.-$■ 
 
 \ 
 
 Q-plBTJSQtr^ 
 
 '^ 
 
 / 
 
 She liattlc af ^ovt f muter 
 
 ;^'^ 
 
 First Victory of the Southern Troops. 
 
 APKIL i;!tli. isr.i. 
 
 Full accounts of the Bombardment, with Sketches of the Scenes, 
 
 Incidents, etc. Compiled chiefly from the detailed 
 
 Reports of the Charleston Press. 
 
 I»"CJB3L.ISIIE:ID B-V RBGiXJEST- 
 
 ('Hai;i.p:ston. s. v.-. 
 
 i'KIM I 1> nV KVANS & COCi.-WKI.I., Nos. J IiKllvn VXD W" KAST BAY SI'S. 
 
 1801 
 
 l/*fi<«<', 'X'woiity-lr<^iv<» Oeiitss*. 
 
 
 /" 
 
George Washington Flowers 
 Memorial Collection 
 
 DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 ESTABLISHED BY THE 
 FAMILY OF 
 
 COLONEL FLOWERS 
 
THE 
 
 4 
 
 : BATTLE OF FORT SUMTER 
 
 i 
 
 First Victory of tlie Soiitlicrii Troops, 
 
 April ISxrr, 1861 
 
 il'LL ACCOUNTS OF THE BOMBARDMEXT, AVITIE SKETCHES OF 
 THE SCENES, INCIDENTS, ETC. 
 
 COMl'lLED CHIEFLY FROM THE DETAILED HF-PORTS OF THE 
 CUAIlLESroX I'RESS. 
 
 PUBLISH KD BY KEQUEST. 
 
 CIIARLESTOX : 
 
 STEAJl-POWEU PRESSES OP EVANS i COGSWELL. 
 No. 3 BroaJ and 103 East Bay Streets. 
 
 1801. 
 
Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive 
 in 2010 with funding from 
 Duke University Libraries 
 
 littp://www.arcliive.org/details/battleoffortsumtOOchar 
 
r^^R 
 
 THE BATTLE OF FORT SUllTER. 
 
 FIRST DAYS BOMBAEDMENT. 
 
 Fkiday, April 12, 18G1. 
 
 The bombardment of Fort Sumter, so long and anxiously 
 expected, has at length become a fact accomplished. 
 
 At about two o'clock, on the afternoon of Thursday, General 
 Beauregard, through his Aids, Col. James Chesnut, Jr., Col. 
 Chisohn and Capt. Lee, made a demand on ^lajor Ander.son 
 for the immediate surrender of Fort Sumter, ^lajor Anderson 
 replied that such a course Avould be inconsistent with the duty 
 he was required by his Government to perform. The answer 
 was communicated b}' the General-in Chief to President Davis. 
 
 This visit, and the refusal of the commandant of Fort Sum- 
 ter to accede to the demand made by General Beauregard, 
 passed from tongue to tongue, and soon the whole cit}* was in 
 possession of the startling intelligence. Eumor, as she is Avont 
 to do, shaped the facts to suit her purposes, enlarged their 
 dimensions, and gave them a complexion which they had nut 
 Avorn when fresh from the pure and artless hands of truth. 
 
 A half an hour after the return of the orderlies it Avas conli- 
 dently believed that the batteries would open fire at eight 
 o'clock, and in expectation of seeing the beginning of the con- 
 flict, hundreds congregated upon the Battery and the Avhar\-es, 
 looking out on the bay. There they stood, straining their e3'es 
 over the dark expanse of Avater, Awaiting to see tlie flash and 
 hear the boom of the first gun. The clock told the hour of 
 eleven, and still they gazed and listened, but the ej'elids grew 
 Aveary. and at the noon of the night the larger portion of the 
 disappointed spectators Avere plodding their Ava}^ homcAvard. 
 At altout nine o'clock, General Beauregard received a reply 
 from President Davis, to the telegram in relation to the surren- 
 der of Sumter, by Avhich he Avas instructed to inform Major 
 Anderson that if he Avould evacuate the fort he held Avheii his 
 present supply' of provisions Avas exhausted, there Avould be no 
 appeal to arms. This proposition Avas borne to Major Ande]'- 
 
 r 2,GS 7 -i 
 
soil liy the Aids wlio liad delivered the first niessaire, and lie 
 refused to aecept the condition. The fJeneral-in-Chief forth- 
 vith gave the order that the batteries be opened at halt-past 
 four o'elock on Friday niornini:;. Major Anderson's reply was 
 decisive of the momentous question, and (General Ikaure^ard 
 determined to apply the last arijument. The stout soldier had 
 resolved to make a desperate defence, and the bloody trial of 
 streni^tli must be essayed. The sword must cut asunder the 
 la>t tie that boun<l us to a peo])le, whom, in spite of wrongs 
 and injustice wantonly inflicted through a long series of years, 
 we had not yet utterl}' hated and despised. The last expiring 
 spark of aflection must be quenched in blood. Some of the 
 most splendid pages in our glorious history must be blurred. A 
 blow must be struck that would make the cars of evcrj^ Rc- 
 miblican fanatic tingle, and whose dreadful ettects will be felt 
 by generations yet to come. ^Vc must transmit a heritage of 
 rankling and undying hate to our children. 
 
 The restless activit}' of Thursday night was gradually worn 
 down; the citizens who had thronged the battery through the 
 night, anxious and weary, had sought their homes, the Mounted 
 (iuard which had kej)! watch and ward over the city, with the 
 first grey streak of morning were preparing to retire, when 
 two guns in quick succession from Fort Johnson announced the 
 o])ening of the drama. Upon that signal, at twent^'-live min- 
 ules ]>ast four o'clock, A. M., the circle of batteries with which 
 tiie grim fortress of Fort Sumter i« beleaguered opened fire. 
 Tiie outline of this great volcanic crater was illuminated with 
 u line of twinkling lights; the clustering shells illuminated the 
 sky above it; the balls clattered thick as hail upon its sides; 
 our citizens, aroused to a forgetfulness of their fatigue^ through 
 many weary hours, rushed again to the jioints of observation ; 
 and so, at the break of day, amidst the biirsling of bombs, and 
 the I'oaring of ordnance, and before thousands of spectators, 
 whose homes, and liberties, and lives Avere at stake, was enacted 
 this first great scene in the opening drama of this most mo- 
 mentous military history. 
 
 As the roar of cannon bui-st upon the startled city, the 
 expected sound was answered by thousands. The houses were 
 in a ihw minutes eni])tie<l of their excited occuiiants, and the 
 living stream poured through all the streets leading to the 
 wharves and Batteiy. On reaching our beautiful promenade, 
 we found it lined with ranks of eager spectators, and all the 
 wharves commanding a view of the battle were crowded thickly 
 with human forms. On no gala occasion liave we ever seen 
 nearly so largo a number of ladies on our Battery as graced the 
 bi-eezy walk on this eventful morning. There the}- stood with 
 ])alpitating hearts and palid faces, watching the white smoke 
 as it rose in wreaths upon the soft twilight air, and breathing- 
 out fervent ])rayei-s for their gallant kinsfolk at the guns. 
 
 Steadily alternating, our batteries spit forth their wrath at 
 
the grim fortress rising so defiantly out of the sea. Major 
 Anderson received the sliot and sliell in silence. And sonic 
 excited lookers on, ignorant of the chai-acter of the foe, were 
 fluent with conjectures and predictions, that revived the hope 
 fast dying out of their hopeful and tender hearts. But the 
 short-lived hope was utterly extinguished when the deepening 
 twilight revealed the Stars and Stripes floating defianth' in the 
 breeze. The batteries continued at regular intervals to belch 
 iron vengeance, and still no answer was returned by the foe. 
 About an hour after the 1)ooniing began, two balls rushed hiss- 
 ing through the air, and glancetl harmless from the stuccoed 
 bricks of Fort Moultrie. The embrasures of the hostile fort- 
 ress gave forth no sound again till between six and seven 
 o'clock, when, as if wrathful from enforced delay, from case- 
 mate and parapet the United States officer poured a stonn of 
 iron hail upon Fort Moultrie, Steven's Iron Battery and the 
 Floating Battery. The broadside was returned with spirit by 
 the gallant gunners at these important posts. The firing now 
 began in good earnest. The curling white smoke hung above 
 the angrj' pieces of friend and foe, and the jarring boom rolled 
 at regular intervals on the anxious car. The atmosjihere was 
 charged Avith the smell of villainous salti)eti*e, and as if in 
 sympathy with the melancholy scene, the sk}' was covered 
 with heavj' clouds, and everything wore a sombre aspect. 
 
 About half past nine o'clock. Capt. li. S. Parker reportctl 
 from Sullivan's Island to Mount Pleasant that everything was 
 in fine condition at Fort Moultrie, and that the soldiei's had 
 escaped unhurt. The same dispatch stated that the embra- 
 sures of the Floating Battery- were undamaged b^- the shock of 
 the shot, and tbongh that formidable structure had been struck 
 eleven times, the balls had not started a single bolt. Anderson, 
 after finding his fire against the Iron Battery ineffectual, had 
 concentrated his fire upon the Floating Battery, and the Dahl- 
 gren Battery, both under command of Ca])t. Hamilton. A 
 number of shells had dropped into Fort Sumter, and one gun 
 en barbette bad been dismounted. 
 
 The following cheering tidings Avere next brought to the city: 
 Stevens' Battery and the Floating Battery- are doing import- 
 ant service. Stevens' Battery has made considerable progress 
 in battering the south and south-west Avails of Fort Sumter. 
 The north-Avest Avail is suffering from the Avell-aimed fire of the 
 Floating Battery, Avhose shot have dismounted several of the 
 guns on the parapet, and made it impossible to use the i-emain- 
 ing ones. The Mortar Battery connected Avith the impreg- 
 nable Gun Battery at Cumming's Point, is managed Avith 
 consummate skill and terrible effect. 
 
 Eleven o'clock. — A messenger from Mori is' Island brings the 
 ncAvs that the shot glance from the iron covered battery at 
 Cumming's Point, like marbles throAvn by a child on the Itack 
 of a turtle. The upper portion of the south-Avest Avail of Fort 
 
 V p c ^ 
 
 7 2 
 
6 
 
 Sumter s1io\ys plainly the cflfoct of the tcrriljlo oannonado from 
 the f<»rini<lable invention of Mr. C. 11. Stevens' patriotism and 
 ingenuity. 
 
 A boat reached the city from the Floating Battery about 
 half-past twelve o'clock, and reported that a shot irom Fort 
 Sumter penetrated the top or sheil of the structure, and three 
 shots struck the saiul hairs in the rear of the Battei-y. 
 
 Ttcih'C o'clock. — "We have just learned by an arrival from 
 Cumming's Point, that the batteries there continue doing good 
 service — Stevens' liattery very successful. Not a single casu- 
 alty has happened. The troops are in the best spirits. Two of 
 the guns at Fort Sumter appear to be disabled. Considerable 
 damage has been done to the roofs of the officer's quarters. 
 
 One o'clock. — The following Avas received from ^lorris' Island. 
 One gun in Stevens' Battery temporarily disabled, Anderson's 
 fire having injured the door of the embrasure. The damage 
 will be repaired speedily. Three steam vessels of war were 
 seen otf the bar, one of them supposed to be the Harriet Lane. 
 
 The venerable Edmund I^uftin, who, so soon as it was known 
 a battle was inevitable, hastened over to Morris' Island and 
 was elected a member. of the Palmetto Guard, fired the first 
 gun from Stevens' Iron Battery. Another son of the Old 
 Dominion was appointed on General Beauregard's Staff on 
 Thursday, bore dispatches to the General in command, from 
 Brigadier-General James Simons, in command of ^lorris' Island, 
 during the thickest of the fight, and in the face of a murderous 
 fire from Fort Sumter. Col. Poger A. Pr^-or, in the execution 
 of that dangerous commission, passed Avithin speaking distance 
 of the hostile fortress. 
 
 Fort Moultrie has fully sustained the prestige of its glorious 
 name. It fired very nearh' gun for gun with Fort Sumter. 
 "NVe counted the guns from eleven to twelve o'clock, and found 
 them to be forty-two to foi-ty-six, while the advantage was 
 iinqucstionabl}' upon the side of Fort Moultrie. In that fort 
 not a gun was dismounted, not a wound received, not the 
 slightest permanent injury sustained by any of its defences, 
 while every ball from Fort Moultrie left its mark upon Fort 
 Sumter. 5lany of its shells were dropped into that fort, and 
 Lieut. John Mitchell, the worthy son of that patriot sire, who 
 has so nobly vindicated the cause of the South, has the honor 
 of dismounting two of its pa)'a]')et guns by a single shot from 
 (•ne of the Columltiails. whit'h at the time he liad the otiicc of 
 directing. 
 
 A brisk fire was kept up by all the batteries until about seven 
 o'clock in the evening, after which hour the guns boomed, 
 throughout the night of Friday, at rcgulai' intervals of twenty 
 minutes. The schooner Petrel, J. L. Jones, commanding, while 
 lying otf the mouth of Hog Island Channel, was fired into from 
 I-'ort Sumter, about half-past eight o'clock. One shot took effect 
 in the bow of the schooner, and several passed over her. 
 
It were vain to attempt an exhibition of the enthusiasm and 
 fearless intrepidity of our citizens in every department of this 
 eventful day. Boats passed from post to post without the 
 sliixhtest hesitation, under the guns of Fort Sumter, and with 
 high and low, old and j'oung, rich and poor, in uniform or with- 
 out, the common wish and constant effort was to reach the posts, 
 of action ; and amid a bombardment resisted with the most con- 
 summate skill and perseverance, and with the most efficient 
 appliances of military art and science, it is a most remarkable 
 circumstance, and one which exhibits the infinite goodness of 
 an overruling Providence, that, so far as we have been able to 
 learn from the most careful inquiry, not the slightest injury has 
 been sustained by the defenders of their country. 
 
 It ma}- be added, as an incident that contributed no little 
 interest to the action of the day, that from early in the fore- 
 noon three vessels of war, two of them supposed to be the Har- 
 riet Lane and Pawnee, lay just beyond the bar, inactive specta- 
 tors of the contest. 
 
 CLOSE OF THE BOMBAEDMEXT. 
 
 Second Day, Saturday, April 13, 1861. 
 
 "We closed the account of the grand military diorama in pro- 
 gi'css on our Bay amidst the clouds and gloom and threatening 
 perils of Friday night. The firing, abated in the early evening, 
 as though for the concentration of its special energies, com- 
 menced again at ten o'clock, and amid gusts of rain, and clouds 
 that swept the heavens, the red hot shot and lighted shells, 
 again streanied from the girt of batteries around, and concen- 
 trated in fearful import over Fort Sumter. Of the effects little 
 was visible, of course, and anxious citizens, who from battery, 
 spire and housetop, had bided the peltings of the storm, mute 
 8j)ectators of the splendid scene, could only wait the opening of 
 the coniing day foi confirmation of the hopes and fears with 
 which the changes in the scene successively inspired them. As 
 dawn approached, the firing again abated, and when the rising 
 sun threw its flood of light over the sparkling waters from a 
 cloudless sky, it was but by random shots from outlying bat- 
 teries, with scarce an answer from Fort Sumter, that spectators 
 were assured the contest still continued, and that human feel- 
 ing was not in harmony with the grace and glory of the scene. 
 It was but a little while, however, before the energy of action 
 was restored, and as the work of destruction still went on, it 
 was feared that still another day of expectation and uncertainty 
 was before us. But at eight o'clock the cry arose from the 
 wharves, and rolled in one continuous wave over the city, 
 ''Fort Sumter is ox Fire I" The Avatchers of the night 
 before, who had retired for a few moments, were aroused, occu- 
 
8 
 
 pations wore iustantl}' suspended, and old and ^'ouncj, either 
 mounted to their points ofubservation, or rolled in crowds upon 
 the Batter}-, to look upon the last and most iniposin<x act in 
 this great drama. The barracks to the south had been three 
 times set on. tire during the bombardment of the day before, 
 ^but each time the flames were immediately extinguished. Sub- 
 sequently, however, a red-hot shot from Fort Moultrie, or a 
 shell from elsewhere, foun<l a lodgment, when the fact was not 
 apparent, and the tire, smouldering for a time, at length broke 
 forth, and flames and smoke rose in volumes from the crater of 
 Fort Sumter. The wind was blowing from the west, driving 
 the smoke across the fort and into the embrasures, where the 
 gunners were at work, and pouring its volumes through the 
 port-holes; the tiring of Fort Sumter apju-ared to be renewed 
 with vigor. The Arc of the Fort, long, lierce and rajtid, how- 
 ever, was gradually abated, and aUhougli at distant intiMvals a 
 gun was fired, the necessity of preserving their magazines and 
 of avoiding the flames, left the tenants little leisure foi* lesist- 
 ance. But the firing from without was continued Avith re- 
 doubled vigor. Every battery poured in its ceaseless round of 
 shot and sliell. The enthusiasm of success inspired their cour- 
 age and gave precision to their action ; and thus, as in the 
 opening, so in the closing scene, under the beaming sunlight, in 
 view of thousands cro^'ded ujion the wharves and house-tops, 
 and amid the booming of ordnance, and in view of the five 
 immense ships sent by the enemy with reinforcements, lying 
 idly just out of gun shot on the Bar, this first Ibrtress of des- 
 potic power fell jn-ostrato to the cause of Southern Indepen- 
 dence. 
 
 At about nine o'clock the flames apjieared to be abating, anil 
 it was ap))rehended that no irreparable injury had been sus- 
 tained; but near ten o'clock, a column of white smoke rose 
 high above the battlements, followed by an explosion which 
 Avas felt upon the whai-ves, and gave the assurance that if the 
 magazines were not exploded, at least their temporary ammu- 
 nition were exposed to the clement still raging. Soon alter 
 the barracks to the east and west were in flames, the smoke 
 rose in redoubled volume from the whole circle of the fort, and 
 rolling from the embrasures, it seemed scarcely possible that 
 life could Ijc sustained. Soon after another column of shioke 
 arose as fearful as the first. The guns had long been com- 
 pletely silenced, and the onl}' option left to the tenants of the 
 fortress seemed to be whether they would perish or surrender. 
 At a quarter to one o'clock, the staft', from which the Hag still 
 waved, was shot away, and it was long in doubt whether, if 
 thei'c were the purpose, tliei-e was the ability to re-erect it. 
 But at the expiration of about twenty minutes, it again ap- 
 ])eared ujion the eastern rampart, and announced that resist- 
 ance Avas not ended. In the meantime, hoAvever, a small boat 
 started from the city Avharlj bearing Colonels Lee, Pryor and 
 
9 
 
 Miles, Aids to Gen. Beauregard, with offers of assistance, if, 
 perchance, the garrison should be unable to escape the flames. 
 As they ajiproached the fort, the United States' flag re-ap- 
 peared; and shortly afterwards a shout from the whole circle 
 of spectators on the islands and the main, announced that 
 the white flag of truce was Avaving from the ramparts. A 
 small boat had already been seen to shoot out from C'umming's 
 Point, in the direction of the fort, in which stood an officer 
 with a white flag u]wu the point of his sword. This officer 
 proved to be Col. AVigfall, Aid to the Commanding (Jeneral, 
 who, entering through a port-hole, demanded the surrender. 
 Major Anderson replied, that '"the}' were still firing on him." 
 "Then take your flag down," said Col. AVigfall: "they Avill con- 
 tinue to fire upon you so long as that is up." 
 
 After some further explanations in the course of which it 
 appeared, that Major Anderson's men were fast suffocating in 
 the casemates, the brave commander of Sumter agreed that ho 
 would, unconditionally, surrender — subject to the terms of 
 Gen. Beauregard, who, as was said by Col. AVigfall, "is a sol- 
 dier and a gentleman, and knoAvs hoAV to treat a brave enemA'." 
 "When this parley had been terminated, another boat from the 
 city containing Major Jones, Cols. Chesnut and Manning, Avith 
 other officers and the Chief of the Fire Department and the 
 Palmetto Fire ComjiauA' came up to the Fort. All firing had 
 meantime ceased. The agreement to unconditional surrender 
 Avas reiterate<l in the presence of new arrivals, and Messrs. 
 Chesnut and Manning immediately came back to the city to 
 bring the ncAvs, Avhen it Avas also positively stated afterwards, 
 that no one Avas killed on either side. It may seem strange, 
 but it is neA^ertheless true. The only AvaA' to account for the 
 fact is in the excellent protection offered hj the unparalleled 
 good works behind Avhich the engagement Avas fought. The 
 long range of shooting must also be taken into account. In 
 addition to this, on each side, the men, seeing a discharge in 
 their direction, learned to dodge the balls and to throAv tiiem- 
 selves under coA'er. A horse on Sullivan's Island Avas the onh- 
 liA'ing creature dcpriA-ed of life during the bombardment. 
 
 General Beauregard decided u])on the following terms of 
 Anderson's capitulation : 
 
 That is — First affording all proper facilities for removino- 
 liim and his command, together with company arms and proj)- 
 crty and all priA'ate property*. 
 
 Secondly — Th.at the Federal flag he had so long and so 
 bravely defended should be saluted by the vunqui.shed on 
 taking it dOAvn. 
 
 Thirdly — That Anderson should be alloAved to fix the time 
 of surrender; to take place, however, some time during the 
 ensuing da}' (Sunday.) 
 
 These terms Avere the same as those offered before the con- 
 test. In pursuance of this programme, Major Anderson indi- 
 cated Sunday morning as the time for J^is formal surrender. 
 
10 
 
 THE SURREXDER OF FORT SUMTER. 
 
 SuxuAY, April 14. l^Gl. 
 
 On Sunday inorniiiu;, April 14, ISGl, at half-pa.st 12 o'clock, 
 liis ExeoUeiicy Governor Piolvons, witli his Aids, and Messrs. 
 Jamison, llarllcc and Magrath, of his Executive Council, and 
 Gen. Beauregard, with his Aids, Messns. Aliles, Pi-yor, ^lannincj. 
 Chcsnut and Jones, and many distini^uished i^entiemen. invited 
 to he present, took their departure in a steamer from iSouthern 
 Wharf, and were borne in the direction of the Fort. As wc 
 advanced, it was ajiparent, however, that the evacuation was 
 not completed. Thouii;h the steamer Isabel, at tiie re<inest of 
 Major Anderson, had been present from nine o'clock, and the 
 cxi)ectation had been occasioned that ver}* soon thereafter his 
 command would be under way, still causes of delay had inter- 
 vened. To avoid the embarrassments of a premature ai-rival, 
 the party was landed upon Sullivan's Island. Availinij; them- 
 selves of the opportunities thus attbrded, they visited the 
 floating battery, the Dahlgren battery, the enfilading battery, 
 and were ascending the mortar battery, when the booming of 
 the guns upon the parapets of Fort Sumter, announced the 
 lowering of the " stars and stripes." In the terms of capitu- 
 lation, it was allowed to Major Anderson to salute his flag, and 
 it was perhaps expected that he would fire the usual compli- 
 ment of twenty-one guns; but, reaching that number, he still 
 went on to fire, and the apprehension was, that he might 
 exhibit the discourtesy of numbering thirty-four. But he con- 
 tinued still to fire, up to fifty, and then slowly lowering his 
 flag, the shouts from assembled thousands, upon the shores and 
 the steamers, and every species of water ci-aft, announced 
 that the authority of the late United States upon the last foot 
 of Carolina's soil was finally withdrawn. It had been noticed 
 that, at the firing of tlie seventeenth gun, there was the sound 
 as of two reports, and the impression was, that two guns had 
 been fired together; but, as the party, re-embarking, were on 
 their way to Fort Sumter, thc}^ were met by a boat, which 
 announced that one of the caissons had exploded, and made the 
 earnest request that the boat would return to Sullivan's Island 
 for a fire engine, from the apprehension that the magazine 
 might be in danger. This obtained, the party again started 
 for the fort, and made their entrance. 
 
 It were vain to attempt a detailed descrijition of the scene. 
 Every point and every object in the interior of the fort, to 
 which the eye was turned, except the outer walls and case- 
 mates, which arc still strong, boi-e the impress of ruin. It 
 were as if the Genius of JJestruction had tasked its energies 
 to make the thing complete, brooded over by the desolation of 
 ages. It could scarce have been develo})ed to a more full ma- 
 turity of ruin. The walls of the internal structure, roofless, 
 
11 
 
 bare, blackened, and perforated b}- sliot and shell, hung in frag- 
 ments, and seemed in instant readiness to totter down. Xear 
 the centre of the pai-ade around was the hurried grave of one 
 who had fallen from the recent casualty. To the left of the 
 entrance was a man who seemed to be at the verge of death. 
 In the ruins, to the right, there was another. The shattered 
 tlag-staff, pierced b}^ four halls, lay sprawling on the ground. 
 The parade-ground was strewn with tragments of shell and of 
 the dilapidated buildings. At least four guns were dismounted 
 on the ramparts, and at every step the way was impeded bj^ 
 portions of the broken structure. And so it was that the 
 authorities, compelled to yield the fortress, had at least the 
 satisfaction of leaving it in a condition calculated to inspire 
 the least ])ossible pleasure to its captors. 
 
 Of all this, however, the feeling was lost when, ascending to 
 the parapet, the brilliant panorama of the ba^- appeared. And 
 Avhen, from this key to the harbor, the view expanded to the 
 Avaving outline of main and island, and when, upon this key, 
 the tiag of the Confederacy, together with the Palmetto flag, 
 were both expanded to the breeze ; and when the deafening 
 shouts arose from the masses clustered upon boats and upon 
 the shores, and when the batteries around the entire circuit 
 shook the fortress with the thun<lers of their salutation, the 
 feeling that the victor}- was indeed complete; that the triumph 
 was a fact accomplished ; that liberty had indeed been vin- 
 dicated, and that the State had established her claim to the 
 skill and courage necessary to the cause she had the intellec- 
 tual intrepidity to avow, thrilled in the breast of every one of 
 Carolina's sons, as seldom has such feeling thrilled in the 
 breasts of an}- men before. Shortly after the arrival, the gar- 
 rison marched out, and were received on l)oard the Isabel; 
 "which, however, from the condition of the tide, was vinable to 
 move oft", and it was a somewhat unpleasant circumstance that 
 Major Anderson and his command should have been made 
 unwilling spectators of the exultations insi)ired by their defeat. 
 
 Of those suftering from the casualty we have mentioned, one 
 was killed upon the spot; two were wounded, it is supposed 
 moi'tally, and were left for medical treatment; and two others 
 badly wounded, also, at their earnest solicitation, were cari-ied 
 oft-. 
 
 The occasion was not without the charm and interest afford- 
 ed by the presence of the fair. The lady of his Excellency 
 Grovernor Pickens, and the wife and daughter of Attornc}-- 
 Gencral Ilayne, witnessed the ceremony from the boat, and 
 Mrs. llenr}' Bonnetheau has the distinction of being the first 
 in the fort under the flag of the Confederacy. She was down 
 to attend the sister of Lieut. Davis, her guest during the period 
 of her brother's conflnement to the fort, and with the eye and 
 genius of an artist, it was, doubtless, with a feeling of especial 
 pleasure that she w'as favored with the oiiportuuities of this 
 occasion. 
 
12 
 
 Col. Iiiplcj was put in coinnian<l. The departments of the 
 service, necessary to bring the fort to order, were di.stril)uted. 
 The men were preparing such rude appliances for comfort as 
 the dreary place admitted of; and as, at twilight, we steamed 
 off for the city, of those standing upon the ledge around the 
 liase of the fort, the last to he seen was the venerable Kdmund 
 Kuffin, of Virginia, who, with canteen and blanket strajiped 
 ujion his shoulder, seemed to be submitting with exemplary 
 complacency to the experience of a volunteer. 
 
 TKE FIGHT AS SEEN FPvO.^I CUMMIXGS' POINT. 
 
 [ritOM A SPECIAL COURESPOXDENT OX MOUIMS ISLAND.] 
 
 On Thursday morning, when I came to Morris Island, it was 
 evident that tlic term of preparation and practice was soon to 
 close. The men all expected the order to open fire that night. 
 And, indeed, there were reasons enough to justify the belief 
 that it would be given. It was generally known that a fruit- 
 less demand for the surrender of Fort Sumter had been made 
 that afternoon. And, from what was known of Gen. Jieaure- 
 gard, nobody imagined that he would delay action many hours 
 after such a refusal. Besides, the unusual ])rocecdings at the 
 batteries bearing on Fort Sumter showed jjlainl}' that we wei'O 
 upon the eve of battle. The sand-bags, which screenetl from 
 Anderson's view the 42-2)Ounders at tlie Point Battery, were 
 hastily removed as soon as it was dark; the works in the 
 neighborhood of the Point were all lit up with lanterns; the 
 guns were loaded, shotted and sighted, and the men Avere kept 
 at their jiOsts long alter their usual time for retiring. Thus 
 matters stood until a t'vw minutes after eight o'clock, when, to 
 the great chagi'in of the imjiatient young gunners, their officers 
 gave the order to return to their quarters. The comjianies ac- 
 eordingl}- tiled off. as usual, to their camps, the tattoo resounded 
 over the dark sand hills, the tents Avere soon tenanted, and the 
 men forgot their (lisa]i]H.)iiUuient in sleep. 
 
 THE KOM15.\Ul)MENT OPENED. 
 
 A light rain commenced falling soon after midnight and con- 
 tinued, with ir.lermissions, foi- several hours. At half-past four 
 o'clock in the morning of Friday the more wakeful of our men 
 were aroused by the tlistant boom of a shell. "We afterwards 
 learned from the sentinels that it came fi-om the Fort Johnson 
 mortar battery. In a moment the camps Avere all astir. The 
 long roll summoned a few drowsy ones to the ranks, and the 
 eager squads, convinced that the time for action had at last 
 arrived, trotted off at a quick pace tOAvards their respective 
 
posts. Everything l)oin<;- in readiness, the three batteries of 
 Morris Island, bearing upon Fort Sumter, ojiened immodiatel}'. 
 It was not 3-et daybreak, and the secne. wliich at that moment 
 "was novel, was picturesque as well. The course of the shells 
 on their licrv wa}' could he easily traced until they exploded in 
 a white cloud of smoke, followed by a dull detonation, over the 
 parapets of Fort Sumter. The effect of the solid shot was also 
 ]KM'ceptilile with the naked eye. At each discharge of the guns, 
 either the water adjacent to the fort would be daslied up in great 
 sheets of spra}', or the dense brown cloud of crumbling brick 
 and mortar would mark the spot upon the ramparts hit by the 
 balls. Meanwhile we could see that the batteries at other points 
 in the harbor were as actively emjiloyed as our own. Ever and 
 anon the shells flew out from the mortar batteries at Fort John- 
 son, Sullivan's Island, and Mount Pleasant. The Floating Bat- 
 tery, stationed in the Cove, was quite hidden from our view by 
 the smoke from its own guns, but it was not ditficult to see the 
 cftective execution of its 42-pounders upon the north parapet of 
 Fort Sumter. Quite a large portion of the Sullivan's Island 
 shore was also wrapped in the white smoke, but the incessant 
 flashing from the merlons of Fort Moultrie assured us that 
 IJipley was hammering away with characteristic vigor. At 
 first the Morris Island batteries alternated regularly with the 
 others, but later this arrangement was found embarrassing, and 
 our batteries tired at the discretion of the officers commanding 
 them. 
 
 now THE GUN'S WERE MANNED. 
 
 Here, perhaps, I ought to give some account of the men who 
 worked the guns in this portion of the harbor. The batteries 
 which bore upon Fort Sumter from Morris Island are three in 
 number, mounting in all six guns and six mortars. The outer- 
 most of these is the now famous Trapier Battery, in itself a 
 monument of engineering science and energy. It is composed 
 of massive beams and sand-bags, and contains at this time three 
 eight-inch mortars. When the work was first built, it also 
 mounted some heavy guns ; but these have been removed, their 
 carriages and closed embrasures remaining to show the position 
 which they occupied. The Trapier Battery was manned by the 
 ^Marion Artillery, Captain King, assisted, towards the close of 
 the bombardment, b}- the Sumter Guards, Captain Russell. 
 The former company laboi-ed incessantly at their pieces, from 
 the opening of the bombardment until Saturday morning. 
 Their fire was skillful, and but very few of their shells failed 
 to explode cither in or over the fort. 
 
 The next work, and nearer to the city than the Trapier bat- 
 tery, is the Stevens, or Iron Batter}- — a novelty in military 
 engineering — planned by and constructed under the supervision 
 of an estimable son of this State. The efficiency of this unique 
 
14 
 
 fortification was a matter of no little concern to many previous 
 to the action : but all doubts Avere immediately dispelled by 
 Major Anderson's tests, as I shall presently relate. The Iron 
 Battery contains three heavy Columltiads. It is flanked by 
 immense slojtes of sand bai^s, and these are burrowed very 
 curiously, luit socurel}-, with places to retreat, which the sol- 
 diers call "rat-holes." but which are in reality very dry. capa- 
 cious and comfortable chambers, except, ]>erhaps, that the 
 ceilinix mi^ht l»e a trifle hii^her. And here I ma}' as well say 
 that all tlie fortifications have one or more of these rat-holes, 
 to be used as a magazine, a hos]iital or as quarters for the relief 
 according to circumstances. Passing from the Iron Jiattory, 
 we come to the Point Batter}', a large work containing three 
 ten-inch mortars, two 42-pounders, and the newly arrived rifle 
 cannon, presented to the State by Charles K. Prioleau, JOsq., 
 now in Liverpool, and junior partner in the firm of John Fraser 
 & Co. It will, doubtless, be a great satLsfixction to that gentle- 
 man to know that his timely gift was so serviceable to our 
 troops. The gun has patent side-sights attached, by means of 
 which the greatest accuracy of range Avas ol)tained, and each 
 of its conical balls crashed tliroiigh its mark with telling eftect. 
 Both these last named important posts, the Iron and Point Bat- 
 teries, were held by the Palmetto Guards, Captain Cutliliert — a 
 gallant corps, which, for numbers, alertness, efficiency and un- 
 exampled coolness in action, Avon the respect and admiration of 
 all Avho saAv them during the fight. I think that their olliccrs 
 must be proud of such men, and I know tiiat those oflieers are 
 not uuAvorthy of their command. The tAvo batteries manned 
 by the Guards Avere commanded by Major Stevens, of the Cita- 
 del Academy. Captain Cuthbcrt devoted himself especially to 
 the direction of the Iron Battery. The rifled cannon Avas 
 Avorked by a squad of the Palmetto Guards, under the superin- 
 dence of Captain Thomas, of the Citadel Acatlemy. I shlfuld 
 not omit to mention the fine looking conqjanies in chai'ge of the 
 long line of I)atteries pointing to the Ship ('hannel and extend- 
 ing along the Avhole extent of the Morris Island beach. Al- 
 though they Avere not called into action, avc cannot forget that 
 it is to their sleepless vigilance avc must attribute the indisposi- 
 tion of the fleet to reinforce Anderson's garrismi. Pei-liaps 
 through the foolhardinoss of our enemies, they may yet have 
 an o])])ortuiiity of AMudieating their valor in the fight as avcU 
 as their vigilance on the Avatch. 
 
 ANDERSON OPENS HIS BATTERIES. 
 
 At half-past six o'clock a dull, unpleasant drizzle began to 
 fall, and tlie leaden sky betokened a dreary day. Our guns 
 kept pounding indiscriminately at the Avails, parapet and quar- 
 ters of Fort Sumter, but for nearly tAVO hours no reply came. 
 The Fort seemed as if all Avithiu Avere asleep; not a casemate 
 
15 
 
 ^vas opened, and there was no movement noticeable in any por- 
 tion of the post, excepting the fiapping of tlio United States 
 flag, floating defiantly from a very lofty staflP. Thus things 
 continued until a few minutes after seven o'clock, when a shout 
 from the Jiundreds peeping over the sand-bags announced that 
 Anderson had opened fire. lie began with his heavy casemate 
 guns bearing upon Cummings' Point. His first etforts were 
 directed to batter down the Iron Battery. For a time his shots 
 were watched with intense interest, but after fifteen minutes' 
 firing it became apparent that he could make no serious impres- 
 sion upon the iron-cased roof Ball after ball rebounded from 
 the close layers of railroad iron, and sjdashed their way harm- 
 lessly through the marsh beyond. Most of his shots were aimed 
 too high, and whizzed above the battery without striking it. 
 These went ricochetting over the surface of the water, tearing 
 up vast masses of the sea-weed, and giving a terrible fright to 
 hundreds of the sea-fowl, which rose in every direction from 
 the marsh. The effect of the shots which hit the iron battery 
 was not perceptible to those within, except by the noise of the 
 concussion, and even this was not so loud as Ave had expected. 
 
 At half-past seven o'clock, the flash from the parapet of Fort 
 Sumter announced that Anderson had begun to Avork his bai*- 
 bette guns. This, hoAvever, did not continue A'ery long, for the 
 continual explosion of our shells in CA'ery direction, on and 
 around the ])arapets, soon admonished him of the risk of ex- 
 posing his men in that position. At tAventy minutes before 
 eight o'clock, an alarm from our guard boats cruising about the 
 l»ar, announced a steamer in the ofling. Looking out from the 
 crest of the sand hills Avith my glass, I could descry, in the far 
 distance, a large steamer, A'eiy similar in apjiearance to those 
 Avhich plj' between Charleston and Xcav York. It Avas after- 
 Avards ascertained to be the Nashville. Later in the day three 
 other ^vessels Avere seen — two of them eA'identl3^ men-of-war. 
 They made no attempt, hoAvever, to come in, but la}^ together 
 in the offing throughout the da}'. About half-past ten o'clock, 
 a shot from Anderson struck the middle port of the Iron Bat- 
 tery, crushing in the iron plates that protected the guns, 
 making an indenture of several inches. The ball did not pene- 
 trate, but glanced ofl" like the others over the marsh. The 
 force Avith Avhich it struck the door, hoAVCA'cr, unfortunately so 
 disarranged the lever by Avhich the port Avas ojtened and closed, 
 that it Avas found impossible, during the remainder of the day, 
 to Avork that gun. The other two kept up a brisk fire through- 
 out the Avhole of the bombaidment. 
 
 The firing from all the batteries on both sides of the harbor 
 was maintained steadily until nightfall. Major Anderson, dur- 
 ing the afternoon, ai»peared to have become conA'inced that his 
 efforts to riddle the Iron Battery Avere ineffectual, for the steady 
 fire Avhich he had kept up against Cummings' Point Avas trans- 
 ferred to Fort Moultrie, the Dahlirren and the Floatinsr Batte- 
 
IG 
 
 ries on the other side of the ba}-. lie took caro, liowevor, at 
 irrei^ular intervals of tiftccn or twenty minutes, to sond a sliot 
 Avliizzini^ ovcT our lioads, and tliis kept our men upon the qui 
 live. At one time I noticed that the direction of his shots 
 a<^ainst Mf»rris Island was changt'd from the Point batteries to 
 those farther out. Perhaps he meant to rake tlic camps, the 
 si-^lit of which was phiinly enough indicated by our flags. If 
 such was liis design, his aim was veiy creditable, for the balls — 
 some said grape — whistled a few feet al)ove the heads of the 
 tSumter (Juards, who had been detached from the Seventeenth 
 Pegiment, and posted as a reserve at the head of the line of 
 tents, to act as a relief to the Marion Artillery, at the Trapier 
 Battery. Whenever a flash fi-oni the south-eastern casemate 
 announced that a shot was coming, it was somewhat ludicrous 
 to notice the sudden dodge of hundreds of heads behind the 
 sand hills, and the abject prostration of such of the darkies as 
 had not already betaken themselves to the other extremity of 
 the Island. A few minutes befoi-e seven o'clock, the tire from 
 Fort Sumter ceased. Shortly afterwards our guns also stopped 
 firing. At half-past seven the rain, which had been lowering 
 all day, began to fall in torrents, and most of our men sought 
 such shelter as was to be had. The storm was a trying one. 
 The wind howled drearily over the sand hills, and the rain 
 descended with a force and volume, against which the slight 
 tents and leak}' slieds — the only available cover — were a poor 
 protection. The storm continued, with an occasional lull, until 
 near moi-ning. Meantime our gallant young gunners at the 
 Mortar Batteries, nothing daunted by the disagreeable rain, 
 had kept np their firing of shells during the entire night, 
 though at somewhat longer intervals than before. The Sumter 
 Guards deserve special mention for the alacrity with which 
 they })ei'fbrmed the laborious and unpleasant duty of strength- 
 ening the foot of the Iron Battery with sand-bags. For many 
 liours of the night during the worst of the storm they worked 
 steadily, lifting the wet and heav}'' bags into position, and 
 wdien day broke the face of the work was even stronger than 
 on Friday. 
 
 SECOND DAY OF THE KOMBARDMENT. 
 
 Satui-day morning, the 1'.]{\i of April, a day long to be re- 
 membered in our annals, as marked by the close of the most 
 extraordinary bombardment on record, came in bright and 
 glorious. The clouds had cleared away, but the i-ain liad left 
 the ground moist, and the air pleasantly cool. About sunrise 
 11 vigorous fire was re-opened from our guns. The ettects of 
 the first day's bombardment coidd now be easily seen without 
 the aid of a glass. The south and east facades of Fort Sumter 
 were complctel}' pitted l)y bails, and from what we had seen of 
 the fire from Sullivan's Island and the Cove, we knew that the 
 

 17 
 
 north facade could not be in much bettor condition, Tlie edge 
 of the parapet was in many places cut otf, a number of the 
 guns were dismounted, and the embrazures of the casemates 
 Were so battei'ed, that the regularity . of their outline could 
 hardly be distinguished. The chimneys and roof of the bar- 
 racks Avere also perforated in many i)laces by our balls. The 
 guns of Fort Sumter did not re-open tire until seven o'clock, 
 when the shots began to pour in (piick succession from the 
 casemates pointing towards Fort Moultrie. Ripley's men re- 
 turned shot for shot, and at each discharge from Sullivan's 
 Island, we could see great fragments of the parapet of Sum- 
 ter toppling over into the water. 
 
 FORT SUMTER ON FIRE. 
 
 At ten minutes after eight, A. M., a thick black smoke was 
 seen issuing from the southern portion of Fort Sumter, and a 
 moment later, a wild shout of triumph rang along the sand- 
 hills, and was heartil}' echoed across the water from Sullivan's 
 Island and Fort Johnson, as we saw the red flames piercing 
 the top of the barracks, and borne eastward by the higii wind, 
 wrapping the entire ])arapet in dense clouds of smoke. The 
 sight infused new confidence into our men. and the bombard- 
 ment immediateh' became far more rajtid and fierce than at 
 any previous time. The singular coolness with which our gun- 
 ners had, until then, performed their duty, seemed for a mo- 
 ment to have given wa}* to the excitement of the novel scene. 
 The bombs flew so thick and fast, that we could see them 
 exploding in groups over the flaming fortress, while only a few 
 seconds intervened between the hammering i\ve of tlie heavy 
 ordnance. The fire blazed furiously, until the whole line of 
 the barracks on the south side of Fort Sumter was swept 
 away, leaving only some of the crumbled, l)lackened and tot- 
 tering chimneys towering over the I'amparts. Then the fire 
 burned lower, the flames sank behind the parapet, and we were 
 lelt in ignorance as to their further progress, in the coarse of 
 the foren(;on, we noticed several violent explosions, apparently 
 doing serious damage to the fort, but whetlier these were 
 caused by the fire communicating to hand-grenades and like 
 combustibles, or to the magazines, we could oidy conjecture. 
 During the pi-ogress of the conflagration, for a longtime Major 
 Anderson maintained a steady and terrible firing against Fort 
 Moultrie, but very few guns were fired towards Morris Island. 
 
 THE FLAG-STAFF SHOT AW.VV. 
 
 At a quarter before one o'clock, another tremendous cheer 
 from the watchers upon our batteries called me to niy ])oint of 
 observation, just in time to see the flag-statf of Fort Sumter 
 bearing the flag of the United States falling heavily inside the 
 
18 
 
 Fort. From this auspicious moment, the impression liccame 
 general among our men that the fortress -vvouhl be ours hel'oro 
 niglit fall. For filteen or twenty minutes I could see no ensign 
 over the fort, but, at the end of that time, J descried a largo 
 United .States flag elevated amid the smoke close on the north 
 Avail of the fort. Meantime a small boat had shot out from the 
 beach of Cummings' Point towards the wharf of Foi-t Sumter. 
 I afterwanls learned that it contained ("ol. I.ouis T. Wigfall, 
 aid to (tcu. Beauregard, and Private (Jourdin Young, of the 
 Palmetto (Juards. Col. Wigfall bore a flag of truce u])on his 
 sword. A white flag also waved ujion Fort Sumter, and in a 
 short time the conclusion of the negotiations was announced to 
 us by the disappearance of the United States flag from the fort. 
 
 THE SURRENDER ANNOUNCED. 
 
 The rest is briefly told Col. Wigfall returned and notified 
 the Captains of the several companies to inform their resjjective 
 commands that the fort was unconditionally surrendered. The 
 scene that Ibllowed was altogether indescribable. The troops 
 upon the hills cheered and cheered again. A horseman gal- 
 loped at full speed along the beach, waving his cap to the 
 troops near the Light-house. These soon caught up the cry, 
 and the whole shore rang with the glad shouts of thousands. 
 The first burst of exultation over, all eyes were turned to the 
 :fleet in the offing, and the guards resumed their wonted rounds 
 upon the batteries which have so nobly vindicated the inde- 
 pendence of the State. 
 
 A NIGHT IN THE HARBOR— A CIIUISF AFTER THE 
 
 ENEMY. 
 
 Steamer Seabrook, Stono Tm,et, ") 
 April 12, 18G1. j 
 
 About seven o'clock on Thursday evening last, two of the 
 South Carolina vessels, under command of Commodore Ilarts- 
 tene, left Charleston for a cruise off the bar. 
 
 The scpiadron consisted of the steamers Clinch and Sea- 
 brook. The former was the flag-ship. B(<(h have been fitted 
 up with a view to service in the harbor, and are furnished with 
 twelve-pounder howitzers, and a force suilicient to sei-ve them. 
 There was no want of ammunition. In short, eveiy prepai'a- 
 tion was made for a successful cruise. The tbllowing are the 
 officers of the Clinch: Jjieut. Pelot, CVjmmanding; Lieut. 
 Porcher; Midshipmen R. JL. Bacot and G. D. Jiryan. The 
 Seabrook was commanded as follows : Lieutenant Com- 
 manding J. M. Stribbling; Lieutenant Evans; First Assistant 
 
19 
 
 Engineer, J. Jl.Loper; Assistant Surgeon li. W. Gibbes; Gun- 
 ner Cuddy, and ^lidsbipmen Ingraham and Wilkinson. The 
 Lad}'^ ])avis, also forms a part of the squadron, but she was not 
 on duty last night. Her ofticcrs consist of Lieut. Dozier, Coni- 
 uinnding; Lieut. Grimble; First Lieut. Henry A. Mullins, act- 
 ing rilot ; First Assistant Engineer (leddes; Third Assistant 
 Engineer Yates, and Midshipman Thomas. The Clinch had 
 taken her position near the bar early in the afternoon, and 
 accordingly it Avas the Seabrook that left Charleston at 7 
 o'clock, cheered by the large crowd at the wharf About half 
 past seven, under easy head of steam, the various conjectures 
 in regard to what would be the pi-obable repl}' of Major Andei*- 
 son to the summons to surrender, were suddenly cut short by 
 the look-out reporting a rocket seaward. All eyes were in- 
 stantl}' turned in that direction, and two red rockets burst in 
 the air, followed by the burning of a blue light. Fort Johnson 
 promjttly recognized the signal that our enem}^ had made his 
 appeaivince, sending up the answering rocket almost the in- 
 stant the blue light, displayed by the Clinch, disappeared. 
 Excitement and preparation for whatever might occur immedi- 
 ately succeeded. The howitzers were manned, the decks were 
 stripjied. guns, revolvers and ammunition were distributed. 
 AVhen all that could l)e had been done, silently sped the steamer 
 on her course, steadily she approached Fort Sumter, all black- 
 ness in the distance. Suddenly a hail was heard, and a hoarse 
 voice shouted "the pirates are otf the bar." " AVhat steamer!'" 
 was asked. "The Harriet Lane, twelve miles out," shouted the 
 same gruflf voice, and we were then informed that she alone, of 
 all the expected cruisers, had been seen. Great eagerness was 
 at once manifested to reach our destination. It was fully ex- 
 pected an attempt would be made to land troops in boats. 
 This it was the purpose of the expedition to prevent. Finally, 
 at 8 o'clock, the Steamer lay off tlie Clinch, when a pilot boat 
 brought a confirmation of the approach of the ILirriet Lane. 
 Commodore Hartstcne then took possession of the flag-ship, 
 and twenty^ men were transferred from the Clinch to the Sea- 
 brook. The hour at which Major Anderson was to indicate his 
 decision bj'^ the firing of a shell, having arrived, all eyes were 
 strained in the direction of Fort Sumter. As minute after 
 minute elapsed, and the stillness and blackness of Fort Sumter 
 remained unbroken, the belief became general that ^lajor An- 
 derson had surrendered. 
 
 Li the meantime the scjuadron lost not sight of its duty. 
 Both vessels cruised all night in search of the expected war 
 boats, just within the bar. It was the original intention of the 
 Commanding Officer to have proceeded out to sea, but as the 
 wind increased, and there was every indication of a "heavy 
 blow," the pilots said it could not be done with safety. In this 
 manner an hour passed, supper was eaten — 10 o'clock arrived, 
 and yet Fort Sumter had given no signal, nor had the slightest 
 
20 
 
 appearanr-o of host ili ties been noticed on tlic part of our batte- 
 ries. Belief now became certainty, and not one of us but ex- 
 pected to steam into Cliarleston for breakfast, after saluting 
 tbe Palmetto wavin*^ over that much coveted " four acres of 
 land." The expedition, however, redoubled its viirilance, in 
 order to prevent the jtossibility of surprise. liieut. Stribliiii^ 
 8lee])lessly paced the deck all nif^ht. His cneri;y and persever- 
 ance overcauic all ol)stacles. Lieut. Evans took the first watch 
 as ollicer of the deck; Midshipman Insj^raham took the second; 
 p"'irst Assiistaiit En-^ineer IjO])cr the third; (Juinier Cuddy 
 the fourth; and Mi(lslii])man Wilkinson the moi-niui; watch. 
 Scarcely, however, had the latter officer entered upon the dis- 
 charge of his duties, before he made a report that cleared uj) 
 all doubt as to the decision of Major Anderson and the deter- 
 mination of Genei-al Beauregard. 
 
 At 4.4U A. M., the signal shell was thrown from Fort Johnson, 
 and shortly afterwards the contest — a contest that m""!!! make 
 the 12th of April, 1801, a memorable day in history — for the 
 possession and occupation of Fort Sumter commeiieed. Shell 
 tbllowed shell in quick succession ; the harbor seemed to be sur- 
 rounded with miuiatui'e volcanoes belching forth tire and smoke. 
 Still Major Anderson gave no sign of resentment, save the defi- 
 ance ex[)ressed at his tiag-staff. But a shell from Cumtuings' 
 Point bursts on thepai'apet — the brave Cummings" Pointers are 
 getting the range ! Another falls quite within ; and now Fort 
 Moultrie seems to have got the range; and the Floating Bat- 
 tery, wliich tlie North believed a humbug, begins to indicate 
 her position. She's not exactly at her wharf in (.'hai-Ieston, nor 
 is it positive she M'ill not take a position nearer still to Fort 
 Sumter. It is getting to be warm work for Major Anderson. 
 There, I see a flash — there goes the tirst shot from Fort Sumter, 
 right plump at Cummings' Point. A considerable interval 
 elapses, which is im))roved by all the batteries within range of 
 Fort Sumter, and then the question of whether ^lajor Ander- 
 son will keep up the tire is definitely settled. Casemate follows 
 casemate with doggetl deliberation. But whilst all this was 
 trans])iiMng, we were ra])idly steaming out to sea. There goes 
 the whistle of the (Jeneral Clinch, and we haul up close and 
 receive orders to follow in her wake. We come to anchor, and 
 presently Lieut. Stribling starts fron^ his seat, seizes a glass, 
 and looks eagerly eastward. He reports a steamer, and what 
 he supposes to be a brig, standing straight in. The vessels are 
 at a gi-eat distance, however; but when we see them more 
 plaiidy, we are almost satisfied that we have had a sight of the 
 Lincoln squadron, or at least a portion of it. The General 
 Clinch niakes another signal, and we haul in our anchor and 
 steam towards Cummings' Point. As we go by battery after 
 battery, we can see the men on the beach waving their hands 
 to us, and distinguish a faint cheer. At last we come to anchor 
 close in, where an excellent view of the firing was obtained. 
 
21 
 
 In a brief period the steamer wliieli had been seen off tlic bar 
 became plainl}' visible at C'ummings' Point. She Avas taken for 
 the Harriet Lane. The squadron immediately steamed out to 
 sea, and as we neared the strange steamer, she ran up the Pal- 
 metto flasj;. It is believed to have been the Nashville, Captain 
 Murray, from New York. At tirst she made for the squadron, 
 but afterwards chan<^ed her course, and when last seen was 
 headiuijf for Charleston. 
 
 vStono was reached about ten o'clock, A. M., without any fur- 
 ther adventure, and as the vessel came to anchor, Fort Pal- 
 metto fired a gun. Commodore Hartstene went on shore, and 
 made a report. It appears that this was the first intelligence 
 of the commencement of hostilities that had been received ; 
 the firing of the guns not being audible at this distance, in con- 
 sequence of the wind. 
 
 At seven o'clock we left Fort Palmetto. All was quiet there. 
 No steamers were in sight, and the Edisto had arrived with 
 Captain Shcdd's command, consisting of eighty tall, stout, 
 lighting men. The men are in the best of spirits, and have 
 made uji their minds to fight to the death. Captain Pope and 
 the Lafayette Artiller}^ have been at this fortress for the last 
 three months, and they have made it almost impregnable. 
 Their battery fully commands Stono Inlet, and woe to the 
 unlucky vessel with Yankee colors that escapes the breakers 
 and gets within range. 
 
 The firing of our batteries was audible for miles, and the 
 large volume of smoke issuing from Fort Sumter created almost 
 universal belief that Major Anderson had surrendered. 
 
 SCENES AND INCIDENTS OF THE BOMBARDMENT. 
 
 APPKARANCE OF FORT SUMTER ON SATURDAY EVENIXCr. 
 
 An officer, who visited the fort soon after the terms of evac- 
 nation were made, states that the scene there presented is 
 bej'ond conception. Without, the walls have the appearance, 
 at a distance, of having been covered with an immense number 
 of brick poultices spattered in every directioii. This is the 
 shattering effect of the shot. Within, the entire foi't wore an 
 aspect as if the hand of the destroying angel had swept ruth- 
 lessly by, and left not a solitar}- object to relieve the general 
 desolation. The blackened walls of the officers' and soldiers' 
 quarters were yet smoking, ashes and embers met the eye at 
 every turn, while the shot and shell which had been rained 
 upon the stronghold lay in great quantities upon all portions 
 of the parade ground. 
 
CONDITION OF THE GARRISON. 
 
 The a])])C'arancu of both Major Antlerson, his officers and the 
 men, indicated the terribk^ nature of the ordeal from wliich 
 they liad Just emcrujed. Deprived of sleep for many hours, 
 fatigued witli their hibors at the guns, and prostrated by tlieir 
 battle with an element which waged beyond their control, they 
 looked worn, hagi^ard, and ready to drop with sheer exhaus- 
 tion. When the tire was at its greatest height. Major Ander- 
 son stated the only manner in which they could l)reathe was 
 by laying flat upon the ground within the casemates, with 
 their faces to the earth; while added to the danger was the 
 occasional explosion of the jiiles of shells collected lor service 
 at different points within the fort. It is to the fact that so 
 few men were in the fortification that is due the preservation 
 of life. Major Anderson himself stated, that had there been 
 two hundred more, not less than one-half of them must have 
 been killed, owing to the absence of sufficient room, under the 
 circumstances, for their protection. As it was, their ]irovisions 
 Avould have given out in two days more, when an unconditional 
 surrender would have necessarily resulted. lie also remarked, 
 that yesterday was one of the proudest days of his lite, for 
 while lie had endeavored to do his duty as an otiicer, he had not 
 taken the life of a fellow being. In conversing with those 
 al)out him, Anderson was free in expressions of regret at the 
 necessity which compelled the destruction of public property. 
 On being introduced to Majui" Stevens of the Iron Battery, he 
 complimented that gentleman on the efficiency of his battery. 
 He asHurcd the Carolina officer that his work could be no 
 better done. 
 
 THK EVACUATION. 
 
 The arrangements for the departure of ^lajor Anderson 
 were completed on Sunday morning. At the early hour of five 
 o'clock, Commodore Ilartstcno, antl Messrs. Jones, Chief of the 
 Staff, and Pryor and Miles, Aids to General Beauregard, ac- 
 comi)anied by Lieutenant Snyder, of Major Anderson's com- 
 mand, proceeded in the Clinch to the fleet off the Bar. They 
 found the commanding officer. Captain Gillis, on board the 
 Powliatan. Ijieutenant Snyder obtained an interview witli 
 Captain Gillis, who asked and obtained permission to visit 
 Major Anderson, for the purpose of arranging for his depar- 
 ture. Accordingly, about nine o'clock, Ca])tain Gillis and 
 Lieutenant Snyder were deposited at Fort Sumter, when it 
 was decided that Major Anderson and his command would 
 accept the ofier of the Isabel, which had been made to him. 
 
 Major Anderson and his command marched out to the tune 
 of "Yankee Doodle." They were (b-essed in full uniform, and 
 carried their arms. Major Anderson looked careworn and 
 deeply despondent, produced no doubt, among other circum- 
 
 J 
 
23 
 
 stances, by the sad accident which liappened while sahitinj^ his 
 flag. Wlicn the sahitc of Major Anderson to his flag had com- 
 menced, the Major was standing on the Isabel, when a gentle- 
 man inquired if thirty-tour guns was the salute. " No," said 
 the Major, "it is one hundred, and those are scarcely enough," 
 and then burst into tears. 
 
 THE FIRE IN FORT SUMTER. 
 
 On Sunday afternoon, after Governor Pickens and StaflP, and 
 General Jieauregard and Staff had started from Sullivan's 
 Island to take possession of Port Sumter, they were notified 
 that a fire had broken out, and that the magazine was in great 
 danger. The boat immediately put back to Sullivan's Island, 
 and took on board two Pire Engines that were on the Island, 
 and a com|)any of regulars from the Ploating Battery. The 
 Engines were conveyed under the command of Col. E. S. 
 Duryea, and upon their landing, a stream of water was imme- 
 diately thrown upon the fire nearest the magazine. The brakes 
 were manned by a comjiany of regulars, and by volunteers 
 from the noble Palmetto Guard. Col. Durj-ca returned to the 
 city about nine o'clock on Sunday evening, for the pur^iose of 
 obtaining more engines. The .Etna Pire Company, with their 
 apparatus, and the Axe Company, with their new steam 
 engine, were almost immediately placed npon the steanier. 
 They went down to the Port in charge of our very etficient 
 Chief, M. H. Nathan, Esq. The firemen played three streams 
 all night upon the burning mass, and partiall}' succeeded in 
 arresting the progi*ess of the fire. About half-past ten, in pur- 
 suance of notice on the bulletin boards, a detachment of five 
 firemen from each company, making fifty in all, left the city 
 under the command of T. Tupper, Esq., to relieve their com- 
 rades. At three o'clock, a report was brought by Col. Durj-ea 
 that the companies were at last gaining upon the fire, and the 
 magazine was considered safe. 
 
 THE PREMATURE DISCHARGE. 
 
 The following are the names of the men killed and wounded 
 hy the premature diseliarge of the cannon in firing the salute : 
 Daniel Howe, killed almost instantl}', and buried yesterday, 
 the service being performed by the Hev. 3Ii'. Yates; Edward 
 Gal way, mortally wounded, and carried to the hospital ; James 
 Hayes, George Pielding, John Irwin, George Pritchard, severely 
 wounded. The above are all of Company E, Pirst Ilegiment 
 United States Artillery. 
 
 A soldier's burial. 
 
 The Eev. W. B. Yates, the zealous Pastor of the Seaman's 
 Chapel, had just concluded an impressive sermon at the Bethel 
 
24 
 
 on a special Providence, as illustrated liy the hapjiv and l>rilliant 
 issue of the liomharilineiit of Fort Sumter, when he was waited 
 upon hy an oflieer and req\iesti'd to ])crforni the burial service 
 ovei' the unlorlunate soldier who had lost his life hy accident. 
 "With characteristic ])r()ni))t ncss he answered the call. and. con- 
 veyed in the Lodehars hoat, which was j)ro]H'lled hy the sinewy 
 arms of the youn<i; sailoi's of the .School Ship, was in a few 
 minutes inside the walls of the fortress. He was received with 
 courtesy by the gallant Anderson, and performed the solemn 
 rites for the stranger soldier who had passed uidiurt through 
 the Itattle, and fell under the arrow of death while his heart 
 was beating high M'ith the hope of a joyous reunion with wife 
 and children. Before committing the mangled body to the 
 dust, the minister pronounced an apjiropi-iate address to his 
 comrades in arms. The torn and mangled retnains of the 
 brave soldier were then laid in a grave in the middle of the 
 3'ard, and after the earth had been heaped upon the sacred 
 spot, a volley was fii-ed, the drum beat its solemn roll, and the 
 trarrison was transferred to the Isabel. 
 
 LF,(iISLATOHS AND SOLDIERS. 
 
 During the conflict, so glorioush* triumphant, members of the 
 Convention, members of the Legislature, rendered zeahms and 
 valuable services at the ditferent posts and batteries. Kx-Gov. 
 Manning, Hon. James Chesnut, Jr., and the Hon. Wm. Porcher 
 Miles, of Gen. Beauregard's Staff, exhibited a coolness, fearless- 
 ness and disregard of danger, when moving from battery to 
 battery, giving the orders of the Commanding-General, and 
 inspiring coufldencc among the troops, that was worthy of the 
 highest admiration. These gentlen\en kept up constant com- 
 munication between the batteries and head-quarters during the 
 bombardment, with shot and shell bursting over their heads 
 and all arotind tlu'in. On ..Morris' Island, besides tiie command- 
 ing officer. Gen. James Simons, there were of members of the 
 Legislature, Lieutenant-Colonel W. G. DeSaussure of the Ar- 
 tillei-y. Col. T. G. Lamar, Capt. A. J. Green of the Columbia 
 Ai'tilier}', Col. Henry Jiuist, Col. Maxcy Gregg of the First 
 liegiment of Vohniteei-s, a member of the Convention, and Col. 
 T. Y. Simons, also a niciuber of the Convention, who, since the 
 adjou)-nment, has been on Moi-ris' Island as one of Brigadier- 
 General Simons' Aids. Other distinguished volunteers, both 
 from the Convention and the Ijegislature, accepted appoint- 
 nieiils on the Staff, or sboiddercd a musket in the ranks. 
 
 TIIK FI-OATIN(i H.VTTERY. 
 
 This powci-riil structure was a great success. Upon its face 
 thei-e are twenty-live well defined marks of balls, and manj'' 
 truces of glancing shots. The deepest indentation does not 
 
25 
 
 exceed seven inches, and several otliers measure two, three or 
 four inches. The repulsive power and virtues of the palmetto, 
 fortified and coated with iron, as in this case, were signally 
 exhibited, and the predictions of many who considered thcn\- 
 selves "knowing ones" concerning the slaughter pen. have 
 been falsified. It is now established be^-ond a doubt that a 
 floating fortress or battery of i)alinetto can lie made impreg- 
 nable — especially when the sons of the Palmetto are the engi- 
 neers, builders and defenders. The Floating l^attery received 
 in all one hundred and sixty-three shots from P^ort Sumter, and 
 discharged four hundred and ninety balls in return, of which, a 
 very large ])roportion hit the mark, and brought the brick dust. 
 In the decisive fire of Saturday, which for a tiine threatened to 
 all appearances to suject the garrison to a greater calamity 
 even than war, the heroic band on the Floating Battery watched 
 with generous admiration 'the devoted daring of Major Ander- 
 son's garrison amid the flames. When amid these trying cir- 
 cumstances Fort Sumter re-opened in a well directed volley, the 
 crj- arose "three cheers for Major Anderson." They were 
 given with a right good will, and lustily. 
 
 NARROW ESCAPES. 
 
 Although during the thirty-four consecutive hours through 
 which the boml)ardment lasted, not a man was in any way 
 injured upon our side, it cannot be said that our men altogether 
 escaped Major Anderson's balls. As Capt. Jones Avas standing 
 in the Point Battery a spent ball, which had struck the sand 
 bags above, rolled over striking him upon the back of the neck, 
 but not with sufficient force to hurt him. The ball — a thirty- 
 two pounder — was preserved as a memento of the occasion. 
 
 Arthur P. liining.a meml)er of the Palmetto Guard, stationed 
 at tlie Iron Batter}-, narrowly escaped death from ^lajor Ander- 
 son's first gun upon that point. He was upon the parapet, 
 about planting. the Palmetto Flag, when the first ball fron\ 
 Sumter passed within three feet of him, upon which he (still 
 retaining his position on the parapet) waved the flag aloft, as 
 if in defiance of Sumter, amid the cheers of his comrades, and 
 retired behind the battery. 
 
 MARION AND SUMTER. 
 
 The bi'ight-quartcrcd flag of the Marion Artillery floated 
 proudly over the Trapier Batterj' during the whole of the 
 bombardment. On Saturday morning, when the men at these 
 mortars were relieved by the Sumter Guards, the splendidly 
 broidered blue banner, presented by some ladies a short time 
 ago to the latter Company, Avas placed side by side with the 
 ensign of the ]\Iarion's, and the rest of the action was fought 
 with both flags waving over head. It was noticed as a singular 
 
 9- 
 
26 
 
 coincidence that i>i t]\o very moment whrn the eniMems of 
 the Ganu' Cock and the Swamp Fox were tirst Hutterini; 
 to<i;olher IVoni the crest of the l»attery, the fire was discovered 
 issuing from the parapet of Fort Sumter. 
 
 HOISTING OUR FLAGS. 
 
 The first Palmetto Fla<; was raised on Fort Sumter hy Cols. 
 F. J. Mos. s, Jr., and J. L. Dearinn;, of Governor Piekons' StaflF, 
 and the Confederate States Fla<f l»y Capt. Feri^uson, of General 
 Beaurciiiird's Staff, and others, in the presence of the Governor, 
 (leneral Beaurci^ard's Staff, and a hiruje numljer of gentlemen, 
 amon<f whom were Chancellor Carroll and Juilircs (Jlover an(l 
 AVardhiw. A salute was fired from each of the batteries on the 
 raising'of these flags. The detachment of IJeguhir Artillery, 
 Conii)an3' B, which served the Sumter Battery at Fort Moultrie, 
 under Lieuts. Alfred Ehett, Mitchel and Blake, has been 
 ordered to Fort Sumter, where the whole Companj' will remain 
 under Capt. IIallon([ui8t, who is its Captain, and is already 
 there with the first detachment...- 
 
 SUNDAY AFTER THE VICTORY. 
 
 The glorious issue of the bombardment was duly commemo- 
 rated in several of our Churches on the Sun<hi3' following the 
 surrender. The incidents in " Old St. Philips" we witnessed 
 were ileeply touching. The heart of the woi'shippers in that 
 sacred fane, consecrated by the precious historic memories 
 which made the glory of the "first teni])le"' on this site, had 
 been poured out in devout thanksgiving t(j the (Jiver of Victory, 
 when a venerable old man, leaning on his staff, was led by the 
 Jiector to the saci'cd desk. It was the Bishop of the Diocese, 
 wholly blind and ])hysically feeble, yet with the eyes of faith 
 discerning the light of Heaven, and rejoicing therein. In his 
 exhortation, he said that not only a patriotic, but a personal 
 interest in the great event of the jiast week had hrought him 
 to the city, and made him here abide until the battle had been 
 fought. Your boys were there and mine were there, and it was 
 right tliat tliey should he there. Still the heart had inl^' bled ; the 
 strong man, as well as the tender woman, had quivered under 
 the influences of natural affection, for we were not children, we 
 knew what we were doing, and had counted the cost, and had 
 weighed in our ver}' souls the warfiire upon which we were 
 going. And how very marvellous had been (Jod's doings! 
 JIow unparalleled his agency. All our children had passed 
 through the tire unhurt! "Not unto us, not unto us, but unto 
 
27 
 
 Thy name, Oli Lord, bo the glory I" We forbear to follow the 
 good Bishop through the affecting application Avhich he made 
 of this wonderful Providence of God, but cannot pass over the 
 strong testimony which lie bore to his firm persuasion, strength- 
 ened by travel through every section of our State in the'dis- 
 charge of pastoral duty, that the grand movement in which our 
 ])eop]e were now engaged, was begun by them in the deepest 
 conviction of duty to God, and after laying their case before 
 God — and God had most signally blessed our dependence on 
 him. 
 
 At the Cathedral of St. John and St. Finbar, Bishop Lynch 
 alluded iu happy terms to the events of the previous two days, 
 and a Te Deum was chauutod in thanksgiving for the bloodless 
 victory. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF FORT SUMTER. 
 
 Fort Sumtor is built upon an artifioinl island, at the entrance of our harbor. 
 The t'oundatiuu being of stone, it must be of the strongest nature. That jiortion 
 of the fort above the water line is of brick and concrete of the most solid charac- 
 tor. Its plan is a truncated pentagon, with one side parallel to the adjoining 
 shore, thus presenting an angle to the channel. Of the truncated angles the east- 
 ern, western and northern are simply formed into I'an-compecs, whilst the other 
 two are formed of two small faces, making an angle of about fifteen degrees with 
 the sides of the pentagon. At each intersection of the small faces is a sally-port. 
 The height of the parapet above the water-line is si.xty feet. On the eastern and 
 western sides arc the barracks for the privates, mess-hall, kitchen, Ac. On the 
 siuithcrn side are the officers' quarters, which are finished in very handsome style. 
 It is mounted with the heaviest guns of the United States service, arranged in 
 three tiers, the two lower being Casemates, and the upper Barbett« guns. The 
 Casemate guns are those which are fired from an embrasure in the Scarp Walls, 
 and are protected from the enemy's nhelh hy an arched bomb-proof covering over- 
 head ; the Barbette, those which fire over the parapet, which exposes the caunoniers 
 to the fire of the enemy, although, in this instance, the height of the ramparts is so 
 great that there is comparatively no danger from the shot of an enemy's fleet. The 
 armament consists of 140 pieces, placed in the following order: The heaviest guns, 
 such as the 32 and 64-pounders, on the tirst tier; 24 and 32-pounders on the second 
 tier; Columbiads (8 and 10-inch) and heavy sea-coast mortars on the top of the 
 ramparts. The heaviest pieces arc turned toward the harbor, the lighter toward 
 the land side ; which side is further protected by musketry, for which loop-holes are 
 cut in the Scarp Wall. The number of each kind of gun is about thirty 64-pound- 
 ers, the same number of 32-pounders, forty 24-pounders, ten of each calibre of 
 Columbiads, ten 13-inch and ten 10-inch mortars, capable of throwing about four 
 thousand (4,000) pounds of shot and four thousand three hundred (4,300) iiounds 
 of shell at each discharge. On the terra-parade plain are situated two furnaces 
 for heating shot. The magazines are situated on the inner sides of the sally ports, 
 and contain, at present, 40,000 pounds of powder, and a proportionate quautily of 
 shot and shell. The landing to the fort is on the southern or land side, and is 
 formed by a wharf projecting towards the shore, and also e.xtendiug the length of 
 that face. This fort would bo nearly impregnable if finished and properlj' ni;iiined. 
 Its weakest point on the south side, of which the masonry is not only weaker than 
 that of the other sides, but is not protected by any flank fire, which wuuM sweep 
 the wharf. Once landed, an entrance may, at the present state of the construction, 
 be easily made, for the blinds of the lower embrasures, though si.\ inches in thick- 
 
29 
 
 ness, may jet be easily blown away. And even if this was impossible, scaling lad- 
 ders can reach those of the second tier, which are not protected in this manner. 
 This concludes the brief sketch of a fort which is a most perfect specimen of civil 
 and military engineering. The whole work has been conducted in a manner that 
 reflects the highest credit upon the engineers, and is worthy to occupy the promi- 
 nent position that it holds. In conclusion, we take occasion to allude to one point 
 of especial beauty — the construction of the arches — of which there are nearly every 
 variety — the "Full Centre," the "Segment," the "Groined," the "Askew," and the 
 " Ranipaut" — and to add that the walls at their base are 12 feet thick, and at the 
 top 8i feet thick. Fort Sumter lies about one mile from the shore, directly on the 
 main ship channel, which passes between the fort and Sullivan's island, on which 
 is located Fort Moultrie, .about one mile distant. From the battery of Charleston 
 City Fort Sumter lies about five miles distant, standing out in the open bay, one 
 mile from the land on either side. Fort Moultrie is, in military phrase, commanded 
 by Fort Sumter. 
 
 THE QARRISON IN THE PORT. 
 
 Names. 
 
 Rank. 
 
 Regimext or 
 Coups. 
 
 Original 
 
 e.vtrv into 
 
 Service. 
 
 AViiERE Born. 
 
 R. Anderson 
 
 S. W. Crawford.. 
 Abner Doubleday. 
 Trueman Seymour 
 
 Jeff. C. D.ivis 
 
 J. N. Hall 
 
 .1. G. Foster 
 
 G. W. Snyder 
 
 R. K. Meade 
 
 Major 1st Artillery. July 1,1825, 
 
 Ass't Surgeon. Medicil Staff, March 10, 1851, 
 
 Captain l.st Artillery. .luly 1,1842, 
 
 Captain 1st Artillery. July 1. 1846, 
 
 1st Lieutenant. list Arii lery. j June 17.1848, 
 
 2d Lieutenant, 1st Artillery. July 1, 1850, 
 
 Captain Engineers . . . July 1, 1846, 
 
 1st Lieutenant, Engineers ... July 1, 1856, 
 
 2d Lieutenant, Engineers ... I July 1,1857, 
 
 Kentucky. 
 Pcnnsvlvania. 
 New York. 
 Vermont. 
 Indiana. 
 New York. 
 New ILimpshirc. 
 New York. 
 Virginia. 
 
 Officers 9 
 
 Band 15 
 
 Artillerists 55 
 
 Total 79 
 
 Under the most favorable circumstances, this force would only be sufficient to 
 operate nine guns. 
 
 WHO MA.IOR ANPERSON IS — HIS CAREER. 
 
 The New I'ork Leader has a biographical sketch of the present commander of 
 Fort Sumter, which is interesting at this moment. We copy a passage : 
 
 "Major Anderson is now about fifty-six years old, and was born in Kentucky, 
 entering the Military Academy from that State, and graduating with distinction 
 on June .30, 1825. The record of his military service shows that he was promoted 
 to a first Lieutenancy in 1833, and made Captain by brevet in 1838, for gallantry 
 and successful strategy in the war against the Floriila Indians. In the same year, 
 he was appointed Assistant Adjutant-General, with the rank of Captain: the Cap- 
 taincy itself not coining until the October of 1841, and his present rank of Major 
 only reaching him last year. 
 
 " Major Anderson has also performed a large amount of the staff duty incident 
 to the service a few years since, and before it was made distinct from duty in the 
 line. He acted as Assistant Inspector of the Illinois Volunteers, serving with 
 
30 
 
 Abraham Lincoln in the Black Hawk war of 1832. He was Assistant Instructor 
 and InFtnut<jr of Artillery at tlic Military Academy in the years 1835, 'C and '7, 
 and was Aid-de-camp to Major-Gcneral .Scott in 1838. 
 
 "During the Me.xican war, the Major endured all the labors and danpcrs of the 
 campaign : being severely wounded in the assault on the enemy's works at Molino 
 del Rey, and receiving brevet majority 'for gallant and meritorious conduct in 
 that action.' Major Anderson has also received from the Government many cvi- 
 dcriees of its trust and confidence other than those bestowed by the War Dfpart- 
 mcnt. 
 
 "His last service, previous to his taking command of Fort Moultrie, was as a 
 member of the commission, ordered hist summer by Congress, to inciuire into the 
 manner of instruction at the West Point Military Academy. The labors of that 
 commission (in which Major Anderson performed his part) have already been laid 
 before Congress. 
 
 "In physique, the Major is about five feet nine inches in height; his tigure is 
 well set and soldierly; his hair is thin, and turning to iron-grey; his complexion 
 swarthy; his eye dark and intelligent; his nose prominent and well-formed. A 
 stranger would read in his air and appearance, determination, and an exaction of 
 what was due to him. He has a good deal of manner. In intercourse he is very 
 courteous, and his rich voice and abundant gesticulations go well together. He is 
 always agreeable and gentlemanly, firm and dignified, a man of undaunted courage, 
 and as a true soldier, may be relied ou to obey orders, and to do hia duty." 
 
 THE OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 The following is a copy of the official correspondence which took place before the 
 bombardment commenced : 
 
 [No. 1.] 
 
 Gen. Beaiircf/ard'a Dexpatch to the Secretary of War. 
 
 Chaulestox, April S, 1801. 
 To L. P. Walkeu: 
 
 Deak Sir: An authorized messenger from Lincoln has just informed (!ov. Pick- 
 ens and myself that provisions will be sent to Fort Sumter, "peaceably if tliey can, 
 forcibly if they must." 
 
 [Signed,] G. T. Beavkeoaud. 
 
 [No. 2.] 
 
 Reply of the Secretary <i/ War to Gen. liriiiirei/ard. 
 
 MoNTCOMEUV, April 10, ISfil. 
 To Gen. BEAUREUAnn, Charlcf^ton : 
 
 If j'ou have no doubt of the authorized character of the agent who comnuinicated 
 to you the intention of the Washington Government to supply Fort Sumter by force, 
 you will at once demand its evacuation ; and if this is refused, proceed in such a 
 manner as you maj' determine to reduce it. Answer. 
 
 [Signed,] L. P. Walker. 
 
31 
 
 [No. 3.] 
 Gen. Beauregard to the Secretary of TPar. 
 
 Charlestox, April 10, ISCl. 
 To L. P. Walkeu : 
 
 The demand will be made to-morrow at twelve o'clock. 
 
 [Signed,] G. T. Beairegaru, Brigadier-General. 
 
 [No. 4.] 
 The Secretary of War to Gen. lieaurrgard. 
 
 MosTGoMERV, April 10, 1S61. 
 To Gen. Beauregard, Charleston: 
 
 Unless there are special reasons connected with your own condition, it is con- 
 sidered proper that you should make the demand at an earlier hour. 
 
 [Signed,] L. P. Walker. 
 
 [No. 5.] 
 
 Gen. Beavrrgard to the Secretary of War. 
 
 Charleston, April 10, 1S61. 
 To L. P. Walker: 
 
 The reasons arc special for twelve o'clock. 
 
 [Signed,] G. T. Beauregard. 
 
 [No. 6.] 
 Gen. Beauregard to the Secretary of War. 
 
 ^^ Charleston, April 11, 1S61. 
 
 To L. P. Walker: 
 
 Demand sent at two o'clock. Alloweil till six o'clock to answer. 
 
 [Signed,] G. T. Beauregard. 
 
 [No. 7.] 
 The Secretary of War to Gen. Beauregard. 
 
 Montgomery, April 11, 1861. 
 Gen. Beauregard, Charleston : 
 Telegraph reply of Anderson. 
 
 [Signed,] L. P. Walker. 
 
 [No. 8.] 
 Gen. Beauregard to the Secretary of War. 
 
 Charleston, April 11, 1861. 
 To L. P. Walker : 
 
 Major Anderson replied : " I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your 
 communication, demanding the evacuation of this fort, and to say in reply thereto, 
 that it is a demand with which I regret that my sense of honor and of my ol>liga- 
 tion to my Government prevent my compliance." lie adds verbally : " I will await 
 the first shot, and if you do not batter us to pieces, we will be starved out in a few 
 days." Answer. 
 
 [Signed,] G. T. Beauregard. 
 
32 
 
 [No. 9.] 
 The S'frctary of War to Gen. lifaureijard. 
 
 MoxTooMERV, April 11, 1861. 
 To Gen. BEAUREOAitn, Charleston : 
 
 We do not desire needlessly to bombard Fort Sumter. If Major Anderson will 
 state the time at which, as indicated by him, he will evuttiatc, and a};ri.e that in the 
 meantime he will not use his guns against us, unless ours should be employed 
 against Fort Sumter, you are authorized thus to avoid the effusion of blood. If 
 this, or its equivalent, be refused, reduce the fort as your judgment decides to be the 
 most practicable. 
 
 [Signed,] L. P. Walker. 
 
 [No. 10.] 
 Oen. Beaureyard to the Secrclarij of War. 
 
 Chaklkstox, April 12, 1861. 
 To L. P. Walker: 
 
 lie would not consent. I will write to-daj'. 
 
 [Signed,] G. T. Beacuegard. 
 
 [No. 11.] 
 Gen. Beaiiregurd to the Sccrctari/ of War. 
 
 Charleston, April 12, 1861. 
 To L. P. Waiker: 
 
 Wo opened fire at 4.30 A. M. 
 
 [Signed,] G. T. Bkavregard. 
 
 Note. — Intercepted despatches disclose the fact that Mr. Fo.x, who li;id been 
 allowed to visit Major Anderson, on the pledge that his purpose was pacific, employed 
 Lis opportunity to devise a plan for supplying the fort by force, and that this plan 
 bad been adopted by the Washington Government, and was iu progress of execution. 
 
"^-^■kl^- 
 
 \