The Cannons Roar: Fort Sumter and the Start of the Civil War: An Oral History

In this ingeniously constructed account, historian Chadwick (Law & Disorder) stitches together speeches, letters, diary entries, Cabinet meeting records, and more to recreate the Fort Sumter crisis as it unfolded. Though construction of the fort—located on an artificial island off the coast of Charleston, S.C.—commenced in 1814, it was still unfinished when South Carolina seceded in December 1860 and demanded that all federal forces—including the 85 men stationed at Sumter—leave the state. The tense standoff pitted Union Army major Robert Anderson against his friend and former West Point student, Confederate general P.G.T. Beauregard, who began positioning cannons for a bombardment of Sumter in March 1861. Among other sources, Chadwick excerpts Anderson’s letters to Union Army commanders pleading for reinforcements and supplies; the diary of Southern socialite Mary Chesnut; public and private statements by Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis; and Secretary of State William Seward’s messages to Confederate representatives falsely claiming that Fort Sumter would be evacuated, which invigorated the Southern cause. Though some perspectives feel more marginal than essential, they add up to a comprehensive study of the spark that set the Civil War aflame. It’s a noteworthy feat of scholarship. (Apr.)