
We are,with great respect
,
Your obedient servants,
LOUIS T . WIGFALL,
D . L . YULE E .
1 . P . BE NJAMIN,
A . IVE RSON,
JOHN HE MPHILL,
JO HN SL IDE LL,
C . C . CLAY ,JR .
1 9
P . S . Some of the signatur es to the former letter addressedto you are n ot affixed to th e foregoing communication , in consequence of the departure Of several Senators , now on t hei r
way to their respectiv e States .
No . 13 .
[LETTER O FHO N . I . W . HAYNE T O SENATORS O F SECED ING STATE S !
To THE HONORABLE LOUI S T . W IGFALL,D . L . YULEE
,I . P . BE N
JAMIN,A . IVERSON
,JOHN HEMPH ILL
, JOHN SLIDELL , A N DC . C . C LAY
,JR .
GENTLEMEN I have rece ived your letter of th e 23d i nst . .
enclosing a communication d ated the 22d inst .,addressed to
Messrs . Fi tzpatrick,Mallory and Slidel l
,from the Secretary
of War,ad inter im. Thi s communication from the Secretary is
far from being sati sfactory to me . Bu t,inasmuch as you state
that “ we (you!have n o hesitati on in expressing an en tire confid en ce that no re inforcement wi ll be sent to Fort Sumter
,n or
will the publ i c peace be di sturbed within the peri od requisi te forful l communication between yourself (myself! and your (my !Government
,
! i n compliance with ou r previ ou s understanding .
I w ithho ld the communication wi th which I am at presentcharged
,and refer the whole matter to th e authorities of South
Carolina,and wil l await their reply .
Mr . Gourdin of South Carolina,n ow in thi s city
,will leave
here by the evening!s train,and will lay before the Governor of
South Carolina and hi s C ounci l , the whole correspondencebetween y ourselves and myself, and between you and the Governmen t of the United States ; with a communicat ion from me .asking further instructions .
I cannot,i n closing
,but express my deep regret that the
President should deem i t necessary to keep a garri son of troopsat Fort Sumter for the protection of the “
prop erty!
of the Uni
ted States . South Carol ina seem s the idea of appropriating toherself th e p rop erty of another, whether of a Government or an
20
individual , without accounting , to the last dol lar, for everythingwhich
,for th e protection Of h er citizen s
,and in vindicati on of
her own honor and dignity, she may deem it n ecessary to takeinto her own possession . As p rop erty , Fort Sumter i s in far
greater j eopardy occupi ed by a garri son of United States
troops,than it would be if del ivered over to the State au thor i
ti e s,with the pledge that
,in regard to that and al l other
property claimed by the Un ited States w i thin the juri sdictionof South Carolina
,they would fully account
,u pon a fair adjust
ment .Upon the other point of the preservat ion of the peace
,and
the avoidance of bloodsh ed ! Is i t supposed that the occupation of a fort i n the midst of a harbor
,with gun s bearing upon
every position of i t,by a Government n o lon ger ackn ow ledged ,
can be other than the occasion of constant irritation , excitementand indignation It creates a condition of things which I fear
i s but l ittl e calculated to advance the observance of the “ highChri stian and moral duty to keep the peace
,and to avoid all
causes of mutual irri tati on,
! recommended by the Secretary of
War in hi s communication .
In my j udgment , to continue to hold Fort Sumter by UnitedStates troops
,i s th e worst possib le mean s of protecting it as
property ; and the worst poss ible means for effecting a peacefuls olut ion of present difficu lti es .
I beg leave,in conclusion
,to say that it i s in deference to the
u nanimous Opin ion expressed by the Senators present in Wash
ing ton ,representin g States whi ch have already seceded from
the United States,or wil l have done so before the 1 st of Febru
ary next,
! that I comply with your suggestions . A n d I feelassured that suggestions from such a quarter will be considered
wi th profound respect by the authori tie s of South C arol ina,and
will have great weight in determin ing their action .
With h igh consi derati on,I have the honor to be ,
Very respectful ly,
Your obedient servant,
ISAAC w. HAYNE,
E nvoy from the Governor and Council'
of S outh Carolina .
21
No . 14 .
[DE SPATCH FROM T HE HO N . A . G . MAGRATH T O HO N . I . I V . HAYN E .!
STATE OF SOUTH CAR OL INA .
E X ECUTIVE OFFICE,STATE DEPARTM ENT .
C harleston,January
S I R ! Your despatch has been received,covern with other
papers the reply of the President through Mr . Holt , S e cr e tarv
of IVar , ad inter im,dated the 22d of January
,1 861
,to the
letter of Mr . Fitzpatrick,Mr . Mallory
,and Mr . S lidell
,enclos
ing to him a correspondence between certa in Senators of th eUnited State s and C ol . I saac IV . Hayne ; the letter Of certainSenators to y ou , dated the 23d January , 1 861 ; and your reply tothose Senators
,dated th e 2i th January
,1 861 .
In the letter of the Senators addressed to you,and dated
the 1 5 th January,1 861
,after stating that the possession of
Fort Sumter by troop s of th e United States,coupled with th e
circumstances u nder which i t was taken,i s the ch ief
,
if n ot theonly source of difficulty
,between th e Government of South
Carol in a and that of the United States ; they add that th ev.
“ too,think it a j ust cause of irri tation and apprehen sion on
the part of your (thi s! State . They then fu rther state thatthey had assurances
,notwithstanding other circumstances
whi ch seemed inconsi stent therewith ; that Fort Sumter“ was
n ot taken,and i s not held with any hosti l e or unfriendly pur
pose towards your (th is!State , but mere ly as property of th eUnited State s ; which the President deems i t hi s duty to pr Oteet and preserve .
! Under the influence Of that fee l ing Of acommon destiny which n ow animates the seceding States ; and
impressed with the earnest desire which seems to have beencherished in these S tates ; to accomplish that separation fromthe U n ited States , which they regarded as essentia l to thei rwelfare
,w i thout the i l l s which c ivi l war produces ; these Sena
tors proposed that time should be given for calm and deliberatecounsel with the States
,which are equally involved with South
C arol ina,in the fu ture i ssue of their presen t conduct . T o
secure the time necessary for the counsel wh ich should be had .
they proposed that thi s State “ should suffer Maj or Andersonto obtain n ecessary suppl ie s of food
,fuel or water
,and enj oy
free communication by post or Special messenger with thePresident , upon the understanding that the President wi l l no tsend him reinforcements during the same period .
!
22
N0 such communication was anticipated by the Governor , inthe in struction s with which you were furnished . Bu t the discretion wh ich y ou exerci sed in delaying th e del ivery of thel etter to the Presiden t of the United States
,with which y ou
were charged ; under th e circumstances which then existed ,commends itself to the approval of the Governor . Such acourse on your part was due from thi s State to the representat ives Of those States
,the people of which
,i n the language of
their Senators,
“ feel a common destiny with your (ou r!people ,and expect to form with them a new Confederacy and Provi si onal Government ;
! and who “must and wi ll share your
(o u r!fortunes ; suffering with y ou (us! th e evi ls of war,i f it
cannot be avoided,and enj oying th e b l essings of peace
,if it can
be preserved .
!
The reply of the Presiden t to the proposition thus made,
referring to the statement of the intentions with which FortSumter i s h e ld
,as derived from hi s “ publ ic messages ,
! con cedesthat hi s purpose as stated ; that i s , to hold Fort Sumter “merelyas property of th e Uni ted States ! which he “ deems i t his dutyto protect and preserve i s correct . He declares it to be hissole obj ect to act stri ctly on th e defensive
,and to “ authoriz e
n o movement again st the people of South Carolina,un less
c learly j ustified by a hosti le movement on their part . ThePresident th en
,for proof of hi s desire to preven t the effusion
of blood,alludes to hi s forbearance to resort to “ the use of
force under the strong provocati on of an attack on an unarmed
vesse l b earing the flag Of the United States .!
Referring next to the anxious d esire of the Senators of theseceding States
,that th i s State “ should as far as sh e can
,con
sisten t ly with her honor , avoid initi ating hosti li tie s between heran d the Un ited States
,or any other Power the President de
clares “ that to initi ate such hosti l iti es against Fort Sumter,
would,beyond question
,be an Act of war against the United
States . And in reply to the propositi on that “ no reinforcements wil l b e sent to Fort Sumter
,which i s stated in hi s let
ter to be your prepos it ion ,he declares “ i t i s impossible for me
(him! to give you (the Senators! any such assurance . Hestates that “ h e has no authori ty to enter into such an arran gemen t or u nderstandin g
,
! and that it would be “a manifest
violation of his duty to place himself under engagements , thathe would n ot perform thi s duty either for an indefinite or a
24
1 5 th day of February , the day named by the Senators in thei rletter, that which , whenever he attempts , he knows wil l beregarded by the State of South Carol in a as an act of war ; buth e refuses also to abstain from attempting thi s a ct
,even d u r
ing the period necessary to enable y ou to communicate to theGovernor the proposi tion of th ese Senators .All that the State of South Carol ina was desired
,i n the letter
of these Senators,to do in relation to Maj or Anderson and hi s
garri son,i t had don e not in i ts acknowledgment of any righ t
on the part of the United States,but i n the discharge of the
suggestion s of courtesy ; and with a desire n ot to visi t uponMaj or Anderson and hi s garri son th e consequen ces of the irritation which the conduct of h i s Government was so wel l
calculated to produce . N or would the acquiescence of theGovernment of the United States
,i n the forbearance required
from it , have done more than to have secured the statu s , in
which al l matters with in th e harbor of C harleston were at thi st ime ; by putting upon the State an ob l igation not to attackFort Sumter
,and upon th e Government of the United States
an obligati on not to reinforce it with fre sh troops . With the
suppli es which Maj or Anderson and hi s garri son were r eceivi ng ; with the faci li ti es which he and hi s garri son enj oyed inregard to the mai ls ; no pretext for interference w ith the harborof Charleston could be found
,except in connection with the
right claimed to reinforce the troops at Fort Sumter ! a right,
which,claimed by the President
,as involved in a duty , would
farther involve a n ecessity that he should determine , when his
du ty was to be discharged,by his exerci se of thi s right .
It i s true th at the Presi dent,i n h is letter , i ntimates that n o
reinforcements wi ll b e sent,because M aj or Anderson has made
no such request,and feels quite secure in hi s posi tion . It i s
n ot , however , to b e forgotten , that, u pon a recent occasion ,when ‘i t i s understood that Maj or Anderson did n ot cal l for
reinforcements,and may be presumed to have fe lt then as
secure in hi s posi tion as he does n ow,reinforcements were sent
to him ; nor was it the fault of the Government of the United
States that they did not reach him .
The preposit ion thus made to the Pres ident of the UnitedStates
,was the act of Southern Senators, unsolici ted and u n ex
pected . It was the evidence of a generous impulse , which ,having an imated them in the con tinuance of their connection
25
w i th the United States,as long as that conn ection could be
maintained w i th regard to the rights of the States they r epr e
sen ted ; was exhibi ted , even in the moment of their final separation
,in an anxious desire to avoid co ll is ion and strife with
those,whom they could not recognize longer a s their brethren
in that politi cal Union which had be en terminated . The modcration of the terms in which they asked the acqui escence of
the President of the United States,will be long remembered .
Their request was simply that he would abstain from th e se
acts,which were unnecessary for the pu rposes he professed ; and
were sure ly calculated to develope th e i ll s h e declared h imselfan xious to avert .At thi s period
,and under such circumstance s , i t i s n ot only
important,but indi spen sab ly necessary
,that the Governor
should correctly understand the position which th e Government of the United States inten ds to occupy towards th i sState . And the correspondence
,which has produced the letter
of the Pres iden t,serves to di sp el much of whatever doubt may
have h itherto exi sted . If the Presiden t of the Un ited State sdesired only to protect Fort Sumter as property
,what higher
assurance of i ts safety could h e have found than in the pledgeof the State of South C arol ina , that i t should not be attacked !If i t was not to be defended as property
,but as a mi li tary post
of th e U n i ted States , then , indeed , i t would be“ a manifest vio
lation of h is duty ! to agree n ot to re inforce it . The assertion,
therefore,that i t i s on ly he ld as property
,i s in con si stent with
those requirements of duty,which the President al leges to b e
obligatory upon h im ; but which are obl igatory upon h im on lyi n relation to a mi li tary post . The Governor i s
,therefore
,
forced to conclude,that
,stripped of al l d isgui se
,the real pur
pose of the President of the United States i s to keep and defend Fort Sumter
,with in the l imits of South C arol ina , as a
mi l itary post of the United States .
Thi s conclusi on of the real purpose wh ich controls the Governmen t of th e United States in re lation to thi s State
,i s n ot
the le ss a result of the position which the President of theUnited S tates has assumed in re lation to th e pr eposition whichthe Senators of the seceding States have generously made ;than of the acti on of the President of the United States i nregard to other States which h ave seceded . And it i s con sidered by the Governor to be hi s duty—one which the State of
26
South C arol ina wi l l so acknowledge—to regard al l hosti leattempts made by the Government of the United States uponany State whi ch has seceded
,as attempts made directly upon
th i s State . There i s no doubt,that at thi s moment
,hosti le
purposes , by the Government of the United States , are in operation , which affect Florida or Georgia . It does not admit of
a doubt, that an armed vesse l of the United States i s now
transporting,with the purpose of landing
,troops of the United
States upon the soi l of one or more of the States which haveseceded
,with hosti l e intentions towards such State . Another
expedition,the exi stence of whi ch is ascertained
,but th e pre
ci se nature of whi ch is more concealed,has been undertaken
for a like purpose . And that which gives to these hosti l eattempts a complexion th e least invi ting i s
,that they are
secretly undertaken , and th eir execution cover tly‘
attempted ,amid profession s of an earnest desire to avoi d col li s ion to savethe waste of life ; and to fulfi l the highest ob l igation s of morali ty . While the Commissi oner deputed by the State of Vi rgin iai s honestly urging u pon the authoriti es of thi s an d other Statesto avoid al l occasi ons of col li sion with the Government of the
United States and,whi le from the same State another Com
miss ion er i s attempting to recommend the same coun sel s to thePresident of the United States ; a hosti le exped ition i s on its
way to attempt the coercion of a State,when the Government
of the United States seems to li sten to the suggesti ons of peace
from that ancient C ommonwealth .
The Governor regards it as a happy circumstance that indeferring to the wishes of the Senators wh o have i nterposed inthe mi ssi on with which y ou were charged , their good intenthas b een rewarded
,i n leading to that declaration from the
President,which
,i n every seceding State
,wil l be regarded as
equivalent to his declaration of war again st them ; and thus
save them from the consequences of a generous , but mi sp laced ,confidence .
N or i s i t proper that it should be understood , that what thePresident i s p leased to consider a proof of h is forbearance ,should seem to have the acqui escence of the Governor in the
correctness of that construction of hi s conduct, under the cir
cumstan ces of a case,wholly unjustifiable , and more than
aggravati ng . It is not for the President of the United Statesto seem to consider the repul se of a vessel sent here wi th r e
27
in for cemen ts,as the attack of the State Of South C arol ina upon
an unarmed vessel . If i t had n ot the armament of a vesse l
intended for war, th e less excusable was th e attempt to intro
duce,under the sh ield of a peacefu l trader
,armed men for the
purpose of executing the orders of the Presi dent . It was n otonly a hostil e demonstration
,but
,whi le hosti le
,i t was attempt
ed to be made successfu l under a disgui se,wh i ch , i f i t had
secured the result which was desired,would have left nothing
but the mere succes s to compensate for th e sacrifice of the pro
pr ie ties wi th which i t had been purchased .
The opin ion of the Governor,as to the propriety of the
demand which i s contained in the l etter,w i th the del ivery of
which you are charged,has n ot only been confirmed by the
circumstances which your mission has developed ; but i s n ow
increased into a convi ction of i ts necessi ty . The safety of theState requires that the positi on of the President should b e dis
t in c tly u nderstood . The safety of al l th e seceding Statesrequires i t
,as much as the safety of South C arol in a . If i t be
so,that Fort Sumter i s held but as property ,
th en,as property ,
the rights,whatever they may be , of the United States , can
b e ascertained ; and for the sati sfaction of those rights , thepledge of the State of South C arolina y ou are authoriz ed togive . If Fort Sumter i s not h e ld as property ,
i t i s held as a
mili tary post an d such a post,with in the limits of th i s State ,
wil l not be tolerated .
The letter of the President may be rece ived as the rep ly toth e question y ou were instructed to ask , as to hi s a ssertion of
the right to send reinforcements to Fort Sumter . You were
instructed to say to him,i f be asserted that right
,that the
State of South C arolina regarded such a right,when asserted ;
or w i th an attempt at its exerci se , as a declaration of war . Ifthe President intends i t shal l not be so understood
,i t i s proper,
to avoid any miscon ception hereafter,that he should be in
formed of the manner in wh ich the Governor wil l fee l bound
to regard i t .If the President
,when you have stated the reason s which
prompt the Governor i n making the demand for the del ivery of
Fort Sumter,shal l refu se to del iver the fort
,upon the pledge
vou have been authoriz ed to make , you wil l communicate thatrefusal
,without delay
,to the Governor. If th e President shal l
not be prepared to give you an immediate an swer, you w i l l
28
commun icate to him that h i s answer may be transmi tted , with
in a reasonable time , to th e Governor at th i s p lace . The Governe r does not con sider i t n ecessary that y ou should remain inWashington longer than i s necessary to execu te th i s
,th e clos
ing duty of your mission,i n the manner now indi cated to y ou .
As soon as th e Governor shal l rece ive from y ou informationthat y ou have closed your mission , and the reply ,
whatever itmay be , of the President , he w i l l consider th e conduct whichw i l l b e necessary on h is part .
To the Senators,who have so generously interposed in th i s
matter, the Governor desires y ou to express the sati sfaction hehas experienced w i th the interest they have exhibi ted
,and th e
concurrence they have man ifested,i n the earnest desire whi ch
has governed h im,in h i s attempt to secure for the State of
South C arolina i ts j ust rights,w i thout th e waste of l ife or loss
of blood . If other coun sel s shal l prevai l with the Government
at Washington,the Governor feels that
,whatever unhappy
results may fol low,h is efforts and the efforts of those Senators
wi ll h ave been earnestly made to avert them . A copy of th i snote to y ou , the Governor desire s y ou to address to thoseSenators .It wi l l not b e necessary for the Governor to make any fur
ther communication to y ou than thi s note . To this, h e desiresme to add the express ion of hi s thanks for the manner in which
y ou have executed the duty w i th which y ou were charged .
Very respectful ly,yours
,&c .
,&c .
A . G . MAGRATH .
T o the Hon . 1 . W . HAYNE ,Sp ecial E nvoy from the S tate of S outh Carolina .
N O . 1 5 .
[M R . HAYNE T o THE PRE S IDENT OF T HE UN ITED STATES .!
WASHINGTON,January 31 , 1 861 .
T o his E xcellency, James Bu chanan , P resid ent
S I R - 1 had the honor to hold a short intervi ew w i th you on14th instant
,informal and u n ofii cial . Having previ ously been
informed that y ou desired that whatever was official should be,
29
on both sides, conducted by written communicati ons , I did notat th at time present my credentials
,but verbally informed y ou
that I bore a letter from the Governor of South Carol ina i nregard to the occupation of Fort Sumter
,which I would deliver
the next day under cover of a written communication from
myself. The n ext day,before such commun i cation could be
made,I was waited upon by a Senator from Alabama
,who
stated that he came on th e part of all the Senators then inWashington from the States which had already seceded from
the United States,or would certainly have don e so before the
l st day of February n ext . The Senator from Alabama urged,
that,he and they were interested i n the subj e ct of my mission
,
i n almost an equal degree wi th th e authori ti e s of South Caro
l ina . He said,that
,hosti l i ti e s
,commenced between South Car
ol ina and y our Government, would necessari ly involve th eStates represented by themselves in c ivi l stri fe
,and fearing
th at the action of South C arol ina might complicate th e relation s of your Government to the seceded and seceding States
,
and,th ereby
,interfere with a peaceful solut ion of existing
difficultie s,these Senators requested that I would withhold my
message to yourself unti l a con sultation among themselves
could be had . T o th i s I agreed,and the resul t of the con sulta
t ion was the l etter of these Senators addressed to me,dated
1 5 th January , a copy of wh ich i s in your possession . T o thi s
l etter I repl ied on the 1 7th , and a copy of that reply i s likewisein your possession . Thi s correspondence
,as I am informed
,
was made th e subj ect of a communication from Senators Fitz
patrick,Mallory
,and S li del l
,addre ssed to you
,and your atten
tion called to th e conten ts . These gentlemen rece ived on the22d day of January, a reply to their appl ication , conveyed in
a letter add ressed to them,dated 22d
,signed by the Hon . J .
HOLT,Secretary of War, ad interim. Of th i s letter
,you
, of
course,have a Copy . Th i s letter from Mr . Holt was communi
cated to me under the cover of a letter from all th e Senators ofth e seceded and seceding States
,who sti l l remained in Wash
ington ; and of thi s l etter,too
,I am informed
,you have been
furni shed w i th a copy .
This reply of y ours throu gh the Secretary of War, ad interim,
to the appl i cation made by the Senators,was entirely u n sat is
factory to me . It appeared to me to be not only a rej ect ion ,i n advance
,of the main propositi on made by these Senators
,
30
to wit ! that “ an arran gement should be agreed on betweenthe authoriti e s of South C arol ina and your Government
,at
least unti l the 1 5 th February next, by which time South Carol in a and the States represen ted by the Senators might
,in
C onvention,devise a w i se
, jam,an d peaceable soluti on of exist
ing difficulti es“ i n the meantime , they say,
“ we thin! , (thati s,these Senators
,! that your State (South Carolina! shouldsuffer Maj or Anderson to obtain n ecessary suppl ies of food
,
fuel or water,and enj oy free communication by post or spe
c ial messenger with the Presi dent,upon the underst and ing
that the President wi l l n ot sen d him reinforcemen ts duringth e same period but
,besides th i s rej ection of the main prop
osit ion,there was in Mr . Holt !s letter
,a distinct refusal to make
any stipulation on the subj ect of reinforcemen t,even for th e
short time that might be required to communicate with myGovernment .
This rep ly to the Senators was,as I h ave stated
,altogether
un sati sfactory to me,an d I felt sure that i t would be so to the
authoriti es whom I represented . It was not, however , ad
dressed to me,or to the authoriti e s of Sou th C arol ina ; and , as
So u th Carol ina had addressed nothing to your Government , an dhad asked nothing at your hands
,I looked n ot to Mr . Holt!s
l etter,bu t to the note addressed to me by the Senators of the
seceded and seceding States . I had consented to withhold mymessage at their in stance
,provided they could get assurances
satisfactory to them,that n o reinforcements would be sent to
Fort Sumter i n the interval,and that the peace should n ot be
di sturbed by any act Of hosti lity . -The Senators expressedi n their note to me of the 23d inst .
,their “ entire confiden ce
that n o reinforcements wi l l b e sent to Fort Sumter, nor wi l l thepubli c peace be disturbed within the period requi site for fullcommunication between you (myself! and y our (my!Government
,
! and renewed the ir request that I wou ld w i thhold thecommunicati on with which I stood charged
,and await further
in structi ons . This I have done . The furth er instru ction sarrived on the 30th in st .
,and bear date the 26th . I now have
th e honor to make to y ou my first communication as Special
E nvoy from the Government of South C arolina . You wi l l findenclosed the original communication to the President of the
U n ited State s from the Governor of South C arolina, with
wh i ch I was charged i n C harle ston on the 12th d ay of January ,
32
of the United States,del ivered over to the authori ti es of South
Carol ina,by your command .
I wil l not suppose that a pledge like th i s can be con sideredin sufi
‘icien t security . Is not th e money value of the propertyof the United States - in th is fort
,s i tuated where i t cannot be
made avai lable to the United States for any on e purpose forwhich i t was original ly constructed
,worth more to the Un ited
States than the property itse lf! Why,then
,as p rop erty , in si st
on holding i t by an armed garri son ! Yet such has been theground upon wh ich you have i nvariably placed y our occupancyof thi s fort by troops beginning
,prospective ly
,wi th your
annual Message of the 4th D ecember ; again in your specia lMessage of the 9 th January
,and sti l l more emphatically in
your Message Of the 28th January . The same position i s set
forth in your reply to the Senators,through th e Secretary of
War,ad interim. It i s there virtual ly conceded that Fort Sum
ter “ i s h eld merely as property of th e United States,which
y ou deem it your duty to protect and preserve .
!
Again,i t i s submitted that the continuan ce of an armed pos
sess i on actually j eopards th e property you desire to protect .It i s impossibl e but that such a possession
,if continued long
enough,must lead to col li si on . No people not completely
abj ect and pusi l lan imous,cou ld submit, i ndefin itely, to th e
armed occupation of a fortress i n th e midst of the harbor of
i ts prin cipal c ity,and commanding the ingress and egress of
every sh ip that enters the port ; the dai ly ferry boats that ply
u pon the waters , movi ng but at th e sufferance of ali ens . Anattack upon thi s fort would scarce ly improve it as property ,whatever the result
,and
,if captured
,i t would no longer be the
subj ect of account .
T o protect Fort Sumter, merely as property , i t i s submittedthat an armed occupancy i s n ot only unnecessary, but that iti s manifestly the worst poss ible means which can be resortedto for such an obj ect .Your reply to the Senators
,through Mr . Holt , declares i t to
be y our so le obj ect“ to act stri ctly on the defensive , and to
authorize no movement against South Caroli na un less j ustifiedby a hosti le movement on their part, y et , in reply to the pro
position of the Senators that n o reinforcements shou l d be sentto Fort Sumter
,provi ded South C arolina agrees that during
the same period n o attack should b e made, y ou say !“ It is
33
impossib le for me (y our Secretary!to give you'
(the Senators!any such assurance ,
! that it would be a manifest violat ion ofhis (your! duty to place himself (yourself!under engagementsthat h e (you!would not perform the duty either for an in d efin ite or a limited period .
In your Message of th e 28th inst .,i n expressing y ourself in
regard to a similar propositi on, y ou say !
“ However strong
may be my desire to enter i nto such an agreement , I am con
vin ced that I do not possess th e power . Congress,and C on
gress alone,under the war - mak ing power
,can exercise the di s
cretion of agreeing to abstain ‘from any and al l acts calculatedto produce a col li si on of arms ! between thi s and other governments . It would
,therefore
,be a usurpat ion for the E xecutive
to attempt to restrain their hands by an agreement i n regardto matters over which he has no Const itutiona l control . I f h e
were thus to act,they might pass laws which he should be
bound to obey,thoug h in con fl ict with hi s agreement .
! 'I h e
proposition , i t i s suggested , was addressed to you under thel aws as they now are
,an d was n ot i ntended to refer to a new
condition of th ings arising u nder new legi sl ation . It was
addressed to the E xecutive di scretion,acting under existing
laws . If Congress Should,under the war -making power
,or
in any other w ay , l egi slate i n a man ner to affec t the peace of
South C arolina , her interests or her rights , i t wou ld not be
accomplished in secret . South C arolina would have t imelynotice
,and she would
,I trust
,endeavor to m eet the emer
gen cy .
It i s added in the letter of Mr . Holt,that “ at the present
momen t i t i s not deemed n ecessary to reinforce Maj or Ander
son,becau se he mak es no such request
,and feel s quite secure
in h is position . Bu t should h i s safety require it,every effort
wil l be made to su pply reinforcements . ! Thi s would seemto ignore the other branch of th e proposit ion made by the Senators
,viz ! that no attack w as to be made on Fort Sumter dur
ing the period suggested,and that Maj or Anderson shoul d en
j oy the faci li ti e s O f communicati on , &c ., &c .
I advert to th is point,however
,for the purpose Of saying
that to send reinforcements to Fort Sumter could not serve a s ameans O f p rotecting and p reserving PROPE RTY , for, as must beknown to your Government
,i t would i nevitably lead to imme
3
34
diate hostilitie s , i n which property on al l side s would n ecessar ily suffer.
South Carolina has every disposi t i on to preserve the pub li cpeace , and feels , I am sure , i n ful l force , those high , “ Chri st ian and moral duties referred to by your S ecretary
,and i t
i s submitted that on her part there i s scarcely any considera
tion of mere property , apart from honor and safety,which
could i nduce her to do aught to j eopard that peace,sti l l l ess to
inaugurate a protracted and bloody civi l war . She rests herposition on something h igher than mere property . It i s a consideration of her own dignity as a sovereign
,and the safety of
her peop le,which prompts h er to demand that thi s property
should not longer be used as a mi litary post by a Governmentshe no longer acknowledges . She feel s thi s to be an imperat ive duty . It has
,in fact
,become an absolute n ecessity of
her condition .
Repudiating, as you do , the idea of coercion , avowing peaful i ntenti ons and expressing a patriot !s horror for civi l warand bloody strife among those who once were brethren
,i t
i s hoped that on fu rther con sideration y ou w i l l not,on a
more question of property , refu se the reasonable demand of
South Carol ina,which hon or and necessity al ike compel her to
vindicate . Should you disappoint thi s hope,th e responsibi li ty
for th e result surely does n ot rest with her . I f th e evil s of warare to be encountered , especial ly the calamiti es of civi l war , ane levated statesman sh ip would seem to require that it should beaccepted as the unavoidable alternative of something sti l l moredi sastrous
,such as n ational d ishonor or measu res materially
affecting the safety or permanent interests of a people— t h at i tshoul d be a cho ice de liberately made
,an d entered upon as war
,
and of set purpose . Bu t that war should be the incident oraccident
,attendant on a policy professedly peacefu l
,and n ot
requi red to effec t the obj ect wh i ch is avowed as the only endintended
,can only be excused when there has been n o warning
given as to th e con sequences .
I am further in structed to say,that South C arol ina cannot
,
by her si l ence,appear to acquiesce in th e imputation that she
was gui lty of an act of unprovoked aggressi on i n firing on theStar of the West . Though an unarmed vessel
,she was fi l led
with armed men entering her territory again st . her wi ll , with
the purpose of reinforcing a garrison , held , within her limits,
35
against her protest . She forbears to recriminate by discuss ingthe questi on of the propriety Of attempting such a reinforce
ment at all,as wel l a s of the d i sgui sed and secret manner in
which i t was intended to be effected . And on‘th is occasion sh e
wil l say nothing as to the manner in wh ich Fort Sumter wastaken into the possession of i ts presen t occupants .
The interposition of the Senators who have addressed y ou ,
was a circumstan ce unexpected by my Government . and unsolic ited certainly by me . The Governor
,whi le he appreciate s
the high and gen erous motives by which th ey were prompted .
and whil e he fu l ly approve s the delay which , in deference tothem
,has tak en place in the presentation of thi s deman d
,feels
that i t cannot longer be withheld .
I conclude with an extract from the i nstruction s just receivedby me from the Government of South C arol inaThe letter of th e Presiden t , through Mr . Holt , may be r e
ce ived as the reply to the question you were i nstructed to ask,
as to hi s assertion of h is right to sen d reinforcemen ts to FortSumter . You were instructed to say to h im if he asserted that
right,that the State of South Caroli na regarded such a right
when asserted,or wi th an attemp t at its exerci se
,as a declara
ti on of war .
I f the Pre sident i ntends i t shal l n ot be so understood,i t i s
proper to avoid any misconcepti on hereafter,that he should be
i nformed of the manner in which the Governor wil l feel boundto regard i t .
I f the President,when you have stated th e rea son s which
prompt the Governor i n making the demand for the delivery of
Sumter,shal l refuse to del iver the fort upon the pledge you
have been authorized to make,you wil l communicate that
refu sal wi thout delay to th e Governor . If the Presiden t shal l
n ot be prepared to give you an immediate an swer , y ou wil lcommun i cate to him that hi s answer may be t °
an smitted within
a reasonable time to the Governor at th i s place , (Charleston ,
South Carol ina .!“ The Governor does not con sider i t n ecessary that you (I!
should remain longer i n Washington than i s n ecessary to execute thi s
,th e closing duty of your (my!missi on , in the manner
now indicated to y ou (me .! As soon as the Governor shal lrece ive from y ou i nformation that you have closed your mis
36
s ion,and the reply
,whatever it may be
,of the President
,h e
w i l l con sider the conduct which may be necessary on h is part .!
Al low m e to reque st that you would,as soon as poss ible
,
i nform me wheth er,under th ese instructions
,I need await your
answer in Washington and if not,I would be pleased to con
vey from you to my Government , information as to the timewhen an answer may be expected in Charleston .
With h igh con sideration ,I am , very respectful ly ,
ISAAC W . HAYNE,
Sp ecial E nvoy .
No . 16.
[LETTER OF MR . HOLT TO M E . HAYN E !
WA R DEPARTMENT,February 6 , 1 861 .
S I R ! The Presi dent of the Uni ted States has rece ived yourletter of the 31 st u lt . , an d has charged me with the duty of
replying thereto .
In the communi cation addressed to the President by Govern or Picken s
,under date of th e 12th of January
,and whi ch
accompanie s yours now before me,hi s E xcel lency says ! “ I
have determined to send to you the Hon . I . W . Hayne,the
Attorney General of the State of South Carolina,an d have
instructed him to demand the surrender of Fort Sumter,i n the
harbor of Charleston,to the con stituted authori ties of the
S tate of South Carolina . The demand I have made of Maj or
Anderson,and which I now mak e of y ou ,
i s suggested becau seof my earnest de sire to avoid the bloodshed which a persist
ence in your attempt to retain th e possession of that Fort wi l lcause
,and which wil l be unavai l ing to secure to you that pos
sessi on,but induce a calamity most deeply to be deplored .
!
The character of the demand thus authorized to be made ,appears under the influence
,I presume
,of the correspondence
with the Senators to which y ou refer , to have been modifiedby subsequent in structi on s of h i s E xcel lency , dated the 26th ,and received by yourse lf on the 30th of
_
Janu ary,in which h e
says ! “ I f i t b e so that Fort Sumter i s held as property,then ,
37
as property,th e rights
,whatever they may be
,of the Un ited
States,can be ascertained
,and for th e sati sfaction of these
rights,the pledge of the State of South C arol ina
,you are
authorized to give .
! The ful l scope and precise purport of
your instructi on s,as thus modified
, y ou h ave expressed i n thefollowing words ! “ I do not come as a military man to demandthe surrender of a fortress
,but as the legal Offi cer of th e State .
i ts Attorney General,to claim for the State the exerci se of
its undoubted right of eminent domai n,an d to pl edge th e State
to make good al l injury to the rights of property wh ich arisefrom the exerci se of the claim .
!
A n d lost thi s expl ici t Ian
guage should not sufficiently define you r posi tion , y ou addThe preposition n ow i s that her (South Carolina
!s! law Officershould
,under authority of the Governor and hi s Coun ci l , dis
t in ctly pledge th e fai th of South Carolina to make such com
pen sat ion ,i n regard to For t Sumter
,and i ts appurtenances an d
contents,to the fu l l extent of th e money value of the property
of the United States,del ivered over to the author i tie s of South
Carol ina by your command .
!
You then adopt h i s E xcel len cy !strain of thought upon the subj ect
,so far as to suggest that the
possession of Fort Sumter by the Uni ted States,if continued
long enough . must lead to col li sion ,! and that an attack u pon
i t would scarce ly improve i t as property,whatever the result
and if captured,i t would no longer b e th e subj ect of account .
The proposal,th en
,n ow presen ted to the Pre siden t
,i s s imply
an offer on the part of South‘
Carol ina to bu y For t Sumter an dcontents
,as property of the United States
,sustain ed by a
declaration , i n effect , that , i f she i s not permitted to mak e th epu rchase , she wil l seiz e the fort by force of arms . As thei ni ti ati on of a negotiation for the tran sfer of pr operty betweenfriendly governmen ts , th i s proposal impresse s the Presiden t ashaving assumed a most unusual form . He has
,however
,inves
t igated the c laim on whi ch i t professes to be based,apart from
th e declaration th at accompan ies i t . And i t may be h ereremarked that much stress has been la id upon th e employmentof the words “ property ! and “ publi c property
,
! by the Pre sident in hi s several messages . These are the most comprehens ive terms wh ich can be used in such a conn ection
,and
,surely
,
when referring to a fort,or any other publ ic establi shment
,
th ey embrace th e entire and undivi ded intere st of the Governmen t therein . The title of the Un ited State s to Fort
'
38
S umter i s complete and incontestabl e . Were i ts interest i nth i s property purely proprietary
,in the ordinary acceptation
O f the term,i t might probably be subj ected to th e exerci se of
the right of eminent domain but it has al so poli ti cal re lation sto i t of a much higher and more imposing character than thoseof mere proprietorship . It has absolute j urisdiction over the
fort , and the soi l on which it stands . Thi s j uri sdiction cons i sts in the authority to exercise exclusive legislati on ! overthe property referred to
,and i s
,therefore
,clearly incompatib le
with the c laim of “ eminen t d omain,
! now insi sted upon byS outh Carolina . This authority was not derived from any
questionable revolutionary source , but from the peaceful cess i on of South Carolina herse lf
,acting through her Legislature
,
un der a provision of the Constitu tion of the United States .South Carolina can no more assert the right of eminent domainover Fort S umter than Maryland can assert it over the D i stri cto f Columbia . The pol it ical and proprietary rights Of theUnited States , in either case , rest u pon precisely the sameground .
The Presiden t,however
,i s reli eved from the necessity of
f urther pursuing thi s inqui ry by the fact that,whatever may
be the claim of South Carolina to th is fort,he has no C on stitu
t ion al power to cede or surrender i t . The property Of theUnited States has b een acquired by force of public law , and
c an on ly be di spo sed of under the same solemn sanctions . ThePresident
,as the head Of the E xecutive branch of the Govern
ment only,can no more sel l and tran sfer Fort Sumter to South
C arol ina than he can sel l and convey the C apital of the UnitedStates to Maryland
,or to any other State or individual seeking
to possess i t . His E xcel lency the Governor i s too fami liarwith the C onstitution of th e United States
,and with the l imit
a tion s upon the powers of the Chi ef Magistrate of the Government i t has establi shed
,n ot to appreciate at once the soundn ess
of thi s lega l propositi on .
The question of reinforc in g Fort Sumter i s so fu l ly di sposedOf in my letter to Senator Sli del l and others
,under date of
the 22d of“
Jan uary—a copy of which accompan ies th i s—that
i t s di scussion wi ll not n ow be renewed . I then said ! “ Atthe presen t moment
,i t i s n ot deemed n ecessary to re inforce
M aj or Anderson,because he makes no such request . Should
h i s safety,however
,r equ i re reinforcements , every effort wi l l
'
40
know that they can n ever receive aught but shelter from its
g uns , unless, in the absence of al l provocation,they should
as sault and seek i ts destruction . The intent w i th which thisfortress i s held by the Presi dent i s truthfu l ly stated by SenatorDavi s and o thers
,i n the ir letter to yourself of the 1 5 th Janu
ary,I n which they say ,
“ i t i s not held with any hostil e or
unfriendly purpose towards your State,but merely as property
o f the United States which the President deems it his duty toprotect and preserve .
If the announcement,so repeatedly made
,of th e President !s
pacific purposes i n c ontinuing the occupati on of Fort Sumterunti l the question Shal l have been settled by competent aut hor ity ,
has fai led to impress the government of Sou th Carol ina
,the forbearing conduct of hi s Admini stration for the last
few months,should be rece ived as conclusive evidence of hi s
s incerity . And if th i s forbearan ce,in vi ew Of the circum
stances which have so severely tried it , be n ot accepted as a
s atisfactory pledge of the peacefu l pol i cy of th is admini stration towards South Carolina
,then it may be safely affirmed
,
that n either language or conduct can possibly furni sh on e . If,
w i th al l the multip li ed proofs which exi st,of the Presiden t !s
anxiety for peace , and of the earnestness with wh i ch he haspursued it
,the authori ti es of that State Shal l assault Fort
Sumter,and peri l the l ives of the handful of brave and loya l
men shut up within its wal ls,and thus plunge our common
c ountry into the horrors of civi l war, then upon them and those
they represent , must rest the responsib i l ity .
Yery respectful ly,
Your obedient servant,
J . HOLT, S ecretary of War .
The Hon . I . W . HAYNE,
A ttorney Genera l of S tate of S outh Carolina .
P . S .- The Presi dent has not
,as you have been informed ,
received a copy of th e letter to yourself from the Sen ators ,communicating that of Mr . Holt of the 22d of January .
J . H .
41
N O . 1 7 .
[LET TER OF MR . HAYNE T o MR . HOLT .!
WASHINGTON February 7 , 1861 .
T oHis E xcellency , James Buchanan , President
S I R —Your reply , through your Secretary of th e War D e
par tmen t,to my communicati on of the 31 st of January
,cover
ing the demand of the Governor of South C arolina for thedelivery of Fort Sumter
,was rece ived yesterd ay . Although
the very di stinct and emphatic refusal of that demand clo se smy mission , I fee l con strained to correct some strange misapprehension s into wh ich y our Secretary has fa llen .
There has been no modificati on of the demand authorized
to be made , and no change whatever in i ts character , andof thi s y ou were di stinctly informed in my communication
of the 31 st of January . You have the origina l demand asdelivered to me by Governor Pickens on the 12th of January ,
and you have an extract from the further instructionsrece ived by me
,expressly stating that. he
,the Governor
,
was confirmed!in. the v iews he en tertained on the 12th
of January by tha t very correspondence which you assignas the cause of th e al leg ed modificati on . You assume thatthe chara ct er o f the demand has been modified , yet y ou havefrom me but one communication , an d that asserts the con
trary ,and y ou have n othing from the Govern er but the very
demand i tse lf, which you say has been modified . What purpose of peace or conci liati on your Secretary could have hadin view i n th e
'
in trod u ct ion of thi s poin t at al l,i t i s di fficu lt to
perce ive .
You next attemp t to ridi cule the proposal presented “ as
simply an offer on th e part of Sou th Carol ina to buy FortSumter and contents as property of the United States
,sustained
by a declaration in effect that if she i s n ot permitted to makethe purchase
,she w i l l se ize the fort by force of arms . ! It
i s difficult to con sider thi s as other than inten tional misconstruction . You were told that South C arolina
,as a separate
,
independent sovereign ty,would n ot tolerate the occupation
,
by foreign troops,of a military post within her limits
,but
,that
inasmuch as you,in repeated messages and in y our corres
pon d en ce ,' had “ la id much stress
!u pon the character of your
42
duties , ari si ng from considering fort s as property , South C arolina , so far as th is matter of property, - suggested by your self
,
was concern ed , would make compensation for al l inj ury donethe property
,i n the exercise of her sovereign right of eminent
domain . And thi s your Secretary cal ls a pr eposal to purchase !T h e idea of purchase i s entirely inconsi stent with the assert ion
,
of paramount right in the purchaser . I had supposed
that an “ i nterest in property,
!as su ch
,could be n o other than
“ purely proprietary , an d if I confined myself to thi s narrowview of your “ re lations ! to Fort Sumter
, y ou ,at least
,should
not consider i t the subj ect of criti ci sm . Unti l y our letter ofyesterday
, you chose so to con sider your relations , in every
th ing which you have written, or which has been written under
your direction . It was precisely because y ou had yourselfchosen to place your action upon the ground of “ purely propri etary! right that the proposal of compensation was made
,
and you now admit that in thi s view “ i t (Fort Sumter!w ouldprobab ly be subj ected to th e exercise of the right of eminen tdomain .
In your letter of yesterday (through your Secretary! youshift your position . You claim that your Government bears toFort Sumter “ pol it ica l relations of a much higher an d moreimposing character .
! It was no part of my mission to di scussthe “ pol it i cal relations ! of the United States Government to
any thing within the territoria l limits of South C arolina . South
Carolina claims to have dissolved al l poli t ica l connection wi thyour Government
,and to have destroyed all “ political rela
tion s of your Government with everything within her borders .
She i s unquesti onably at thi s moment d e factoa separate andindependent Government
,exercising complete sovereignty over
every foot of her soi l except Fort Sumter . Now,that the in
tenti on i s avowed to hold thi s place as a mili tary post, w i th aclaim of exclusive j uri sdiction on the part of a Governmentfore ign to South C arolina
,i t wi l l be for the authorities to deter
mine what i s the course proper to be pursued . It i s vain to
ignore the fact that South Carolina i s,to yours
,a foreign Gov
ernmen t,and how with thi s patent fact before you
, y ou canconsider the continued occupation of a fort in her harbor apacific measure , and parcel of a peaceful policy , passes certainly
‘
You!
say t hat the fort'
Was“garri soned
‘
for"ou r prot ectionyand
43
i s held for the same pur poses for which i t has been ever held,
s ince its con struct ion . Are y ou not aware, that to hold , in theterritory of a foreign power, a fortress again st her wil l , avowed ly for the purpose of protecting her c itizen s , i s , perhaps, the
highest i nsult which on e government can offer to another !Bu t Fort Sumter was never garrisoned at a ll unti l S outh Carol ina had dissolved her connection with your Government . Thisgarri son entered i t in the night
,with every circumstance of
secrecy,after spiking the gun s , and burning the gun carriages ,
and cutting down the flag - staff of an adj acent fort,which was
then abandoned . South Carolina had not taken Fort Sumterinto her own possession , only, because of her misp laced confi
dence in a Government which deceived her . A fortress occupied under the circumstance s above stated
,i s considered by
y ou , n ot only as no cause of i rritation , but you represent i t asheld for ou r protection 1
Your E xcellency !s Secretary has indulged in irony on a very
grave subj ect .
As to the responsib i l i ty for consequences,if,indeed
,i t does
rest on us,I can assure your E xcel len cy we are happ i ly u n con
sc ious of the fact .
I return to Charleston to - morrow .
With consideration s of high regard,
I am,very respectful ly
,
I . W . HAYNE , Sp ecia l E nvoy .
The above was returned with the fo llow ing endorsement inth e handwriting of the President
The character of thi s l etter i s such that i t cannot be r e
ce ived ; C olonel Hayne having left the city before i t was sentto the President
,i t i s returned to him by the first mai l .
8th February , 1 861 .
