4. "The power confided in me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the government and to collect the duties and imposts."

425. Civil War begins. One of the places Lincoln thus pledged himself to "hold" was Fort Sumter, to which he decided to send men and supplies. As soon as notice of this intention was sent to Governor Pickens of South Carolina, the Confederate commander at Charleston, General Beauregard (bo-ruh-gar'), demanded the surrender of the fort. Major Anderson stoutly refused to comply with the demand, and at dawn on the morning of April 12, 1861, the Confeder

ates fired the first gun at Sumter. During the next thirtyfour hours, nineteen batteries poured shot and shell into the fort, which steadily returned the fire. Then both food and powder were nearly exhausted, and part of the fort being on fire, Anderson surrendered; and on Sunday, April 14, 1861, he marched out, taking with him the tattered flag under which he made so gallant a fight. The fleet sent to

1 "Having defended Fort Sumter for thirty-four hours, until the quarters were entirely burned, the main gates destroyed by fire, the gorge walls seriously injured, the magazine surrounded by flames, and its door closed from the effect of heat, four barrels and three cartridges of powder being available, and no provisions remaining but pork, I accepted terms of evacuation offered by General Beauregard . . . and marched out of the fort on Sunday afternoon, the 14th instant, with colors flying and drums beating. . . and saluting my flag with fifty guns." -Major Anderson to the Secretary of War.

his aid arrived in time to see the battle, but did not give him any help. After the surrender, one of the ships carried Anderson and the garrison to New York.'

426. The Life of the Republic at Stake. Thus was begun the greatest war in modern history. It was no vulgar struggle for territory, or for maritime or military supremacy. The life of the Union was at stake. The questions to be decided were: Shall there be one or two republics on the soil of the United States? Shall the great principle of all democraticrepublican government, the principle that the will of the majority shall rule, be maintained or abandoned? Shall state sovereignty be recognized? Shall states be suffered to leave the Union at will, or shall the United States continue to exist as "an indestructible Union of indestructible States"? As Mr. Lincoln said, "Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish."

427. The South better prepared. For the struggle which was to decide these questions neither side was ready, but the South was better prepared than the North. The South was united as one man. The North was divided and full of Southern sympathizers. She knew not whom to trust. Officers of the army, officers of the navy, were resigning every day. The great departments of government at Washington contained many men who furnished information to Southern officials. Seventeen steam war vessels (two thirds of all that were not laid up or unfit for service) were in foreign parts. Large quantities of military supplies had been stored in Southern forts. All the great powers of Europe save Russia were hostile to our republic, and would gladly have seen it rent in twain. The South, again, had the advantage in that she was to act on the defensive.

428. Results of firing on the Flag. Not a man was killed on either side during the bombardment of Sumter. Yet the battle was a famous one, and led to greater consequences:

1 Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. I., pp. 50-73.

1. Lincoln at once called for 75,000 militia to serve for three

months.

2. Four "border states," as they were called, thus forced to choose their side, seceded. They were Arkansas, North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee.

3. The Congress of the United States was called to meet at Washington, July 4, 1861.

4. After Virginia seceded, the capital of the Confederacy, at

the invitation of the Virginia secession convention, was moved from Montgomery to Richmond, and the Confederate Congress adjourned to meet there July 20, 1861.

429. West Virginia. The act of secession by Virginia was promptly repudiated by the people of the counties west of the mountains, who refused to secede, and voted to form a new state under the name of Kanawha. They adopted a constitution and were finally admitted in 1863 as the state of West Virginia.1

430. The Call to Arms. Lincoln held that no state could ever leave the Union, and that therefore no state had left the Union. Those which had passed ordinances of secession were to his mind states whose machinery of government had been seized on by persons in insurrection against the government of the United States. When, therefore, he made his call for 75,000 militia to defend the Union, he apportioned the number among all the states, slave and free, north and south, east and west, according to their population. Those forming the Confederacy paid no attention to the call. The governors of the border slave states (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri) returned evasive or insulting answers.

But the people of the loyal states responded instantly, and

1 A state made out of part of another state cannot be admitted into the Union without the consent of that state first obtained. But as Congress and the people of West Virginia considered that Virginia consisted of that part of the Old Dominion which remained loyal to the Union, the people practically asked their own consent.