CHAPTER I.. Fort Moultrie in 1860.

FORT MOULTRIE IN 1860.

The Garrison of Fort Moultrie.--Early Indications of Secession.--Situation of the Fort.--Edmund Ruffin and Robert Barnwell Rhett.--The Secretary of War.--Arms sent to the South.--Colonel Gardner.--Captain Foster ordered to Charleston Harbor.--The Officers at Fort Moultrie.--Communications with Northern Men by Cipher.--Proscription of Antislavery Men in Charleston.--Position of Charleston Merchants.--The Secession Leaders only prepared to resist Coercion.--The Mob proves Unmanageable.--General Scott's Letter to the President, October 29th.--The Situation in November.--No Instructions from Washington.--Colonel Gardner's Report to General Wool. Page 13