155 Years Ago.
JANUARY 5TH, 1861: The U.S. steamer Star of the West, Captain John McGowan, USRM, , departed New York wit an Army detachment for the relief of Fort Sumter, Charles Harbor, S.C..
Secretary of the Navy Toucey ordered Fort Washington on the Maryland side of the Potomac River garrisoned "to protect public property." Forty Marines from Washington Navy Yard under Captain Algeron S. Taylor, USMC, were sent to the fort, a vital link to the defense of the nation's capital.
Fort Morgan, at the entrance to Mobile Bay, Alabama, was seized and garrisoned by Alabama militia.