"At last it was rumored that two thousand rifleman had been detailed to shoot us down from the tops of those houses."

Written well after the war this excuse has no factual bases. Anderson never in any message, letter, or dispatch give such a reason to evacuate Fort Moultrie. Doubleday was accused by White House insiders for being a mole for Lincoln's people and the possible bug in Anderson's ear to move the garrison. Doubleday was directly connected to Lincoln and was sending indirect detailed correspondence to him on the condition of the Forts in Charleston before Lincoln was elected, highly improper. There is no tangible evidence that Fort Moultrie was going to be attacked. The orders from the President to Anderson were to surrender the forts if militarilly threatened to avoid bloodshed, while the White House publically announced the forts would never be surrendered. Anderson did not follow orders.

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David Upton