r is upon us. In several of the States which have not
yet seceded the forts, arsenals, and magazines of the United States have
been seized. This is by far the most serious step which has been taken
since the commencement of the troubles. This public property has long
been left without garrisons and troops for its protection, because no
person doubted its security under the flag of the country in any State
of the Union. Besides, our small Army has scarcely been sufficient to
guard our remote frontiers against Indian incursions. The seizure of
this property, from all appearances, has been purely aggressive, and not
in resistance to any attempt to coerce a State or States to remain in
the Union.

At the beginning of these unhappy troubles I determined that no act of
mine should increase the excitement in either section of the country. If
the political conflict were to end in a civil war, it was my determined
purpose not to commence it nor even to furnish an excuse for it by any
act of this Government. My opinion remains unchanged that justice as
well as sound policy requires us still to seek a peaceful solution of
the questions at issue between the North and the South. Entertaining
this conviction, I refrained even from sending reenforcements to Major
Anderson, who commanded the forts in Charleston Harbor, until an
absolute necessity for doing so should make itself apparent, lest it
might unjustly be regarded as a menace of military coercion, and thus
furnish, if not a provocation, at least a pretext for an outbreak on the
part of South Carolina. No necessity for these reenforcements seemed to
exist. I was assured by distinguished and upright gentlemen of South
Carolina that no attack upon Major Anderson was intended, but that, on
the contrary, it was the desire of the State authorities as much as it
was my own to avoid the fatal consequences which must eventually follow
a military collision.

And here I deem it proper to submit for your information copies of
a communication, dated December 28, 1860, addressed to me by R.W.
Barnwell, J.H. Adams, and James L. Orr, "commissioners" from South
Carolina, with the accompanying documents, and copies of my answer
thereto, dated December 31.

In further explanation of Major Anderson's removal from Fort Moultrie
to Fort Sumter, it is proper to state that after my answer to the South
Carolina "commissioners" the War Department received a letter from that
gallant officer, dated on