the deputation withdrawn than each officer and soldier was at his post.
They had two flags at the fort, a large garrison flag, which Major
Anderson raised when he took up his quarters at Sumter, and a smaller
one, called the storm-flag; the former had a slight tip in it, and he
ordered the storm-flag to be raised in its stead.
Sentinels were immediately removed from the parapets of Fort Sumter, the
posterns closed, the flag drawn up, and an order sent to the troops not
to leave the bomb-proofs, on any account, until summoned by the drum. At
4.30 A. M. one bombshell was thrown at Sumter, bursting immediately over
the fort.
This was the first gun of the rebellion. How awfully its reverberations
have thundered through the land! How little did the prompters of that
attack upon the old flag dream of the horrors that were to follow!
[Illustration:
BOMBARDMENT OF FORT SUMTER
1. Cummings’ Point Iron Battery.
2. Fort Sumter.
3. Sullivan’s Island.
4. The Iron Floating Battery.
5. Fort Moultrie.
6. Charleston.
]
After the pause of a few moments the firing became general on the part
of the batteries of the secessionists, doing the greatest credit to the
artillerists. Battery after battery joined in the murderous attack. The
Major took it very calmly—divided his men into companies to relieve each
other—had their scanty breakfast prepared, which they partook of in
silence, while the iron hail was crashing against their walls—prepared
additional cartridges by tearing up the flannel shirts of the men, their
bed-clothes, etc.,—got out a supply of powder from the magazine—and
after nearly four hours’ silence, the fort at last opened most
vigorously on their assailants. Hot coffee was kept in the boiler in the
cook room for the men to partake of whenever they pleased, and they
worked the guns with a will. They fired but few shells, for the only
guns for that kind of ammunition were the barbette guns on the open
rampart, many of which were dismounted by the continuous fire of the
enemy, and the serving of which, from the lack of casemate protection,
would have rapidly thinned out the Major’s little band.
As the number of men was so small, and the garrison so nearly exhausted
by the several months of siege which they had gone through, it was
necessary to husband their strength. The command was therefore divided
into three reliefs, or equal parties, who were to work the different
batteries by turns, each four hours.
The first relief opened upon the iron batteries at Cummings Point, at a
distance of 1,600 yards, the iron floating battery, distant 1,800 or
2,000 yards at the end of Sullivan’s Island, the enfilading battery on
Sullivan’s Island, and Fort Moultrie. This was at 7 o’clock in the
morning, Captain Doubleday firing the first gun, and all the points
named above being opened upon simultaneously. For the first four hours
the firing was kept up with great rapidity; the enthusiasm of the men,
indeed, was so spirited that the second and third reliefs could not be
kept from the guns. This accounts for the fact that double the number of
guns were at work during the first four hours than at any other time.
Shells burst with the greatest rapidity in every portion of the work,
hurling the loose brick and stone in all directions, breaking the
windows, and setting fire to whatever woodwork they burst against. The
solid shot firing of the enemy’s batteries, and particularly of Fort
Moultrie, were directed at the barbette guns of Fort Sumter, disabling
one ten-inch columbiad, (they had but two,) one eight-inch columbiad,
one forty-two pounder, and two eight-inch sea-coast howitzers, and also
tearing a large portion of the parapet away. The firing from the
batteries on Cummings Point was scattered over the whole of the gorge,
or rear, of the fort, riddling it like a sieve. The explosion of shells,
and the quantity of deadly missiles that were hurled in every direction
and at every instant of time, made it almost certain death to go out of
the lower tier of casemates, and also made the working of the barbette,
or upper uncovered guns, which contained all of our heaviest metals, and
by which alone we could throw shells, quite impossible. During the first
day there was hardly an instant of time that there was a cessation of
the whizzing of balls, which were sometimes coming half a dozen at once.
There was not a portion of the work which was not seen in reverse (that
is, exposed by the rear) from mortars.
On Friday, before dinner, several of the vessels of the fleet beyond the
bar were seen through the port-holes. They dipped their flags. The
commander ordered Sumter’s flag to be dipped in return, which was done,
while the shells were bursting in every direction. [The flagstaff was
located in the parade, which is about the centre of the open space
within the fort.] Sergeant Hart saw the flag of Fort Sumter half way
down, and, supposing that it had been cut by the enemy’s shot, rushed
out through the fire to assist in getting it up. Shortly after it had
been re-raised, a shell burst and cut the halyards, but the rope was so
intertwined around the halyards, that the flag would not fall.
The cartridges were exhausted about noon, and a party was sent to the
magazines to make cartridges of the remaining blankets and shirts, the
sleeves of the latter being readily converted into the purpose desired.
Another great misfortune was, that there was not an instrument in the
fort by which they could weigh powder, which of course destroyed all
attempt at accuracy of firing. Nor had they tangent scales, breech
sides, or other instruments with which to point a gun.
When it became so dark as to render it impossible to see the effect of
their shot, the port-holes were closed for the night, while the
batteries of the secessionists continued their fire the whole night.
During Friday, the officers’ barracks were three times set on fire by
the shells, and three times put out under the most galling and
destructive firing. This was the only occasion on which Major Anderson
allowed the men to expose themselves without an absolute necessity. The
guns on the parapet, which had been pointed the day before, were fired
clandestinely by some of the men.
The firing of the rifled guns from the iron battery on Cummings Point
became extremely accurate in the afternoon of Friday, cutting out large
quantities of the masonry about the embrasures at every shot, throwing
concrete among the cannoneers, slightly wounding one man, and stunning
others. One piece struck Sergeant Kearnan, an old Mexican war veteran,
on the head and knocked him down. Upon being revived, he was asked if he
was hurt badly. He replied: “No; I was only knocked down temporarily,”
and he went to work again.
Meals were served at the guns of the cannoneers, while the guns were
being fired and pointed. The fire commenced in the morning as soon as
possible.
During Friday night the men endeavored to climb the flagstaff, for the
purpose of fastening new halyards, the old ones having been cut by the
shot, but found it impossible. The flag remained fast.
For the fourth time the barracks were set on fire early on Saturday
morning, and attempts were made to put it out. But it was soon
discovered that red-hot shot were being thrown into the fort with the
greatest rapidity, and it became evident that it would be impossible to
put out the conflagration. The whole garrison was then set at work, or
as many as could be spared, to remove the powder from the magazines. It
was desperate work, rolling barrels of powder through the fire.
Ninety odd barrels had been rolled out through the flames, when the heat
became so great as to make it impossible to get out any more. The doors
were then closed and locked, and the fire spread and became general. The
wind so directed the smoke as to fill the fort so full that the men
could not see each other, and with the hot, stifling air, it was as much
as a man could do to breathe. Soon they were obliged to cover their
faces with wet cloths in order to breathe at all, so dense was the smoke
and so scorching the heat.
But few cartridges were left, and the guns were fired slowly; nor could
more cartridges be made, on account of the sparks falling in every part
of the works. A gun was fired every now and then only to let the fleet
and the people in the town know that the fort had not been silenced. The
cannoneers could not see to aim, much less where the shot fell.
After the barracks were well on fire, the batteries directed upon Fort
Sumter increased their cannonading to a rapidity greater than had been
attained before. About this time, the shells and ammunition in the upper
service-magazines exploded, scattering the tower and upper portions of
the building in every direction. The crash of the beams, the roar of the
flames, the rapid explosion of the shells, and the shower of fragments
of the fort, with the blackness of the smoke, made the scene
indescribably terrific and grand. This continued for several hours.
Meanwhile the main gates were burned down, the chassis of the barbette
guns were burned away on the gorge, and the upper portions of the towers
had been demolished by shells.
There was not a portion of the fort where a breath of air could be
obtained for hours, except through a wet cloth. The fire spread to the
men’s quarters, on the right hand and on the left, and endangered the
powder which had been taken out of the magazines. The men went through
the fire and covered the barrels with wet cloths, but the danger of the
fort’s blowing up became so imminent, that they were obliged to heave
the barrels out of the embrasures. While the powder was being thrown
overboard, all the guns of Moultrie, of the iron floating battery, of
the enfilade battery, and the Dahlgren battery, worked with increased
fury.
All but four barrels were thus disposed of, and those remaining were
wrapped in many thicknesses of wet woolen blankets. But three cartridges
were left, and these were in the guns. About this time the flagstaff of
Fort Sumter was shot down, some fifty feet from the truck, this being
the ninth time that it had been struck by a shot. A man cried out, “The
flag is down; it has been shot away!” In an instant, Lieutenant Hall
rushed forward and brought the flag away. But the halyards were so
inextricably tangled that it could not be righted; it was, therefore,
nailed to the staff, and planted upon the ramparts, while batteries in
every direction were playing upon them.
A few moments after, and a man was seen with a white flag tied to his
sword, who desired admission. He was admitted through an embrasure. In a
great flurry, he said he was General Wigfall, and that he came from
General Beauregard, and added that he had seen that Sumter’s flag was
down. Lieutenant Davis replied, “Oh, sir! but it is up again.” The
cannonading meanwhile continued. General Wigfall asked that some one
might hold his flag outside. Lieutenant Davis replied, “No, sir! we
don’t raise a white flag. If you want your batteries to stop, you must
stop them.” General Wigfall then held the flag out of an embrasure. As
soon as he had done this, Lieutenant Davis directed a corporal to
relieve him, as it was General Wigfall’s flag.
Several shots struck immediately around him while he was holding it out,
when he started back, and putting the flag in Wigfall’s face, said,
“D——n it; I won’t hold that flag, for they don’t respect it. They struck
their colors, but we never did.” Wigfall replied, “They fired at me
three or four times, and I should think you ought to stand it once.”
Wigfall then placed the white flag on the outside of the embrasure, and
presented himself to Major Anderson, and said that General Beauregard
was desirous that blood should not be unnecessarily shed, and also
stated that he came from General Beauregard, who desired to know if
Major Anderson would evacuate the fort, and that if he would do so he
might choose his own terms.
After a moment’s hesitation Major Anderson replied that he would go out
on the same terms that he (Major Anderson) had mentioned on the 11th.
General Wigfall then said: “Very well; then it is understood that you
will evacuate. This is all I have to do. You military men will arrange
everything else on your own terms.” He then departed, the white flag
still waving where he had placed it, and the stars and stripes streaming
from the flagstaff which had become the target of the rebels.
Shortly after his departure Major Lee, the Hon. Porcher Miles, Senator
Chesnut, and the Hon. Roger A. Pryor, the staff of General Beauregard,
approached the fort with a white flag, and said they had come from
General Beauregard, who had observed that the flag had been down and
raised again a few minutes afterward. The General had sent over,
desiring to know if he could render any assistance, as he had observed
the fort was on fire. (This was perhaps a delicate mode of asking for a
surrender.) Major Anderson, in reply, requested them to thank General
Beauregard for the offer, but it was too late, as he had just agreed
with General Beauregard for an evacuation. The three persons comprising
the deputation, looked at each other blankly, and asked with whom? Major
Anderson, observing that there was something wrong, remarked that
General Wigfall, who had just left, had represented himself to be an aid
to General Beauregard, and that he had come over to make the
proposition.
After some conversation among themselves, they said to Major Anderson
that Wigfall had not seen General Beauregard for two days. Major
Anderson replied that Wigfall’s offer and its acceptance had placed him
in a peculiar position. They then requested him to place in writing what
General Wigfall had said to him, and they would lay it before General
Beauregard.
Before this reached General Beauregard, he sent his Adjutant-General and
other members of his staff, including the Hon. Roger A. Pryor and
Governor Manning, proposing the same conditions which Major Anderson had
offered to go out upon, with the exception only of not saluting the
flag. Major Anderson said that he had already informed General
Beauregard that he was going out. They asked him if he would not accept
of the terms without the salute. Major Anderson told them, No; but that
it should be an open point.
General Beauregard sent down to say that the terms had been accepted,
and that he would send the Isabel or any other vessel at his command to
convey Major Anderson and the troops to any port in the United States
which he might elect.
No braver men ever lived than the defenders of Fort Sumter; but the
ardor and endurance of musician Hall of Company E was remarked by every
man in Sumter, and the company presented him with a testimonial. He was
at the firing of the first guns, and fought on all day, and would not
accept either of the three reliefs. He was up at the first shot the next
day, and worked without cessation till night. His example and words of
cheer had great effect. This is the more worthy of remark as he belonged
to the musicians, and was not obliged to enter into the engagement at
all.
Mr. Hart, a volunteer from New York, particularly distinguished himself
in trying to put out the flames in the quarters, with shells and shot
crashing around him. He was ordered away by Major Anderson, but begged
hard to be permitted to remain and continue his exertions.
Never did famished men work more bravely than those who defended that
fortress, knowing, as they did, that if successfully defended and held
by them, there was not even a biscuit left to divide among them. They
never would have left it while a protecting wall stood around them, had
they been provided with provision and ammunition. Every man was true and
faithful to his post; hunger and want of ammunition alone caused them to
leave Fort Sumter. They were exposed to a most terrible fire from all
quarters, and it was only by exercising the utmost care that the
officers were enabled to preserve the men from a terrible slaughter.
Fort Sumter in itself was hardly worth the holding; had there been the
full fighting complement of men within its walls, the fort would not
have afforded suitable protection for one-half of them. The enemy’s shot
rained in upon and about them like hail, and more men in Sumter would
only have made greater havoc. As it was, the garrison proved fortunate
in having escaped without the loss of one of those brave men who were
willing to die for the flag which waved over them.
The evacuation took place about 9½ o’clock on Sunday morning, after the
burial with military honors of private Daniel Hough, who had been killed
by the bursting of a gun. The men had been all the morning preparing
cartridges for the purpose of firing a salute of one hundred guns. This
done, the embarkation took place, the band meanwhile playing Yankee
Doodle.
STORMING OF FORT SUMTER, VIEWED FROM THE LAND.
A person who witnessed the bombardment of Fort Sumter from the harbor,
gives this graphic account:
The terrific firing reached an awful climax at ten o’clock at night. The
heavens were obscured by rain clouds, and it was as dark as Erebus. The
guns were heard distinctly, the wind blowing in shore. Sometimes a shell
would burst in mid-air, directly over Fort Sumter. Nearly all night long
the streets were thronged with people, full of excitement and
enthusiasm. The house-tops, the battery, the wharves, the shipping,—in
fact every available place was taken possession of by the multitude.
The discharges of cannon gradually diminished as the sun rose. All the
clouds, which rendered the night so dark and dismal, disappeared as day
began to break, while the air became most beautiful, balmy, and
refreshing. The streets were filled again with persons, male and female,
old and young, white and black; some went to the battery, some to the
wharves, and some to the steeples of the churches.
A few random shots were fired from the Confederate batteries, to which
Fort Sumter only replied occasionally. Soon it became evident that
Sumter was on fire, and all eyes were rivetted upon it. The dense smoke
that issued from it was seen gradually to rise from the ramparts. Some
supposed that this was merely a signal from Major Anderson to call in
the fleet to aid him.
At this time the fleet was in the offing quietly riding at anchor, and
could clearly be distinguished. Four vessels were ranged in line
directly over the bar, apparently blockading the port. Their long, black
hulls and smoke stacks proved them to be Federal steamers. Every one
anxiously waited to see what they would do. The suspense was very
exciting. On all sides could be heard,
“Will the vessels come in and engage the batteries? If they do not they
are cowardly poltroons.”
Every person on the battery fully expected that the engagement would
become general. By the aid of glasses, it was believed that a movement
was being made to this end by two of the war ships, and it was thought
that the sand would soon begin to fly from the Morris Island batteries.
At ten o’clock in the morning, attention was again rivetted on Fort
Sumter, which was now beyond a doubt on fire. The flames were seen to
burst from the roofs of the houses within its walls, and dense columns
of smoke shot quickly upward.
At this time Major Anderson scarcely fired a shot. The guns on the
ramparts of Fort Sumter had no utterance in them. Burst shells and grape
scattered like hail over the doomed fort, and drove the soldiers under
cover.
From the Iron Battery at Cummings Point a continuous fire was kept up.
Its rifled cannon played sad havoc with that portion of Fort Sumter
facing it. The firing from the Floating Battery and from Fort Moultrie
continued very regular and accurate. Standing on the Charleston battery,
and looking seaward, you have on the right a mortar battery and Fort
Johnson, distant from the city two and a half miles. Half a mile from
Fort Johnson is the Iron Battery of Cummings Point, mounting three
ten-inch columbiads, three sixty-four-pounders, three mortars, and one
rifled cannon. Cummings Point is only fifteen hundred yards from Fort
Sumter, and so any one can imagine what havoc the regular fire of the
Cummings Point battery must have created.
The men working the guns made them terribly effective. The sand redoubt
was scarcely injured by the weak fire Major Anderson kept up on the
battery. It was commanded by Major Stevens, of the Citadel Cadets. Under
his direction each shell that was fired found a destination within Fort
Sumter, and during the entire bombardment scarcely one missile of this
character missed its mark.
On the other side of the harbor, directly opposite Fort Sumter, is one
of the strongest sides of Fort Moultrie. During the last three months it
has been strengthened by every appliance that military art could
suggest. Its marlons, moats, glaces, and embrasures are perfectly
protected. The weak walls of the fort were made perfectly secure for the
gunners while at work. From this point throughout the engagement vast
numbers of shot and heavy balls were discharged.
Behind this, and near Sullivan’s Island, the Floating Battery was
stationed, with two sixty-four and two forty-two pounders. Its sides of
iron and palmetto logs were impenetrable. Every shot from it told on
Fort Sumter, and the men in charge of it were so secure in their
position, that some of them indulged in soldiers’ pastimes, while others
played five cent ante, euchre and bluff.
The Mortar Battery at Mount Pleasant was five hundred yards from the
Floating Battery, and was mounted with two mortars within excellent
range of Fort Sumter. The shells from this mortar were thrown with great
precision. You now have all the positions of the works bearing directly
on Fort Sumter.
All through Friday morning the greatest activity at all points was
displayed. Three times Major Anderson’s barracks were set on fire, and
twice he succeeded in putting out the flames, and to do this it was
necessary to employ all his force in passing along water. To get water
it was necessary for some of his men to go outside the walls, and hand
the buckets in through the port-holes, during all which time they were
exposed to a most terrific fire from the various batteries.
This last expedient was not resorted to until the fort was on fire for
the third time, and the flames had increased to an alarming pitch.
Meantime, Major Anderson’s guns were silent. He allowed his men to be
exposed to the galling fire upon them but for a few moments, and then
ordered them in and shut the batteries as the smoke was too thick to
work them. At noon the flames burst from every quarter of Fort Sumter,
and its destruction appeared inevitable.
NAVAL EXPEDITION FOR THE RELIEF OF SUMTER.
The Government had sent a well-laden fleet to the relief of Fort Sumter,
a portion of which arrived in Charleston harbor time enough to witness
the bombardment of the fort, without the power to help its heroic
garrison.
This fleet left New York and Washington from the 6th to the 9th of
April. It consisted of the sloop-of-war, Pawnee, 10 guns, and 200 men;
Pocahontas, 5 guns, 110 men; cutter Harriet Lane, 5 guns, 110 men;
accompanied by the transport Baltic, and the steam-tugs Yankee and Uncle
Ben, with additional men and stores. Owing to stormy weather, the
vessels were unable to reach the Charleston coast at the appointed time.
The Pawnee, Harriet Lane, and the Baltic arrived at the rendezvous on
the morning of the 12th April, but the Pocahontas did not join them
until the next day. The steamtug Yankee lost her smoke-stack in the
storm which dispersed the fleet, and did not reach the neighborhood of
Charleston till after the departure of her consorts, and eventually
returned to New York. Nothing was heard of the Uncle Ben until the 30th
of April, when intelligence was received that she had been captured by
the insurgents off the coast of North Carolina.