The Fort Moultrie Predicament
The battle
started at Fort Moultrie on the edge of Charleston Harbor. Major Robert Anderson
was in command of Fort Moultrie when the Confederates surrounded the fort from the
banks. When Major Anderson saw this, he began preparations to defend the fort. He
wanted to keep the peace, but the South was determined to evict the Union soldiers
from the premises. South Carolina and other slave states decided to leave the Union
and rid the countryside of any trace of the Union, which meant that the soldiers
at Fort Moultrie were given the choice either to leave or be killed. "But Anderson
opposed secession, and he was ready to do his job" (Burgan, 17). When the men
heard this, they worked to prepare for the battle that was coming.
There were barely enough men to repair Fort Moultrie, much less defend it. They sent letters to Washington D.C. asking for aid, but the capitol was strangely slow to respond. The military leaders argued endlessly because South Carolina had broken away from the Union.
The closest fort to the Union garrison was Fort Sumter, a thick walled fort in the middle of Charleston harbor. Seeing Fort Sumter in the middle of the harbor, Major Anderson started to consider that if they could get to the fort, they would be safe for the time being. He didn't warn his most trusted officers once he had made his decision. "Under the cover of darkness on December 26, six days after South Carolina declared its secession, Anderson abandoned the indefensible Fort Moultrie, ordering its guns spiked and its gun carriages burned, and surreptitiously relocated his command by small boats to Sumter" (Detzer, Davis).
There were barely enough men to repair Fort Moultrie, much less defend it. They sent letters to Washington D.C. asking for aid, but the capitol was strangely slow to respond. The military leaders argued endlessly because South Carolina had broken away from the Union.
The closest fort to the Union garrison was Fort Sumter, a thick walled fort in the middle of Charleston harbor. Seeing Fort Sumter in the middle of the harbor, Major Anderson started to consider that if they could get to the fort, they would be safe for the time being. He didn't warn his most trusted officers once he had made his decision. "Under the cover of darkness on December 26, six days after South Carolina declared its secession, Anderson abandoned the indefensible Fort Moultrie, ordering its guns spiked and its gun carriages burned, and surreptitiously relocated his command by small boats to Sumter" (Detzer, Davis).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Moultrie
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