Contents

COVER

TITLE PAGE

COPYRIGHT

DEDICATION

EPIGRAPH

DARK MAGIC

MAP

A BOAT IN THE DARK

PART ONE

THE BEST OF ALL WORLDS

Springfield, Illinois: Cataclysm

Charleston Harbor: A Proper Commander

Hammond: The Awakening

Washington: The Vile Wretch in Petticoats

Hammond: Scandal

Lincoln: The Chasm

Virginia: The Rubicon

Resilience

Ruffin: The Landscape of Fear

PART TWO

TREACHERY IN THE WIND

Buchanan: The Unfairness of It All

Ruffin: The Scent of Rebellion

Springfield, Illinois: Party Malice

Charleston: Placing the Knife

Buchanan: Aunt Fancy Speaks

Pledge

Charleston Harbor: A Confidential Visit

Ruffin: To Dare

Lincoln: Frustration

Charleston: The Major Gets an Idea

Ruffin: A Signal at Christmas

Anderson: Subterfuge

Florida and Washington: Strange News

Fort Sumter: Smoke and Cheers

Washington: Blood and Dishonor

Charleston Harbor: Turmoil

Fort Sumter: Ominous Doings

Springfield: The Real Danger

PART THREE

PRECIPICE

Philadelphia: Dorothea’s Warning

Washington: Crisis

Charleston Harbor: Crossing the Bar

Star of the West: Under Fire

Mississippi: The True Enemy

Washington: A Wife’s Disappointment

Fort Sumter: Forbearance

Ruffin: A Little Treason

Fort Sumter: Lethal Secrets

Washington: Dread

Washington and Montgomery: A Solemn Council

Washington: To Sell or Collide

Charleston: Race Week

Lincoln: Yard Sale

Springfield: Departure

PART FOUR

JOURNEY

The Silence Breaks

Ohio: “Pimp!”

Lincoln: The Time Will Come

Washington and Philadelphia: Dual Warning

Philadelphia: Change of Plan

Fort Sumter: Salute

Washington: One Very Dark Night

Washington: The Man in the Felt Hat

Washington: A Rumor of Plaid

Washington: The Old Gentlemen Pay a Call

Montgomery: Mary Chesnut’s Diary

Washington: The Premier’s Advice

Fort Sumter: Query

Washington: Seward’s Trick

Charleston: Interesting News

London: On the Scent

PART FIVE

COERCION

Washington: Mystic Chords

Charleston and Montgomery: Sickened

The White House: First Day

Fort Sumter: Activity and Determination

Washington: Relief

Fort Sumter: A Ball at Sunrise

Washington: The Commissioners

Fort Sumter: To Lift a Columbiad

Washington: Lincoln

Montgomery: Of Spiders and Entrails

Fort Sumter: Practice Makes Perfect

Washington: The Commissioners

New York: Russell, of the Times

Washington: Trust

Charleston: Some Good Thing in the Wind

Fort Sumter: Firewood

Charleston: The Handsomest Man

Washington: Change of Heart

PART SIX

COLLISION

Charleston: The Flirtation

Washington: Seward’s Play

Fort Sumter: Any Minute Now

Washington: The Correspondent

Washington: Conflict

Montgomery and Richmond: Suspense

Washington: Fatal Error

Charleston: The Petrel’s Delight

The Atlantic: Storm

Fort Sumter: Confession

Washington: Dismay and Dishonor

Charleston and Montgomery: Suspicion

Charleston: Perfidy

Charleston: Rumor and Cannon Fire

PART SEVEN

FIRE!

Fort Sumter: Preparations

Four Telegrams

Charleston: Confusion

Washington: The Correspondent

Charleston Harbor: The Angel of Death

Fort Sumter: Sunrise

The Sumter Expedition

Charleston Harbor: The Great Darkness

The Sumter Expedition

Charleston Harbor: The Worst Fear

The Sumter Expedition

Charleston: Tea and Angst

Fort Sumter: Doubleday’s Revenge

Fort Sumter: Wigfall

Fort Sumter: Peculiar Circumstances

Fort Sumter: Bloody Sunday

Charleston: Acclaim

Washington and Charleston: Hot Oxygen

Aboard the Baltic: Ovation

EPILOGUE: A TOAST

CODA: BLOOD AMONG THE TULIP TREES

NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

SOURCES AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ALSO BY ERIK LARSON

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER