April 13, 1861: Angry and Agitated Norwalkers Realize War Has Begun

On April 13, 1861, a Saturday, Norwalkers must have been as worried and as agitated as those elsewhere in the state were about the condition of Ft. Sumter, which had been under attack since the day before.

In Connecticut in general, According to The Military and Civil History of Connecticut During the War of 1861-65, an 1869 book by W. A. Croffut and John M. Morris, "All day Saturday, the city streets were crowded, and from the country towns came riding anxious men asking for the news."

People relied on what news they were told had come into telegraph and newspaper offices. Daily newspapers from New York City, around Connecticut and elsewhere were available in Norwalk, but all they could report this day was that Sumter was under attack. "Business was suspended, and men prepared to meet the crisis."

According to the online "Opinionator" column in The New York Times today, "[T]hanks to the rapid spread of the telegraph during the past decade, the echoes of the first shot at Sumter reverberated almost instantaneously from Minnesota to Florida and beyond." Disbelief met initial reports, but when they were confirmed later this day, shock and anger spread through the North.

The New York Times began its report this day on the Ft. Sumter attack, in words that would be reprinted in the next edition of the Norwalk Gazette, days later: "CHARLESTON, Friday, April 12. The ball has opened. War is inaugurated. The batteries of Sullivan's Island, Morris Island, and other points, were opened on Fort Sumpter at 4 o'clock this morning." Later in the article, the Times simply said, "Civil war has at last begun."

The Times editorialized on April 13: "Everywhere the news was met as if a heavy burden of anxiety had been suddenly lifted from the public mind, the great majority of our citizens hailing the intelligence as the sure 'beginning of the end'—the one thing needful, though painful to be done, before the supremacy of the laws could be vindicated, and the prosperity of the country reestablished on the basis of a Government determined and strong enough to vindicate its power and enforce the respect due to its flag."

The editorial (misspelling the name of the fort) also said: "It is very clear that unless prompt relief be afforded to the gallant defenders of Fort Sumpter, their courage can avail nothing against the overwhelming forces arrayed against them."

Connecticut newspapers fulminated in thier editorials this day.

• Hartford Courant: "The awful fact that CIVIL WAR has begun in bloody earnest seems to be only too well authenticated. ... Let it forever be remembered that the greatest crime since the crucifixion of our Saviour, was wantonly and willfully committed in  behalf of American Slavery! ... The lowyal heart of the nation will pant for retribution, and every drop of blood shed at Sumter will be amply atoned for hereafter. ... Men of Connecticut! To ARMS! You must be counted for or against the government."
• Hartford Times: "Friday, the 12th day of April, 1861, will be recorded as the Black Day in the history of our Republic ... when the first clash of arms commenced between the two Governments into which our wretched country is now divided." Lincoln and the Republicans were to blame for the mess, according to the Democratic Times, adding, "this horrible drama could have been stopped."

It wasn't until April 16, Tuesday, that A. Homer Byington's Norwalk Gazette would be published and could finally react to the attack. By that point, the news had come that the fort had fallen. The newspaper editorialized about "this crowning act of infamy," saying: "By reason of this inconsiderate haste, the South has undoubtedly sacrificed the last lingering sentiment of sympathy, either at the North or throughout the civilized world."

"The War has commenced!" the newspaper said. "Traitors are seeking with batteries and cannon ball to shoot down their own bretheren, and overhtrow the noblest fabric of human Government the Sun ever shown upon. In such an hour, let us all be PATRIOTS, not partisans."

In an editorial (see photos attached to this article) in that edition, April 16, the newspaper stated: "Let every Christian patriot sincerely and earnestly invoke the God of our fathers to speedily avert from us the horrors of civil war."

Sources:

The Military and Civil History of Connecticut During the War of 1861-65, by W. A. Croffut and John M. Morris, 1869, pp 39-41

Connecticut in the American Civil War: Slavery, Sacrifice, & Survival, by Matthew Warshauer, Wesleyan University Press, 2011, p 51

Norwalk Gazette, April 16, 1861, page 2 (see photos attached to this article for some readable copies of the Gazette's articles)

Editor's note: For other recent Norwalk Patch coverage of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, see: