“You see that the present scheme for supplying the fort is Mr. Fox’s,” Pickens wrote. “It is thought that the attempt will be made tonight, and we have doubled our steamboats on the harbor and bar.” Charleston was prepared, he assured Davis. Over two thousand troops had been deployed to Morris Island alone, where Union forces were deemed most likely to attempt a landing. Another eight hundred more were due to arrive by train that night. He expected to have over six thousand men in all positioned throughout the harbor. “I trust we are ready, and if they come we will give them a cordial
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