REVIEW: A Compelling Tale of Fort Sumter and the Start of the Civil War

The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson

Crown 592 pp.

By Paul Markowitz

Erik Larson, the best-selling author of The Splendid and the Vile, Devil in the White City, In the Garden of Beasts and other acclaimed works of popular history, has written a new book in which he examines six months of the Civil War from the election of Lincoln to the surrender of Fort Sumter.  This was a period of time when significant figures on both sides often showed little understanding of their counterparts, often with dire results. These include, most importantly President Abraham Lincoln, Secretary of State William H. Seward and President of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis.

Abolition had been a major issue in the North since early on in the 19th century, enraging Southerners.  Most southern religious traditions held that Blacks were inferior.  So did many scholars, educators, journalists, and even scientists. On the other hand, most Northerners agreed with that general construct but resented the depressed wages that resulted from slavery. On top of this, Lincoln overestimated the ability of pro-Union forces and he believed slave owners were ultimately rational.

It would quickly become apparent that Lincoln and Seward would have to deal with the war’s first big problem, how to negotiate over Fort Sumter, a U.S. fort sitting in Charleston harbor, the epicenter of the new Confederacy. 

Much of the book focuses on Major Robert Anderson, leader of the U.S. troops at Fort Sumter.  Anderson was an intriguing man.  He was a slave owner himself, who was sympathetic to the South but demonstrably loyal to the North. He would defend Sumter until it became untenable.

Two other figures who enrich the narrative are Mary Chesnut and Edmund Ruffin.  Mary Chesnut was a writer, wife of a plantation owner and a confidant of many politicians of both the North and the South.  She had conflicted views about both her marriage and secession. Edmund Ruffin was, in sharp contrast, a vain and bloodthirsty radical who went from one southern capitol to another to press them to secede from the Union. Most importantly he would pressure the state of Virginia, his home state and perhaps the most critical of southern states for political, historical and economic reasons. In this crucial period, Virginia would go from being resistant to agreeable on secession but only after the fate of Sumter was determined.

While following almost daily events in these critical six months, Larson captures the inexorable movement of both sides toward the decision that would forever change America. The people of both the North and South, as well as their respective leaders, never had a complete understanding of what they were about to unleash. In short order, after the rather innocuous decisions regarding Fort Sumter, all hell would break loose.

The demon of Larson’s title is unleashed, despite Lincoln’s desperate attempts to avoid  war. And ultimately some 750,000 Americans would lose their lives in the unrest.