1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 634: Persuading Surrender

On the top of Fort Sumter's tower, Lieutenant Colonel Anderson with cracked lips and his more than 400 soldiers trapped in the fortress were looking forward to their reinforcements. Pray to God that their reinforcements and supplies will arrive soon.

This not-so-strong fortress is now more like a prison for Anderson and his men.

Although the food in the fortress can still last for 40 days, due to the blockade of the Confederate Army in Charleston, Fort Sumter has not received clean fresh water supplies for two whole months.

The reason why the defenders of Fort Sumter have been able to hold on until now is due to Anderson's strict rationing system for fresh water and the very considerable reserves of alcohol in the fortress.

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The gloomy Anderson knew that if the reinforcements still could not arrive this week, the supplies would be delivered to Fort Sumter. He and his soldiers might not even have wine to drink.

The morale of the defenders of Fort Sumter was very low. Now the morale of the defenders was barely maintained by alcohol and his own prestige.

Lieutenant Colonel Anderson did not dare to think about what terrible things would happen to Fort Sumter after losing the supply of fresh water and alcohol. He knew that without material support, his personal prestige would be worthless in the eyes of these big-headed soldiers.

Anderson observed the artillery positions of the Confederate Army through a telescope. The Confederate Army had set up a total of 106 cannons, and the muzzles of these cannons were all aimed at Fort Sumter without exception.

Of the 106 cannons of the Confederate Army, 34 were dismantled from Fort Moultrie, where Anderson was previously stationed.

The reason why Anderson knew the number and source of the Confederate artillery so well was not because of how good his intelligence work was, but because the straight-line distance between Fort Sumter and the Confederate artillery positions on the beach of Fort Moultrie on the east coast was only 1 mile (1.6 kilometers). As long as it was not foggy or rainy, Anderson could see every move of the Confederate Army on the east coast through a telescope.

These days, the Confederate Army in the southeast has been dismantling the cannons of Fort Moultrie and moving them to the artillery positions on the beach.

As for the Confederate artillery positions on the west coast, they are even closer to Fort Sumter. The straight-line distance between the two places is less than 400 yards (366 meters). At this distance, not to mention the cannons, even rifles with rifles can easily project metal projectiles into Fort Sumter.

Anderson did not regret not destroying the cannons in the military fort when evacuating Fort Moultrie. The situation was urgent at the time. If he had wasted time on destroying the cannons, it would have been unknown whether he and his men could successfully escape to Fort Sumter.

At noon, Major George of the Charleston Army of the Confederate Army came to the sea near Fort Sumter in a small boat with a white flag. The Confederate major asked to enter Fort Sumter to negotiate surrender with Anderson.

"Lieutenant Colonel Anderson, soldiers in Fort Sumter, you have been surrounded by our three brigades. It is meaningless to continue to stalemate or resist. As long as you are willing to surrender, we will provide you with fresh water and food, and ensure that you can return to the north safely."

Major George conveyed General Beauregard's intention to Anderson. Considering that Lieutenant Colonel Anderson was General Beauregard's teacher, Major George's attitude towards Anderson was quite friendly and polite.

"Major George, please go back! Before receiving instructions from our president, I will not give up any inch of territory belonging to the United States, any penny of assets belonging to the United States!"

After seeing the face of the visitor clearly, Lieutenant Colonel Anderson rejected the surrender request in a very tough attitude and did not allow the other party to enter Fort Sumter.

It's not that Lt. Col. Anderson didn't want to surrender. He wrote the word "surrender" in the letter he sent to Washington for help.

It's just that Anderson was unwilling to surrender to Beauregard without a fight, even though he knew that his student was a kind man who kept his promise and would let him and his men return to the North safely.

If he surrendered in such a humiliating way, he would become a laughing stock among his colleagues even if he returned to the North, and he would not be able to gain a foothold in the military in the future.

Anderson's idea was to discuss surrender with the Confederate Army in Charleston after a symbolic resistance. After all, the enemy was numerous and we were few. In this case, surrendering after resistance would give an explanation to both the newly elected president and the people in the North. Of course, the most important thing was to give an explanation to his own future.

The Confederate Command in Charleston was upset when he learned that Lt. Col. Anderson refused to surrender to Beauregard.

According to the itinerary of the northern reinforcements, the reinforcements of the 55th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment will arrive at Fort Sumter in one or two days, and he doesn't have much time left.

Before receiving the telegram from President Davis, General Beauregard had no idea of ​​attacking Fort Sumter. He hoped to put pressure on the defenders in the fort through siege and force the defenders in Fort Sumter to surrender voluntarily.

Beauregard knew that once the two sides had a direct exchange of fire, the struggle between the North and the South would immediately rise from the political level to the level of direct military conflict.

These generals can provoke a war, but it is not up to them to decide whether to end the war.

Although the conflict between the North and the South is inevitable, Beauregard does not really want the war to start from him.

Moreover, when he was studying at West Point Military Academy, Lieutenant Colonel Anderson was his teacher. Beauregard still thought of the relationship between teachers and students and gave this former teacher some face, hoping that Anderson could recognize the situation and surrender voluntarily.

The next day, Beauregard sent people to Fort Sumter again to persuade them to surrender, and attached a letter of surrender with extremely harsh wording. It can also be said to be an ultimatum to Anderson.

Faced with the ultimatum sent by his former student, Anderson hesitated for a long time and still refused to surrender.

Beauregard urged him to surrender so anxiously that Anderson judged that their reinforcements must be arriving at Fort Sumter soon.

He had survived for so many days, and there was no reason for him to raise the flag and surrender when the reinforcements were about to arrive.

Anderson's judgment was correct. The next morning, a huge fleet flying the Stars and Stripes appeared on the ocean just 2 nautical miles away from Fort Sumter.

Needless to say, this must be their reinforcements!

The appearance of this fleet inspired the embarrassed defenders in Fort Sumter, and their morale was high. They couldn't help cheering and waving to the fleet that was so close.

Beauregard had received a telegram from President Davis a few days ago, in which President Davis ordered him to stop all federal reinforcements to Sumter by any means, and had already sent people to strengthen the blockade of the waters around Fort Sumter.

The artillery positions on the east and west banks of the Charleston Forces were able to completely cover Sumter with firepower, and naturally they could also block the nearby waters.

The captain of this fleet, Major Fox, carefully observed the artillery positions of the Charleston Forces on the flagship, the Paulbatan, the most advanced steam battleship in the Federal Navy.

The artillery positions of Charleston had completely blocked the entrance to the entire Charleston Harbor. If he forcibly broke through the last 2 nautical miles and tried to enter Fort Sumter, even if he could successfully approach and enter Fort Sumter in the end, his fleet would inevitably suffer heavy losses.