Volume I Part 25 (2/2)
”Headquarters Provisional Army, C. S. A.,
”Charleston, April 11, 1861, 11 P. M.
”Major: In consequence of the verbal observations made by you to my aides, Messrs. Chesnut and Lee, in relation to the condition of your supplies, and that you would in a few days be starved out if our guns did not batter you to pieces-or words to that effect-and desiring no useless effusion of blood, I communicated both the verbal observation and your written answer to my Government.
”If you will state the time at which you will evacuate Fort Sumter, and agree that in the mean time you will not use your guns against us, unless ours shall be employed against Fort Sumter, we will abstain from opening fire upon you. Colonel Chesnut and Captain Lee are authorized by me to enter into such an agreement with you. You are therefore requested to communicate to them an open answer.
”I remain, Major, very respectfully,
”Your obedient servant,
(Signed) ”G. T. Beauregard,
”Brigadier-General commanding.
”Major Robert Anderson,
”Commanding at Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor, S. C.”
”Headquarters Fort Sumter, S. C., 2.30 A. M., April 12, 1861.
”General: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your second communication of the 11th instant, by Colonel Chesnut, and to state, in reply, that, cordially uniting with you in the desire to avoid the useless effusion of blood, I will, if provided with the proper and necessary means of transportation, evacuate Fort Sumter by noon on the 15th instant, should I not receive, prior to that time, controlling instructions from my Government, or additional supplies; and that I will not, in the mean time, open my fire upon your forces unless compelled to do so by some hostile act against this fort, or the flag of my Government, by the forces under your command, or by some portion of them, or by the perpetration [pg 288] of some act showing a hostile intention on your part against this fort or the flag it bears.
”I have the honor to be, General,
”Your obedient servant,
(Signed) ”Robert Anderson,
”Major U. S. Army, commanding.
”To Brigadier-General G. T. Beauregard,
”Commanding Provisional Army, C. S. A.”
”Fort Sumter, S. C., April 12, 1861, 3.20 A. M.
”Sir: By authority of Brigadier-General Beauregard, commanding the provisional forces of the Confederate States, we have the honor to notify you that he will open the fire of his batteries on Fort Sumter in one hour from this time.
”We have the honor to be, very respectfully,
”Your obedient servants,
(Signed) ”James Chesnut, Jr,
”Aide-de-camp.
(Signed) ”Stephen D. Lee,
<script>