. The Civil War and the Constitution, 1859-1865 . hesegentlemen he objected to the use of the word provided,lest it should be held to imply an agreement on his part,and said that he would not enter into any agreement withthem upon the subject. They replied to him that theydid not understand it as implying any agreement what-ever on his part. The next day Mr. John B. Floyd, theSecretary of War, issued an order to Major Anderson, incommand of the forts in Charleston Harbor, of the fol-lowing tenor : You are carefully to avoid every act whichwould needlessly tend to provoke aggression ; and, fort
. The Civil War and the Constitution, 1859-1865 . hesegentlemen he objected to the use of the word provided,lest it should be held to imply an agreement on his part,and said that he would not enter into any agreement withthem upon the subject. They replied to him that theydid not understand it as implying any agreement what-ever on his part. The next day Mr. John B. Floyd, theSecretary of War, issued an order to Major Anderson, incommand of the forts in Charleston Harbor, of the fol-lowing tenor : You are carefully to avoid every act whichwould needlessly tend to provoke aggression ; and, forthat reason, you are not, without evident and immediatenecessity, to take up any position which could be con-strued into the assumption of a hostile attitude ; but youare to hold possession of the forts in the harbor, and, ifattacked, you are to defend yourself to the last smallness of your force will not permit you, per-haps, to occupy more than one of the three forts; butan attack on, or an attempt to take possession of, either rm. Charleston Harbor. SECESSION 93 of them, will be regarded as an act of hostility, and youmay then put your command in either of them whichyou may deem most proper, in order to increase itspower of resistance. You are also authorized to takesimilar defensive steps whenever you have tangibleevidence of a design to proceed to a hostile act. Thisorder from Mr. Floyd was not brought to the notice ofthe President until the 21st day of the month (De-cember). He saw no reason to disapprove it, and didnot do so. Major Anderson was at the moment in FortMoultrie with a very small force of men. He becameconvinced that he was in a dangerous position, and be-lieved that an attack upon him by the South Carolinianswas imminent. On the night of the 26th he, therefore,left Fort Moultrie and occupied Fort Sumter, which heconsidered a stronger position. These acts by Major Anderson were the events re-ferred to by Messrs. Adams, Barnwell, and Orr as preclu
Size: 1384px × 1804px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectconstit, bookyear1901
