January 15, 1861, The New York Herald

Dark and discouraging as is the present revolutionary condition of the country, there is yet room for the belief that, though we are threatened with civil war, we may escape it, and that the Union, though broken, be restored, sound and enduring, from the crucible of a Southern confederacy.

The friends of peace, of Union, of law and order, derive great encouragement from the purification of Mr. Buchanan cabinet, and its reconstruction upon conservative Union basis. Purged of such disunion chiefs and instruments as Cobb, Floyd, Thompson and Thomas, the cabinet, as it now stands, is a unit upon the constitutional and conservative views of Mr. Buchanan. The President now, in calling his ministry together for a consultation, and with that illustrious old soldier and patriot, General Scott, at his elbow, is morally sure of a cheerful agreement and prompt action. The conservatives of the whole country are thus assured that, while a warlike collision with the Southern revolutionists will be avoided to the last extremity of forbearance, there will be no more and comfort given to the enemy from the high places of the federal administration.

With this advantage gained to the cause of the general government in the South, we can regard as comparatively trifling matters the bankrupt condition in which Secretary Cobb left the Treasury; the enormous lobby jobs and speculations charged to the account of the late Secretary Floyd; the untold embezzlements occuring in the Department of the Interior under its late Secretary Thompson, and the alleged affiliations of the late head of the Treasury, Thomas, with the disunion conspirators of Maryland; for all these things are mere trifles compared with the presence of these disunionists in the Cabinet of Mr. Buchanan touching the execution of the laws of the United States. We have heretofore intimated that with the cleansing of his Cabinet, Mr. Buchanan, notwithstanding the manifold treacheries, trials, and embarrassments he has had to encounter, would go out of office with credit; but his can be no longer doubted when we now see many of his hitherto most inveterate enemies coming up to his vindication and assistance.

Thus fortified in his position as President of the United States, it is evident that h is gaining strength in, and receiving strength from the two houses of Congress, without reference to the political party divisions of the day. From the indications already before us, we should not be surprised if within a few short days the Union policy of Mr. Buchanan, under the auspices of his new Cabinet, were to command from conservative republican, democrats and Americans a decided majority, not only of the House of Representatives, but of the Senate.

Meantime, while the popular demonstrations in the cities, towns and villages of the North, from Massachusetts to Minnesota, complimentary to Major Anderson, express the universal Northern sentiment in favor of Union, the constitution and the enforcement of the laws, it must not be inferred from these manifestations that the North is thus overwhelmingly in favor of the coercion of the South into submission. The universal sentiment of the North is in favor of the maintenance of the flag and the constitutional rights and authority of the United States, at home as well as abroad; but the people of the North, if their representatives at Washington will only open the door, are ready for all the concessions necessary to restore the South, including even South Carolina, to the Union.

Very true, there have been but few manifestations of a very satisfactory character from Northern republican party meetings, or Governors, or Legislatures, or journals, in support of a new compromise with the South. But Rome was not built in day. The republican party in the very hour of victory find it hard to come to a capitulation, as if under a crushing defeat. Thus, considering the pride and weakness of human nature, it is not very remarkable that on Saturday last, in the Pennsylvania legislature, ‘Senator Welsh’s resolutions proposing to repeal the obnoxious Personal Liberty Provisions of the Act of 1847, and the penal code, were voted down, all the republicans voting against them.Greeley admonishes the party that they are under compulsion, and are not to yield an inch; and Greeley is fortified in this position by Sir John Falstaff, who refused, point blank, to give even the true Prince an opinion upon compulsion.

We must, then, make up our minds to let these Southern revolutionary movements of secession run their course, trusting meantime to the administration to avoid a war while executing the federal laws, and trusting that the inconveniences of a Southern confederacy on the one hand, and the necessities of concessions to restore the Union on the other, will yet bring the South and the North within hailing distance of each other.

January 15, 1861, The Charleston Mercury

On last Saturday evening, Colonel W.J. Gunn, of the Seventh Regiment Florida Militia, received orders from Governor Perry to proceed at once to that the United States Arsenal at Chattahoochee, containing about 5300 pounds of powder, 10,000 pounds of lead, 120,000 musket cartridges, a 6 pounder, 57 muskets, cannon balls, cartridge boxes, &c. The Young Guard was ordered out on the errand. On arriving at the Arsenal, and being informed that they had reached the point of destination, and finding no men to resist their attack, they seemed to be not very agreeably disappointed. Sergeant Powell, who was in command of the Arsenal, appeared much mortified at having to surrender, but having only two or three men was unable to make any defence. In a spirited and patriotic address to Captain Jones and Company, he said that, had he their number of men, they would never have entered the gates of the Arsenal without first marching over his dead body. He was pained to see other than United States troops occupying it, but from want of force was unable to prevent it from falling into their hands. The stars and stripes were taken down, and the lone star flag hoisted in their stead. – Florida paper.

January 15, 1861, The Charleston Mercury

That the sole conservative element, in the Government of the former United States of America, was centered in the Southern States of that Confederacy, is now made evident by the present attitude and progress of affairs at Washington. Bereft of that check upon the lawless will of a grasping, vulgar and reckless majority at the North, hitherto imposed upon it is the Congress of the United States by the conservative element derived form the Southern States, through their eminently conservative, social and political home institutions, how quickly have they rushed forward upon the mad march toward unrestrained power and anarchy! Already we hear fierce cries from the North for a military commander in chief of the armies of the remaining United States, with supreme power. The Executive is to be overridden–Congress is to be subordinate, and a military leader is to control the land with the sword and cannon. Already Washington and its neighborhood is made the headquarters of the army, and the Capitol is to be environed with soldiers.

We are not surprised. These things but fulfill our previous views–long since, and frequently expressed. There exists in neither the social nor the political organization of society at the North one single element of permanent order, law or liberty. The whole structure of their institutions, social and political, tends only to license, and can result but in anarchy, and eventually in despotism or revolution at home. It exists without one check or chart–based upon the ever shifting, ungovernable, irresponsible will of the mob. As the late Historian, MACAULAY, has well expressed himself upon this very subject–it is like a ship at sea, dashing forward under full sail, without rudder, chart or compass. Bravely it will bound forward for a time before the gale; but in time the storm will overtake it, and, helpless, it will go down, overwhelmed in the troughs of the sea; or, stranded upon the rocks and sands of popular caprice, will lie a hopeless wreck, to be dismembered and beaten to pieces by the waves of popular passion. We have not his [continue reading…]

–Major-General Sandford tendered the whole of the First Division New York State Militia to the Commander-in-Chief, to be ready for service in an hour’s notice.

–Colonel Hayne, a Commissioner of South Carolina to Washington, was received by the President, and demanded the withdrawal of the garrison of Fort Sumter. He was requested to submit a written demand.

–The United States Coast Survey schooner Dana, was seized by the Florida State authorities.–The World.

WAR DEPARTMENT, January 15, 1861.

To his Excellency JOHN W. ELLIS,

……………Governor of North Carolina, Raleigh:

SIR: Your letter of the 11th instant, addressed to the President of the United States, has by him been referred to this Department, and he instructs me to express his gratification at the promptitude with which you have ordered the expulsion of the lawless men who recently occupied Forth Johnston and Caswell. He regards this action on the part of your Excellency as in complete harmony with the honor and patriotic character of the people of North Carolina, whom you so worthily represent.

In reply to your inquiry whether it is the purpose of the President to garrison the forts of North Carolina during his administration, I am directed to say that they, in common with the other forts, arsenals, and public property of the United States, are in the charge of the President, and that if assailed, no matter from what quarter or under what pretext, it is his duty to protect them by all the means which the law has placed at his disposal. It is not his purpose to garrison the forts to which you refer at present, because he considers them entirely safe, as heretofore, under the shelter of that law-abiding sentiment for which the people of North Carolina have ever been distinguished. Should they, however, be attacked or menaced, with danger of being seized and taken from the possession of the United States, he could not escape from his constitutional obligations to defend and preserve them. The very satisfactory and patriotic assurances given by your Excellency justify him, however, in entertaining the confident expectation that no such contingency will arise.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. HOLT,
Secretary of War ad interim.

FORT TAYLOR, KEY WEST, FLA.,
January 15, 1861.

SIR: In consequence of the secession of this State and the seizure of the forts and arsenals in other Southern States. I have moved my command to Fort Taylor, and shall defend it to the last moment against any force attempting to capture it. I have four months’ provisions and 70,000 gallons water, but we cannot stand a siege against any organized army, and therefore should be re-enforced immediately. Two vessels of war should be stationed here to protect the entrance to the harbor and prevent a landing beyond the range of my guns. Mail facilities having ceased through Florida, all orders for this post should be sent via Havana from New York through the American consul.

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

J. M. BRANNAN, ……..
Captain, First Artillery, Commanding.

Maj. GEORGE DEAS,
……….Assistant Adjutant-General, Dept. of the East, Troy, N. Y.

January 15, 1861

• Albert Sidney Johnston assumes command of the Department of the Pacific.

MONDAY 14

Something of a snowstorm today. Tonight is more like rain freezing as it falls. The walks are a glade of ice. There appears to be a more hopeful feeling abroad today in reference to the affairs of the country. The Govt is geting into the hands of Union men. The Cabinet is now composed entirely of that class. Genl Dix taking the place of Thomas. His first assistant (Clayton) has also resigned to save himself from being turned out. It is rumored today that all “seceders” are to be turned out if they do not resign their posts in the different Depts. Spent the evening next door, Mr Bartletts, clerk in State Dept.

The three diary manuscript volumes, Washington during the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865, are available online at The Library of   Congress.

January 14, 1861, The New York Herald

The Star of the West, now surrounded with uncommon interest on account of her adventure in the harbor of Charleston, finally returned to her dock at the foot of Warren street yesterday morning, where large numbers wended their way during the day to see her. The gates on the upper end of the dock, however, were closed against all unauthorized applicants for admission, compelling those whose curiosity had brought them to the spot to content themselves with looking at her stern and starboard side.

THE MARK OF THE CANNON BALL is upon the port side, facing the dock, and was consequently visible only from within the forbidden enclosure. She bears no other traces of damage from the firing. The dent referred to is a little forward of the wheelhouse, under one of the portholes, and about three or four feet from the surface of the water. It is elliptically or egg shaped, showing that the ball struck the vessel obliquely, at an angle of about thirty or forty inches with the keel, and in a direction from the stern towards the bow. The impression of the ball, which must have been an eighteen-pounder, is about six inches wide at its broadest portion and about nine or ten inches in length. The missile sank into the wood only to the depth of about half its own diameter, showing that its force was considerably spent on reaching the vessel.

THE DEBARKATION OF THE TROOPS was accomplished at half-past seven ‘o yesterday morning. During the previous night the Star of the West was considerably inconvenienced by the large masses of ice floating in the river, and two anchors were wrenched away. She left her anchorage in the harbor–a position she had maintained since her arrival–and steamed into the slack water to avoid the floes of ice. She then passed down the bay to Robbin’s Reef, and thence back to a point a little above Governor’s Island, where, about three ‘o yesterday morning, the steam tug came alongside to take off the soldiers; but the commanding officer, deeming it an unpropitious moment on account of the terrific frost, and Captain McGowan fearing [continue reading…]

January 14, 1861, The New York Herald

Tomorrow will be a memorable night. The dissolution of the Union and the prospect of civil war pale in interest before the excitement of the great local event which is to come off. Tomorrow the Brooklynites inaugurate their new Opera House, which was the only thing wanting in their eyes to give them metropolitan rank. Henceforth Brooklyn considers herself in a position to run pari passu with New York. We are not susceptible, and therefore give our trans-river friends the full benefit of our aid on this to them all important occasion.

January 14, 1861, The New York Herald

The city of Mobile contains nearly 30,000 inhabitants, and is situated on the west side of the river of the same name, on a beautiful and extended plain, elevated fifteen feet above the highest tides; open to refreshing breezes from the bay, and commanding a beautiful prospect. The city, neatly built, is lighted with gas, and supplied with pure water, brought through iron pipes from a spring eight miles distant. Mobile is, next to New Orleans, the great cotton mart of the South; its exports amount to from sixteen to twenty millions of dollars annually.

MOBILE BAY.

Mobile Bay is thirty miles long, measuring from its mouth to the city. Its average width is twelve miles. It connects on the north by two straits, one on each side of Dauphin Island. On the bar, near the mouth of the bay, there are twenty-two feet of water at high tide. The course of the ship channel in entering the bay is close up to Mobile point, and directly under the guns of

FORT MORGAN.

The principal fortification guarding the mouth of Mobile bay is Fort Morgan. It is located on Mobile Point, on the site of old Fort Boyer, of 1814 memory–a long, low, sandy peninsula, between the Gulf of Mexico on the south, and Bonsecours bay and Navy Cove on the north. The Point is the eastern limit of the entrance to Mobile bay. As the sit of Fort Morgan is in historic, we subjoin the following brief sketch of its importance in the war of 1812.

On September 14, 1814, a British fleet of four vessels, carrying ninety-two guns, attached Fort Boyer, a small redoubt. This redoubt was garrisoned by only one hundred [continue reading…]

Jan. 13, 1861. The New York Herald

WASHINGTON,

The administration have not yet decided upon the instructions asked for by Major Anderson. The great point which the President is aiming at, and is desirous of effecting, is to avoid bloodshed and the horrors of civil war.

Many people blame Major Anderson for not opening his batteries upon Fort Moultrie and the city of Charleston, as soon as he heard the firing from Fort Moultrie upon the Star of the West. The administration, however, endorses his action, and will so inform him.

The President has been unofficially advised that an officer is on his way here to confer with the government respecting the condition of affairs in Charleston harbor. The President will hear what he has to say, and may possibly delay the issuing of instructions to Major Anderson until the officer arrives.

In his despatches just received, Major Anderson reiterates what he has heretofore said to the War Department and to the President–that he was in want of nothing, and had the Charleston authorities not interrupted the intercourse with Fort Sumter, the government would have been informed correctly, and the steamer would not have been sent, and thus a most serious addition to the difficulties would have been prevented.

Seward’s speech continues to be the theme of comment in nearly every circle. A careful reading of it has convinced the more moderate of Southern men that it falls far short of the great and vital questions at issue. They assert that if he really desired a settlement and restoration of peace to our distracted country, he ought to have come boldly and squarely to the point. But as it is he has satisfied scarcely any one.

Last night there was a conference of quite a number of members and Senators from the border States, and another conference was held today. Seward’s speech was considerably commented upon, and they all agreed that it did not reach the disease. [continue reading…]

January 14, 1861, The New York Herald

Notwithstanding the sharp frost and bitter cold which greeted the sun as it made its appearance yesterday morning, the Park was visited during the day by at least seventy five thousand people, the greater part of whom were present between the hours of eleven and three o. At half past two  o’clock there were not less than forty thousand people on the pond amusing themselves, some with walking, others sliding, many riding on chairs, but the greater portion skating.

ON THE ROAD.

But the pond, although a great source of attraction, was not the only one. By actual count it was ascertained that up to three  o’clock over two thousand five hundred sleighs and cutters entered the Park, and the drives were literally alive with them. Every kind of decent vehicle on runners was present, and the working man’s single horse cutter, in which he drove his family around the Park, was to be seen mingling with the dashing four-in-hand equipages filled with gayly dressed and buffalo robe wrapped ladies from Fifth avenue. Bells jingled on every side–silver bells, bell metal bells, brazen bells, and bells of every other kind of sounding metal. Everywhere this music could be heard, often accompanied with merry laughter. ‘What laughter on the Sunday? ‘we fancy we hear some sanctimonious Sabbatarian say. Yes; actual laughter, heartfelt, and produced by the action of pure air on the lungs. No long faces, but the merry rosy cheeks of health greeted the observereye. No boisterous laughter of drunken mirth, but the delicious music of pleasure, brought forth from a heart, for the time being, devoid of care, either monetary or political. The Park seems to be an antidote as it were for the poison of anxiety and the canker worm of care, for no sooner does the smoked-up down town citizen find himself there than he begins to assume a form of countenance as different from the one he usually wears as day is from night. Let all who can go to the Park, and take their sweethearts and wives, their children (if they have them), or their [continue reading…]

January 14, 1861, The Charleston Mercury

FORT MACON, BEAUFORT, N.C.

Fort Macon protects Beaufort, N.C., and is situated on a bluff on Bogiebank, one and three fourths mile from the city. It commands the entrance to Beaufort harbor, having full sweep of fire on the main channel. The opposite http://www.cw-chronicles.com/blog/southern-forts/entrance to the harbor is Shackleford bank, one and a half miles across. The fortification is of hexagonal form, has two tiers of gins, one in casemated bombproofs and the other en barbette. Its armament consists of twenty thirty two pounders, thirty two twenty four pounders, two eighteen pounders, two twelve pounders, three field pieces for flanking defence, twelve flank howitzers (heavy), eight eight-inch howitzers (light), one thirteen inch mortar, three ten inch mortars, two Coehorn mortars. Total, eighty-seven guns. The war garrrison of the fort is three hundred men. This fort, requires pointing in many places; nearly all the iron work, such as door and window fastenings, are rusted away. One of the wooden bridges across the ditch is decayed, as also the shingled entire slope of the covered way. The shot furnace is useless, the storerooms need renovation, and the roadway requires to have its embankment repaired, and a new bridge to be built across the canal. The wharf having its piers undermined by the sea current and its wooden superstructure much decayed, requires to be rebuilt. The fortification cost the Federal Government half a million dollars.

FORT CASWELL, SMITHVILLE, S.C.

Fort Caswell is a first class fortification, of a hexagonal form, built of massive Northern granite masonry, having two tiers of guns under bombproof casemates, and one tier of guns en barbette. It is situated at the entrance of Cape Fear river, two miles from Smithville. Its armament consists of twelve thirty two pounders, twenty two twenty four pounders, four eighteen pounders, four twelve pounders, three field pieces for flanking [continue reading…]

January 14, 1861, The Charleston Mercury

THE FORTS OCCUPIED BY THE STATE TROOPS–THE PELICAN FLAG FLOATING OVER THEM–SECESSION CERTAIN, ETC.

All the troops in New Orleans were under arms last night, by order of Governor Moore. Five companies embarked this morning at two o’ to seize the Arsenal at Baton Rouge. The Orleans Battalion Artillery and four companies embarked at eleven for Forts Jackson and St. Philip, forty miles below, on the Mississippi, commanding the approach of New Orleans. The wharf was crowded with citizens, who vociferously, cheered the departure of the steamer. Three companies left this afternoon on a steamer to seize Fort Pike, on Lake Pontchartrain. New regiments of troops are being organized. A rumor prevails that the war steamer Crusader is coming up the river, and the highest excitement prevails. Texas and Florida will also seize their fortifications. The troops in Tennessee and Mississippi are arming.

Eight hundred thousand dollars in specie arrived today from New York….

January 14, 1861, The Charleston Mercury

PENSACOLA, January 12. – Fort Barancas, and the Pensacola Navy Yard, were taken possession of, at half past one o’ today, by the Alabama and Florida troops. The Federal troops had already deserted the post after spiking the guns, and have occupied Fort Pickens. A ship with provisions is at Fort Pickins.

Capt. SHEPHERD intends running a small steamers with men, under the guns and attack the Fort. The Georgia troops, perhaps, will be necessary. Gov. BROWN, of Georgia, has telegraphed Capt. COLQUITT, who is in attendance at the Convention, to be ready with his company. He may be needed very soon. Maj. CHASE is in command of the Florida and Alabama troops.

January 14, 1861, The Charleston Mercury

The relations of adopted citizens to the Federal Government, and to the States in which they live, are the same as those of native citizens. When a foreigner is naturalized, he takes the oath support the Constitution of the United States. This renders it his right and duty to know what that instrument is, and to exercise his judgment as to whether it has been violated, or set aside by any of the parties to it. The parties who made and established the Constitution, as a compact between them, are the people of the several States, as States. The General Government is their common agent, to exercise the limited powers entrusted to it by the constitutional compact. No allegiance can be due to the agent, but must be owed by all citizens, whether adopted or native, to all these, principals–to all the States; because they are all sovereigns, possessed of supreme ultimate authority, and a man cannot have thirty odd sovereigns, at one and the same time, to whom his allegiance is due. If that were the case, then, in the event of war between these States, he would be guilty of treason whichever side he should take, and might legally be punished as a traitor, even for defending the State in which he was domiciled as a citizen, against one whose borders he had never set foot upon. This shows its utter absurdity.

A foreigner, in becoming naturalized, is put, and stands, precisely on the same footing with the native citizen. He is made a citizen of a State, with the privileges and immunities’ of citizens of the other States of the Confederacy of the United States; and like them, in consequence of these privileges and immunities, he is called a citizen of the United States. The State in which he is domiciled, or lives, is his sovereign, and obedience to the laws of the General Government, so long as they are over him, by virtue of the consent and enactment of the State.

When the State recalls her consent, and separates from the Union of Confederated [continue reading…]

January 14, 1861, The New York Herald

TO THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD.

BROOKLYN, Jan. 8, 1861.

There is considerable hue and cry in the papers about there not being any available vessels, of light draught, which the President could order to Charleston should he desire to do so. This is unnecessary, as there are no less than eight revenue cutters scattered along the coast from Norfolk, Va., to Eastport, Me. These vessels range from one hundred and fifty to six hundred tons, and if manned and equipped, as allowed by the Revenue act of 1799, would render good service when called upon. The law referred to allows men, including non-commissioned officers, gunners, and marines;” but at present none of them, except the Harriet Lane, which has her war complement on board, has more than fifteen or twenty seamen attached. There would be no difficulty in getting full crews for the whole of them in a very short time if government desired, as there are plenty of seamen unemployed at present. If these cutters were fully armed and manned, the government would have at its command eight handy vessels, of light draught, carrying about twenty-five guns and five hundred and sixty men. This is a force of no ordinary account in these times, and there is no reason why these cutters should not be ordered to the Brooklyn Navy Yard to fit out at once. Even if they are not needed, there would be no harm done to have them armed and manned as the law allows. It would, at least, give employment to a few of our mechanics and seamen, which of itself, during these hard times, would justify the government in putting the vessels in sea trim. In 1832 General Jackson sent a fleet of eight or nine revenue cutters to Charleston, and employed them against the nullifiers with good effect. Why should they not be used now as they were then? If the cutter William Aiken, at Charleston, had been armed and manned, as she should have been, the lieutenants could have made resistance against her traitorous captain, and those who assisted him, placed the vessel under Major [continue reading…]

–Judge Smalley delivered a charge to the grand jury of the Federal court in New York, specifying what overt acts constitute treason. (The Evening Post of the 14th of January contains this charge in full.)

FORT TAYLOR, KEY WEST, FLA.,
January 14, 1861.

SIR: I have the honor to report that in consequence of the recent seizure by unauthorized persons of several forts and arsenals in the Southern States, I have placed my entire command in Fort Taylor for the purpose of protecting it. I shall, until orders from the General Government to the contrary, defend it to the best of my ability with the scanty force (forty-four men) at my disposal. I inclose a copy of a communication I addressed direct to the Adjutant-General on December 11, 1860, to which I have received no reply; also a copy of a letter from Capt. E. B. Hunt, Corps of Engineers, in charge of Fort Taylor. As mail facilities have entirely ceased between Key West and the North, I would suggest that any orders for me be forwarded from New York City, via Havana, to the care of the American consul.

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

J. M. BRANNAN, ……
Captain, First Artillery, Commanding.

Lieut. Col. L. THOMAS,

Asst. Adjt. Gen., Headquarters of the Army, Washington, D.C.

.

[Inclosure No. 1.]

.

KEY WEST BARRACKS, FLA.,……
December 11, 1860.

SIR: The present condition of affairs in this State indicates very clearly that Florida by the act of her people, will secede from the Federal Government. I have reliable information that as soon as the act is committed an attempt will be made to seize upon Fort Taylor. I therefore request instructions what I am to do–endeavor at all hazards   to prevent Fort Taylor being taken or allow the State authorities to have possession without any resistance on the part of my command? These instructions are absolutely necessary now, as it may be too late after the State secedes to receive any, in consequence of communications being cut off from the seat of Government.

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

J. M. BRANNAN,…….
Captain, First Artillery, Commanding.

Col. S. COOPER,
…………..Adjutant-General U. A. Army, Washington City, D. C.

.

[Inclosure No. 2.]
.

FORT TAYLOR, KEY WEST, FLA.,……….
January 12, 1861.

SIR: In consequence of the disordered state of public affairs, of the reported seizure of various neighboring forts and arsenals, of my own lack of means for maintaining a secure guard of this most important fortification, and of the near approach of the discharge of most of my enrolled mechanics and laborers, I deem it my duty to call upon you to make [secure] the military custody of Fort Taylor, and to adopt such measures for its security as you shall deem proper. I shall heartily cooperate in my appropriate capacity as an officer of Engineers, and shall in a few days complete all the defensive preparations now required. I would, therefore, hereby ask you at once to assume the military command of Fort Taylor. I shall by letter of this date ask Captain Craven, of the Mohawk, to consult with you and give his aid for this object.

Very respectfully, yours, &c.,

E. B. HUNT,
Captain, Engineers.

Capt. J. M. BRANNAN,
……….First Artillery, Commanding Key West Barracks.

FORT CASWELL, N. C., January 14, 1861.

SIR : I most respectfully wish to state that the party of citizens who occupied this post has left this day. Mr. Hedrick, who signed receipts to me for the ordnance stores, has returned them to me in good order, except what he expended.

……….I am, sir, very respectfully, your most obedient servant,

F. DARDINGKILLER,
Ordnance Sergeant, U. S. Army.

Col. S. COOPER,
Adjutant-General, U. S. Army, Washington, D. C.

William Porcher Miles to Howell Cobb.

Charleston [S. C], Jan. 14th/61.

Dear Sir: I received your letter yesterday (Sunday) and this morning directed copies of all the ordinances passed and resolutions and addresses adopted by the convention of our state to be forwarded you at Macon. I will bear in mind your further request to telegraph you anything important which may transpire. I think there is more possibility of a peaceful solution of our difficulties here. It does not seem likely that the Administration, now that so many states have seceded, while Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas are on the eve of following suit, will attempt to reinforce Anderson—especially as we have proved that we can make pretty tolerable resistance to the entrance of vessels with either troops or supplies. Moreover we are better prepared now than when the Star of the West attempted to get in, to give Uncle Sam a warm reception.

Nothing but special spite and malice can induce the Government at Washington to confine its attentions to our harbor when the fortifications along the entire Southern coast have been seized by the authorities of the several states within whose limits they lie. I have always thought that the forts and navy yard at Pensacola were of so much consequence (if they purpose to wage war upon the South) that their most vigorous efforts would be to secure or retake them. Mr. Buchanan will in all likelihood seek to temporise—to delay positive action as long as possible. . . .

Your letter was very cheering. First because you hold out the hope that the Georgia convention will secede immediately and un-conditionally, and secondly because you speak of “perpetual sepa ration.” I must confess that on this latter point I have had some nervous anxiety lest after we are all out there may be a disposition to reform the old Confederacy. While I would be most sincerely desirous of forming an alliance offensive and defensive with the Northern Confederacy and entering into a treaty commercial on the most favorable terms, I feel utterly unwilling ever again to live under a common government with the free-soil states. Our pride is enlisted to prove to them and to the world that the South is not so poor, weak and destitute of resources as to be unable to hold her own in the great community of nations. Let us inaugurate on this side of the Atlantic a great free-trade government and perfect the grand commercial idea of the nineteenth century—untrammelled exchange of the productions and manufactures of the world.

Wishing you God speed in the Empire State in carrying on the work of Southern Independence.

From Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1911.

William Porcher Miles (July 4, 1822 – May 11, 1899) was among the ardent states’ rights advocates, supporters of slavery, and Southern secessionists who came to be known as the “Fire-Eaters.” He is notable for having designed the most popular variant of the Confederate flag, originally rejected as the national flag in 1861 but adopted as a battle flag by the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee before it was reincorporated.

Howell Cobb was an American political figure. A southern Democrat, Cobb was a five-term member of the United States House of Representatives and Speaker of the House from 1849 to 1851. He also served as the 40th Governor of Georgia and as a Secretary of the Treasury under President James Buchanan. Cobb is, however, probably best known as one of the founders of the Confederacy, having served as the President of the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States.

January  14, 1861

• The chairman of the Committee of Thirty-three, Thomas Corwin (OH), presents the group’s report to the House of Representatives. Recommendations include a Constitutional amendment guaranteeing slavery where it exists, a repeal of northern “personal liberty laws”, and jury trials for fugitive slaves. The committee does not unanimously approve of the proposals.
• Virginia Assembly approves a convention to consider secession

SUNDAY, JANUARY 13, 1861.

It has been a fine winter day. M. this morning stood at 12. Went to church with wife and boys. Heard a Mr Black of Covington K.Y. a near relative of Mr Sec’y Black. He has evidently mistaken his occupation. Wrote a letter this evening to Col. Paine and took it to the P.O. Walked fast down and back without stoping. It took 28 minutes exactly. Requested the Col. to stop in Elmira for Julia as he is coming to Washington. Wife has been reading “Partons Life of Jackson” aloud and it is now 11 o’clock and time to go to bed (rather later than common).

The three diary manuscript volumes, Washington during the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865, are available online at The Library of   Congress.