Fort Sumter Bookmark

Front:
Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie were built for the defense of the City of Charleston and Charleston Harbor on land held in trust by the Federal Government for the State of South Carolina. When the Southern States held legal referendums to secede, the transfer of ownership of Federal Forts …

Front:
Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie were built for the defense of the City of Charleston and Charleston Harbor on land held in trust by the Federal Government for the State of South Carolina. When the Southern States held legal referendums to secede, the transfer of ownership of Federal Forts and removal of Federal Troops proceeded peaceably. Prior to the night of December 26, 1860 Fort Sumter was unoccupied. On that night without notifying South Carolina, US Major Anderson, who was occupying Fort Moultrie, spiked his guns and removed his troops to Fort Sumter. It appears plans were already afoot to (continued on back)

Back:
use Fort Sumter as the tinder box to provoke hostile action by South Carolina and the Confederacy. The sons and grandsons of the men who formed the original Union had full faith in the words of the Declaration of Independence and confidence in the fact that their actions were not only legal but constitutional. When Federal officials calmed their fears over Major Anderson’s action they naively trusted them. Unfortunately, the arrival on April 11, 1861 of a relief flotilla of 11 ships, 285 guns and 2,400 troops revealed that they had been lied to. The rest is history. “The aggressor in a war is not the first who uses force, but the first who renders force necessary.” ~ Hallam’s Constitutional History