February 6, 1861 - Virginia and North Carolina represented in the Confederate capital

First Capitol of the Confederacy

February 6, 1861

Reports from Montgomery dated 150 years ago today indicate that Southern states that had not yet seceded were reaching out to the two-day old Confederate States of America.

The Confederacy had been formed on February 4, 1861, by delegates from South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. It was widely expected, however, that other Southern states would soon join the new nation and a telegram from Montgomery, Alabama - now the capital city of the Confederacy - indicated that representatives from both Virginia and North Carolina were present in the city:

MONTGOMERY, (Ala.), Feb. 6 – The Commissioners from North Carolina presented their credentials and were tendered seats in the convention during the open sessions.

The Commissioners from Virginia are also in the city.

The Committee appointed yesterday in secret session, stated through their chairman (MR. MEMMINGER) that they would probably report on Thursday a plan for the Provisional Government . - Philadelphia Inquirer, February 7, 1861, p. 1.

Virginia and North Carolina had not seceded from the Union, but their outreach to the forming government in Montgomery illustrated the natural ties that existed between the Southern states and their willingness to work together and communicate, regardless of their current status.

You can read more about the historic Alabama Capitol Building, the first capitol of the Confederacy, at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/montgomerycapitol2.

January 10, 1861 - Florida Secedes from the Union & Fort Caswell is seized in North Carolina

Florida's Old Capitol

January 10, 1861

150 years ago today, as a large crowd gathered outside the historic Old Capitol building in Tallahassee, the delegates to Florida's Secession Convention voted by a margin of 62 to 7 to secede from the Union.

Governor-elect John Milton, an ardent secessionist, read the state's ordinance of secession from the east portico of the capitol:

We, the people of the State of Florida in Convention assembled, do solemnly ordain, publish and declare: That the State of Florida hereby withdraws herself from the Confederacy of States existing under the name of the United States of America, and from the existing Government of said States: and that all political connection between her and the Government of said States ought to be and the same is hereby totally annulled, and said union of States dissolved: and the State of Florida is hereby declared a Sovereign and Independent Nation: and that all ordinances heretofore adopted in so far as they create or recognize said Union, are rescinded: and all laws or parts of laws in force in this State, in so far as they recognize or assent to said Union be and they are hereby repealed.

Florida became the third state to leave the Union and the announcement ignited celebrations not only in Tallahassee, but in communities across the state as well as in South Carolina and Mississippi. If you would like to learn more about the state's historic Old Capitol, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/oldcapitol.

Meanwhile, military movements continued across the South. At Charleston Harbor, Union troops in Fort Sumter worked to mount guns and improve their defenses while state troops continued to mount guns and build batteries in Fort Moultrie, Fort Johnson and at other points bearing on Sumter. In Louisiana, the Baton Rouge Arsenal and Barracks were seized. In Florida, a small force of around 80 U.S. soldiers and sailors moved across Pensacola Bay from Fort Barrancas and occupied a more defensible position at Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island. In North Carolina, citizens took matters into their own hands at captured Fort Caswell.  

Historical Marker for Fort Caswell

Located at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, Fort Caswell was a strongly built masonry fort that had been completed in 1836. Designed to mount 61 cannon, it looked out over the channel that led from the Atlantic Ocean up the Cape Fear River to the key port city of Wilmington.

Believing that war was inevitable, a local military company called the Cape Fear Minutemen moved on the fort and seized it from its lone caretaker. The move was done without authorization from the governor or anyone else and a potential crisis loomed. Since North Carolina had not yet decided whether it would secede from the Union, Governor John Ellis ordered Fort Caswell returned to the U.S. government. His orders were followed.

You can learn more about Fort Caswell at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fortcaswell.

January 9, 1861 - Star of the West, Fort Johnston Seized, Mississippi Secedes

Fort Sumter with Morris Island in Distance (NPS Photo)

January 9, 1861

Three major events (into an independent nation. In North Carolina, the citizens of Southport moved on and seized Fort Johnston, an older military post near the mouth of the Cape Fear River below Wilmington.

In South Carolina, Major Robert Anderson in Fort Sumter was stunned by the sound of state artillery opening fire on the steamer Star of the West, which had arrived off Charleston Harbor with supplies, provisions and 200 reinforcements for the U.S. Army garrison in the beleaguered fort.

The Star of the West was a 220 foot steamer chartered from Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt by the U.S. Government. On board were 200 picked recruits from Fort Columbus in New York Harbor, as well as a 3-month supply of provisions and other supplies that were desperately needed by the soldiers manning Fort Sumter. As she approached the entrance to Charleston Harbor, the ship was warned off by picket boats placed for that purpose by order of the Governor of South Carolina. Pursuant to her orders, however, the ship continued forward and fire was opened on her by cadets from The Citadel who manned a battery of artillery on Morris Island.

From Fort Sumter, Major Anderson immediately communicated with Governor F.W. Pickens of South Carolina:

Two of your batteries fired this morning upon an unarmed vessel bearing the flag of my Government. As I have not been notified that war has been declared by South Carolina against the Government of the United States, I cannot but think that this hostile act was committed without your sanction or authority. Under that hope, and that alone, did I refrain from opening fire on your batteries.- Major Robert Anderson, U.S. Army, January 9, 1861.

Anderson expressed to the governor his intent, if the act was not disavowed, to open his guns on any vessel that came within range. He also called the firing an "act of war."

Entrance of Charleston Harbor

In reply, Governor Pickens informed Major Anderson that the attempt of the Star of the West to enter the harbor was regarded as an act of war by that state. He also explained to Anderson that President Buchanan had been warned that any attempt to send troops or military supplies to Fort Sumter would be regarded as an intrusion upon the sovereignty of South Carolina:

In anticipation of the ordinance of secession, of which the President of the United States has received official notification, it was understood by him that sending any re-enforcement of the troops of the United States in the harbor of Charleston would be regarded by the constituted authorities of the State of South Carolina as an act of hostility, and at the same time it was understood by him that any change in the occupation of the forts in the harbor of Charleston would in like manner be regarded as an act of hostility. - Governor F.W. Pickens, January 9, 1861.

Pickens went on to explain the steps that had been taken by the state to warn off supply ships like the Star of the West and informed Anderson that the opening of fire on the vessel "is perfectly justified by me."

No one was injured in the firing on the Star of the West, which represented the second shots of the Civil War, as the cannon fire came on the heels of a volley from guard muskets at Fort Barrancas in Florida the previous day.  Please click here to learn more about the Fort Barrancas incident.