A Boat in the Dark set the stage for an event that would forever alter the course of American history. In the early hours of April 12, 1861, during a stormy night, a small boat carrying four enslaved rowers and three Confederate officers made its way to Fort Sumter. The fort, under Major Robert Anderson’s command, had been transformed into a formidable stronghold but was significantly undermanned with only seventy-five soldiers. These soldiers were facing dire conditions as food supplies had been cut off by Confederate authorities, and tensions were escalating between the Union and the South. The boat’s arrival marked the beginning of a confrontation that would ignite the Civil War, as Anderson’s defense of the fort would become a symbol of the conflict to come.

Major Anderson, a disciplined and devout man, was deeply committed to his mission, but the situation he faced was increasingly desperate. Separated from his wife, Eliza (Eba), and their children, who lived in a hotel while he commanded the fort, Anderson felt the weight of his duties. Eba, suffering from chronic illness, relied on their daughters attending boarding school to ease her burdens. Despite the physical and emotional distance from his family, Anderson’s religious faith sustained him, as he frequently prayed for peace and longed for their reunion. While he had once been cordial with General P.G.T. Beauregard, a former pupil now commanding the Confederate forces across the harbor, Anderson found himself facing an impossible choice, between surrendering and holding his ground, with the fort surrounded by mounting pressure.

Charleston, where Anderson’s fort stood, was a focal point of the Southern economy, particularly known for its participation in the domestic slave trade. The city’s residents, mostly wealthy planters, lived lavish lifestyles steeped in the notion of Southern aristocracy. Their society held to strict codes of honor, with an adherence to chivalric values, but despite this, South Carolina seemed increasingly out of touch with the rapidly changing world, resisting the advances of the industrial revolution, particularly in the face of the expanding railroad system. This ideological divide reflected the deepening tensions between the North and South, as Charleston and the surrounding areas became symbols of the South’s commitment to preserving its way of life, including slavery.

As the Confederate officers presented their ultimatum to Anderson, the pressure intensified, and the fort’s fate hung in the balance. Anderson and his officers deliberated over their defense options, concluding that they could survive for about five days with the supplies they had left. In response to the Confederate demands, Anderson communicated that he would begin an evacuation in three days unless further orders came from the Union government. This conditional statement, however, was complicated by the arrival of Union supply ships headed for Fort Sumter, which added fuel to the Confederate leadership’s fear that immediate action was necessary to prevent the Union from reinforcing the fort.

The night was filled with tension, as both sides prepared for the inevitable confrontation. Mary Boykin Chesnut, a prominent Southern writer observing the events in Charleston, noted the strange combination of festive celebrations and anxiety that permeated the city. The anticipation of conflict loomed large, casting a shadow over the celebrations as Southerners braced for what they believed was an inevitable war with the North. The arrival of the Confederate officers, coupled with the escalating political and military pressures, would soon push the nation into the Civil War, marking a turning point in American history. The situation at Fort Sumter symbolized the broader conflict brewing in the nation, as the Union and the Confederacy stood on the brink of open hostilities.