Beschreibung:

ANDERSON, ROBERT, General, Union Army, Commander at Fort Sumter . Autograph letter signed ("Robert Anderson") to Edward Morris of Burlington, N.Y.; Fort Sumter, South Carolina, 4 February 1861. 2 pages, large 8vo, lined stationery, small fold separations. -- [FORT SUMTER FLAG]. A small section of red cloth, approximately ¼ x 2¼ in. irregular, pasted to a note of Charles Neiman, Albany, 29 April 1861, 1 page, 8vo, explaining that "This was presented to me by Capt. Clapp, 2nd in command of the Baltic & who had charge of the Flag from Sumpter [ sic ] to New York." -- FORT SUMTER FLAG-RAISING. Programme of the Order of Exercises at the Re-Raising of the United States Flag on Fort Sumter, Charleston,S.C., 14 April 1865. 4 pp., 8vo . Rare printed program for the ceremonial re-raising of the flag, with Anderson in attendance, 5 days after Appomattox surrender. "THEY ARE HARD AT WORK, CONSTRUCTING BATTERIES AROUND US": ANDERSON FROM FORT SUMTER AT THE HEIGHT OF THE CONFEDERATE BLOCKADE Anderson (1805-1871), the "Hero of Fort Sumter," was a Southerner by birth. As tensions between the North and South escalated following the election of Lincoln, he secretly evacuated his men from the shore fortifications of Fort Moultrie on 26 December 1860 and occupied Fort Sumter, in the center of Charleston harbor. The Confederate provisional forces immediately began to fortify the shore points, constructing new batteries on Morris Island and James Island, ringing Anderson's outpost and turning back all Union ships sent to supply and reinforce Fort Sumter. Oddly, though, Anderson and his men still enjoyed normal mail service; their letters were forwarded to the Charleston post office by small boat under flag of truce. Here, Anderson responds cautiously to a letter he has received. "I receive so many curious letters, and am so much afraid that I may make myself ridiculous, by answering, in good faith, what was written as a joke... I am becoming a little particular about the propriety of replying to some of them. I recd by last mail, a letter from Burlington, very properly written, sentiments complimentary & excellent, but, thinking that there may be no such club as the one therein named, I have thought it proper to send my answer open to you, and will thank you, if it be all right, quietly to mail it. I would not like them to think that I had entertained any suspicion of them. We are now getting fresh provisions and groceries from the City. How long this act of courtesy will be extended to us, no one can say. The butcher states that a long delay, which occurred from the time of my first order to him until he sent it down, comes from his not having recd my letter. They are hard at work, constructing batteries around us. My trust being in God, I do not fear the final result." By April, the rebel batteries were ready. Anderson refused General Beauregard's demand for the surrender of the fort and, at 4:30 a.m. on April 12th, the first cannon were fired at the fort, opening a 34-hour bombardment. Anderson surrendered at noon on April 14. After firing a salute to the flag, Anderson carried the Fort's flag on board the U.S.S. Baltic , captained by Gustavus Vasa Fox, which had been sent to evacuate the garrison back to New York. (3)