An article on Page 1 was headed “Interesting from Fort Sumter.”

“A correspondent of the New York Post, writing from Charleston on the 16th, says the State troops are all for assaulting Fort Sumter. They think that the honor of their State demands the pulling down of the stars and stripes, and, as Wellington said of his young soldiers, will ‘rush to death as to a dance’ in the attempt. It is very possible that these words may excite a ‘pooh’ or a ‘pshaw,’ but the men are in earnest, and have pluck enough to render any cause formidable.

“The garrison, mostly Irishmen, have been working night and day in completing the fortification, at the period of their occupation in such a imperfect state that they could not have resisted an attack, had one been made by the Charlestonians. The main doorway is built up so that two men cannot walk abreast through it; one armed with a revolver or a bowie knife might defend it against a hundred assailants, supposing he were not shot himself.

“Just within, opposite the door, is a huge mortar. The stones on the wharf have been removed to strengthen the weak side of the fort. There are piles of hand grenades ready for use. The lower casemates have been closed fast, the guns shotted, piles of grapes and canister placed beside them.

“The Major looks harassed and wan, but perfectly resolute; he can talk of nothing but the fort and his position; he admits that he dreams of it by night — when he sleeps. He deplores the responsibility forced upon him, admits that his sympathies are with the South, but declares that, first of all, he is a United States officer. He objects to his endorsement by abolitional journals, declares that they publish forged letters attributed to himself and his officers.

“His men are all faithful and resolute, in perfect military discipline; they never grumbled or mutinied — all stories to that effect being unmitigated lies. They look haggard and worn, and preserve strict silence when questioned. They do not now expect to be reinforced. Major Anderson still hopes the business may be settled without bloodshed. But he will defend himself to the last, if attacked. Such, three nights ago, was the internal aspect of Fort Sumter.’’

Major Robert Anderson of the Union Army had taken charge of the fort on Nov. 21, 1860, along with Fort Moultrie and Fort Pinckney. After realizing that Fort Moultrie could not be defended, Anderson had secretly moved his small garrison to Fort Sumter. Gov. Francis Wilkinson Pickens of South Carolina seized Moultrie and other forts along the coast and demanded the surrender of Sumter, which Anderson refused.

On April 11, Gen. Pierre Gustave Toutant de Beauregard, acting on orders from Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of the United States, again demanded the evacuation of the fort. Anderson again refused, but with the stipulation that if he did not receive provisions or controlling instructions from the federal government by noon on April 15, he would abandon the fort.