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April is officially Confederate History Month. Please join with the Major John C. Hutto Camp in Jasper, Alabama
in remembering the brave who fought for southern independence. During the month of April, the Camp will place small
battle flags on the graves of Confederate soldiers in commemoration of their sacrifice.
Camp members are also encouraged to attend the Morris Cemetery cleanup on Monday, April 12, 2021 at 1:00pm, preceding
the memorial service, and grave marker dedication for Pvt. Simeon Covin of the 56th Ala. Cav. on Sunday, April
18th at 2pm. The memorial service will be located at the Morris Cemetery on Hwy 69 South towards Oakman at mile
marker 193. All are welcome to attend.
April 12, 1861: The War for Southern Independence Continues by the Firing on Fort Sumter
The years leading up to Lincoln's War were filled with increasing tensions between northern and southern states.
In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president by a strictly northern vote. The election was the impetus for southern
states, who were already wrangling with the North on issues like states’ rights, high tariffs and westward
expansion, to begin the process of secession.
Four days after the election, South Carolina Senator James Chesnut resigned his Senate seat and began drafting
secession documents. Before long, six more states joined South Carolina to form the Confederate States of America
on February 8, 1861. That number increased to 11 states after the fall of Fort Sumter. Four border states (Delaware,
Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri) held enslaved persons but remained loyal to the Union. That means even though
Lincoln's War is touted as the war of emancipation by today's untruthful historians, the glorious Union maintained
slavery throughout the four years of war.
The War for Southern Independence had been raging in parts of Virginia, Maryland, Kansas and Missouri for some
time. The infamous John Brown murdered five innocent citizens including James Doyle and two of his sons near Lane,
Kansas in 1856.
Brown further tried to raise an army of slaves to secure the fort and arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Brown
hoped to enlist the slaves as a private voluntary army to wage war on the South. No slave joined his rag tag group
of mercenaries. Brown's misguided efforts failed miserably. Several members of Brown's mercenaries died in the
effort after Captain Robert E. Lee, Jeb Stuart and Lee's Marines captured Brown inside the arsenal. Brown was tried
for treason, convicted and hanged along with his accomplishes that managed to survive for their part in the siege
of the Harper's Ferry, Virginia arsenal.
Fort Sumter, originally built as a coastal garrison, was located at the entrance to Charleston Harbor. Confederate
General P. G. T. Beauregard, from the newly formed Confederate States Army, demanded federal officials turn over
the fort. He claimed the fort was located in Confederate territory and thus belonged to the South. President Lincoln
refused and made attempts to send a ship, loaded with supplies and combat Marines, to resupply the fort. The ship
was turned away by Confederate guns.
Tensions grew, all attempts at peaceful resolution to the problem failed, so Beauregard finally sent US officials
an ultimatum – abandon the fort or face destruction. At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861 some 500 soldiers from
the South Carolina Militia opened fire on federal soldiers inside the fort. The bombardment continued for 34 hours
until the afternoon of April 13th, when the garrison commander, Major Robert Anderson, surrendered the fort. Though
there were no fatalities on either side during the Battle of Fort Sumter, the conflict was one of the first combat
battles, second only to the Battle of Harper's Ferry, of more than 10,000 military engagements that occurred between
1848-1865.
This month marks the 160th anniversary of the firing on Fort Sumter. After Fort Sumter fell and all peaceful efforts
to prevent bloodshed, Abraham Lincoln raised an army of 75,000 mercenaries and violently attacked the South. Although
modern historians claim the first shots fired by the South against the North at Charleston Harbor were on April
12, 1861, the actual "first shots" were fired on the morning of January 9, 1861, when the Union-flagged
"Star of the West" attempted to resupply and reinforce the federal troops at Fort Sumter, in what was
intended to be a secret, sneak attack mission by Abraham Lincoln.
Several artillery shells, fired by cadets of The Citadel, struck the ship as she entered the harbor within sight
of the fort, but did no serious damage. The ship’s captain, John McGowan, after consultation with the Army
officer onboard, aborted the attempt and returned to New York harbor. Lincoln's effort to resupply Fort Sumter
with a full complement of combat Marines at his command was an act of aggression, fully condemned by the Lieber
Code, which Lincoln wrote with the help of Francis Lieber in the most famous General Orders Number 100, or the
"Lieber Code" as it is commonly known.
Lincoln's War would become the deadliest conflict ever fought on American soil. The fighting portion of the War
for Southern Independence lasted four years and resulted in an estimated 750,000 soldier's deaths on both sides.
Little is ever mentioned of the 60,000 Southern women and children and 1,300,000 slaves who died as a direct cause
of Lincoln's War. The disease and starvation deaths would continue for twelve more years after the fighting stopped
under Yankee occupation and martial law. Approximately one in four soldiers that went to war never came back home.
This impacted families, communities, and the entire country for generations to come.
April is officially Confederate History Month. Please join with the Major John C. Hutto Camp in Jasper, Alabama
in remembering the brave who fought for southern independence. During the month of April, the Camp will place small
battle flags on the graves of Confederate soldiers in commemoration of their sacrifice.
Camp members are also encouraged to attend the Morris Cemetery cleanup on Monday, April 12, 2021 at 1:00pm, preceding
the memorial service, and grave marker dedication for Pvt. Simeon Covin of the 56th Ala. Cav. on Sunday, April
18th at 2pm. The memorial service will be located at the Morris Cemetery on Hwy 69 South towards Oakman at mile
marker 193. All are welcome to attend.
Thanks for your support of The Major John C. Hutto Camp.
Cmdr. James Blackston
Jasper, Al 35503
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