Joseph Holt

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Joseph Holt (January 6, 1807 – August 1, 1894) was a leading member of the Buchanan administration and was Judge Advocate General of the United States Army, most notably during the Lincoln assassination trials.

Antebellum

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Service Record

December 26, 1860 - April 14, 1861: Operations in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina Dispatches
  • At the outbreak of the war, Joseph Holt was the Postmaster General of the United States
  • After the resignation of John Floyd, Holt was appointed Secretary of War ad interim on January 18, 1861
  • He served in this capacity until March 4, 1861 when he was replaced by Simon Cameron



These dispatches were compiled with primary source materials from The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (Chapter 1)

CONTENTS

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(US Maj) Robert Anderson
  • At the outbreak of the war, Robert Anderson was a Major in the United States Army commanding two half-full companies of United States Artillery troops
To Holt: From Holt:
January 10, 1861 - Secretary John Holt to Major Robert Anderson

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Union Correspondence, etc.

WAR DEPARTMENT, January 10, 1861

Major ROBERT ANDERSON,
First Artillery, Commanding at Fort Sumter, S.C.:

SIR: Your dispatches to Numbers 16, inclusive have been received. Before the receipt of that of 31st December,[1] announcing that the Government might re-enforce you at its leisure, and that you regarded yourself safe in your present position, some two hundred and fifty instructed recruits had been ordered to proceed from Governor's Island to Fort Sumter on the Star of the West, for the purpose of strengthening the force under your command. The probability is, from the current rumors of to-day, that this vessel has been fired into by the South Carolinians, and has not been able to reach you. To meet all contingencies, the Brooklyn has been dispatched, with instructions not to cross the bar at the harbor of Charleston, but to afford to the Star of the West and those on board all the assistance they may need, and in the event the recruits have not effected a landing at Fort Sumter they will return to Fort Monroe.

I avail myself of the occasion to express the great satisfaction of the Government at the forbearance, discretion and firmness with which you have acted, amid the perplexing and difficult circumstances in which you have been placed. You will continue, as heretofore, to act strictly on the defensive; to avoid, by all means compatible with the safety of your command, a collision with the hostile forces by which you are surrounded. But for the movement so promptly and brilliantly executed, by which you transferred your forces to Fort Sumter, the probability is that ere this the defenselessness of your position would have invited an attack, which, there is reason to believe, was contemplated, if not in active preparation, which must have led to the effusion of blood, that has been thus so happily prevented. The movement, therefore, was in every way admirable, alike for its humanity [and] patriotism, as for its soldiership.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. HOLT.
Secretary of War ad interim.

  1. Received January 5, 1861


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January 16, 1861 - Secretary Joseph Holt to Major Robert Anderson

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Union Correspondence, etc.

WAR DEPARTMENT, January 16, 1861

Major ROBERT ANDERSON,
First Artillery, Commanding Fort Sumter:

SIR: Your dispatch Numbers 17, covering your correspondence with the governor of South Carolina, has been received from the hand of Lieutenant Talbot. You rightly designate the firing into the Star of the West as "an act of war," and one which was actually committed without the slightest provocation. Had their act been perpetrated by a foreign nation, it would have been your imperative duty to have resented it with the whole force of your batteries. As, however, it was the work of the government of South Carolina, which is a member of this confederacy, and was prompted by the passions of a highly-inflamed population of citizens of the United States, your forbearance to return the fire is fully approved by the President. Unfortunately, the Government had not been able to make known to you that the Star of the West had sailed from New York for your relief, and hence, when she made her appearance in the harbor of Charleston, you did not feel the force of the obligation to protect her approach as you would naturally have done had this information reached you.

Your late dispatches, as well as the very intelligent statement of Lieutenant Talbot, have relieved the Government of the apprehensions previously entertained for your safety. In consequence it is not its purpose at present to re-enforce you. The attempt to do so would, no doubt, be attended by a collision of arms and the effusion of blood-a national calamity which the President is most anxious, if possible, to avoid. You will therefore, report frequently your condition, and the character and activity of the preparations, if any, which may be being made for an attack upon the fort, or for obstructing the Government in any endeavors it may make to strengthen your command.

Should your dispatches be of a nature too important to be intrusted to the mails you will convey them by special messengers. Whenever, in your judgment, additional supplies or re-enforcements are necessary for your safety, or for a successful defense of the fort, you will at once communicate the fact to this Department, and a prompt and vigorous effort will be made to forward them.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. HOLT.

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January 21, 1861 - Secretary Joseph Holt to Major Robert Anderson

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Union Correspondence, etc.

No. 19.]
FORT SUMTER, S. C., January 21, 1861
(Received A. G. O., January 24.)

Honorable J. HOLT, Secretary of War:

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letters, dated the 10th and 19th [16th] instants,and to assure you that I am highly gratified at the unqualified approbation they contain of the course I felt it my duty (under Divine guidance, I trust) to pursue in the unexpectedly perplexing circumstances by which we were surrounded. I shall inclose herewith copies of my correspondence with the officials of this State, and also a copy of the Mercury, which contains an article in reference to supplies for my command.[1] You will understand at once the reasons for my course, which I hope will meet your approval. So many acts of harshness and of incivility have occurred since my removal from Fort Moultrie, which I have not deemed proper to notice or report, that I cannot accept of any civility which may considered as a favor or an act of charity. I hope that the Department will approve of my sending (if the governor will permit it) our women and children to New York. They will be int the way here if we should, unfortunately be engaged in hostilities, and they would embarrass me should I deem it proper too make any sudden move. We are trying daily to strengthen our position. We have now fifty-one guns in position, viz: In barbette, four 42-pounders, three 32-pounders, six 24's, six 8-inch columbiads, and five 8-inch sea-coast howitzers (24); in casemate, twenty-two 32-pounders and two 42-pounders, (24); and to guard the gateway, which has been nearly closed by a heavy stone wall, three 8-inch sea-coast howitzers; and we are now preparing platforms in the parade for the three 10-inch columbiads, which we are unable to raise to their proper positions. I shall have some of the lower embrasures, in which guns are mounted, closed. This will make our little command more secure. From the perfect isolation of our position here it is impossible for us to ascertain with any degree of certainty, the character or extent of the preparations which are being made around us. Everything however, shows that they are exerting all their energies to prevent the entrance of re-enforcements, and to prepare for attacking this work. Saturday night and yesterday (Sunday) they were very actively engaged at work on a battery (commenced Saturday morning) a few hundred yards south of a battery of three guns constructed within the last three weeks in front of Fort Johnson barracks. On Cummings Point, Morris Island, quite an extensive battery or batteries have been constructed within the last week. We thing that there may be both mortars and heavy guns at this point. We see them moving heavy timbers, which may be intended for the construction of a bomb-proof. Judging from the great quantity of material which has been landed in that neighborhood, I think it probable that they may have strengthened the battery which fired on the Star of the West. The channel she came in has been closed, pretty effectually I imagine, by four sunken vessels. Sand hills on Morris Island afford such safe positions for batteries that I fear we shall have to waste a great deal of ammunition before we can succeed in dislodging them from its batteries. Several distant shots have been heard from the direction the mouth of Stone Creek. I presume they have closed that by a heavy battery. It is reported that there is a battery guarding the entrance of the Maffitt Channel, and also that there is a battery of heavy guns on Sullivan's Island (masked from our view by the houses) about three hundred yards to the west of the fort. Fort Moultrie has been greatly strengthened during the last two weeks. Traverses have been erected along the sea front, and merlons, formed of sand bags and earth, constructed between the guns. These merlons, apparently well built, will afford very good protection for the carriages and men, and defilade the parade and greater portion of the quarters from our direct fire. It seems that they have repaired these carriages, and that all the guns are now in position on the sea front. I am, of course, unable to state with any accuracy the character of the armament of their batteries or the number of men they have under arms; we hear that the garrison on Sullivan's Island, at Fort Johnson, Castle Pinckney (the parapet of which is strengthened by sand bags), and on Morris Island amount to about two thousand men. In reference to my communications with the Department, you must bear it in mind that matter is entirely under the control of the governor of this State, who may, whenever he deems fit, entirely prohibit my forwarding any letters or prevent my sending any messenger, to my Government. I shall, however, as long as I can do so, send daily a brief note to the Department the reception of which will show that the channel is still open, and the failure will indicate that our communication has been cut off.

Trusting in God that He will be pleased to save us from the horrors of a civil war.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

ROBERT ANDERSON,
Major, First Artillery, Commanding.

[Inclosure No 1.]

January 21, 1861 - President David Jamison to Major Robert Anderson

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Union Correspondence, etc.

EXECUTIVE OFFICE, DEPARTMENT OF WAR,
Charleston, January 19, 1861

Major ROBERT ANDERSON:

SIR: I am instructed by his excellency the governor to inform you that he has directed an officer of the State to procure and carry over with your mails each day to Fort Sumter such supplies of fresh meat and vegetables as you may indicate.

I am, sir, respectfully yours,

D.F. JAMISON.

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[Inclosure No 2.]

January 19, 1861 - Colonel L.M. Hatch to Major Robert Anderson

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Union Correspondence, etc.

HEADQUARTERS QUARTERMASTER'S DEPARTMENT,
Charleston, January 19, 1861

Major ANDERSON:

DEAR SIR: Inclosed please find copy of letter from Secretary of War. Not waiting your request, I shall send by the mail-boat in the morning two hundred pounds of beef and a lot of vegetables. I requested Lieutenant Talbot to ask you to let me know this evening what supplies you would wish sent daily.

Very respectfully,

L.M. HATCH,
Quartermaster-General, South Carolina Militia.

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[Inclosure No 3.]

January 19, 1861 - Colonel L.M. Hatch to President David Jamison

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Union Correspondence, etc.

HEADQUARTERS QUARTERMASTER'S DEPARTMENT,
Charleston, January 19, 1861

Colonel HATCH,
Quartermaster-General:

You are ordered to procure and send down with the mails for Fort Sumter to-morrow a sufficient quantity of fresh meat and vegetables to last the garrison of Fort Sumter for forty-eight hours, and inform Major Anderson that you will purchase and take down every day such provisions from the city market as he may indicate.

D.F. JAMISON.

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[Inclosure No 4.]

January 20, 1861 - Major Robert Anderson to Colonel L.M. Hatch

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Union Correspondence, etc.

FORT SUMTER, S.C., January 20, 1861

Colonel L.M. HATCH,
Quartermaster-General:

DEAR SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 19th instant, and also to state that as no arrangements have been made by me with government in reference to supplies for this post, I feel compelled to decline the reception of those supplies. I wrote to the honorable Secretary of War yesterday in reference to this matter.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

R. ANDERSON,
Major, First U. S. Artillery, Commanding.

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  1. Article from Mercury not found.


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February 23, 1861 - Secretary Joseph Holt to Major Robert Anderson

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Union Correspondence, etc.

WAR DEPARTMENT, February 23, 1861.

Major ROBERT ANDERSON,
First Artillery, Commanding Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor, S.C.:

SIR: It is proper I should state distinctly that you hold Fort Sumter as you held For Moultrie, under the verbal orders communicated by Major Buell,[1] subsequently modified by instructions addressed to you from this Department, under date of the 21st of December, 1860.

In your letter to Adjutant-General Cooper, of the 16th instant, you say:

I should like to be instructed on a question which may present itself in reference to the floating battery, viz: What course would it be proper for me to take if, without a declaration of war or a notification of hostilities, I should see them approaching my fort with that battery? They may attempt placing it within good distance before a declaration of hostile intention.

It is not easy to answer satisfactorily this important question at this distance from the scene of action. In my letter to you of the 10th of January I said:

You will continue, as heretofore, to act strictly on the defensive, and to avoid, by all means compatible with the safety of your command, a collision with the hostile forces by which you are surrounded.

The policy thus indicated must still govern your conduct.

The President is not disposed at the present moment to change the instructions under which you have been heretofore acting, or to occupy any other than a defensive position. If, however, you are convinced by sufficient evidence that the raft of which you speak is advancing for the purpose of making an assault upon the fort, then you would be justified on the principle of self-defense in not awaiting its actual arrival there, but in repelling fore by force on its approach. If, on the other hand, you have reason to believe that it is approaching merely to take up a position at a good distance should the pending question be not amicably settled, then, unless your safety is so clearly endangered as to render resistance an act of necessary self-defense and protection, you will act with that forbearance which has distinguished you heretofore in permitting the South Carolinians to strengthen Fort Moultrie and erect new batteries for the defense of the harbor. This will be but a redemption of the implied pledge contained in my letter on behalf of the President to colonel Hayne, in which, when speaking of Fort Sumter, it is said:

The attitude of that garrison, as has been often declared, is neither menacing, nor defiant, nor unfriendly. It is acting under orders to stand strictly on the defensive, and the government and people of South Carolina must know that they can never receive aught but shelter from its guns, unless, in the absence of all provocation, they should assault it and seek its destruction.

A dispatch received in this city a few days since from Governor Pickens, connected with the declaration on the part of those convened at Montgomery, claiming to act on behalf of South Carolina as well as the other seceded States, that the question of the possession of the forts and other public property therein had been taken from the decision of the individual States and would probably be preceded in its settlement by negotiation with the Government of the United States, has impressed the President with a belief that there will be no immediate attack on Fort Sumter, and the hope is indulged that wise and patriotic counsels may prevail and prevent it altogether.

The labors of the Peace Congress have not yet closed, and the presence of that body here adds another to the powerful motives already existing for the adoption of every measure, except in necessary self-defense, for avoiding a collision with the forces that surround you.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. HOLT.



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(US Rep) Benjamin Stanton
  • At the outbreak of the war, Benjamin Stanton was a Republican Representative in the 36th Congress from the State of Ohio, and the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs
To Holt: From Holt:
January 3, 1861 - Secretary ad interim Joseph Holt to Secretary Benjamin Stanton

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Union Correspondence, etc.

WAR DEPARTMENT,
Washington, January 3, 1861

Honorable BENJAMIN STANTON,
Chairman Committee on Military Affairs, House of Representatives:

SIR: In answer to your letter, asking for information on certain points specified in a resolution adopted by the Committee on Military Affairs of the House of Representatives on the 18th ultimo, I have the honor to state as follows:

According to the latest report of the Engineer officer having charge of the construction of the defenses of the harbor of Charleston, everything practicable had been done of place Fort Moultrie in an efficient condition, and, with a proper garrison, it was deemed susceptible of an energetic defense. There were then employed at that work an officer and one hundred and twenty workmen, independent of regular garrison.[1]

On the evening of the 26th ultimo Major Robert Anderson, First Artillery in command of the troops in Charleston Harbor, apprehensive of the safety of his command from the insecurity of the fort, and having reason to believe that the South Carolinians contemplated or were preparing to proceed to a hostile act against him, and desiring to prevent a collision and effusion of blood, evacuated Fort Moultrie after having orders for spiking the cannon and disabling some of the carriages, and removed his forces to Fort Sumter, where they now are. Castle Pinckney was at the date of the latest report in good condition as regards preparation and with a proper garrison as defensible as it can be made. One officer and thirty workmen were engaged in the repair of the cisterns, replacing decayed baguettes, and attending to other matters of detail.

Since the date of the reports referred to, Fort Moultrie and Castle Pinckney have been taken possession of by troops of the State of South Carolina, acting under the orders of the governor, and are now held by those troops, with all the armament and other public property therein at the time of their seizure. I inclose a statement (Numbers 1.) of the number and description of ordnance, and arms at the date of the last returns at Fort Moultrie, Castle Pinckney, and Charleston Arsenal, respectively. That arsenal, with all its contents, was also taken possession of on the 30th ultimo by an armed by body of South Carolina troops, acting under orders of the governor of the State, as represented in the following report of Frederick C. Humphreys, military storekeeper of ordnance, in charge, viz:

This arsenal was taken by force of arms by the militia of South Carolina, by order of Governor Pickens. The commanding officer was allowed to salute his flag before lowering it with one gun for each State now in the Union (thirty-two), and to take it with him, and the detachment to occupy the quarters until instruction from Washington can be obtained.

At that time the force under his control consisted of nine enlisted soldiers of ordnance and six hired men.

The other information asked for in regard to the number and description of arms "distributed since the 1st day of January, 1860, and to whom and at what price," will be found in the accompanying statements (Nos. 2 and 3) from the Ordnance Bureau.[2] It is deemed proper to state, in further explanation of statement Numbers 2, that where no distribution appears to have been made to a State or Territory, or where the amount of the distribution is small, it is because such State or Territory has not called for all the arms due on its quotas, and remains a creditor for dues not distributed, which can be obtained at any time on requisition therefor.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. HOLT,
Secretary of War ad interim.

[Inclosure No. 1.]

December 21, 1860 - Inventory by Captain William Maynadier

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Union Correspondence, etc.

ORDNANCE OFFICE,
Washington, December 21, 1860.

Fort Moultrie; 14 32-pounder guns, iron; 16 24-pounder guns, iron; 10, 8-inch columbiads, iron; 5 8-inch sea-coast howitzers, iron; 4 24-pounder flank howitzers, iron; 2 12-pounder field howitzers, brass; 4 6-pounder field guns, brass. Total, 55.

Castle Pinckney: 4 42-pounder guns, iron; 14 24-pounder guns, iron; 4 8-inch sea-coast howitzers, iron. Total, 22.

United States Arsenal: 2 6-pounder field guns, old iron ; 5 24-pounder field howitzers, old iron; 502 muskets, flint-lock, caliber .69; 5,720 same altered to percussion; 11,693 muskets made as percussion, caliber .69; 2,808 rifles, made as percussion, caliber .54; 6 same, altered with longrange sights; 566 Hall's rifles, flint-lock; 4 carbines, percussion, rifled; 9 United States percussion carbines; 815 pistols, flint-lock; 300 pistols, made as percussion. Total, 22,430.

WM. MAYNADIER,
Captain of Ordnance.

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  1. See De Russy to Floyd, December 20, 1860.
  2. Nos. 2 and 3 not found.


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(CS) Stephen Mallory
  • At the outbreak of the war, Stephen Mallory was a United States Senator from Florida
  • He resigned his post on January 21, 1861 and left to work in the Confederate government
To Holt: From Holt:
January 22, 1861 - Secretary Joseph Holt to to Hons. Benjamin Fitzpatrick et al

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Union Correspondence, etc.

WAR DEPARTMENT,
Washington, January 22, 1861.

Hon. BENJAMIN FITZPATRICK,
Hon. S.R. MALLORY, Hon. JOHN SLIDELL:

GENTLEMEN: The President has received your communication of the 19th instant,[1] with the copy of a correspondence between yourselves and others, "representing States which have already seceded from the United States, or will have done so before 1st of February next," and Colonel Isaac W. Hayne, of South Carolina, in behalf of the government of that State, in relation to Fort Sumter, and you ask the President "to take into consideration the subject of the correspondence." With this request he has complied, and has directed me to communicate his answer.

In your letter to Colonel Hayne of the 15th instant[2] you propose to him to defer the delivery of a message from the governor of South Carolina to the President, with which he has been intrusted, for a few days, until the President and Colonel Hayne shall have considered the suggestions which you submit. It is unnecessary to refer specially to these suggestions, because the letter addressed to you by Colonel Hayne, of the 17th instant, presents a clear and specific answer to them. In this he says: "I am not clothed with power to make the arrangement you suggest, but provided you can get assurances with which you are entirely satisfied that no re-enforcements will be sent to Fort Sumter in the interval, and that the public peace will not be disturbed by any act of hostility toward South Carolina, I will refer your communication to the authorities of South Carolina, and withholding the communication with which I am at present charged will await further instructions."

From the beginning of the present unhappy troubles, the President has endeavored to perform his executive duties in such a manner as to preserve the peace of the country and prevent bloodshed. This is still his fixed purpose. You, therefore, do him no more than justice in stating that you have assurances (from his public messages, I presume) that, "notwithstanding the circumstances under which Major Anderson left Fort Moultrie and entered Fort Sumter with the forces under his command, it was not taken, and is not held, with any hostile or unfriendly purpose towards your State, but merely as property of the United States, which the President deems it his duty to protect and preserve." You have correctly stated what the President deems to be his duty. His sole object now is, and has been, to act strictly on the defensive, and to authorize no movement against the people of South Carolina unless clearly justified by a hostile movement on their part. He could not have given a better proof of his desire to prevent the effusion of blood than by forbearing to resort to the use of force under the strong provocation of an attack (happily without a fatal result) on an unarmed vessel bearing the flag of the United States.

I am happy to observe that in your letter to Colonel Hayne you express the opinion that it is "especially due from South Carolina to our States, to say nothing of other slaveholding States, that she should, as far as she can consistently with her honor, avoid initiating hostilities between her and the United States, or any other power." To initiate such hostilities against Fort Sumter would, beyond question, be an act of war against the United States.

In regard to the proposition of Colonel Hayne, "that no re-enforcements will be sent to Fort Sumter in the interval, and that the public peace will not be disturbed by any act of hostility towards South Carolina," it is impossible for me to give you any such assurances. The President has no authority to enter into such an agreement or understanding. As an executive officer he is simply bound to protect the public property so far as this may be practicable, and it would be aa manifest violation of his duty to place himself under engagements that he would not perform this duty either for an indefinite or a limited period. At the present moment it is not deemed necessary to re-enforce Major Anderson, because he makes no such request, and feels quite secure in his position. Should his safety, however, require re-enforcements, every effort will be made to supply them.

In regard to an assurance from the President "that the public peace will not be disturbed by any act of hostility toward South Carolina," the answer will readily occur to yourselves. To Congress, and to Congress alone, belongs the power to make war, and it would be an act of usurpation for the Executive to give any assurance that Congress would not exercise this power, however strongly he may be convinced that no such intention exists.

I am glad to be assured from the letter of Colonel Hayne that "Major Anderson and his command do now obtain all necessary supplies, including fresh meat and vegetables, and, I believe, fuel and water, from the city of Charleston, and do now enjoy communication by post and special messenger with the President and will continue to do so, certainly until the door to negotiation has been closed." I trust that these facilities may still be afforded to Major Anderson. This is as it should be. Major Anderson is not menacing Charleston, and I am convinced that the happiest result which can be attained is that both he and the authorities of South Carolina shall remain on their present amicable footing, neither party being bound by any obligation whatever, except the high Christian and moral duty to keep the peace and to avoid all causes of mutual irritation.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. HOLT,
Secretary of War.

  1. Not of record in War Department.
  2. Not of record in War Department.


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(CS) John Slidell
  • At the outbreak of the war, John Slidell was a United States Senator from Louisiana
  • He resigned his post and was appointed the Confederate States Ambassador to France in September 1861
To Holt: From Holt:
January 22, 1861 - Secretary Joseph Holt to to Hons. Benjamin Fitzpatrick et al

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Union Correspondence, etc.

WAR DEPARTMENT,
Washington, January 22, 1861.

Hon. BENJAMIN FITZPATRICK,
Hon. S.R. MALLORY, Hon. JOHN SLIDELL:

GENTLEMEN: The President has received your communication of the 19th instant,[1] with the copy of a correspondence between yourselves and others, "representing States which have already seceded from the United States, or will have done so before 1st of February next," and Colonel Isaac W. Hayne, of South Carolina, in behalf of the government of that State, in relation to Fort Sumter, and you ask the President "to take into consideration the subject of the correspondence." With this request he has complied, and has directed me to communicate his answer.

In your letter to Colonel Hayne of the 15th instant[2] you propose to him to defer the delivery of a message from the governor of South Carolina to the President, with which he has been intrusted, for a few days, until the President and Colonel Hayne shall have considered the suggestions which you submit. It is unnecessary to refer specially to these suggestions, because the letter addressed to you by Colonel Hayne, of the 17th instant, presents a clear and specific answer to them. In this he says: "I am not clothed with power to make the arrangement you suggest, but provided you can get assurances with which you are entirely satisfied that no re-enforcements will be sent to Fort Sumter in the interval, and that the public peace will not be disturbed by any act of hostility toward South Carolina, I will refer your communication to the authorities of South Carolina, and withholding the communication with which I am at present charged will await further instructions."

From the beginning of the present unhappy troubles, the President has endeavored to perform his executive duties in such a manner as to preserve the peace of the country and prevent bloodshed. This is still his fixed purpose. You, therefore, do him no more than justice in stating that you have assurances (from his public messages, I presume) that, "notwithstanding the circumstances under which Major Anderson left Fort Moultrie and entered Fort Sumter with the forces under his command, it was not taken, and is not held, with any hostile or unfriendly purpose towards your State, but merely as property of the United States, which the President deems it his duty to protect and preserve." You have correctly stated what the President deems to be his duty. His sole object now is, and has been, to act strictly on the defensive, and to authorize no movement against the people of South Carolina unless clearly justified by a hostile movement on their part. He could not have given a better proof of his desire to prevent the effusion of blood than by forbearing to resort to the use of force under the strong provocation of an attack (happily without a fatal result) on an unarmed vessel bearing the flag of the United States.

I am happy to observe that in your letter to Colonel Hayne you express the opinion that it is "especially due from South Carolina to our States, to say nothing of other slaveholding States, that she should, as far as she can consistently with her honor, avoid initiating hostilities between her and the United States, or any other power." To initiate such hostilities against Fort Sumter would, beyond question, be an act of war against the United States.

In regard to the proposition of Colonel Hayne, "that no re-enforcements will be sent to Fort Sumter in the interval, and that the public peace will not be disturbed by any act of hostility towards South Carolina," it is impossible for me to give you any such assurances. The President has no authority to enter into such an agreement or understanding. As an executive officer he is simply bound to protect the public property so far as this may be practicable, and it would be aa manifest violation of his duty to place himself under engagements that he would not perform this duty either for an indefinite or a limited period. At the present moment it is not deemed necessary to re-enforce Major Anderson, because he makes no such request, and feels quite secure in his position. Should his safety, however, require re-enforcements, every effort will be made to supply them.

In regard to an assurance from the President "that the public peace will not be disturbed by any act of hostility toward South Carolina," the answer will readily occur to yourselves. To Congress, and to Congress alone, belongs the power to make war, and it would be an act of usurpation for the Executive to give any assurance that Congress would not exercise this power, however strongly he may be convinced that no such intention exists.

I am glad to be assured from the letter of Colonel Hayne that "Major Anderson and his command do now obtain all necessary supplies, including fresh meat and vegetables, and, I believe, fuel and water, from the city of Charleston, and do now enjoy communication by post and special messenger with the President and will continue to do so, certainly until the door to negotiation has been closed." I trust that these facilities may still be afforded to Major Anderson. This is as it should be. Major Anderson is not menacing Charleston, and I am convinced that the happiest result which can be attained is that both he and the authorities of South Carolina shall remain on their present amicable footing, neither party being bound by any obligation whatever, except the high Christian and moral duty to keep the peace and to avoid all causes of mutual irritation.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. HOLT,
Secretary of War.

  1. Not of record in War Department.
  2. Not of record in War Department.


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(CS) Benjamin Fitzpatrick
  • At the outbreak of the war, Benjamin Fitzpatrick was a United States Senator from Alabama
  • He resigned his post on January 21, 1861
To Holt: From Holt:
January 22, 1861 - Secretary Joseph Holt to to Hons. Benjamin Fitzpatrick et al

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Union Correspondence, etc.

WAR DEPARTMENT,
Washington, January 22, 1861.

Hon. BENJAMIN FITZPATRICK,
Hon. S.R. MALLORY, Hon. JOHN SLIDELL:

GENTLEMEN: The President has received your communication of the 19th instant,[1] with the copy of a correspondence between yourselves and others, "representing States which have already seceded from the United States, or will have done so before 1st of February next," and Colonel Isaac W. Hayne, of South Carolina, in behalf of the government of that State, in relation to Fort Sumter, and you ask the President "to take into consideration the subject of the correspondence." With this request he has complied, and has directed me to communicate his answer.

In your letter to Colonel Hayne of the 15th instant[2] you propose to him to defer the delivery of a message from the governor of South Carolina to the President, with which he has been intrusted, for a few days, until the President and Colonel Hayne shall have considered the suggestions which you submit. It is unnecessary to refer specially to these suggestions, because the letter addressed to you by Colonel Hayne, of the 17th instant, presents a clear and specific answer to them. In this he says: "I am not clothed with power to make the arrangement you suggest, but provided you can get assurances with which you are entirely satisfied that no re-enforcements will be sent to Fort Sumter in the interval, and that the public peace will not be disturbed by any act of hostility toward South Carolina, I will refer your communication to the authorities of South Carolina, and withholding the communication with which I am at present charged will await further instructions."

From the beginning of the present unhappy troubles, the President has endeavored to perform his executive duties in such a manner as to preserve the peace of the country and prevent bloodshed. This is still his fixed purpose. You, therefore, do him no more than justice in stating that you have assurances (from his public messages, I presume) that, "notwithstanding the circumstances under which Major Anderson left Fort Moultrie and entered Fort Sumter with the forces under his command, it was not taken, and is not held, with any hostile or unfriendly purpose towards your State, but merely as property of the United States, which the President deems it his duty to protect and preserve." You have correctly stated what the President deems to be his duty. His sole object now is, and has been, to act strictly on the defensive, and to authorize no movement against the people of South Carolina unless clearly justified by a hostile movement on their part. He could not have given a better proof of his desire to prevent the effusion of blood than by forbearing to resort to the use of force under the strong provocation of an attack (happily without a fatal result) on an unarmed vessel bearing the flag of the United States.

I am happy to observe that in your letter to Colonel Hayne you express the opinion that it is "especially due from South Carolina to our States, to say nothing of other slaveholding States, that she should, as far as she can consistently with her honor, avoid initiating hostilities between her and the United States, or any other power." To initiate such hostilities against Fort Sumter would, beyond question, be an act of war against the United States.

In regard to the proposition of Colonel Hayne, "that no re-enforcements will be sent to Fort Sumter in the interval, and that the public peace will not be disturbed by any act of hostility towards South Carolina," it is impossible for me to give you any such assurances. The President has no authority to enter into such an agreement or understanding. As an executive officer he is simply bound to protect the public property so far as this may be practicable, and it would be aa manifest violation of his duty to place himself under engagements that he would not perform this duty either for an indefinite or a limited period. At the present moment it is not deemed necessary to re-enforce Major Anderson, because he makes no such request, and feels quite secure in his position. Should his safety, however, require re-enforcements, every effort will be made to supply them.

In regard to an assurance from the President "that the public peace will not be disturbed by any act of hostility toward South Carolina," the answer will readily occur to yourselves. To Congress, and to Congress alone, belongs the power to make war, and it would be an act of usurpation for the Executive to give any assurance that Congress would not exercise this power, however strongly he may be convinced that no such intention exists.

I am glad to be assured from the letter of Colonel Hayne that "Major Anderson and his command do now obtain all necessary supplies, including fresh meat and vegetables, and, I believe, fuel and water, from the city of Charleston, and do now enjoy communication by post and special messenger with the President and will continue to do so, certainly until the door to negotiation has been closed." I trust that these facilities may still be afforded to Major Anderson. This is as it should be. Major Anderson is not menacing Charleston, and I am convinced that the happiest result which can be attained is that both he and the authorities of South Carolina shall remain on their present amicable footing, neither party being bound by any obligation whatever, except the high Christian and moral duty to keep the peace and to avoid all causes of mutual irritation.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. HOLT,
Secretary of War.

  1. Not of record in War Department.
  2. Not of record in War Department.


(To view this page in its Source Category, click HERE for Part 1 and HERE for Part 2)


(SC AG) Isaac Hayne
  • At the outbreak of the war, Isaac Hayne was the Attorney General of South Carolina
To Holt: From Holt:
February 6, 1861 - Secretary Joseph Holt to Attorney General Isaac Wayne

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Click for full-sized scanned image
Click for full-sized scanned image

Union Correspondence, etc.

WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, February 6, 1861.

Hon. I.W. HAYNE,
Attorney-General of the State of South Carolina:

SIR: The President of the United States has received your letter of the 31st ultimo,[1] and has charged me with the duty of replying thereto. In the communication addressed to the President by Governor Pickens, under date of the 12th of January,[2] and which accompanies yours, now before me, his excellency says:

I have determined to send to you Hon. I. W. Hayne, the attorney-general of the State of South Carolina, and have instructed him to demand the surrender of Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, to the constituted authorities of the State of South Carolina. The demand I have made of Major Anderson, and which I now make of you, is suggested because of my earnest desire to avoid bloodshed, which a persistence in your attempt to retain the possession of that fort will cause, and which will be unavailing to secure to you that possession, 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 you refer-to have been modified by subsequent instructions of his excellency, dated the 26th, and received by yourself on the 30th of January, in which he says:

If it be so that Fort Sumter is held as property, then as property, the rights, whatever they may be, of the United States can be ascertained; and for the satisfaction of these rights the pledge of the State of South Carolina you are authorized to give.

The full scope and precise purport of your instructions, as thus modified, you have expressed in the following words:

I do not come as a military man to demand the surrender of a fortress, but as the legal officer of the State-its attorney-general-to claim for the State the exercise of its undoubted right of eminent domain, and to pledge the State to make good all injury to the rights of property which arise from the exercise of the claim.

And lest this explicit language should not sufficiently define your position, you add:

The proposition now is that her [South Carolina's] law officer should, under authority of the governor and his council, distinctly pledge the faith of South Carolina to make such compensation in regard to Fort Sumter and its appurtenances and contents, to the full extent of the money value of the property of the United States delivered over to the authorities off South Carolina by your command.

You then adopt his excellency's train of thought upon the subject so far as to suggest that the possession of Fort Sumter by the United States, "if continued long enough, must lead to collision," and that "an attack upon it would scarcely improve it as property, whatever the result, and if captured it would no longer be the subject of account."

The proposal, then, now presented to the President is simply an offer on the part of South Carolina to buy Fort Sumter and contents as property of the United States, sustained by a declaration in effect that if she is not permitted to make the purchase she will seize the fort by force of arms. As the initiation of a negotiation for the transfer of property between friendly governments this proposal impresses the President as having assumed a most unusual form. He has, however, investigated the claim on which it professes to be based, apart from the declaration that accompanies it; and it may be here remarked that much stress has been laid upon the employment of the words "property" and "public property" by the President in his several messages. These are the most comprehensive terms which can be used in such a connection, and surely, when referring to a fort or any other public establishment, they embraced the entire and undivided interest of the Government therein.

The title of the United States to Fort Sumter is complete and incontestible. Were its interest in this property purely proprietary, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, it might, probably, be subjected to the exercise of the right of eminent domain; but it has also political relations to it, of a much higher and more imposing character than those of mere proprietorship. It has absolute jurisdiction over the fort and the soil on which it stands. This jurisdiction consists in the authority to "exercise exclusive legislation" over the property referred to, and is therefore clearly incompatible with the claim of eminent domain now insisted upon by South Carolina. This authority was not derived from any questionable revolutionary source, but from the peaceful cession of South Carolina herself, acting through her legislature, under a provision of the Constitution of the United States. South Carolina can no more assert it over the district of Columbia. The political and proprietary rights of the United States in either case rest upon precisely the same grounds.

The President is, however, relieved from the necessity of further pursuing this inquiry by the fact that, whatever may be the claim of South Carolina to this fort, he has no constitutional power to cede or surrender it. The property of the United States has been acquired by force of public law, and can only be disposed of under the same solemn sanctions. The President, as the head of the executive branch of the Government only, can no more sell and transfer Fort Sumter to South Carolina than he can sell and convey the Capitol of the United States to Maryland, or to any other State or individual seeking to possess it. His excellency the governor is too familiar with the Constitution of the United States, and with the limitations upon the powers of the Chief Magistrate of the Government it has established, not to appreciate at once the soundness of this legal proposition.

The question of re-enforcing Fort Sumter is so fully disposed of in my letter to Senator Slidell and others, under date of the 22nd of January-a copy of which accompanies this-that its discussion will not now be renewed. I then said: "At the present moment it is not deemed necessary to re-enforce major Anderson, because he makes no such request. Should his safety, however, require re-enforcements, every effort will be made to supply them." I can add nothing to the explicitness of this language, which still applies to the existing status. The right to send forward re-enforcements when, in the judgment of the president, the safety of the garrison requires them rests on the same unquestionable foundation as the right to occupy the fortress itself.

In the letter of Senator Davis and others to yourself, under date of the 15th ultimo, they say: "We, therefore, think it expecilly due from South Carolina to our States, to say nothing o other slaveholding States, that she should, as far as she can consistently with her honor, avoid initiating hostilities between her and the United States or any other power"; and you now yourself give to the president the gratifying assurance that "South Carolina has every disposition to preserve the public peace"; and, since he is himself sincerely animated by the same desire, it would seem that this common and patriotic object must be of certain attainment.

It is difficult, however, to reconcile with this assurance the declaration on your part that "it is a consideration of her (South Carolina's) own dignity as a sovereign, and the safety of her people, which prompts her to demand that this property should not longer be used as a military post by a Government she no longer acknowledges," and the thought you so constantly present, that this occupation must lead to a collision of arms, and the prevalence of civil war.

Fort Sumter is in itself a military post, and nothing else; and it would seem that not so much the fact as the purpose of its use should give to it a hostile or friendly character. This fortress is now held by the Government of the United State for the same objects for which it has been held from the completion of its construction. These are national and defensive, and were a public enemy now to attempt the capture of Charleston, or the destruction of the commerce of its harbor, the whole force of the batteries of this fortress would be at once exerted for their protection. How the presence of a small garrison, actuated by such a spirit as this, can compromise the dignity or honor of South Carolina, or become a source of irritation to her people, the President is at a loss to understand. The attitude of that garrison, as has been often declared, is neither menacing, nor defiant, nor unfriendly. It is acting under orders to stand strictly on the defensive, and the government and people of South Carolina must well know that they can never receive aught but shelter from its guns, unless, in the absence of all provocation, they should assault it, and seek its destruction. The intent with which this fortress is held by the President is truthfully stated by Senator Davis and others in their letter to yourself of the 15th of january, in which they say, "It is not held with any hostile or unfriendly purpose towards your State, but merely as property of the United States, which the President deems it his duty to protect and preserve."

If the announcement, so repeatedly made, of the President's pacific purposes in continuing the occupation of Fort Sumter until the question shall have been settled by competent authority has failed to impress the government of South Carolina, the forbearing conduct of his administration for the last few months should be received as conclusive evidence of his sincerity; and if this forbearance, in view of the circumstances which have so severely tried it, be not accepted as a satisfactory pledge of the peaceful policy of this administration towards South Carolina, then it may be safely affirmed that neither language nor conduct can possibly furnish one. If, with all the multiplied proofs which exist of the president's anxiety for peace and of the earnestness with which he has pursued it, the authorities of that State shall assault Fort Sumter and peril the lives of the handful of brave and loyal men shut up within its walls, and thus plunge our common country into the horrors of civil war, then upon them, and those they represent, must rest the responsibility.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. HOLT,
Secretary of War.

  1. Not of record in War Department.
  2. Not of record in War Department.


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