About this book
Deposition, 8 March 1861, signed by Major Robert Anderson of "the First Regiment of Artillery, U.S. Army" in which Anderson explains the necessity of his decision to abandon Fort Moultrie "in accordance with the best interests of the service" and transfer "the garrison to Fort Sumter." He attests that supplies and other articles "were necessarily abandoned, and that, to the best of [his] knowledge and beliefs, the said articles were taken possession of by an armed party, who in reply to my questions, said they acted 'by authority of the Sovereign State of South Carolina, and in obedience to the order of the Governor.'" Anderson also swears that because his "deposition could not be taken before any of the first four classes" outlined in the Army Regulations of 1859, he had to swear before Union Army officer, Captain Truman Seymour (1824-1891), who was also stationed at Fort Sumter.