It is surprizing to me that the Confederate gunners allowed the Baltic to enter Charleston Harbor at that hour of the morning. Were the gunners and sentinals asleep? Given the high state of expectations of the coming morning I would say that would not the case.

Given that a group of ships, with the believed stated purpose of those ships being the reenforcing of the union garrison in Fort Sumter, were gathering just outside the harbor, How did they know the Baltic was not part of all that? 3 a.m. in the morning would have been the time I would have chosen to run into Charleston harbor with my ships if I were the federal commander, to unload my cargo to Fort Sumter if that was my objective.

The Baltic must have been cleared by the picket patrol to enter the harbor for it not to have drawn the fire of the Confederate shore batteries. Or the Confederates had better eyesight in the dark of night to identify the Baltic than the crew of the Harriet Lane did in failing to identify the Nashville at high noon.