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by piethesailorman
1497 days ago
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Its is so far past midnight where I am, Ill come back tomorrow to find sources better than a quick google search can provide. You are right, I jumped the gun on its occupation, thank you for calling me out on that. I think it was the lack of casualties and the fact I have read sources speaking to the intent of SC on damaging the fort and causing a fire storm was its strategy rather than the desire to cause casualties. Perhaps tomorrows search will prove my memory incorrect on that as well. But as for your last question. Where were the southern armamets being built up? Are you speaking to south carolina defending a marginal island fort just outside its own port? Does the third ammendment not strike a resemblance here? How could sc stand idle when a now foreign army is sneaking in just outside their major port in the middle of the night not be of major concern? Especially since it was unoccupied by the federal government, and james buchanan agreed to not have it taken. Its not like south carolina was sending boats to blockade washigton dc or new york or boston. Have I mistaken that stance? The south was segregated by states. Was another state building up forces on the border of pennsylvannia? Ohio? or even illinois? I genuinely have not heard of this and would appreciate tips! |
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See the wikipedia page:
> Governor Pickens, therefore, ordered that all remaining Federal positions except Fort Sumter were to be seized. State troops quickly occupied Fort Moultrie (capturing 56 guns), Fort Johnson on James Island, and the battery on Morris Island. On December 27, an assault force of 150 men seized the Union-occupied Castle Pinckney fortification, in the harbor close to downtown Charleston, capturing 24 guns and mortars without bloodshed. On December 30, the Federal arsenal in Charleston was captured, resulting in the acquisition of more than 22,000 weapons by the militia. The Confederates promptly made repairs at Fort Moultrie and dozens of new batteries and defense positions were constructed throughout the Charleston harbor area, including an unusual floating battery, and armed with weapons captured from the arsenal.
They were gathering weapons and armaments, and had 6000 men ready to siege Sumter (and it's 90 Union soldier), to start a war! Months later, at first Manassas, the CSA forces (which were mostly the Virginia Militia) at that battle numbered 40,000.
> Does the third ammendment not strike a resemblance here?
Are you saying that South Carolina was still a part of the US, in which case firing on US soldiers was treason?
> How could sc stand idle when a now foreign army is sneaking
They were already there! The Soldiers who eventually moved into Sumter were previously stationed like a half mile away, and had already been besieged and cut off by SC troops. They moved from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter because it was a more defensible position as there were only 90 union troops who were being harassed by more than a thousand SC militia men. That eventually grew to more than 5000!
The Union wasn't building up troops on the border. There were 90 guys in a fort. That's it. There were multiple failed attempts to send them food, because the fort was being blockaded and the soldiers were starving, Lincoln was clear that these weren't attempts to reinforce, but simply to provide supplies. None of that is even remotely controversial.
And of course, multiple high ranking confederates knew this was the start of the war. Quoting the wiki page again:
> James had offered the first shot [at fort Sumter] to Roger Pryor, a noted Virginia secessionist, who declined, saying, "I could not fire the first gun of the war."
and
> Edmund Ruffin, another noted Virginia secessionist, had traveled to Charleston to be present at the beginning of the war, and fired one of the first shots at Sumter after the signal round
They were very intentionally trying to start a war!