Many of the forts in the pre- and early war period were in fact practically unmanned and if I remember correctly Fort Sumter was only one of several forts around Charleston Harbor. What Anderson did was to gather up all of the available manpower and concentrate in Fort Sumter as being the most defensible - a movement possible in the confusions that surrounded this quiet tense moment before actual war erupted.
Nice, succinct description of the early days of the War Between the States. One quibble: did you reverse the names of the armies? Wasn’t the Army of the Potomac the name of McDowell’s force? It certainly was the name for the Union Army later in the War? Union armies were always named after rivers.
Sorry for the confusion. I should have explained that the Confederate army at Manassas/Bull Run was the Army of the Potomac, then merged with the Army of Shenandoah, the whole under Johnston and renamed the Army of Northern Virginia. As you rightly say, in general Union armies were named after rivers, Confederate ones after states or parts of states (i.e. Army of East Kentucky)
Many of the forts in the pre- and early war period were in fact practically unmanned and if I remember correctly Fort Sumter was only one of several forts around Charleston Harbor. What Anderson did was to gather up all of the available manpower and concentrate in Fort Sumter as being the most defensible - a movement possible in the confusions that surrounded this quiet tense moment before actual war erupted.
Nice, succinct description of the early days of the War Between the States. One quibble: did you reverse the names of the armies? Wasn’t the Army of the Potomac the name of McDowell’s force? It certainly was the name for the Union Army later in the War? Union armies were always named after rivers.
The CSA Army of the Potomac was very short-lived
Thanks. I did not know that. Predecessor of the Army of Northern Virginia, I presume?
Sorry for the confusion. I should have explained that the Confederate army at Manassas/Bull Run was the Army of the Potomac, then merged with the Army of Shenandoah, the whole under Johnston and renamed the Army of Northern Virginia. As you rightly say, in general Union armies were named after rivers, Confederate ones after states or parts of states (i.e. Army of East Kentucky)