james buchanan was the president when south carolina seceded.
james buchanan was the president when south carolina seceded.
who was the president when south carolina seceded?
james buchanan
on december 26, 1860, only six days after south carolina seceded from the union, u.s. army major robert anderson abandoned the indefensible fort moultrie, spiking its large guns, burning its gun carriages, and taking its smaller cannon with him to be trained on the city. he secretly relocated companies e and h (127 men, 13 of them musicians) of the 1st u.s. artillery to fort sumter on his own initiative, without orders from his superiors. he thought that providing a stronger defense would delay an attack by south carolina militia. the fort was not yet complete at the time and fewer than half of the cannons that should have been available were in place, due to military downsizing by president james buchanan.
fort sumter
south carolina seceded from the union on december 20, 1860, after the first election of president abraham lincoln. around this time a federal garrison from the 1st us artillery was sent to fort moultrie. unlike the state militia at the other forts, the u.s.regular army defenders of fort moultrie chose not to surrender to the south carolina forces. on december 26, 1860, union major robert anderson moved his garrison from fort moultrie to the stronger fort sumter. on february 8, 1861, south carolina joined the 5 other seceded deep southern states to form the confederate states of america. in april 1861, confederate troops shelled fort sumter into submission, and the american civil war began.
fort moultrie