The wives and children of the soldiers and officers have been landed in the city with the request that we send them to their homes in the states, which, of course, we will do.
But Major Anderson, who holds the fort in the name of the United States, refuses to give it up to South Carolina, which claims it." Harry felt an extraordinary thrill, a thrill that was, in many ways, most painful.

Talk was one thing, action was another.

Here stood South Carolina and the Union face to face, looking at each other through the muzzles of cannon.

Sumter had one hundred and forty guns, most of which commanded the city, and the people of Charleston had thrown up great earthworks, mounting many cannon.
Boy as he was, Harry was old enough to see that here were all the elements of a great conflagration.

It merely remained for somebody to touch fire to the tow.