In “Sub­terfuge,” Major Ander­son embarks on a strate­gic plan to occu­py Fort Sumter amid esca­lat­ing ten­sions with South Car­oli­na forces. Ander­son, rec­og­niz­ing the immi­nent threat of an attack on Fort Sumter, instructs his offi­cers to evac­u­ate the fam­i­lies of twen­ty women and twen­ty-five chil­dren from Fort Moul­trie to Fort John­son, por­tray­ing the move as a pre­cau­tion­ary mea­sure. He char­ters three schooners under the pre­text of ensur­ing their safe­ty, but his inten­tion is to mis­lead observers while secret­ly plan­ning to for­ti­fy Sumter.

Anderson’s clever ruse involves instruct­ing Engi­neer Fos­ter to dis­able the artillery at Fort Sumter, con­vinc­ing oth­ers that prepa­ra­tions were in place for defense at Fort Moul­trie. This tac­tic is designed to main­tain the façade of stay­ing put at Moul­trie, even as he secret­ly plans for a trans­fer of troops. When rain delays the oper­a­tion, Ander­son con­tin­ues to fab­ri­cate the safe­ty of Moul­trie by keep­ing ample sup­plies there while pack­ing every­thing else for the sup­posed evac­u­a­tion.

On Decem­ber 26, Ander­son pro­vides instruc­tions for a covert trans­fer of the gar­ri­son to Sumter, ensur­ing that Quar­ter­mas­ter Hall waits in the bay once the fam­i­lies are loaded, ready to set sail upon hear­ing can­non fire from Moul­trie. When prepa­ra­tions are com­plete, two com­pa­nies of sol­diers, under Cap­tain Dou­ble­day and oth­ers, are roped into this clan­des­tine oper­a­tion.

The trans­fer unfolds amid ten­sion; the gar­rison’s row­boats nav­i­gate the chan­nel with grow­ing unease. Cap­tain Doubleday’s boat encoun­ters a patrol steam­er, height­en­ing anx­i­eties of being dis­cov­ered. How­ev­er, relief wash­es over them when the patrol steam­er con­tin­ues on its path, allow­ing their boats to reach Sumter safe­ly.

Once there, the sol­diers are met with con­fu­sion; work­ers with­in the fort are hos­tile, and Dou­ble­day must quick­ly assert con­trol to ensure his men estab­lish a strong­hold. As the oper­a­tion’s suc­cess sinks in, Ander­son prompt­ly com­mu­ni­cates with his fam­i­ly and supe­ri­ors, empha­siz­ing the fort’s strate­gic impor­tance while remain­ing acute­ly aware of the dan­gers loom­ing over Sumter. Mean­while, Cap­tain Fos­ter races against time to secure remain­ing sup­plies from Moul­trie as smoke sig­nals impend­ing con­flict.

By morn­ing, Charleston’s cit­i­zens awak­en to the unset­tling sights of Fort Moul­trie’s flag absent and plumes of smoke ris­ing, herald­ing the change that had tran­spired overnight, reflect­ing the frac­ture between Union and Con­fed­er­ate forces. Ander­son­’s care­ful plan­ning results in the suc­cess­ful trans­fer of his com­mand, set­ting the stage for height­ened unrest.