1860
NOVEMBER
It was election time--with four major candidates, four major political parties. The issues were monumental: they included the expansion of slavery into the territories; to what extent could the Federal government control the rights of citizens and states? There was great emotionalism, much heat and distortion, and some thought.
Sectionalism had intruded into the campaign. The Democratic party had split down the middle at the Charleston Convention and had two candidates--John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky, representing primarily the Deep South Democrats, largely a sectional party; and Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, representing the Northern and border-state Democrats and a few from the lower South also a sectional party. The Republicans founded in 1854, had Abraham Lincoln of Illinois and were distinctly a Northern Sectional Party. The Constitutional Unionists, comprised of Old-time Whigs and other factions. offered John Bell of Tennessee and their viewpoints were of strict constitutional liberty.
As election day drew near it became reasonably clear that the split in the Democrats would mean the election of a Republican, and if Mr. Lincoln became President-elect, what would follow? South Carolina had threatened secession upon the election of any Republican and it might come with the naming of Mr. Douglas as well. Could that really happen? If so, would other states follow? Was the question as ominous as it appeared, or was it just politics?
Tuesday November 6
Abraham Lincoln is elected President of the United States.
Abraham Lincoln was elected sixteenth President of the United States, with Hannibal Hamlin of Maine his Vice-President. The Republican ticket of Lincoln and Hamlin received 1,866,452 votes and 180 electoral votes in 17 of the 33 states. The Northern Democratic ticket of Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois and Herschel V. Johnson of Georgia drew 1,376,957 votes, but only 12 electoral votes, 9 from Missouri and 3 of the New Jersey votes. John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky and Joseph Lane of Oregon on the Southern Democratic ticked received 849,781 votes from 11 of the 15 slave states, for 72 electoral votes. Constitutional Unionists John Bell of Tennessee and Edward Everett of Massachusetts drew 588,879 votes, for 39 electoral votes in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Because of fusion tickets and sectional difficulties, none of the candidates was on every ballot in all 33 states. While Lincoln was thus a minority President in the popular vote with just over a third of the ballots, he did receive a majority of the electoral votes, 180 of 123 for the other three candidates combined. Douglas' poor electoral showing but high popular vote was due in part to the fact that he was the leading opponent to Lincoln in populous North, where in some states Douglas and Lincoln were quite close. The total population of the United States in 1860 was 31,443,790.
Wednesday November 7
In Charleston, South Carolina, the palmetto flag was raised in defiance of the election of Lincoln.
City authorities arrested a Federal officer for trying to transfer supplies from the Charleston Arsenal to Fort Moultrie.
Business was suspended and crowds filled the streets of Charleston to read the bulletin boards, some even cheered for the formation of a Southern Confederacy.
Thursday November 8
"The tea has been thrown overboard, the revolution of 1860 has been initiated," stated the Charleston, South Carolina Mercury in commenting on the election.
Friday November 9
In the last few months of his administration, President James Buchanan faced a dilemma. He was opposed to secession but felt powerless to prevent it. His Cabinet was split pro- and anti-secession. General Winfield Scott had given advice which included setting up four nations out of the present UNITED STATES. On November 9 the President, nearly seventy, called a Cabinet meeting to plan the State of the Union message. Mr. Buchanan asked the opinion of his Cabinet on responses to the threat of secession. The President himself proposed a general convention of the states, as provided in the Constitution, to plan some sort of compromise. Secretary of State Lewis Cass of Michigan spoke in favor of the Union, condemning secession and advocating the use of force. Attorney General Jeremiah Sullivan Black of Pennsylvania also strongly opposed secession and favored sending a force to Charleston. Postmaster General Joseph Hold of Kentucky opposed secession but was not in favor of a convention. Howell Cobb of Georgia Secretary of the Treasury, thought disunion necessary, desirable, and legal. Jacob Thompson, Secretary of the Interior from Mississippi, said any show of force by the government would move Mississippi to disunion. Secretary of War John B. Floyd of Virginia was opposed to secession at this time because he thought the Lincoln administration would fail. Secretary of the Navy Isaac Toucey of Connecticut favored the constitutional convention.
The papers of the nation were taking their stand, their editorial comment a reflection of their section and politics. However, the New York Tribune led important journals in proposing that the "erring sisters" be allowed to go in peace:
"We hope never to live in a republic whereof one section is pinned to the residue of bayonets."
Saturday November 10
The legislature of South Carolina passed a law calling for a convention to meet at Columbia, South Carolina, December 17 to consider the question of secession from the Union. U.S. Senator James Chestnut, Jr., and James H. Hammond of South Carolina resigned their seats in the Senate. South Carolina was now in the forefront of the secession movement, and other deep South states following, while middle South and border states were waiting and watchful. In Springfield Mr. Lincoln was still reluctant to speak as he wrote, "I could say nothing which I have not already said, and which is in print, and open for the inspection of all. To press a repetition of this upon those who have listened, is useless; to press it upon those who have refused to listen, and still refuse, would be wanting in self-respect, and would have an appearance of sycophancy and timidity, to clamor the more loudly."
A clamor there was, but on both sides. While Mr. Lincoln remained silent, many talked in print or in loud voices. Secession was now inevitable; go, and good riddance No, others said, secession can never be.
Monday November 12
The financial market in New York experienced heavy selling with a sharp drop in price.
Tuesday November 13
The legislature of South Carolina resolved to raise ten thousand volunteers for defense of the state.
Wednesday November 14
At the Georgia legislature at Milledgeville, Georgia Congressman Alexander H. Stephens, a conservative, stated that "Good governments can never be built up or sustained by the impulse of passion . . . . . "While the avowed principles of the President-elect were in antagonism to our interests and rights" and would "subvert the Constitution under which we now live," he believed the south should not be too hasty, he further stated "Let the fanatics of the North break the Constitution, if such is their fell purpose."
Thursday November 15
Major Robert Anderson, First Artillery, received special orders to proceed to Fort Moultrie at Charleston Harbor and relieve Brevet Colonel John L. Gardner in command. Major Anderson was a native of Kentucky, a graduate of West Point, had seen service in Mexico, and was considered an able officer.
U.S Navy Lieutenant T. A. Craven informed Washington that due to the "deplorable condition of affairs in the Southern States" he was proceeding to take moves to guard Fort Taylor at Key West and Fort Jefferson on Dry Tortugas, Florida, from possible seizure. (Fort Taylor and the Key West area later became a vital coaling station for the Federal Navy and blockading squadron.)
Friday November 16
President-elect Lincoln wrote a Missouri editor, "I am not at liberty to shift my ground--this is out of the question." Meanwhile the question of Cabinet posts, in the new administration, was of interest as the young Republican party was tasting its first victory and the spoils would be many.
Saturday November 17
President Buchanan in trying to find a course through the troubling waters, requested the Attorney General Jeremiah Sullivan Black a number of questions, he also he consulted his Cabinet on a regular basis.
Sunday November 18
The Georgia legislature voted a million dollars to protect the state. A reporter stated that Mr. Lincoln appeared undisturbed by the news from the South and felt secession would not be attempted.
Tuesday November 20
The Attorney General answered the President's question asked on the 17th and stated that:
1. The states were subject to the laws of the United States while in the Union.
2. That the President could collect duties
3. That he must protect public property despite resistance.
4. The President could not take action with troops against anyone who opposed the government with only talk.
5. That law enforcement must be through the courts.
6. Also that the Government could repel aggression, but could not wage offensive war against a state of the Union and that he could only act in self defense.
It was pretty obvious that the main topics of the day ceased to be slavery and it's expansion, but the right of a state to secede and the right of the Union to use coercion to keep that state in the Union. Of course everyone had an opinion these involved constitutional points, law arguments over technicalities, but little substance was being done to halt the drift accelerating disunion, even though Lincoln kept trying to affirm quietly that the states would be left alone to control their own affairs, few in the South ever believed him.
Wednesday November 21
President-elect Lincoln traveled to Chicago to meet with the future Vice-President Hannibal Hamlin and they discussed Cabinet posts during the next five days.
Friday November 23
Major Robert Anderson, newly in command at Fort Moultrie on the edge of Charleston Harbor, reported that when the outworks were completed, the fort, appropriately garrisoned, would be capable of "making a very handsome defense." But the present garrison was so weak as to invite attack, which was being "openly and publicly threatened." If beleaguered, they could not hold out long. Fort Sumter, ungarrisoned, on a shoal in the harbor, was incomplete but work was proceeding on mounting the guns and he said it "is the key to the entrance of this harbor." He favored garrisoning Fort Sumter at once, as he did Castle Pickney, which commanded the city of Charleston. Anderson was trying to avoid a clash but said, "Nothing, however, will be better calculated to prevent bloodshed than our being found in such an attitude that it would be madness and folly to attack us." Anderson reported a settled determination in Charleston to leave the Union. "The clouds are threatening, and the storm may break upon us at any moment." He repeated his call for reinforcements. (He was to repeat this request often.)
The forts had been left in a state of general stagnation. Sand dunes had piled up around Fort Moultrie so that cows could walk right in. Fort Sumter, begun in 1829, remained incomplete. Castle Pickney was small and near the city, occupied by just an ordinance sergeant and his family. After all, the whole Federal Army numbered a little over sixteen thousand men, mostly on the western frontier.
Monday November 26
Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln left Chicago for Springfield as many visitors awaited them at home in the Illinois capital.
DECEMBER
The election of Abraham Lincoln in November had not solved anything; it only appeared to quicken tempers, increased concern, and perhaps push the Southern states over the brink. But could the nation actually be broken up? South Carolina said it could and would be, and others in the deep South seemed to agree. How much intent and how much just talk was there? What would the new President do in the spring of 1861? He had said little publicly before or after the election. Did he have a policy? The old President, Buchanan, still had three months to serve and a Congress to face. Would he, or could he, do anything to avert trouble? Congress would gather the first part of the month and the President would report on the State of the Union. It appeared that Buchanan opposed secession but did not feel he had the power to coerce a state to remain if it wished to depart. His Cabinet was badly split, his critics many. His party had practically overlooked him in the nominations and campaign. Yet he was still President and still trying to do his job as he saw it. What action would Congress take, if any? And how about the Federal forts in Charleston Harbor? Major Anderson at Fort Moultrie, calling for reinforcements, suggested defending Federal property from Fort Sumter, South Carolina was gathering state troops, beginning to arm and build defenses.
Saturday December 1
Florida's legislature was convened to consider the issues.
Monday December 3
The second session of the Thirty-sixth Congress of the United States met in Washington to discuss the issues, even though this was a lame duck affair, it showed surprising life, at least in it's volubility about the crisis of the day.
Tuesday December 4
President James Buchanan sent his State of the Union message to Congress, he stated that the condition of the "state" was not good, he said that "The long-continued and intemperate interference of the Northern people with the question of slavery in the Southern States has at length produced its natural effects. He further stated that the slave states should be left alone, he followed with the slave states were sovereign and their rights could not be interfered with. He also told the Southern States that "the election of any one of our fellow-citizens to the office of President does not of itself afford just cause for dissolving the Union." He told them that secession in this instance was unjustifiable and that the President-elect had not committed any acts either overt or dangerous that justified the talk of secession. Many people were very upset by President Buchanan's' remarks especially President-elect Lincoln. President-elect Lincoln's' concern was that President Buchanan put responsibility for secession on the free states. This same day the House of Representatives named a special Committee of Thirty-three, one member from each state, to study the condition of the country.
Wednesday December 5
In Springfield, Illinois, President-elect Lincoln read a summary of the President's message to Congress and expressed displeasure that Buchanan placed responsibility for secession on the free states.
Saturday December 8
Secretary of the Treasury Howell Cobb of Georgia resigned. Formerly a strong unionist, he had come to believe that the election of a Republican justified secession and he dissented with Buchanan's message to Congress. He stated that: "The evil has now passed beyond control, and must be met by each and all of us, under our responsibility to God and our country,"
Cobb was succeeded for about a month by Philip F. Thomas of Maryland. The marked the first break in Buchanan's Cabinet. A delegation of South Carolina congressmen called upon Mr. Buchanan and said that if reinforcements were going to Charleston it would be a sure way to bring about what he wanted to avoid. They asked for negotiations with South Carolina commissioners to consider the turning over of Federal property to the state. The President asked for a memorandum.
Monday December 10
The South Carolina delegation in Washington spoke again with the President, presenting a memorandum saying that the state would not attack or molest the United States forts in Charleston Harbor prior to the act of secession and, they hoped, until an offer had been made to negotiate for an amicable arrangement between the state and the United States, provided no reinforcements should be sent to the forts. The delegation received the impression that no change would be made by the Federals in the military situation at Charleston. For their part state authorities would try to prevent any premature collision. This interview later became a subject of dispute.
The President also moved to prepare the limited military resources of the nation for possible action. Major Anderson reported every day or two from Charleston. Abraham Lincoln, in Springfield, wrote Senator Lyman Trumbull, "Let there be no compromise on the question of extending slavery. If there be, all our labor is lost, and ere long, must be done again. . . .The tug has come & better now, then any time hereafter."
Tuesday December 11
At Fort Moultrie Major Don Carlos Buell, sent by the War Department to Charleston, prepared for Major Anderson a memorandum of verbal instruction given Buell by Secretary of War Floyd. Floyd pointed out that he had refrained from sending reinforcements in order to avoid a collision and that he felt South Carolina would not attempt to seize the forts. Anderson was not to take up any position which could be construed as hostile in attitude, but he was to hold possession of the forts and, if attacked, defend his position. He was authorized to put his command into any fort in order to increase its power of resistance if attacked or threatened with attack.
President-elect Lincoln wrote Congressman William Kellogg, as he had others, to "Entertain no proposition for a compromise in regard to the extension of slavery. The instant you do, they have us under again. . . ." and he added, "You know I think the fugitive slave clause of the constitution ought to be enforced-to put it in the mildest form, ought not to be resisted."
Wednesday December 12
Secretary of State Lewis Cass of Michigan resigned because the President refused to reinforce the Charleston forts. Now two Cabinet members had quit, but they were of opposite viewpoints. The resignation upset Buchanan as Cass still had considerable political influence, and Buchanan felt the Secretary had shifted his opinion since the message to Congress. In Springfield Lincoln was hold conferences in regard to his Cabinet appointments-this day with Francis P. Blair, Jr., of St. Louis, a powerful political figure. At Washington some twenty-three bills and resolutions purporting to solve the crisis were submitted to the House Committee of Thirty-three, which was seeking some plan of compromise. Eventually there were thirty or forty plans, including some calling for dual Presidents, and for splitting the country into districts.
Thursday December 13
Seven senators and twenty-three representatives from the South issued a manifesto which urged secession and the organization of a Southern Confederacy. President-elect Lincoln continued to write letters advising against compromise of any sort on slavery extension.
Friday December 14
The Georgia legislature issued a call to South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi for delegates to be appointed to a convention to consider a Southern Confederacy.
Saturday December 15
President-elect Lincoln wrote a confidential letter to Congressman John A. Gilmer of North Carolina in which he again expressed his reasons for not making any new statements, as they might be misinterpreted. He said further, "I never have been, am not now, and probably never shall be, in a mood of harassing the people, either North or South." But he was inflexible on the question of slavery extension, in the territories: "You think slavery is right and ought to be extended; we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted. For this, neither has any just occasion to be angry with the other."
Monday December 17
South Carolina Secession Convention Meets
In the Baptist church in Columbia, South Carolina, the state capital, the Convention of the People of South Carolina gathered. President D.F. Jamison of Barnwell stated, "It is no less than our fixed determination to throw off a Government to which we have been accustomed, and to provide new safeguards for our future security. If anything has been decided by the elections which sent us here, it is, that South Carolina must dissolve her connection with the [Federal] Confederacy as speedily as possible." Proceeding to list grievances, Jamison went on, "Let us be no longer duped by paper securities. Written Constitutions are worthless, unless they are written, at the same time, in the hearts, and founded on the interests of the people; and as there is no common bond of sympathy or interest between North and South, all efforts to preserve this Union will not only be fruitless, but fatal to the less numerous section." That evening a resolution stated That it is the opinion of this Convention that the State of South Carolina should forthwith secede from the Federal Union, known as the United States of America." Another resolution called for a committee to draft such an ordinance. The question on secession passed 159 to 0, and, in effect, South Carolina was out of the Union. However the convention adjourned to Charleston due to the prevalence of smallpox at Columbia.
In Washington President Buchanan, faced with dissolution of his Cabinet, named Attorney General Jeremiah S. Black of Pennsylvania as Secretary of State to replace resigned Lewis Cass.
Tuesday December 18
Reconvening in Charleston, the South Carolina Convention met in Institute Hall, with committee work taking most of the day. At Raleigh, North Carolina, commissioners from Alabama and Mississippi arrived to discuss the situation, and the state senate passed a bill to arm the state.
In Washington the Senate passed a resolution that a special committee of thirteen members "inquire into the present condition of the country, and report by bill or otherwise." Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky, basically a strong unionist, presented his "Crittenden Compromise." Referred to the new Committee of Thirteen, the Compromise proposed several amendments to the Constitution:
1. Slavery should be prohibited in all territories north of 36º 30', the old Missouri Compromise line, and slavery should not be interfered with by Congress south of that line. When admitted as a state, a territory should be admitted with or without slavery as the state constitution provided.
2. Congress could not abolish slavery in places under its exclusive jurisdiction.
3. Congress could not abolish slavery within the District of Columbia so long as it existed in nearby states or without consent of the in habitants or without just compensation.
4. Congress had no power to prohibit or hinder transportation of slaves from one state to another.
5. Congress should have power to provide that the United States pay to the owner full value of fugitive slaves when officers were prevented from arresting the fugitives.
6. No future amendment should affect the five preceding articles, nor the sections of the Constitution permitting slavery, and no amendment should be made which would give Congress power to abolish or interfere with slavery in states where state laws permitted it. Crittenden felt revival of the Missouri Compromise line, probably the main feature of the plan, would prevent any expansion at all, while, on the other hand, the Republicans could not accept any slavery expansion in the territories and the South could not accept limitation.
Wednesday December 19
At Charleston various motions and resolutions and speeches were made at the South Carolina Convention. Leaders of the state were also declaring that no more Federal soldiers should be sent to the harbor forts. A representative from Mississippi was making speeches in Baltimore outlining the intentions of the states which proposed to secede.
Thursday December 20
The Union is dissolved
"We, the people of the State of South Carolina, in Convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained,That the Ordinance adopted by us in Convention on the twenty-third day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America was ratified, and also all Acts, and parts of Acts, of the General Assembly of this State, ratifying amendments of the said Constitution are hereby repealed; and that the union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States, under the name of "The United States of America' is hereby dissolved." By a vote of 169 to 0 the convention had severed the ties of Union and the act so long spoken of was done.
President Buchanan was attending a wedding reception in Washington when South Carolina Congressman Lawrence Keit came in, crying,"Thank God! Oh, thank God!" Told the news quietly, the President looked stunned, fell back, and grasped the arms of his chair. Buchanan left at once.
At Springfield President-elect Lincoln received the news of secession calmly.
Friday December 21
The news was common now as the telegraph clicked out the message and the people and the press reacted. In much of the deep South public meetings approved the secession of South Carolina, while in the North there was incredulous resentment that the expected had really happened. In Washington the four South Carolina congressmen formally withdrew from the House of Representatives, their letter being presented on Monday, December 24. In Springfield Mr. Lincoln wrote Democratic leader Francis P. Blair, Sr., that "According to my present view if the forts [at Charleston] shall be given up before the inauguration, the General must retake them afterwards." He wrote similarly to Congressman Elihu B. Washburne.
Saturday December 22
Secessionist and Union meetings continued in the wake of the rupture of the nation. The South Carolina Convention named three commissioners to deal with the United States in regard to Federal property. The convention also passed a resolution that Forts Mountrie and Sumter, Castle Pickney and the Charleston Arsenal should now "be subject to the authority and control" of the state, and "that the possession of said forts and arsenal should be restored to the State of South Carolina."
Abraham Lincoln wrote Georgia Congressman Alexander H. Stephens that he wished to assure him that the Republican administration would not interfere with slavery in the South either directly or indirectly: "The South would be in no more danger in this respect, than it was in the days of Washington. I suppose, however, this does not meet the case. You think slavery is right and ought to be extended; while we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted. That I suppose is the rub."
Monday December 24
The South Carolina Convention at Charleston passed a Declaration of Immediate Causes of secession, stating that the Union was declared in the Constitution to be an equal Union of the states and that each state had separate control over its institutions, including the right of slavery. "We affirm that these ends for which this Government was instituted have been defeated, and the Government itself has been made destructive of them by the action of the non-slave holding States."
Governor Pickens of South Carolina issued a proclamation declaring the state separate, independent, free and sovereign. Alabama citizens elected delegates to a state convention and the governor ordered the legislature convened January 14.
In the House of Representatives the letter of resignation of the South Carolina representatives was laid on the table with the names retained on the roll. Thus the secession of the state was not recognized. In the Senate William H. Seward of New York proposed an amendment to the Constitution that Congress should never interfere with slaves in the states; that jury trial be given fugitive slaves and that state constitutions having personal liberty laws in opposition to the Federal Constitution be revised.
It was Christmas Eve in a sadly torn nation.
Tuesday December 25
"Another Christmas has come around in the circle of time, but it is not a day of rejoicing. Some of the usual ceremonies are going on, but there is a gloom on the thoughts and countenance of all the better portion of our people." So wrote a diarist in Camden, Arkansas.
Wednesday December 26
FEDERAL GARRISON TRANSFERS FROM FORT MOUNTRIE TO FORT SUMTER.
By 8 p.m. of the evening of the day after Christmas, Major Robert Anderson had completed the transfer of his small garrison from Fort Mountrie on the shoreline of Charleston Harbor to Fort Sumter on a rock shoal in the harbor itself.
In Washington the commissioners from South Carolina arrived to discuss the forts and relations with the United States.
Thursday December 27
Major Anderson raised his flag on Fort Sumter and South Carolina troops occupied Castle Pickney and Fort Moultrie at Charleston. The U.S. Revenue Cutter William Aiken surrendered to state forces. Georgia and Alabama offered troops to South Carolina if needed. In a conference with President Buchanan, a group of Southern representatives protested the shift of troops to Fort Sumter. According to one report, the President said it had been against his orders and policy. But he delayed taking any action on the request to return the garrison to Fort Moultrie. The Cabinet met frequently these last few days of December. Secretary of War Floyd strongly advocated removing the entire Federal garrison from Charleston Harbor, on grounds that Anderson had violated pledges of the government. Thompson sided with Floyd, whild Hold, Black, and Stanton opposed Floyd's plan. Buchanan had been surprised by Major Anderson's transfer and regretted it. He felt it would move other states to join South Carolina before compromise measures could be brought out of the Senate. Buchanan had been hopeful of confining secession to South Carolina.
Friday December 28
President Buchanan received the commissioners of the state of South Carolina for the only time, and as "private gentlemen." He could not recognize them as commissioners of a sovereign power. The commissioners declared they must have redress for the moving of Anderson's force before entering upon negotiations. They insisted also upon withdrawal of all troops from Charleston. The commissioners pressed the President for a decision but he insisted upon time. General Winfield Scott wrote the Secretary of War opposing evacuation of Fort Sumter and favoring sending reinforcements and supplies, along with armed vessels, to support the fort. President Buchanan was beginning to stiffen in his position. Cabinet meetings continued. Stanton and Floyd almost came to blows over Fort Sumter. Meanwhile, public meetings and the press were clamorous on all sides of the issues facing the nation.
Saturday December 29
Secretary of War John B. Floyd
For some time it had been clear that Secretary of War John B. Floyd, former Governor of Virginia, would have to leave the Cabinet. He had caused difficulty with his strong pro-Southern viewpoint in the South Carolina crisis and at the same time there had turned up an apparent defalcation of $870,000 of Indian-trust bonds in the Interior Department. For the bonds Floyd had substituted acceptances to various army contractors. There was a charge of attempting to ship heavy guns from Pittsburgh to the South and seeing to it that small arms reached the Southern arsenals. The facts and Floyd's guilt or lack of it, were then and still are debated. Buchanan had requested his resignation December 23. Floyd's proposal to remove Federal troops from Charleston had been about the last straw. He based his resignation letter on the refusal of the Administration to correct Anderson's shifting of forts. As to the shipping of heavy guns from Pittsburgh, there seems some substantiation of Floyd's guilt, but the plan was prevented after his resignation.
As the year ended President-elect Lincoln was working on his Cabinet appointments, still greeting and talking to visitors, and denying any idea of compromise.
Sunday December 30
South Carolina troops seized the Federal Arsenal at Charleston, completing their occupation of all Federal property in the area except Fort Sumter. This news further shocked Buchanan, who was threatened with even more Cabinet resignations unless he took additional pro-Union steps. He and his advisors were discussing the reply to the South Carolina commissioners. Secretary of State Black and Attorney General Stanton drafted a document of advice to the President. They pointed out that the President had denied the right of secession and therefore could not recognize the commissioners; negotiation over the Federal forts at Charleston was impossible and they could not be given up; the President had the right to defend those forts; there was no violation of orders by Anderson in moving his garrison; warships should be sent to Charleston. General Scott again wrote the President asking permission to send 250 troops and arms and stores to Fort Sumter.
Abraham Lincoln conferred in Springfield with Simon Cameron, Pennsylvania politician, who was one of the leading candidates for a major Cabinet post.
Monday December 31
President James Buchanan replied to the commissioners from South Carolina. He said it was his duty to have Congress define the relations between the Federal government and South Carolina. He denied any pledge to preserve the status of the forts, and after all, the authorities of South Carolina had seized Fort Moultrie after Anderson left. He could not and would not withdraw troops from Charleston. The troops were merely defending what was left of Federal property. Postmaster General Joseph Holt was named acting Secretary of War to replace Floyd. Orders were issued by the President to the War and Navy departments that ships, troops, and stores were to sail for Fort Sumter.
The Senate Committee of Thirteen could not reach any agreement on a general plan of adjustment or compromise.
The year was ended, but the crisis remained, stark, apparently inevitable, and completely unsolved.
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