department Of State, January 16, 1861.
lieutenant-general
Winfield Scott:
Dear General: The habitual frankness of your
character, the deep interest you take in everything that concerns the public
defense, your expressed desire that I should hear and understand your views — these
reasons, together with an earnest wish to know my own duty and to do it, induce
me to beg you for a little light, which perhaps you alone can shed, upon the
present state of our affairs.
1. Is it the duty of the Government tore-enforce Major
Anderson?
2. If yes, how soon is it necessary that those
re-enforcements should be there?
3. What obstacles exist to prevent the sending of such
re-enforcements at any time when it may be necessary to do so?
I trust you will not regard it as presumption in me if I
give you the crude notions which I myself have already formed out of very
imperfect materials.
A statement of my errors, if errors they be, will enable you
to correct them the more easily.
I. It seems now to be settled that Major Anderson and his
command at Fort Sumter are not to be withdrawn. The United States Government is
not to surrender its last hold upon its own property in South Carolina. Major
Anderson has a position so nearly impregnable that an attack upon him at
present is wholly improbable, and he is supplied with provisions which will
last him very well for two months. In the meantime Fort Sumter is invested on
every side by the avowedly hostile forces of South Carolina. It is in a state
of seige. They have already prevented communication between its commander and
his own Government, both by sea and land. There is no doubt that they intend to
continue this state of things, as far as it is in their power to do so. In the
course of a few weeks from this time it will become very difficult for him to
hold out. The constant labor and anxiety of his men will exhaust their physical
power, and this exhaustion, of course, will proceed very much more rapidly as
soon as they begin to get short of provision.
If the troops remain in Fort Sumter without any change in
their condition, and the hostile attitude of South Carolina remains as it is
now, the question of Major Anderson's surrender is one of time only. If he is
not to be relieved, is it not entirely clear that he should be ordered to
surrender at once? It having been determined that the latter order shall not be
given, it follows that relief must be sent him at some time before it is too
late to save him.
II. This brings me to the second question: When should the
re-enforcements and provisions be sent? Can we justify ourselves in delaying
the performance of that duty?
The authorities of South Carolina are improving every
moment, and increasing their ability to prevent re-enforcement every hour,
while every day that rises sees us with a power diminished to send in the
requisite relief. I think it certain that Major Anderson could be put in
possession of all the defensive powers he needs with very little risk to this
Government, if the efforts were made immediately; but it is impossible to
predict how much blood or money it may cost if it be postponed for two or three
months.
The fact that other persons are to have charge of the
Government before the worst comes to the worst has no influence upon my mind,
and, I take it for granted, will not be regarded as a just element in making up
your opinion.
The anxiety which an American citizen must feel about any
future event which may affect the existence of the country, is not less if he
expects it to occur on the 5th of March than it would be if he knew it was
going to happen on the 3d.
III. I am persuaded that the difficulty of relieving Major
Anderson has been very much magnified to the minds of some persons. From you I
shall be able to ascertain whether I am mistaken or they. I am thoroughly
satisfied that the battery on Morris Island can give no serious trouble. A
vessel going in where the Star of the West went will not be
within the reach of the battery's guns longer than from six to ten minutes. The
number of shots that could be fired upon her in that time may be easily
calculated, and I think the chances of her being seriously injured can be
demonstrated, by simple arithmetic, to be very small. A very unlucky shot might
cripple her, to be sure, and therefore the risk is something. But then it is a
maxim, not less in war than in peace, that where nothing is ventured nothing
can be gained. The removal of the buoys has undoubtedly made the navigation of
the channel more difficult. But there are pilots outside of Charleston, and
many of the officers of the Navy, who could steer a ship into the harbor by the
natural landmarks with perfect safety. This, be it remembered, is not now a
subject of speculation; the actual experiment has been tried. The Star of
the West did pass the battery, and did overcome the difficulties of the
navigation, meeting with no serious trouble from either cause. They have tried
it; we can say probatum est; and there is an end to the controversy.
I am convinced that a pirate, or a slaver, or a smuggler,
who could be assured of making five hundred dollars by going into the harbor in
the face of all the dangers which now threaten a vessel bearing the American
flag, would laugh them to scorn, and to one of our naval officers who has the
average of daring, “the danger's self were lure alone!”
There really seems to me nothing in the way that ought to
stop us except the guns of Fort Moultrie. If they are suffered to open a fire
upon a vessel bearing re-enforcements to Fort Sumter, they might stop any other
vessel as they stopped the Star of the West. But is it necessary that
this intolerable outrage should be submitted to? Would it not be an act of pure
self-defense on the part of Major Anderson to silence Fort Moultrie, if it be
necessary to do so, for the purpose of insuring the safety of a vessel whose
arrival at Fort Sumter is necessary for his protection, and could he not do it
effectually? Would the South Carolinians dare to fire upon any vessel which
Major Anderson would tell them beforehand must be permitted to pass, on pain of
his guns being opened upon her assailants? But suppose it impossible for an
unarmed vessel to pass the battery, what is the difficulty of sending the Brooklyn
or the Macedonian in? I have
never heard it alleged that the latter could not cross the bar, and I think if
the fact had been so it would have been mentioned in my hearing before this
time. It will turn out upon investigation, after all that has been said and
sung about the Brooklyn, that there is water enough there for her. She
draws ordinarily only sixteen and one-half feet, and her draught can be reduced
eighteen inches by putting her upon an even keel. The shallowest place will
give her eighteen feet of water at high tide. In point of fact, she has crossed
that bar more than once. But apart even from these resources, the Government
has at its command three or four smaller steamers of light draught and great
speed, which could be armed and at sea in a few days, and would not be in the
least troubled by any opposition that could be made to their entrance.
It is not, however, necessary to go into the details, with
which, I presume, you are fully acquainted. I admit that the state of things
may be somewhat worse now than they were a week ago, and are probably getting
worse every day; but is not that the strongest reason that can be given for
taking time by the forelock?
I feel confident that you will excuse me for making this
communication. I have some responsibilities of my own to meet, and I can
discharge them only when I understand the subject to which they relate. Your
opinion, of course, will be conclusive upon me, for on such a matter I cannot
do otherwise than defer to your better judgment. If you think it most
consistent with your duty to be silent, I shall have no right to complain.
If you would rather answer orally than make a written reply,
I will meet you either at your own quarters or here in the State Department, as
may best suit your convenience.
I am, most
respectfully, yours, &c.,
J. S. Black.
SOURCE: Samuel Wylie Crawford, The Genesis of the
Civil War: The Story of Sumter, 1860-1861, p. 237-9
