[The following takes place during the incident at Fort Sumter, which would eventually explode into one of the first actions of the American Civil War. Specifically, the Federal garrison at the Fort has been effectively trapped there, surrounded by now-seceded South Carolina, and reinforcements and provisions have been strictly disallowed by the local government while negotiations take place. This submission covers a subtle, defining moment in the situation that I thought was worth sharing.]
Governor Pickens’s ships, scouting the harbor’s entry, watched for hostile vessels. According to their orders, if Clinch [a South Carolinian ship stationed about the harbor] saw a vessel approaching in the darkness, it would show one blue light and two reds; this signal requested that the unknown ship identify itself. If the answer was unsatisfactory, the Clinch would shoot off rockets indicating: “ENEMY! ENEMY!”
South Carolina’s artillerists at Moultrie and on Morris Island were to open fire. As Pickens wrote the commander of Fort Moultrie: “There must be all proper exertions made to prevent the [Federal] reinforcements - let the consequences be what they may.”
The governor of South Carolina had ordered his soldiers to open fire on American troops.
Source:
Detzer, David. “The Wolf at the Door.” Allegiance: Fort Sumter, Charleston, and the Beginning of the Civil War. New York: Harcourt, 2002. 154-55. Print.
Further Reading:
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