At the outbreak of the war, René De Russy was a Colonel in the United States Army
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)
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CONTENTS
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(US Capt) John Foster
- At the outbreak of the war, John Foster was a Captain of Engineers in the United States Corps of Engineers
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From De Russy:
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| November 14, 1860 - Captain John Foster to Colonel René De Russy
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 Click for full-sized scanned image Union Correspondence, etc.
FORT MOULTRIE, S.C.,
November 14, 1860.
Colonel R.E. DE RUSSY,
Commanding Corps of Engineers, U.S.A., Washington, D. C.:
COLONEL: I have the honor to inform you that I arrived here on the morning of the 11th instant. I found that the pintle blocks for the howitzer embrasures at Fort Moultrie had not arrived, and that the work was whiting for them. The communications being finished connecting the inferior of the caponieres with the interior of the fort, and not over for the being prepared as yet, I judged it prudent to construct temporary flaking arrangements at once, in consideration of the caponieres with the interior of the fort, and no cover for them being prepared as yet, I judged it prudent to construct temporary flanking arrangements at once, in consideration of the peculiar state of the public feeling here and the wishes of several officers of the garrison, including the commanding officer. These I commenced yesterday morning and completed last night, including the construction of temporary platforms and placing four field pieces in position. these temporary flanking arrangements occupy the positions that the caponieres are to occupy, one of them having its lines four feet within the walls of the caponiere, so as to give room for the masons to work. This temporary construction can therefore stand until I finish the outside caponier, which I shall do as soon as possible without waiting longer for the pintle stones.
I have made these temporary defenses as inexpensive as possible, and they consist simply of a stout board fence, ten feet high, surmounted by strips filled with nail-points, with a dry-brick wall two bricks thick on the inside, raised to the height of a man's head, and pierced with embrasures and a sufficient number of loopholes. Their immediate construction has satisfied and gratified the commanding officer, Colonel Gardner, and they are, I think, adequate to the present wants of the garrison.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J.G. FOSTER,
Captain of Engineers.
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| November 24, 1860 - Captain John Foster to Colonel René De Russy
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CHARLESTON, S.C.,
November 24, 1860.
Colonel R.E. DE RUSSY,
Commanding Corps of Engineers, U.S.A., Washington, D.C.:
COLONEL: I have the honor to inform you that, yesterday, at the request of Major anderson, now in command of Fort Moultrie, I accompanied him on a visit to the other forts in the harbor, viz, Fort Sumter and Castle Pinckney, for the purpose of examining their condition and capacities for defense. Fort Sumter, having all the arches of the second tier turned, and a commencement made in laying the flagging; the traverse circle of the first tier reset; the flagging inside of the circles, on one face, laid ready for the guns to be mounted; preparations completed for mounting all the guns of this tier as fast as the flagging is laid; the floors in one barrack laid; officers' quarters completed; the whole of the barbette tier ready for the armament, presented an excellent appearance of preparation and strength equal to seventy per cent. of its efficiency when finished.
In the opinion of Major Anderson it is ready for, and ought to receive, at least one company, and I understand him to be about to ask for that garrison immediately.
We next visited Castle Pinckney, which was found in excellent order, with the exception of some repairs required on the wooden banquette on the gorge, first tier, some new caseate embrasure shutters, and the second cistern to be rebuilt. All other parts of the work were in good order, as it had but recently been thoroughly repaired with the above exceptions.
Major Anderson is about to urge upon the Department the sending of one company, also, to this fort, which commands the city of Charleston. In that case I think the second cistern should be repaired at once, and also the necessary renewal given to the decayed wooden banquette, over the cisterns on the gorge, and to the caseate shutters. I would, therefore, respectfully ask for the sum of six hundred dollars from the "Contingencies of fortifications: for this purpose. Regarding the shutters as necessary to be repaired at once, I am, in anticipation of your approval, having it done at this time.
There is another matter in connection with this work which Major Anderson suggested, and which may become important in view of the unsettled state of the public mind here, the temper of which seems not to be improving, and that is, to garrison Castle Pinckney with Engineer employs in case the Department does not consider it expedient to send troops for the purpose. At his request I have made an estimate of the cost, as follows:
* * * *
Total for the first month......................... $1,600
The second month will be.......................... 1,050
I consider it proper to give you the above information, in order that you may be fully aware of what is transpiring.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J.G. FOSTER,
Captain of Engineers.
[Indorsement.]
"Return to Governor Floyd."
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| November 28, 1860 - Captain John Foster to Colonel René De Russy
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CHARLESTON, S.C.,
November 28, 1860.
Colonel R.E. DE RUSSY,
Commanding Corps of Engineers, U.S.A., Washington, D.C.:
COLONEL: I wrote your a few days since in relation to certain contingencies of defense which might occur before long int his harbor. I only wish to add now that if the War Department decides not to send more soldiers here, but to avail itself of the Engineer force to guard Forts Sumter and Pinckney, I shall require the assistance of anther Engineer officer. For several reasons my personal attention is required at Fort Moultrie just now. i require Mr. Snyder to give his personal attention to Fort Sumter, and such other matters as arise from time to time. In all probability it will soon become necessary to confine his duties more closely to Fort Sumter, and if I have to supply men to Castle Pinckney I shall want another Engineer officer to direct their labors and duties.
It is not certain that the emergency requiring the above division of the Engineer duties under my charge will arise, but it is better to be prepared, and I would respectfully urge you to grant my request, and, if so, that I may have the services of the officer detailed as soon as possible.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J.G. FOSTER,
Corps of Engineers.
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| November 30, 1860 - Captain John Foster to Colonel René De Russy
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CHARLESTON, S.C.,
November 30, 1860.
Colonel R.E. DE RUSSY,
Commanding Corps of Engineers, U.S.A., Washington, D.C.:
COLONEL: I have the honor to acknowledge ether receipt of your letter of the 28th instant, and to request that the amount desired from the "Contingencies of fortifications" for the repairs of Castle Pinckney ($1,800), for one month, may be placed to my credit with the assistant treasurer of the United States at Charleston, S.C.
I have entered upon the preliminary arrangements for commencing work, and on Monday, the 3rd of December, shall place in Castle Pinckney the number of men authorized by the Department, with all the necessary arrangements for subsistence, lodging, &c., so that they may not leave the work until they are withdrawn.
Major Anderson, at my request, has kindly consented to detail an officer to assist me until en Engineer officer can be sent me for this purpose, for I regard it as necessary that an officer can be sent me for this purpose, for I regard it as necessary that an officer shall be constantly present at this work after the repairs are commenced. Lieutenant J. C. Davis is to be detailed, and is to report to me. I trust, however, that this temporary detail will no induce any delay in sending me another officer, as Major Anderson needs the services of all in his command. I shall endeavor to have the repairs promptly made, and to secure a proper protection to the property of the United States. In doing this it will be indispensable that I have the men instructed, to a certain extent, in the service, of the guns, and also in the manual of arm,s if I can arrange with Colonel Huger to have the requisite number of muskets sent from the arsenal. I shall also have Lieutenant G. W. Snyder take up his quarters in Fort Sumter, and give like instructions to about fifty picket men, in whom I can place reliance in case of an emergency.
I beg your to understand, however, that I do not regard all these arrangements as absolutely demanded by anything that now appears, but rather as a safe precaution in view of what may appear any day, if anything more exciting than usual occurs to stimulate the extremely rash persons among a community already sufficiently upon he subject of their State relations.
I think that more troops should have been sent here to guard the forts, and I believe that no serious demonstration on the part o the populace would have met such a course. But, as it is decided not to do this, and to rely instead upon the Engineer employs for protection of the public property, I shall do everything in my power to carry out this purpose. I shall, of curse, exercise the necessary amount of prudence, and avoid any appearance of aiming, as I conceive this to be the wish of the War Department.
Very respectfully and truly, your obedient servant,
J.G. FOSTER,
Captain Engineers.
[Indorsement.]
Colonel Cooper says this has been shown to the Secretary of War.
H.G.W. [WRIGHT.]
DECEMBER 6, 1860.
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| December 2, 1860 - Captain John Foster to Colonel René De Russy
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CHARLESTON, S.C.,
December 2, 1860.
Colonel R.E. DE RUSSY,
Commanding Corps of Engineers, U.S.A., Washington, D.C.:
COLONEL: I have the honor to request that application may be made to the War Department to have Colonel Huger, Ordnance Corps, issue to me four boxes of muskets (smooth-bores), with percussion caps for sixty rounds. Fifty of these muskets are required for Fort Sumter and fifty for Castle Pinckney. The cartridge boxes and belts are not absolutely necessary, but I would like to have an equal number issued if it is Convenient to do so.
Colonel Huger, whom I consulted upon the subject of the muskets, said he could not issue them without authority from Washington, not eve for the short time that I want, and I declined at the time to request him to write for this authority; but after consulting with Major Anderson to-day we are both agreed that it is best to write for the requisite authority at once, and I therefore make the above request.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J. G. FOSTER,
Captain of Engineers.
[Indorsement.]
Handed to Adjutant-General, and by him laid before the Secretary of War on the 6th of December.
Returned by the Adjutant-General on the 7th. Action deferred for the present. (See Captain Foster's letter of December 4.)
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| December 4, 1860 - Captain John Foster to Colonel René De Russy
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CHARLESTON, S.C.,
December 4, 1860.
Colonel R.E. DE RUSSY,
Commanding corps of Engineers:
COLONEL: I have been obliged to vary the plan which I indicated in my last letters as the one I intended to follow in order to carry out the wishes of the Department concerning the security of the works under my charge. In consequence of recent developments of the state of feeling among my men, I do not now judge it proper to give them any military instruction, or to place arms in their hands; at least this is the case with reference to the men at Fort Sumter. I do not thank that any of them will go so far in the defense of public property as to fight an armed body of the citizens of this State. I ascertain this for the first time, to-day, of the men in Fort Sumter, where I had been confident that I could rely in any emergency, at least upon the Baltimore mechanics, about fifty in number.
But the overseer ascertained last night that they were disinclined to use force to resists an attempt to seize the fort ont he part of the citizen soldiers of the State, although willing to resist a mob. The men in Castle Pinckney, placed there as I intended, on the 3rd instant, being picked men, may prove more reliable. But the feeling here in regard to secession is become so strong that almost all are entirely influenced by it. I therefore judge it best to suspend all idea of arming them at present. I may mention that I exercise as much care as possible in placing this working party in Castle Pinckney, so as not to give casu exercised, and the best men place there, under charge of a prudent and reliable officer, Lieutenant Davis. Every precaution is also taken at Fort Sumter, where Lieutenant Snyder has taken up his quarters. having done thus much, which is all I can do in this respect, I feel that I have done my duty, and that if any overt act takes place, no blame can properly attach to me. I regret, however, that sufficient soldiers are not in this harbor to garrison these two works. The Government will soon have to decide the question whether to maintain them or to give them up to South Carolina. If it be decided to maintain them, troops must instantly be sent, and in large numbers. If it be decided to give them up, the present arrangement will answer very well, only I should be informed, in order that I may know how to act.
At present I have given orders to Lieutenants Snyder and Davis to resist to the utmost any attempt or any demand on the forts in which they are stationed.
The plan of the leaders in this State appears to be, from all that I can see and hear, first, to demand the forts o the General Government, after secession, and then, if refused,to take them by force of arms. A quite large party is in favor of not waiting to ask the General Government, but to summon the immediate commanders, and, if refused, to attack at once. All of this is not, of course, strictly in the line of my profession; still, I judge it proper to write you fully and plainly, so that you may know exactly how we are placed. Here in Fort Moultrie the two companies of the garrison having dwindled to half their proper size, are so weak that Major Anderson demands all the auxiliary defense that I can give him. I am now digging a wet ditch around the work, which, although necessarily shallow from the quicksand, will more than double the difficulty of scaling the walls. The major also requires a fraise to be placed around the coping, but I cannot commence it until I finish the work in hand.
I shall to-morrow complete the "cut" at the northwest angle, which I have enlarged somewhat in the form of a bastionette, by building straight up from the foundation a wall at the anger, extending ten feet from the angle on each face, and then uniting by oblique returns with the very sloping face of the scarp wall. This gives a very excellent position for our or more muskets, to flank the west face of the work. The marginal sketch gives an imperfect idea of it. It is singular that a small cut, as indicated on the map in the Engineer Office, was originally built at this angle, by subsequently, and apparently not many years since, destroyed by breaking off the upper part of the side walls, throwing the debris into the cut, and covering the parapet over it. i completed to-day the bastionette at the southwest angle, except the embrasures, the stones and some of the irons for which have not yet been received. Before taking down the temporary bastionette at the southeast angle and commencing the permanent one, I shall, for the greater security of the small garrison, run out a wooden machicoulis gallery over the angel of the wall, and also complete the pointing of all large crevices in the scarp.
The posterns on the east and west curtains have been bricked up at Major Anderson's request, as he felt too weak to use them for sorties, and as the doors might be burst in, both the iron and wood work being old and defective.
I have been liberal of assistance in increasing the defensive capacities of the fort, for I felt that the necessity required. It I have abut 125 men at work her now, and shall continue the same number for two or three days, until I complete the ditch. On Fort Sumter I have about 115, and at Castle Pinckney 30, making a total of 260 men employed. The first of the embrasure stones for Fort Sumter having been received, the embrasures of the second tier will be immediately commenced.
Very respectfully, yours,
J.G. FOSTER,
Captain of Engineers.
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| December 12, 1860 - Colonel René de Russy to Captain John Foster
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ENGINEER DEPARTMENT,
Washington, December 12, 1860.
Captain J.G. FOSTER,
Corps of Engineers, Charleston, S.C.:
SIR: In compliance with request communicated by your letter of the 8th instant, application has been made for $5,000, to be remitted to the assistant treasurer at Charleston, to be held subject to your check, and that amount will be charged to you on account of Fort Sumter.
The Secretary of the Treasury is, of course, fully inform as to the amount of funds in each of the Government depositories, and the Department cannot, therefore, with proper courtesy to him, urge a remittance to you on the ground that there are funds at Charleston while he, with the fullest knowledge of all the facts, and of other public wants, declines to draw on them.
A special application in your behalf for $1,800 from "Contingencies of fortifications" has already been made at the Treasury, without other result than an assurance that that amount would be sent to you "if practicable," and nothing more can now be done than issue the usual request for the $5,000 last asked for.
Congress, it is hoped, will very soon adopt some means of relief for the present condition of things, and no doubt is entertained that all demands upon he Treasury which are no in suspense will then be met with the least possible delay.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
R.E. DE RUSSY,
Lieutenant-Colonel, Engineers, Commanding.
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| December 13, 1860 - Captain John Foster to Colonel René de Russy
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FORT MOULTRIE, S.C.,
December 13, 1860.
Colonel R.E. DE RUSSY,
Commanding Corps of Engineers, &c.:
COLONEL: I have the honor to inform you that Lieutenant R. K. Meade, Corps of Engineers, reported to me for duty on the 10th instant, I placed him in charge of Castle Pinckney the next day, and relieved Lieutenant J. C. Davis from his temporary duty at that post. The work at the Castles is progressing satisfactorily at present, although I have up to this time been delayed on account of one firm in town refusing to shell me, as the agent of the United States, some lumber, which I was expecting, and very much needed. I have made arrangements to obtain the requisite quantity of lumber elsewhere, and have transferred the bricks and cement from Fort Sumter. The work on the cistern is already commenced, and that on the wooden banquettes will commence to-morrow. In the mean time, while waiting for materials, the force has been employed in perfecting the messing arrangements, putting the fort in thorough police order, and oiling and working the gun carriages, so that they now move with perfect facility.
The men for this working party wee picked, and the majority of them are reliable against the disorderly attack of any mob to possess itself of the work. My confidence in them has increased within a few days.
A strict night watch is maintained, and during the daytime a man stands at the gate to prevent interested persons entering and inspecting the fort and its arrangements for defense. This latter precaution I have found to be necessary on account of numbers of men connected with the military, who came for the purpose of obtaining knowledge to use against the defenders of the for tin case of a collision with the Government. I have given the same instructions to Lieutenant Snyder, at Fort Sumter, with reference to which the above precaution became necessary first.
At Fort Sumter everything is going on smoothly, although I have purposely delayed the mounting of the guns, for the reason that I did nor consider it safe to proceed with that work until some definite idea was obtained as to whether the work was to be maintained or not. Consequently, only the guns of the left face, which do not bear towards Fort Moultrie directly, are mounted in the first tier, although every preparation is made to mount all the guns in the shortest possible time when it is necessary and safe so to do.
I think the temper and disposition of the men at Fort Sumter, are very good-better than a few days ago. They will defend the fort, as far as possible, without arms, against a mob, but not against the organized forces of South Carolina.
I have endeavored to strengthen the conservative feeling among the men through the overseer, and have succeeded to a certain extent, and I now consider this fort and Castle Pinckney safe until it comes to the solution of the question whether the Government is to surrender them to the State or to refuse her demands. At that time only United States troops, and in good numbers, will be sufficient to overawe an attempt to take them by force.
I hope the Department will not think me too explicit in my terms, for I wish to avoid any unnecessary alarm, but I feel it my duty to state my convictions, in order that it may have full information for its action. I would respectfully, but strongly, urge that more definite instructions be given me for my guidance. If Fort Sumter is to be risked against the chances of an attack, it will be important to vary my programme, and to change the deposit of a large portion of its stores, and to provide for the exigency of its loss. If not, I will cheerfully prepare to defend it to extremity until troops arrive for its garrison. If the garrison in Fort Moultrie is to be transferred, I should know it, in order to stop the heavy expense at Fort Moultrie, which in that case will become unnecessary, and which is now fast consuming my available funds. I can also, in that case, proceed in the armament of Fort Sumter.
At Fort Moultrie I have continued my heavy operations, and have employed one hundred and twenty men. The accessory defenses that I have created and am now perfecting are very important to the defense, and I trust the Department will approve my action. They comprise, besides the works ordered by the Department, the formation of a wet ditch, fifteen feet wide, all around the fort, the depth of which is very small in consequence of the quicksand which is reached, but which is very yielding to pressure, like a quagmire, and, therefore, a good obstacle; the construction of a picket fence all around the fort bordering the ditch, and protected from fire by a small glaces in front of it; the cutting off the projecting brick cordon, which might serve to aid in scaling the oblique face of the wall; the formation of a bastionette at the northwest anger, so as to obtain a more effective flanking fire than could be obtained by a small cut in the parapet, and the formation of a temporary machicoulis gallery at the southeast angel.
All of these auxiliary defenses, except the picket fence, will be completed in four days, and will vastly improve the chances for the defense. With a sufficient war garrison I would consider this fort as secure against any attack that this State can bring against it; but the garrison is a mere handful of sixty men, and can hardly spare five men to two flanking caponieres-a fact that has influenced me in forming the machicoulis gallery at the southeast angel, as this can be defended and the wall flanked by two or three men, who can also be ready to rally any poi with the rest of the garrison.
In fine, I have spared no pains to give every assistance to the defense. I decline dot make a fraise around the coping, for the reason that its effect would be to diminish the width of the wet ditch, since the same length of ladder that would catch on the points and enable the assailants to mount would not otherwise strike the wall more than half the way up. If time spares I shall widen the ditch one or two feet and plant small pickets within it.
I have saved all my cement barrels to be used in forming merlons, if necessary, and some of them are now being sued by the garrison on the east front, facing the sand hills, to form covers for a few sharpshooters upon the parapet.
I hope funds will soon be sent me for the present month. I should think the United States Treasurer could issue his warrant against the deposit in Charleston for what money I require, for the assistant treasurer, Mr. Presley, informed me that he had ample funds in hand.
I exchanged a draft on New York for gold to-day, in order to pay the men on Fort Sumter. The bank made the exchange at par.
Very respectfully and truly,
J. G. FOSTER,
Captain, Engineers.
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| December 18, 1860 - Colonel René De Russy to Captain John Foster
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FORT MOULTRIE, S.C., December 18, 1860.
Colonel R.E. DE RUSSY,
Commanding Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, Washington, D.C.:
COLONEL: I have the honor to inclose two letters received to-day from F.C. Humphreys, esq., military storekeeper at the Charleston Arsenal.
The first accompanied an invoice of forty muskets and accouterments, upon a requisition made by me, and in accordance with an order received some time since. The second was made subsequent to intimations of violent demonstrations, made by General Schnierle (and others, perhaps), if the muskets were not returned. General Schnierle assured Mr. Humphreys that Colonel Huger, Ordnance Corps, U.S. Army, had assured the governor of the State that no arms should be removed from the arsenal, and upon this Mr. Humphreys assured General Schnierle that the muskets should be returned to-morrow.
Now, I have no official knowledge (or positive personal evidence, either) that Colonel Huger assured the governor that no arms should be removed from the arsenal, nor that, if he did so, he spoke by authority of the Government; but, on the other hand, I do know that an order was given to issue to me forty muskets; that I actually needed them to ordnance sergeants under them at Fort Sumter and Castle Pinckney, and that I have them in my possession. To give them up on a demand of this kind seems to me as an act not expected of me by the Government, and as almost suicidal under the circumstances. It would place the two forts under my charge at the mercy of a mob. Neither of the ordnance sergeants at Fort Sumter and Castle Pinckney had muskets until I got these, and Lieutenants Snyder and Meade were likewise totally destitute of arms.
I propose to refer the matter to Washington, and am to see several gentlemen who are prominent in this matter to-morrow. I am not disposed to surrender these arms under a threat of this king, especially when I know that I am only doing my duty to the Government. If the violent persons in the city seize upon this opportunity to excite the mob to acts of violence the property of the United States, or those having it in charge, it will only be as that which must soon occur, and which they have actually been looking for.
I must say plainly that I have for some days arrived at the conclusion that unless some arrangement is shortly made by Congress, affairs in this State will arrive at a crisis, and a conflict between the Federal forces and the troops of this State be a not improbable event.
I have endeavored to keep you fully informed of my efforts to prepare for it, and of this I will write more fully to-morrow.
Very respectfully, yours,
J.G. FOSTER,
Captain of Engineers.
[Inclosure No. 1.]
| December 18, 1860 - Captain F.C. Humphreys to Captain John Foster
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CHARLESTON ARSENAL, S.C.,
December 18, 1860.
Captain J.G. FOSTER,
U.S. Engineer Corps, Sullivan's Island, S.C.:
DEAR CAPTAIN: The shipmen of the forty muskets, &c., has caused intense excitement. General Schnierle called upon me this morning, and assures me that some violent demonstration is certain unless the excitement can be allayed, and says that Colonel Huger assured the governor that no arms should be removed from this arsenal. As the order under which I made the issue to you was dated prior to Colonel Huger's visit here, I am placed in rather a delicate position. I have pledged my word that they (the forty muskets and accouterments) shall be returned by to-morrow night, and I beg that you will return them to me. I informed General Schnierle that you only desired two muskets, but that I could not issue them without the proper order, but that I had an old order covering the issue of the forty. In views of my pledge that the muskets shall be returned, and the position which Colonel Huger is placed by the issue, I feel satisfied that you will comply with my request. In haste.
Very truly, yours,
F.C. HUMPHREYS,
Military Storekeeper Ordnance, U.S. Army.
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[Inclosure No. 2.]
| December 18, 1860 - Captain John Foster to Captain F.C. Humphreys
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 Click for full-sized scanned image Union Correspondence, etc.
FORT MOULTRIE, December 18, 1860.
F.C. HUMPHREYS, Esq.,
Military Storekeeper, Charleston Arsenal:
DEAR SIR: I have received your note of this date, begging me to return to the arsenal the forty musket which I obtained yesterday (in accordance with an order from the Ordnance Department, issued some time since), because of a threatened violent demonstration on the part of some persons of Charleston. you state that Colonel Huger, of the Ordnance (as General Schnierle asserts to you), assured the governor that no arms should be removed form the arsenal, and that as the above assurance of Colonel Huger was made subsequent to the receipt of the order for the issue of these muskets to me, you have pledge you word that they shall be returned to the arsenal to-morrow. If Colonel Huger made this pledge to the governor of this State, I presume he must have acted by the authority of the Government; but of this I have no direct knowledge. All I know is that an order was given to issue forty muskets to me, that I actually required them to protect the property of the Government against a mob, and that I have them in my possession. To give them back now, without proper authority, would subject me to blame if any loss should occur which might be prevented by keeping them. I am willing to refer the matter to Washington. I am sorry to be obliged to disappoint you and will call to assure you so to-morrow at 12 o'clock, a which time I shall be happy to meet General Schnierle, if he is disposed to see me.
Very truly, yours,
J.G. FOSTER,
Captain of Engineers.
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| December 19, 1860 - Captain John Foster to Colonel René De Russy
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FORT MOULTRIE, S.C., December 19, 1860.
Colonel R.E. DE RUSSY,
Commanding Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, Washington, D.C.:
COLONEL: I have the honor to inform you that I had an interview to-day with General Schnierle (general of division in this vicinity) and several other prominent citizens of Charleston, in relation to the little excitement attending the issue of forty muskets to me at he arsenal on the 17th instant.
The main facts connected with this were communicated in my letter of yesterday.
The interview to-day was satisfactory to me, as I saw that the action of General Schnierle had arise from his great desire to allay the temporary excitement among some of citizens. Although I declined to return the muskets until I was directed by the Government so to do, yet I proposed at once to refer the matter to Washington, and accordingly telegraphed to Captain Maynadier, Ordnance Corps, to inquire whether the muskets should be return to the arsenal or not. Up to this time I have received no answer. The reasons for my doing so are there: General Schnierle asserted that Colonel Huger had assured the governor of this State that no arms should be removed from the arsenal, and Captain Humphreys, military storekeeper, felt himself placed in a peculiar position from having acted contrary to the colonel's assurance, while on the other hand neither Captain Humphreys or myself had been income by Colonel Huger that he had made such assurance; neither had we any positive written testimony of the fact. To solve the question, the Ordnance Bureau must be appealed to for a decision, and I did this immediately, in order to allay, as soon as possible, any irritations that might have arisen. I was actuated in all I did by a sincere desire to remove all cause of irritation, so that if the extremists are disposed for violent measures they must force the issue themselves.
I am abating nothing of the activity of preparation in Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter, and in fact am increasing it.
If the Department becomes aware of any change of policy in regard to this preparation in these forts, or in either of them, I beg that instructions may be given me at once, so that I may vary my operations accordingly, for my p[resent expenses are very heavy. In Fort Sumter the mounting of the guns, laying a flagging of first and second tiers of casemates, forming embrasures of second tier, and finishing the barracks is progressing regularly, and as fast as separately organized parties can work. The force will be to-morrow 150 men.
On Fort Moultrie 137 men are at work. The wet ditch is nearly completed. The foot-bridge connecting the second stories of the barracks and the guard-house, which is arranged for a citadel, is constructed. Doors are being cut through the partition walls of the barracks of the second floor, and trap-doors in the floors, and ladders made. A machicoulis gallery over the southeast tangelo is being made of palmetto logs for infantry. All the guns on the east front (facing the sand hills) are being placed in embrasure, by raising high and solid merlons, formed of cement barrels filled with sand, sods, and green hides.
Three high cavalier-like positions are also formed on this front of sharpshooters. The picket fence bordering the ditch is carried more than half around the fort, and is well protected from a destructive fire of cannon by a small glaces in front of it. The flanking howitzers are being mounted in the finished caponiere, and will be tried by firing to-morrow. Nearly all the projecting brick cordon is cut off smooth.
All of this work I have done and am doing myself, because it is necessary to be done, and the garrison is too weak to undertake any work beside the regular drills.
There is another thing which I propose to do, and of which I write to you in season, so that if you disapprove it you can have time to forbid it. I propose to connect a powerful Daniels battery with the magazine at Fort Sumter, by means of wires stretched across under water from Fort Sumter to Fort Moultrie, and to blow up Fort Sumter if it is taken by an armed force, and after Lieutenant Snyder and my men have time to escape from it.
I propose, also, to use the same battery to fire small mines around Fort Moultrie, and to explode a large mine placed in the sand hills. All of these last preparations my seem to be unnecessary, and I hope they may prove to be so in the end, but there are very strong probabilities that they may be required, and, at any rate, I regard a complete state of preparations as the surest safeguard attack.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J.G. FOSTER,
Captain, Engineers.
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| December 20, 1860 - Captain John Foster to Colonel René De Russy
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FORT MOULTRIE, SULLIVAN'S ISLAND, S.C.,
December 20, 1860.
Colonel R.E. DE RUSSY,
Commanding Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, Washington, D.C.:
COLONEL: I have the honor to inform you that, after closing my letter to you last night, I received (at 2 a.m.) a telegraphic dispatch from the Secretary of War, of which the following is a copy:
"Captain JOHN G. FOSTER.
I have just received a telegraphic dispatch informing me that you have removed forty muskets from Charleston Arsenal to Fort Moultrie. If you have removed any arms, return them instantly.
Answer by telegraph.
JOHN B. FLOYD,
Secretary of War."
To this I immediately replied as follows:
"Honorable J.B. FLOYD,
Secretary of War, Washington, D.C.
I received forty muskets from the arsenal on the 17th. I shall return them in obedience to your order.
J.G. FOSTER,
Captain, Engineers."
It may be well here to explain more fully than I have heretofore done the circumstances connected with this issue of muskets to me. The Ordnance Department on the 1st of November directed that forty muskets should be issued to me. I did not receive them at that time, because Colonel Gardner, commanding at Fort Moultrie, objected to the issue on the ground that it appeared like arming my employs. On the 17th instant I went to the arsenal to obtain two guns which were required at Fort Sumter, and which Colonel Huger had directed to be delivered to me. While there I recollected that the ordnance sergeants at Fort Sumter and Castle Pinckney had applied to me for the arms to which they were entitled, and I asked the military storekeeper in charge of he arsenal for two muskets and accouterments for the those two sergeants. He replied that he had no authority for the issue of two muskets for this purpose, but that the old order for forty musket was on file, and the muskets and accouterments ready packed for delivery to me. So I received them, and after issuing the two muskets to the two ordnance sergeants at Fort Sumter and Castle Pinckney place the remainder in the magazines of those two forts. They were nothing of Colonel Huger's assurances to the governor of the State that no arms should be removed from the arsenal; neither did Captain Humphreys, military storekeeper. Consequently, I was surprised to receive his letter of the 18th, which I inclosed to you yesterday, desiring to have the muskets returned. My reply was also inclosed to you. What followed was as is described in the commencement of this letter.
To-day at 3 o'clock I received another letter from Captain Humphreys, a copy of which is inclosed, as is also my reply.
I should have mentioned above that on the 19th, when in town to see General Schnierle and allay any excitement relative to the muskets, I found to my surprise that there was no excitement except with a very few who had been active in the matter, and the majority of the gentlemen whom I met had not even heard of it.
The order of the Secretary of War of last night I must consider as decisive upon the question of any efforts on my part to defend Fort Sumter and Castle Pinckney. The defense now can only extend to keeping the gates closed and shutters fastened, and must cease when these are forced.
I do not think that I am authorized to make the preparations for extreme measures described in my letter of yesterday, but shall wait until I receive your reply.
I would earnestly, but respectfully, urge that definite instructions be given me how to act in the emergency which, from the eagerness with which rumors and other causes are seized upon to maintain and increase the political excitement, will probably arise sooner or latter. Until I am directed to the contrary, I shall continue the work as at present on Fort Sumter and the preparations for the defense of Fort Moultrie.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J.G. FOSTER,
Captain of Engineers.
[Inclosure No. 1.]
| December 20, 1860 - Captain F.C. Humphreys to Captain John Foster
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CHARLESTON, S.C., December 20, 1860.
Captain J.G. FOSTER,
U.S. Engineer Corps:
DEAR SIR: During an interview with Governor Pickens this morning he asked me whether or not I could state authoritatively that there had not been twenty enlisted men sent from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter. I told him that my conviction was that such was not the case, and that I heard you make the statement yesterday to General Schnierle that you had but one enlisted men at Fort Sumter.
The governor requested as a favor that such assurance should be given him over the signature of an officer of the Army, and knowing that you requested General Schnierle to write you should any rumor obtain concerning you, I make known Governor Pickens' desire to you, and respectfully suggest that you send him immediately (as he said it was important that he had a [denial] of the rumor by night) such communication as you may deem best in the premises.
I regret exceedingly that you deemed it necessary to refer the matter of the issue of the forty muskets, &c., to Washington, for I know that such representations have gone on to the Department as will cause unnecessary excitement, and insure a censure of my course in the matter from the Ordnance Department.
Very respectfully, yours,
F.C. HUMPHREYS,
Military Storekeeper Ordnance, U.S. Army.
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[Inclosure No. 2.]
| December 20, 1860 - Captain John Foster to Captain F.C. Humphreys
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FORT MOULTRIE, S.C., December 20, 1860.
Captain F.C. HUMPHREYS,
Military Storekeeper, U.S. Ordnance Corps:
DEAR SIR: I have received your letter of this date. I regret that I cannot accede to your request to write to the governor-elect of South Carolina and assure him that twenty enlisted men had not, as he had heard, been sent from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter. As the governor of a State that has by an ordinance to-day decided to secede from the Union, I cannot, I conceive, properly communicate with him in matters of this kind, except through the Government at Washington.
I regret exceedingly that an unfounded rumor of this kind should have obtained the serious attention of the governor of South Carolina. I, as the officer in charge of Fort Sumter, can assure you that no enlisted men have been transferred from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter.
With respect to the issue of the muskets, I consider that you only performed your duty in obedience to existing orders. I certainly think that I did mine. As to my after action in referring the matter to Washington, I am of course, the only one responsible. You cannot, therefore, be censured without cause.
Truly yours, in haste,
J.G. FOSTER,
Captain, Engineers
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[Indorsement]
| December 24, 1860 - Captain Horatio Wright to Secretary John Floyd
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ENGINEER DEPARTMENT, December 24, 1860.
Respectfully submitted to the honorable Secretary of War for his information, and with the earnest request that the instructions solicited by Captain Foster may be promptly given.
H.G. WRIGHT,
Captain of Engineers, in charge.
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| December 21, 1860 - Colonel René De Russy to Captain John Foster
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ENGINEER DEPARTMENT,
Washington, December 21, 1860.
Captain J.G. FOSTER,
Corps of Engineers, Charleston, S.C.:
CAPTAIN: In reply to your letter of the 17th instant, I have to state that on inquiry at the Medical Bureau it is found that there is no intention of relieving Assistant Surgeon Crawford from duty at Fort Moultrie at present, but that it is presumed he will still be willing to go on attending to your men, as he is understood to be now doing, without any specific instructions. The formal reference of your application to the Adjutant-General is therefore considered unnecessary.
Your letter of the 18th instant, inclosing correspondence with Military Storekeeper Humphreys, in regard to the return of the muskets drawn from the Charleston Arsenal, is also received.
It having been ascertained on inquiry at the War Department that instructions have already been sent you to return the muskets referred to, no further action on your letter seems to be necessary.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
R.E. DE RUSSY,
Lieutenant-Colonel, Engineers, Commanding.
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| December 22, 1860 - Captain John Foster to Colonel René De Russy
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SULLIVAN'S ISLAND, S.C., December 22, 1860.
Colonel R.E. DE RUSSY,
Commanding Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, Washington, D.C.:
COLONEL: I feel it my duty to inform you that on the last two nights steamers from town have remained in the close vicinity of Fort Sumter, apparently with the object of maintaining guard over the fort. On the first night, that of the 20th, only one came. She approached from the direction of town, as though running for the wharf, and her movements attracting the attention of the watchman, he awoke Lieutenant Snyder, who, when he went upon the ramparts, found her close under the west flank, apparently sounding. She afterwards moved off to a second position about six hundred yards from the fort, and remained during the night. She showed no lights. On the same night this or another steamer reconnoitered and remained around Castle Pinckney for some time, and when hailed by the night watch on the Castle as to what she wanted, some one replied, "You will know in a week." Last night two steamers kept watch around Fort Sumter.
These steamers are the small harbor or coast steamers, and one of them was named the Nina. Judging it best not to incur any risk of an unpleasant occurrence, I have not taken any steps to ascertain the object of this surveillance, nor of those in command of the steamers. The recent orders emanating from the War Department have given me the assurances that every cause that might irritate these people must be avoided. However mortifying it may be to know that there are no means for defense in Fort Sumter, and that the military men of the city have their eves fixed upon it as the prize to obtain, I feel bound to carry out this idea in my every act.
I do not even feel authorized to vary my present plan of operations, either by a reduction or an increase of force, although my expenses are very heavy, and my present liabilities barely covered by my requisitions just made. Whenever the Department desires that I may make a change of operations, I beg that it may soon be communicated to me.
At Fort Moultrie I am still exerting myself to the utmost to make it so defensible as to discourage any attempts to take it. The wet ditch is now completed. The whole of the east front is now raised by solid melons, two barrels high, and in three positions to a greater height to serve for cavaliers. The guns are provided with good siege-battery embrasures, faced with green hides, and two of them 18-inch howitzers, one in addition furnished with musket-proof shutters working on an axis, elevated over the throat off the embrasure by supports on each side, and maneuvered by double extending back over the gun.
A field howitzer has been put in position on the parapet at the northeast salient by means of a palmetto stockade, so as to sweep the vicinity of that angle better than it was before. Traverses to intercept shot from the sand hills have been placed on the parapet and upon the terrepleins.
The bridge connecting the barracks and guard-house is completed, the doors arranged with fastenings, doors cut through the partition walls of the barracks, trap-doors cut in the floors, and ladders made. The howitzers in the finished caponiere are put in good working order. The second caponiere was commenced yesterday morning, with a full force of masons, and by to-night was over six feet in height, with both embrasures completed. Major Anderson wanted me to adopt some more temporary construction, but I showed him that this would be far more valuable in the defense, and having the materials and masons ready, I could construct it just as quickly, and cheaply. On Monday I shall erect a lookout tower or sharpshooter stand on top of the guard-house, at Major Anderson's request. I have stopped for the present the work upon the glaces in front of the sea front, and put all my force upon the above works. The glaces has, however, assumed fine proportions, and is in fact nearly completed. One-half of the interior slope is well sodded, and half of the glaces slope covered with muck six inches thick.
It will take very little work to complete the whole of it as soon as the present pressing work is finished.
Very truly, yours,
J.G. FOSTER,
Captain, Engineers.
[Indorsement No. 1.]
| December 24, 1860 - Captain Horatio Wright to Secretary John Floyd
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ENGINEER DEPARTMENT, December 24, 1860.
Respectfully submitted to the honorable Secretary of War for his information, and with the earnest request that the instructions solicited by Captain Foster may be promptly given.
H.G. WRIGHT,
Captain of Engineers, in charge.
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[Indorsement No. 2.]
| December 26, 1860 - Captain Horatio Wright to Secretary John Floyd
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ENGINEER DEPARTMENT, December 26, 1860.
Respectfully referred to the honorable Secretary of War, and his attention urgently called to the within report as one of great importance.
H.G. WRIGHT,
Captain of Engineers, in charge.
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[Indorsement No. 3.]
| December 26, 1860 - Captain Horatio Wright to (Engineering Department?)
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Click for full-sized scanned image Union Correspondence, etc.
ENGINEER OFFICE, December 26, 1860.
Have just seen the Secretary of War, and read to him the within letter. His only remarks in regard to it were that it was very satisfactory, and that he hoped or thought, I don't distinctly remember which, that we should get over these troubles without bloodshed. He further said he did not wish to retain the letter-this in answer to my question.
H.G.W.
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| December 27, 1860 - Captain John Foster to Colonel René De Russy
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FORT SUMTER, S.C., December 27, 1860.
Colonel R.E. DE RUSSY,
Commanding Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, Washington, D.C.:
COLONEL: I have the honor to report that yesterday evening Major Anderson removed his command from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, leaving a guard with me, orders to spike the guns, cut down the flagstaff, and burn the carriages of those guns that point towards Fort Sumter. This was done. To-day I went to town to negotiate a draft on New York to pay off the men employed on Fort Moultrie. I saw that an attack was to be made somewhere to-night, and also that it would not be safe for me to go to town again for some time.
Returning, I brought my family to Fort Sumter, as all guard was with-drawn. At about 4 o'clock a steamer landed an armed force at Castle Pinckney, and effecting an entrance by scaling the walls with ladders, took forcible possession of the work. Lieutenant Meade was suffered to withdraw to this fort.
Soon after dark two steamers landed an armed force at Fort Moultrie, and took forcible possession of that work. While in town the Palmetto flag was hoisted on the custom-house and saluted. Two companies were ordered to surround the arsenal. The movement of Major Anderson was made upon a firm conviction that an attack would be made, and that Fort Sumter would be seized first. In haste.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J.G. FOSTER,
Captain of Engineers.
[Indorsement.]
| December 28, 1860 - Commissioner Robert Barnwell et. al to President James Buchanan
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WASHINGTON, December 28, 1860.
The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
SIR: We have the honor to transmit to you a copy of the full powers from the Convention of the People of South Carolina, under which we are "authorized and empowered to treat with the Government of the United States for the delivery of the forts, magazines, light houses, and other real estate with their appurtenances, within the limits of South Carolina; and also for an apportionment of the public debt and a division of all other property held by the Government of the United States as agent of the confederated States, of which South Carolina was recently a member; and, generally, to negotiate as to all other measures and arrangements proper to be made and adopted in the existing relations of the parties, and for the continuance of peace and amity between this Commonwealth and the Government at Washington."
In the execution of this trust it is our duty to furnish you, as we now do, with an official copy of the ordinance of secession, by which the State of South Carolina has resumed the powers she delegated to the Government of the United States, and has declared her perfect sovereignty and independence.
It would also have been our duty to have informed you that were ready to negotiate with you upon all such questions as are necessarily raised by the adoption of this ordinance, and that we were prepared to enter upon this negotiation with the earnest desire to avoid all unnecessary and hostile collision, and so to inaugurate our new relations as to secure mutual respect, general advantage, and a future of good will and harmony, beneficial to all the parties concerned. But the events of the last twenty-four hours render such an assurance impossible. We came here, the representatives of an authority which could at any time within the past sixty days have taken possession of the forts in Charleston Harbor, but which, upon pledges given in a manner that we cannot doubt, determined to trust to your honor rather than to its own power. Since our arrival an officer of the United States acting, as we are assured, not only without but against your orders, has dismantled one fort and occupied another, thus altering to a most important extent the condition of affairs under which we came.
Until those circumstances are explained in a manner which relieves us of all doubt as to the spirit in which these negotiations shall be conducted, we are forced to suspend all discussion as to any arrangements by which our mutual interests might be amicably adjusted.
And, in conclusion, we would urge upon you the immediate with drawl of the troops, from the harbor of Charleston. Under present circumstances they are a standing menace which renders negotiation impossible, and, as our recent experience shows, threatens speedily to bring to a bloody issue questions which ought to be settled with temperance and judgment.
We have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servants,
R.W. BARNWELL,
J.H. ADAMS,
JAMES L. ORR,
Commissioners.
[Inclosures.]
| December 20, 1860 - South Carolina Declaration of Secession
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THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA:
At a Convention of the People of the State of South Carolina, begun and holden at Columbia on the seventeenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty, and thence continued by adjournment to Charleston, and there, by divers adjournments, to the twentieth of December in the same year:
AN ORDINANCE to dissolve the union between the State of South Carolina and other States united with her under the compact entitled "The Constitution of the United States of America":
We, the People of the State of South Carolina in convention assembled, to declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the ordinance adopted by us in convention on the twenty-third day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America was ratified and also all acts and parts of acts of the general assembly of this State ratifying amendments of the said Constitution, are hereby repealed; and that the union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States, under the name of the "United States of America," is hereby dissolved.
Done at Charleston the twentieth day of December in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty.
D.F. JAMISON,
Delegate from Barnwell, and
President of the Convention, and others.
Attest:
BENJAMIN F. ARTHUR,
Clerk of the Convention.
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| December 20, 1860 - Memorandum to the State of South Carolina
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OFFICE OF SECRETARY OF STATE,
Charleston, S.C., December 22, 1860.
I do hereby certify that the foregoing ordinance is a true and correct copy taken from the original on file in this office.
Witness my hand and the seal of the State.
[L.S.]
ISAAC H. MEANS,
Secretary of State.
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| December 28, 1860 - Authorization of commissioners to treat with the United States Government
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 Click for full-sized scanned image Union Correspondence, etc.
The State of South Carolina, by the Convention of the People of the said State, to Robert W. Barnwell, James H. Adams, and James L. Orr:
Whereas the Convention of the People of the State of South Carolina, begun and holden at Columbia on the seventeenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty, and thence continued by adjournment to Charleston, did, by resolution, order "That three Commissioners to be elected by ballot of the Convention, be directed forthwith to proceed to Washington, authorized and empowered to treat with the Government of the United States for the delivery of the forts, magazines, light-houses, and other real with their appurtenances, within the limits of South Carolina, and also for an apportionment of the public debt and for a division of all other property held by the Government of the United States as agent of the confederated States, of which South Carolina, was recently a member; and, generally, to negotiate as to all other measures and arrangements proper to be made and adopted in the existing relations of the parties, and for the continuance of peace and amity between this Commonwealth and the Government at Washington":
And whereas the said Convention did, by ballot, elect you to the said office of Commissaries to the Government at Washington:
Now, be it known that the said Convention, by these presents, doth commission you, Robert W. Barnwell, James H. Adams, and James L. Orr, as Commissaries to the Government at Washington, to have, to hold, and to exercise the said office, with all the powers, rights, and privileges conferred upon the same by the terms of the resolution herein cited.
Given under the seal of the State, at Charleston, the twenty-second day of December in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty.
[L.S.]
D.F. JAMISON,
President.
ISAAC H. MEANS,
Secretary of State.
Attest:
B.F. ARTHUR,
Clerk of the Convention.
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| December 30, 1860 - Captain John Foster to Colonel René De Russy
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 Click for full-sized scanned image Union Correspondence, etc.
FORT SUMTER, S.C., December 30, 1860.
Colonel R.E. DE RUSSY,
Commanding Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, Washington, D.C.:
COLONEL: I am exerting myself to the utmost to make this work impregnable, and am most ably and energetically supported by Lieutenants Snyder and Meade. The whole labor of preparation falls upon us, as the command is too small to be worn down by labor.
The quartermaster has no funds, I therefore consider it my duty to provide everything. I cannot commit to paper the preparations that are completed and in progress to resist an attack here. Be assured, however, that no efforts are spared to make them as complete as they can be made under the circumstances. I beg that any funds that can be obtained for me may be deposited in New York.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J.G. FOSTER,
Captain, Engineers.
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(US SoW) John Floyd
- At the outbreak of the war, John Buchanan Floyd was the United States Secretary of War
- He resigned his post on December 29, 1860 and left the northern States to join the Confederate Government
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From De Russy:
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| December 20, 1860 - Colonel René De Russy to Secretary John Floyd
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ENGINEER DEPARTMENT,
Washington, December 20, 1860.
Hon. JOHN B. FLOYD,
Secretary of War:
SIR: In reply to so much of the resolution of the Committee on Military Affairs of the House of Representatives,[1] which you have referred to this office, as relates to matters instructed to this Department, I have the honor to present the following report:
In regard to the condition of the defenses at Fort Moultrie, I have to state that, according to the latest report of the Engineer officer having charge of the construction of the defense of the harbor of Charleston, everything practicable has been done to place the work in an efficient condition, and that with a proper garrison it is susceptible of an energetic defense. There were then employed at that work one officer and one hundred and twenty workmen, independent of the regular garrison.
Castle Pinckney was in good condition as regards preparations, 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 banquettes, and attending to other matters of detail.
Fort Sumter, which is entirely surrounded by water, is prepared for the guns of the first and third tiers, many of which are mounted, and the rest may be on short notice. The working force is now engaged in putting in the embrasures of the second tier, which have been left out till recently on account of an apprehended settlement of the work. One officer and one hundred and fifteen workmen were employed at this work at the date of the last report. Of all the fortifications in the harbor of Charleston, Fort Sumter must be looked upon as by far the most important, and it is now in condition, as regards its state of preparation, to resist any attack that will be made upon it, provided it be furnished with a proper garrison.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
R.E. DE RUSSY,
Lieutenant-Colonel, Engineers, Commanding.
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| December 21, 1860 - Colonel René De Russy to Captain John Foster
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Click for full-sized scanned image Union Correspondence, etc.
ENGINEER DEPARTMENT,
Washington, December 21, 1860.
Captain J.G. FOSTER,
Corps of Engineers, Charleston, S.C.:
CAPTAIN: Your letters of the 4th and 13th instants, reporting the operations you have undertaken for improving the defensible condition of the forts in Charleston Harbor, have been received, and your action in the matter is fully approved by this Department.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
R.E. DE RUSSY,
Lieutenant-Colonel, Engineers, Commanding
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