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Prologue
In December 1860, with the authorities of South Carolina moving closer and closer to succession, the federal troops stationed at Charleston took possession of the newly made and highly defensible Fort Sumter, in the center of the harbor. Unfortunately, the Fort was gravely under-supplied and under-manned. The Buchanan administration, not wanting to further provoke hostilities, decided against sending a warship to relieve the Fort, and instead commissioned an unarmed commercial vessel to bring new troops and supplies.
Preparations were made and on January 5th, 1861, a force of 200 men, under the command of U.S. Army Lieutenant Charles R. Wood, was to board the steamer Star of the West at Governors Island, scheduled to set out for Charleston at 5:00 that evening.
At 1:00 that afternoon by telegraph from Washington, that order was reversed. But would that news reach Lieutenant Wood in time…
Intro
Janurary 5th, 1861. You are Amelia Darnton, wife of Signalman Albert Darnton, and domestic servant to Commander Holmes, working at Quarters 1 in Nolan Park.
I was at the commissary collecting the makings of Commander Holmes’ evening meal, and the poorer makings for our own, when word came of my husband’s detention. Once more I felt the shame of such public knowledge, for I was convinced Albert had again reported for duty after consuming liquor. Would he lose his post and we our lodging and income?
Brig – 2:00 PM
I was at the commissary collecting the makings of Commander Holmes’ evening meal, and the poorer makings for our own, when word came of my husband’s detention. Once more I felt the shame of such public knowledge, for I was convinced Albert had again reported for duty after consuming liquor. Would he lose his post and we our lodging and income?
I hurried to the Brig at Castle Williams, sure that every soul I passed knew of the scandal, but the sentries refused to let me pass – a thing that had not happened before. Remembering Albert’s cell first floor after his last infraction, I walked clockwise around the ring of the building, whispering at 3 windows until I found him. His words were not fired by drink, but rage! He had received a cable from General Scott that The Star of the West must not sail, for it would be surely sunk upon entering the harbor in Charleston. He had taken this to Commander Holmes, who had thanked him – and then through a ruse arranged for my husband’s arrest! Albert had only just begun to describe his arrest in Nolan Park when the guard outside his cell, alerted by Albert’s angry words, shouted that he was to speak to no one.
Quarters no. 1: 3:00PM
In a rush, before the guard could tear him from the window, my husband whispered that he had hidden a copy of the cable in Quarters 1 but that I should find it without ease, being familiar with the house. “There will be zero difficulty for you!” he called. I had no such confidence as I hurried to Nolan Park, but knew that proof of my Albert’s innocence and our own future depended on my finding the paper. I knew he had little time to conceal it and that he would have headed to the right side upon entry, where he knew the kitchen to be. Indeed it was easily found, adjacent mirrors reflecting multiple images of it and of me engaged in its theft! My heart raced and then upon opening the hidden cable it fell – or attempting to do so, for I could make no more sense of the marks had they been the scratches of birds!
Telegraph Office: 3:30PM
My fool of a husband did not tell me this was the raw cipher – who could I show this to who might read it? My inspiration did not fail, however, and I hurried to the Telegraph Office, too aware that the time for the ship to sail pressed near. Yet when I arrived I found the office locked—most peculiar as there was always meant to be a man on duty there. I peered into the window but could see only a book left open on the desk – numbers and signs, and I wondered if this was not the key to Albert’s message. I peered in on the balls of my feet and began to study the chart in earnest only to realize it was instead a guide for signal flags, as they used on the ramparts of Fort Columbus. Despite his dissolution, Albert had his wits about as a matter of habit and had thought to verify for himself the flag code he would have to hoist on the Commanders orders. I was startled by a sound and turned to find Capt. Heintzelman some yards away, looking pale. “Your husband,” he began. Sure that he too believed in Albert’s guilt, I ran from him, fighting tears.
South Battery: 4:30PM
I knew that only one course lay before me for our salvation, and so rushed to the South Battery, to beg entry and so speak to Commander Holmes. On the very doorstep, however, a voice called out and I turned to find the Commander himself behind me, as if I had been followed. In a low voice none in the Battery might hear, he declared my husband was a lost soul if I breathed a word, and this tale of the cable a mere misunderstanding. I told him it was not, and that I had the proof, and showed the paper I had found. The Commander grew very grave. I was a good woman, he said, 9 months in his employ without complaint, and he promised, should I give him the cable, that once the ship had sailed – on that sole condition – all would be made good for Albert and no charges laid. I accepted this bargain and passed the paper to him. Yet neither the Commander nor I were at ease, and thinking again of the signals I had read, I took my leave and sped to the ramparts of Fort Columbus …
Ramparts of Fort Columbus: 5:01PM
I stood on the rampart watching the flags I myself had hoisted flutter tautly in the stiff January wind. I hoped, no prayed, that the decision I had made was the right one and that the lives of those men aboard the Star of the West would be safe in any case. The die was cast now and I had played my part at the beginning of what was clearly destined to be an episode critical to the life, or the demise, of this great country.