Exactly 150 years later, Fort Sumter is once again at the center of a national crisis.

The day after Christmas, 1860, U.S. Major Robert Anderson made his move, quietly.  South Carolina had seceded from the Union, and Anderson’s federal soldiers could not defend their position at Fort Moultrie on the Charleston mainland.  So they secretly moved with their supplies to Fort Sumter, a more substantial fortress on an island in Charleston Harbor.  In January, 1861, when the Union supply ship Star of the West attempted to reach Fort Sumter, she was fired on by confederate batteries in Charleston and had to turn back.  With Anderson and his men surrounded, the resupply of Fort Sumter became the first crisis of Abraham Lincoln’s young administration.  Several months passed and the situation became dire.  In April, 1861, confederate general Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard gave Anderson an ultimatum: surrender Fort Sumter immediately or be fired upon.  Though he was running out of food and supplies, Anderson refused.  On April 12, 1861, at 4:30 in the morning, confederate cannon roared.  The Civil War had begun.

And now, history is threatening to not repeat itself.  With the Civil War Sesquicentennial approaching, the world has looked to Charleston.  The city has been preparing for a massive commemoration.  Visitors are arriving from all over the world.  The hotels are expected to be full.  Taverns and restaurants are ready for their guests,  There will be theme dinners, concerts, seminars and tours.  And…with only 4 days to go to the big day…the whole thing… might be a bust.

That’s because if Congress can’t come to an agreement on a new budget today, the National Park Service will shut down on Saturday.  No Yosemite, no Mount Rushmore, no Smithsonian, no National Zoo.  But most painfully, on the 150^th anniversary of the start of our nation’s bloodiest conflict, Washington will have once again failed to provide critical supplies to Fort Sumter, and it will have to close.  Hundreds of union and confederate re-enactors planning to camp at Forts Moultrie and Sumter may have to pitch tents elsewhere.  Historic interpreters are scrambling.  Tours are being re-routed, conferences re-scheduled.  There are plans to move some 30 cannons from federal property onto private lands in time to re-enact the war’s opening bombardment.    But all of the activities in and around the forts will be canceled.  “This is a pivotal event in the nation’s history,” said Jeff Antley who is coordinating arrangements for an estimated 1,000 re-enactors coming to the city. “The money has been spent. The uniforms have been bought. The travel arrangements have been made.  You can’t say we’re going to reschedule for May. ”

This morning, as the sun rises over Fort Sumter, Charleston looks to Washington, and holds its breath.