Boston Courier, December 29, 1860
We must own that the news of the transaction in Charleston harbor was learned by us yesterday with a prouder beating of the heart. We could not but feel once more that we had a country—a fact which has been to a certain degree in suspense for some weeks past. What is given up for the moment is of no consequence, provided the one point, stands out clear, that the United States means to maintain its position, where its rights exist, and that its officers, civil and military, intend to discharge their duty. The concentration of the disposable force in Charleston harbor in a defensible post, is thus a bond of union. It is a decisive act, calculated to rally the national heart. * * We are not disposed to allow the Union to be broken up for grievances of South Carolina, which might be settled within the Union; and if there is to be any fighting, we prefer it within, rather than without. The abandonment of Fort Moultrie was obviously a necessary act, in order to carry into effect the purpose contemplated with such an inferior force as that under the command of Major Anderson.