1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 634 Persuading Surrender

On the tower of Fort Sumter, Lieutenant Colonel Anderson with parched lips and his more than 400 soldiers trapped in the fort were looking forward to their reinforcements. Praying to God that their reinforcements and supplies would come soon.

The weak fortress now seemed more like a prison to Anderson and his men.

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

The garrison at Fort Sumter was able to hold on until now thanks to Anderson's strict rationing system of fresh water and the considerable reserves of alcohol in the fort.

A frowning Anderson knew that if reinforcements still failed to arrive this week, supplies would be sent to Fort Sumter. He and his soldiers may not even have a drink.

The morale of the garrison at Fort Sumter is very low. Now the morale of the garrison is barely maintained without collapse by relying on wine and his own prestige.

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

Anderson observed the Confederate artillery position through the telescope. The Confederate army had set up 106 cannons, and the muzzles of these cannons were all aimed at Fort Sumter.

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 Confederate artillery so clearly 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 Fort Moultrie Beach on the east coast was only 1 miles (1.6 kilometers), as long as it was not foggy or rainy, Anderson could clearly see every move of the Confederate Army on the east coast through the telescope.

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

As for the Confederate artillery positions on the west bank, 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, let alone cannons, even rifled guns can easily hit metal projectiles. Projected into Fort Sumter.

Anderson did not regret at all that he did not destroy the cannons in the fort when evacuating Fort Moultrie. The situation was urgent. If time was wasted on destroying the cannons, could he and his men successfully escape to Fort Sumter? is unknown.

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

"Lieutenant Colonel Anderson, soldiers in Fort Sumter, you have been surrounded by three of our brigades. There is no point in continuing the stalemate or resisting. As long as you are willing to surrender, we will provide you with fresh Fresh water and food, and ensure that we can return to the north safely."

Major George conveyed General Beauregard's message 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 come back! I will not give up any inch of territory belonging to the United States or any cent of assets belonging to the United States until I receive instructions from our President!"

After seeing the face of the visitor clearly, Lieutenant Colonel Anderson firmly refused the surrender request and did not allow the opponent to enter Fort Sumter.

It was not that Lieutenant Colonel Anderson did not want to surrender. He bluntly wrote the word surrender in the letter he sent to Washington asking 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 indeed allow him and his men to return to the north safely.

If he behaves in such a humiliating manner, even if he returns to the north, he will become the laughing stock of his colleagues and will be unable to gain a foothold in the military community in the future. Anderson's idea was to put up a symbolic resistance and then discuss surrender with the Confederate troops in Charleston. After all, the enemy was outnumbered. Under such circumstances, resisting and then surrendering would not only affect the president who had just taken office, but also the people of the north. Everyone can have an explanation. Of course, the most important thing is to have an explanation for their own future.

The Confederate command in Charleston was distraught to learn that Lieutenant Colonel Anderson refused to surrender Beauregard.

According to the itinerary of the northern reinforcements, reinforcements from the 55th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment arrived at Fort Sumter within a day or two, leaving him little time.

Before receiving President Davis's telegram, General Beauregard had no idea of ​​attacking Fort Sumter. He preferred to put pressure on the defenders inside the fort through a siege and force the defenders inside Fort Sumter to The army surrendered voluntarily.

Beauregard knew that once there was a direct exchange of fire between the two sides, 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 start a war, but it is not up to them to end the war.

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

Furthermore, when he attended West Point Military Academy, Lieutenant Colonel Anderson was his teacher. Beauregard still thought about the relationship between teachers and students, and gave his former teacher a bit of sympathy, hoping that Anderson could recognize the situation and surrender voluntarily.

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

Faced with the ultimatum sent by his former students, Anderson hesitated for a long time but refused to surrender.

Beauregard was so anxious to urge him to surrender that Anderson judged that their reinforcements must be approaching Fort Sumter.

After surviving for so many days, he had no reason to raise the flag and surrender when reinforcements were about to arrive.

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

Needless to say, this must be their reinforcements!

The appearance of this fleet cheered up the embarrassed defenders in Fort Sumter, and their morale was high. They couldn't help but cheer and wave to the approaching fleet.

Beauregard received a telegram from President Davis a few days ago. President Davis ordered him to prevent all federal reinforcements to Sumter in any way. He had already sent people to strengthen the attack on Sumter. The blockade of the sea area around Fort Mutter.

The artillery positions on the east and west coasts of Charleston's troops can completely cover Sumter with firepower, and naturally they can also block the nearby sea areas.

Major Fox, the captain of this fleet, carefully observed the artillery positions of the Charleston troops on the flagship, the Federal Navy's most advanced steam battleship Paul Bataan.

The Charleston artillery position has completely blocked the entrance to the entire Charleston Harbor. If he forcibly breaks through the last 2 nautical miles and tries to enter Fort Sumter, even if he can finally successfully approach and enter Fort Sumter, he will The fleet must have suffered heavy losses.

(End of this chapter)