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The Project Gutenberg eBook of Confederate
Military History - Volume 5 (of 12)
 This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
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eBook.

Title: Confederate Military History - Volume 5 (of 12)

Author: Ellison Capers

Editor: Clement A. Evans

Release date: December 21, 2015 [eBook #50737]

Most recently updated: October 22, 2024

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONFEDERATE

MILITARY HISTORY - VOLUME 5 (OF 12) ***
Transcriber's Note:
For readability illustrations have been slightly moved thus
altering the page numbers in the List of Illustrations.
Compound nouns, names, and hyphenated words are not
consistant in the original text.
 Confederate
Military History

A LIBRARY OF CONFEDERATE
STATES HISTORY, IN TWELVE
VOLUMES, WRITTEN BY DISTINGUISHED
MEN OF THE SOUTH,
AND EDITED BY GEN. CLEMENT
A. EVANS OF GEORGIA....

VOL. V.

Atlanta, Ga.
Confederate Publishing Company
1899

Copyright, 1899,
BY Confederate Publishing Company.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE

CHAPTER I. Spirit of Secession—The State Militia

—Charleston and the Forts—The Violated
Agreement—Major Anderson Occupies Fort
Sumter—South Carolina Occupies Pinckney and
Moultrie—The Star of the West—Fort Sumter
Surrendered—Carolinians in Virginia—Battle of
Manassas
4
CHAPTER II. Affairs on the Coast—Loss of Port
Royal Harbor—Gen. R. E. Lee in Command of
the Department—Landing of Federals at Port
Royal Ferry—Gallant Fight on Edisto Island—
General Pemberton Succeeds Lee in Command—
Defensive Line, April, 1862 29
CHAPTER III. South Carolinians in Virginia—Battle
of Williamsburg—Eltham's Landing—Seven Pines
and Fair Oaks—Nine-Mile Road—Gaines' Mill—
Savage Station—Frayser's Farm—Malvern Hill 43
CHAPTER IV. The Coast of South Carolina,
Summer of 1862—Operations under General
Pemberton—Engagement at Old Pocotaligo—
Campaign on James Island—Battle of
Secessionville
76
CHAPTER V. General Beauregard in Command—
The Defenses of Charleston—Disposition of
Troops—Battle of Pocotaligo—Repulse of Enemy
at Coosawhatchie Bridge—Operations in North
Carolina—Battle of Kinston—Defense of
Goldsboro
94
CHAPTER VI. South Carolinians in the West—
Manigault's and Lythgoe's Regiments at Corinth
—The Kentucky Campaign—Battle of
Murfreesboro
111
CHAPTER VII. With Lee in Northern Virginia,
1862—The Maneuvers on the Rappahannock—
Second Manassas Campaign—Battle of Ox Hill 120
CHAPTER VIII. The Maryland Campaign—The
South Mountain Battles—Capture of Harper's
Ferry—Battles of Sharpsburg and
Shepherdstown 140
CHAPTER IX. Hampton's Cavalry in the Maryland
Raid—The Battle of Fredericksburg—Death of
Gregg—South Carolinians at Marye's Hill—
Cavalry Operations 165
CHAPTER X. Operations in South Carolina, Spring
of 1863—Capture of the Isaac Smith—
Ingraham's Defeat of the Blockading Squadron—
Naval Attack on Fort Sumter—Hunter's Raids 188
CHAPTER XI. South Carolina Troops in Mississippi
—Engagement near Jackson—The Vicksburg
Campaign—Siege of Jackson 203
CHAPTER XII. South Carolinians in the
Chancellorsville Campaign—Service of Kershaw's
and McGowan's Brigades—A Great Confederate
Victory 213
CHAPTER XIII. Operations in South Carolina—
Opening of Gillmore's Campaign against Fort
Sumter—The Surprise of Morris Island—First
Assault on Battery Wagner—Demonstrations on
James Island and Against the Railroad—Action
near Grimball's Landing 223
CHAPTER XIV. Second Assault on Battery Wagner
—Siege of Wagner and Bombardment of Fort
Sumter—Evacuation of Morris Island 235
CHAPTER XV. The Gettysburg Campaign—Gallant
Service of Perrin's and Kershaw's Brigades—
Hampton's Cavalry at Brandy Station 257
CHAPTER XVI. South Carolinians at Chickamauga
—Organization of the Armies—South Carolinians
Engaged—Their Heroic Service and Sacrifices 277
CHAPTER XVII. The Siege of Charleston—
Continued Bombardment of Fort Sumter—
Defense Maintained by the Other Works—The
Torpedo Boats—Bombardment of the City—
Transfer of Troops to Virginia—Prisoners under
Fire—Campaign on the Stono 291
CHAPTER XVIII. South Carolinians with 310
Longstreet and Lee—Wauhatchie—Missionary
Ridge—Knoxville—The Virginia Campaign of
1864—From the Wilderness to the Battle of the
Crater
CHAPTER XIX. The Atlanta Campaign—Battles
around Atlanta—Jonesboro—Hood's Campaign in
North Georgia—The Defense of Ship's Gap—Last
Campaign in Tennessee—Battle of Franklin 328
CHAPTER XX. The Closing Scenes in Virginia—
Siege of Richmond and Petersburg—Fall of Fort
Fisher—South Carolina Commands at
Appomattox 346
CHAPTER XXI. Battle of Honey Hill—Sherman's
Advance into South Carolina—Organization of
the Confederate Forces—Burning of Columbia—
Battles of Averasboro and Bentonville—
Conclusion 354
BIOGRAPHICAL 373
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

FACING PAGE.
Bee, Barnard
394
E.
Bonham, M. L. 394
Bratton, John 394
Butler, M. C. 383, 394
Capers,
1, 409
Ellison
Charleston, Between
Defenses pages 296
(Map) and 297
Chestnut,
394
James
Connor, James 417
Drayton,
394
Thos. F.
Dunovant,
394
John
Elliott,
394
Stephen, Jr.
Evans, N. G. 394
Ferguson, S.
417
W.
Gary, M. W. 394
Gist, S. R. 417
Gregg, Maxcy 417
Hagood,
417
Johnson
Honey Hill,
357
Battle (Map)
Huger,
409
Benjamin
Jenkins, Micah 417
Jones, David
417
R.
Kennedy, John
417
D.
Kershaw, J. B. 409
Logan, J. M. 417
McGowan,
409
Samuel
Manigault, A.
409
M.
Perrin, Abner 409
Preston, John
417
S.
Ripley,
409
Roswell S.
South Between
Carolina pages 371
(Map) and 372
Stevens, C. H. 409
Villepigue, J.
409
B.
Wallace, W.
409
H.
ELLISON CAPERS
 SOUTH CAROLINA

BY

Brig.-Gen. Ellison Capers.

 INTRODUCTORY.
The writer of the following sketch does not attempt, in the space
assigned him, to give a complete history of the various commands of
Carolinians, who for four years did gallant and noble service in the
armies of the Confederacy.
A faithful record of their names alone would fill the pages of a
volume, and to write a history of their marches and battles, their
wounds and suffering, their willing sacrifices, and their patient
endurance, would demand more accurate knowledge, more time and
more ability than the author of this sketch can command.
He trusts that in the brief history which follows he has been able to
show that South Carolina did her duty to herself and to the Southern
Confederacy, and did it nobly.
 CHAPTER I.
SPIRIT OF SECESSION—THE STATE MILITIA—CHARLESTON
AND THE FORTS—THE VIOLATED AGREEMENT—MAJOR
ANDERSON OCCUPIES FORT SUMTER—SOUTH CAROLINA
OCCUPIES PINCKNEY AND MOULTRIE—THE STAR OF THE
WEST—FORT SUMTER SURRENDERED—CAROLINIANS IN
VIRGINIA—BATTLE OF MANASSAS.

F
rom the time that the election of the President was declared, early
in November, 1860, the military spirit of the people of South
Carolina was thoroughly awake. Secession from the Union was in
the air, and when it came, on the 20th of December following, it was
received as the ultimate decision of duty and the call of the State to
arms. The one sentiment, everywhere expressed by the vast
majority of the people, was the sentiment of independence; and the
universal resolve was the determination to maintain the secession of
the State at any and every cost.
The militia of the State was, at the time, her only arm of defense,
and every part of it was put under orders.
Of the State militia, the largest organized body was the Fourth
brigade of Charleston, commanded by Brig.-Gen. James Simons. This
body of troops was well organized, well drilled and armed, and was
constantly under the orders of the governor and in active service
from the 27th of December, 1860, to the last of April, 1861. Some of
the commands continued in service until the Confederate regiments,
battalions and batteries were organized and finally absorbed all the
effective material of the brigade.
This efficient brigade was composed of the following commands:
First regiment of rifles: Col. J. J. Pettigrew, Lieut.-Col. John L.
Branch, Maj. Ellison Capers, Adjt. Theodore G. Barker, Quartermaster
Allen Hanckel, Commissary L. G. Young, Surg. George Trescot, Asst.
Surg. Thomas L. Ozier, Jr. Companies: Washington Light Infantry,
Capt. C. H. Simonton; Moultrie Guards, Capt. Barnwell W. Palmer;
German Riflemen, Capt. Jacob Small; Palmetto Riflemen, Capt. Alex.
Melchers; Meagher Guards, Capt. Edward McCrady, Jr.; Carolina
Light Infantry, Capt. Gillard Pinckney; Zouave Cadets, Capt. C. E.
Chichester.
Seventeenth regiment: Col. John Cunningham, Lieut.-Col. William P.
Shingler, Maj. J. J. Lucas, Adjt. F. A. Mitchel. Companies: Charleston
Riflemen, Capt. Joseph Johnson, Jr.; Irish Volunteers, Capt. Edward
McGrath; Cadet Riflemen, Capt. W. S. Elliott; Montgomery Guards,
Capt. James Conner; Union Light Infantry, Capt. David Ramsay;
German Fusiliers, Capt. Samuel Lord, Jr.; Palmetto Guards, Capt.
Thomas W. Middleton; Sumter Guards, Capt. Henry C. King; Emmet
Volunteers, Capt. P. Grace; Calhoun Guards, Capt. John Fraser.
First regiment of artillery: Col. E. H. Locke, Lieut.-Col. W. G. De
Saussure, Maj. John A. Wagener, Adjt. James Simmons, Jr.
Light batteries: Marion Artillery, Capt. J. G. King; Washington
Artillery, Capt. George H. Walter; Lafayette Artillery, Capt. J. J. Pope;
German Artillery (A), Capt. C. Nohrden; German Artillery (B), Capt.
H. Harms.
Cavalry: Charleston Light Dragoons, Capt. B. H. Rutledge; German
Hussars, Capt. Theodore Cordes; Rutledge Mounted Riflemen, Capt.
C. K. Huger.
Volunteer corps in the fire department: Vigilant Rifles, Capt. S. V.
Tupper; Phœnix Rifles, Capt. Peter C. Gaillard; Ætna Rifles, Capt. E.
F. Sweegan; Marion Rifles, Capt. C. B. Sigwald.
Charleston, the metropolis and seaport, for a time absorbed the
interest of the whole State, for it was everywhere felt that the issue
of secession, so far as war with the government of the United States
was concerned, must be determined in her harbor. The three forts
which had been erected by the government for the defense of the
harbor, Moultrie, Castle Pinckney and Sumter, were built upon land
ceded by the State for that purpose, and with the arsenal and
grounds in Charleston, constituted the property of the United States.
The secession of South Carolina having dissolved her connection
with the government of the United States, the question of the
possession of the forts in the harbor and of the military post at the
arsenal became at once a question of vital interest to the State. Able
commissioners, Robert W. Barnwell, James H. Adams and James L.
Orr, were elected and sent by the convention of the State to treat
with the government at Washington for an amicable settlement of
this important question, and other questions growing out of the new
relation which South Carolina bore to the Union. Pending the action
of the commissioners in Washington, an unfortunate move was
made by Maj. Robert Anderson, of the United States army, who
commanded the only body of troops stationed in the harbor, which
ultimately compelled the return of the commissioners and led to the
most serious complications. An understanding had been established
between the authorities in Washington and the members of
Congress from South Carolina, that the forts would not be attacked,
or seized as an act of war, until proper negotiations for their cession
to the State had been made and had failed; provided that they were
not reinforced, and their military status should remain as it was at
the time of this understanding, viz., on December 9, 1860.
Fort Sumter, in the very mouth of the harbor, was in an unfinished
state and without a garrison. On the night of the 26th of December,
1860, Maj. Robert Anderson dismantled Fort Moultrie and removed
his command by boats over to Fort Sumter. The following account of
the effect of this removal of Major Anderson upon the people, and
the action of the government, is taken from Brevet Major-General
Crawford's "Genesis of the Civil War." General Crawford was at the
time on the medical staff and one of Anderson's officers. His book is
a clear and admirable narrative of the events of those most eventful
days, and is written in the spirit of the utmost candor and fairness.
In the conclusion of the chapter describing the removal, he says:
The fact of the evacuation of Fort Moultrie by Major Anderson
was soon communicated to the authorities and people of
Charleston, creating intense excitement. Crowds collected in
streets and open places of the city, and loud and violent were
the expressions of feeling against Major Anderson and his
action.... [The governor of the State was ready to act in
accordance with the feeling displayed.] On the morning of the
27th, he dispatched his aide-de-camp, Col. Johnston Pettigrew,
of the First South Carolina Rifles, to Major Anderson. He was
accompanied by Maj. Ellison Capers, of his regiment. Arriving at
Fort Sumter, Colonel Pettigrew sent a card inscribed, "Colonel
Pettigrew, First Regiment Rifles, S.C.M., Aide-de-Camp to the
Governor, Commissioner to Major Anderson. Ellison Capers,
Major First Regiment Rifles, S.C.M." ... Colonel Pettigrew and his
companion were ushered into the room. The feeling was
reserved and formal, when, after declining seats, Colonel
Pettigrew immediately opened his mission: "Major Anderson,"
said he, "can I communicate with you now, sir, before these
officers, on the subject for which I am here?" "Certainly, sir,"
replied Major Anderson, "these are all my officers; I have no
secrets from them, sir."
The commissioner then informed Major Anderson that he was
directed to say to him that the governor was much surprised
that he had reinforced "this work." Major Anderson promptly
responded that there had been no reinforcement of the work;
that he had removed his command from Fort Moultrie to Fort
Sumter, as he had a right to do, being in command of all the
forts in the harbor. To this Colonel Pettigrew replied that when
the present governor (Pickens) came into office, he found an
understanding existing between the previous governor (Gist)
and the President of the United States, by which all property
within the limits of the State was to remain as it was; that no
reinforcements were to be sent here, particularly to this post;
that there was to be no attempt made against the public
property by the State, and that the status in the harbor should
remain unchanged. He was directed also to say to Major
Anderson that it had been hoped by the governor that a
peaceful solution of the difficulties could have been reached,
and a resort to arms and bloodshed might have been avoided;
but that the governor thought the action of Major Anderson had
greatly complicated matters, and that he did not now see how
bloodshed could be avoided; that he had desired and intended
that the whole matter might be fought out politically and
without the arbitration of the sword, but that now it was
uncertain, if not impossible.
To this Major Anderson replied, that as far as any understanding
between the President and the governor was concerned, he had
not been informed; that he knew nothing of it; that he could get
no information or positive orders from Washington, and that his
position was threatened every night by the troops of the State.
He was then asked by Major Capers, who accompanied Colonel
Pettigrew, "How?" when he replied, "By sending out steamers
armed and conveying troops on board;" that these steamers
passed the fort going north, and that he feared a landing on the
island and the occupation of the sand-hills just north of the fort;
that 100 riflemen on these hills, which commanded his fort,
would make it impossible for his men to serve their guns; and
that any man with a military head must see this. "To prevent
this," said he earnestly, "I removed on my own responsibility,
my sole object being to prevent bloodshed." Major Capers
replied that the steamer was sent out for patrol purposes, and
as much to prevent disorder among his own people as to
ascertain whether any irregular attempt was being made to
reinforce the fort, and that the idea of attacking him was never
entertained by the little squad who patrolled the harbor.
Major Anderson replied to this that he was wholly in the dark as
to the intentions of the State troops, but that he had reason to
believe that they meant to land and attack him from the north;
that the desire of the governor to have the matter settled
peacefully and without bloodshed was precisely his object in
 removing his command from Moultrie to Sumter; that he did it
upon his own responsibility alone, because he considered that
the safety of his command required it, as he had a right to do.
"In this controversy," said he, "between the North and the
South, my sympathies are entirely with the South. These
gentlemen," said he (turning to the officers of the post who
stood about him), "know it perfectly well." Colonel Pettigrew
replied, "Well, sir, however that may be, the governor of the
State directs me to say to you courteously but peremptorily, to
return to Fort Moultrie." "Make my compliments to the governor
(said Anderson) and say to him that I decline to accede to his
request; I cannot and will not go back." "Then, sir," said
Pettigrew, "my business is done," when both officers, without
further ceremony or leavetaking, left the fort.

Colonel Pettigrew and Major Capers returned to the city and made
their report to the governor and council who were in session in the
council chamber of the city hall. That afternoon Major Anderson
raised the flag of his country over Sumter, and went vigorously to
work mounting his guns and putting the fort in military order. The
same afternoon the governor issued orders to Colonel Pettigrew,
First regiment of rifles, and to Col. W. G. De Saussure, First regiment
artillery, commanding them to take immediate possession of Castle
Pinckney and Fort Moultrie. Neither fort was garrisoned, and the
officers in charge, after making a verbal protest, left and went to
Fort Sumter, and the Palmetto flag was raised over Moultrie and
Pinckney. In the same manner the arsenal in Charleston was taken
possession of by a detachment of the Seventeenth regiment, South
Carolina militia, Col. John Cunningham, and Fort Johnson on James
island, by Capt. Joseph Johnson, commanding the Charleston
Riflemen. The governor also ordered a battery to be built for two 24-
pounders on Morris island, bearing on Ship channel, and his order
was speedily put into execution by Maj. P. F. Stevens, superintendent
of the South Carolina military academy, with a detachment of the
cadets, supported by the Vigilant Rifles, Captain Tupper. This battery
was destined soon to fire the first gun of the war. In taking
possession of the forts and the arsenal, every courtesy was shown
the officers in charge, Captain Humphreys, commanding the arsenal,
saluting his flag before surrendering the property.
By the possession of Forts Moultrie and Pinckney and the arsenal in
Charleston, their military stores fell into the hands of the State of
South Carolina, and by the governor's orders a careful inventory was
made at once of all the property and duly reported to him. At
Moultrie there were sixteen 24-pounders, nineteen 32-pounders, ten
8-inch columbiads, one 10-inch seacoast mortar, four 6-pounders,
two 12-pounders and four 24-pounder howitzers and a large supply
of ammunition. At Castle Pinckney the armament was nearly
complete and the magazine well filled with powder. At the arsenal
there was a large supply of military stores, heavy ordnance and
small-arms. These exciting events were followed by the attempt of
the government to succor Major Anderson with supplies and
reinforce his garrison.
The supplies and troops were sent in a large merchant steamer, the
Star of the West. She crossed the bar early on the morning of
January 9, 1861, and steamed up Ship channel, which runs for miles
parallel with Morris island, and within range of guns of large caliber.
Her course lay right under the 24-pounder battery commanded by
Major Stevens and manned by the cadets. This battery was
supported by the Zouave Cadets, Captain Chichester; the German
Riflemen, Captain Small, and the Vigilant Rifles, Captain Tupper.
When within range a shot was fired across her bow, and not heeding
it, the battery fired directly upon her. Fort Moultrie also fired a few
shots, and the Star of the West rapidly changed her course and,
turning round, steamed out of the range of the guns, having
received but little material damage by the fire.
Major Anderson acted with great forbearance and judgment, and did
not open his batteries. He declared his purpose to be patriotic, and
so it undoubtedly was. He wrote to the governor that, influenced by
the hope that the firing on the Star of the West was not supported
by the authority of the State, he had refrained from opening fire
upon the batteries, and declared that unless it was promptly
disclaimed he would regard it as an act of war, and after waiting a
reasonable time he would fire upon all vessels coming within range
of his guns.
The governor promptly replied, justifying the action of the batteries
in firing upon the vessel, and giving his reasons in full. He pointed
out to Major Anderson that his removal to Fort Sumter and the
circumstances attending it, and his attitude since were a menace to
the State of a purpose of coercion; that the bringing into the harbor
of more troops and supplies of war was in open defiance of the
State, and an assertion of a purpose to reduce her to abject
submission to the government she had discarded; that the vessel
had been fairly warned not to continue her course, and that his
threat to fire upon the vessels in the harbor was in keeping with the
evident purpose of the government of the United States to dispute
the right of South Carolina to dissolve connection with the Union.
This right was not to be debated or questioned, urged the governor,
and the coming of the Star of the West, sent by the order of the
President, after being duly informed by commissioners sent to him
by the convention of the people of the State to fully inform him of
the act of the State in seceding from the Union, and of her claim of
rights and privileges in the premises, could have no other meaning
than that of open and hostile disregard for the asserted
independence of South Carolina. To defend that independence and
to resent and resist any and every act of coercion are "too plainly a
duty," said Governor Pickens, "to allow it to be discussed."
To the governor's letter Major Anderson replied, that he would refer
the whole matter to the government at Washington, and defer his
purpose to fire upon vessels in the harbor until he could receive his
instructions in reply. Thus a truce was secured, and meanwhile
active preparations for war were made daily by Major Anderson in
Fort Sumter and by Governor Pickens on the islands surrounding it.
War seemed inevitable, and the whole State, as one man, was firmly
resolved to meet it.
The legislature had passed a bill on December 17th providing for the
organization of ten regiments for the defense of the State, and the
convention had ordered the formation of a regiment for six months'
service, to be embodied at once, the governor to appoint the field
officers. This last was "Gregg's First regiment," which was organized
in January, 1861, and on duty on Sullivan's and Morris islands by the
1st of February following. The governor appointed Maxcy Gregg, of
Columbia, colonel; Col. A. H. Gladden, who had been an officer of
the Palmetto regiment in the Mexican war, lieutenant-colonel; and D.
H. Hamilton, the late marshal of the United States court in South
Carolina, major. On March 6, 1861, the adjutant-general of the State
reported to Gen. M. L. Bonham, whom the governor had
commissioned major-general, to command the division formed under
the act of December 17, 1860, that he had received into the service
of the State 104 companies, under the said act of the legislature,
aggregating an effective force of 8,836 men and officers; that these
companies had been formed into ten regiments and the regiments
into four brigades.
These regiments were mustered for twelve months' service, were
numbered respectively from 1 to 10, inclusive, and commanded by
Cols. Johnson Hagood, J. B. Kershaw, J. H. Williams, J. B. E. Sloan,
M. Jenkins, J. H. Rion, T. G. Bacon, E. B. Cash, J. D. Blanding, and A.
M. Manigault.
The brigadier-generals appointed by the governor under the act
above referred to, were R. G. M. Dunovant and P. H. Nelson. By an
act of the legislature, January 28, 1861, the governor was authorized
to raise a battalion of artillery and a regiment of infantry, both to be
formed and enlisted in the service of the State as regulars, and to
form the basis of the regular army of South Carolina. The governor
appointed, under the act, R. S. Ripley, lieutenant-colonel in
command of the artillery battalion, and Richard Anderson, colonel of
the infantry regiment. The artillery battalion was afterward increased
to a regiment, and the regiment of infantry converted, practically,
into a regiment of artillery. Both regiments served in the forts and
batteries of the harbor throughout the war, with the greatest
distinction, as will afterward appear. These troops, with the Fourth
brigade, South Carolina militia, were under the orders of the
government and were practically investing Fort Sumter.
The States of Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and
Texas, having left the Union during the month of January, and the
Confederate government having been organized early in February, at
Montgomery, President Davis, on the 1st of March, ordered
Brigadier-General Beauregard to Charleston to report for duty to
Governor Pickens. Thenceforward this distinguished soldier became
the presiding genius of military operations in and around Charleston.
Repeated demands having been made upon Major Anderson, and
upon the President, for the relinquishment of Fort Sumter, and these
demands having been refused and the government at Washington
having concluded to supply and reinforce the fort by force of arms, it
was determined to summon Major Anderson to evacuate the fort, for
the last time. Accordingly, on April 11th, General Beauregard sent
him the following communication:

Headquarters Provisional Army, C. S. A.

Charleston, April 11, 1861.
Sir: The government of the Confederate States has hitherto
foreborne from any hostile demonstrations against Fort Sumter,
in hope that the government of the United States, with a view
to the amicable adjustment of all questions between the two
governments, and to avert the calamities of war, would
voluntarily evacuate it.
There was reason at one time to believe that such would be the
course pursued by the government of the United States, and
under that impression my government has refrained from
making any demand for the surrender of the fort. But the
Confederate States can no longer delay assuming actual
possession of a fortification commanding the entrance of one of
their harbors and necessary to its defense and security.
 I am ordered by the government of the Confederate States to
demand the evacuation of Fort Sumter. My aides, Colonel
Chestnut and Captain Lee, are authorized to make such demand
of you. All proper facilities will be afforded for the removal of
yourself and command, together with company arms and
property, and all private property, to any post in the United
States which you may select. The flag which you have upheld so
long and with so much fortitude, under the most trying
circumstances, may be saluted by you on taking it down.
Colonel Chestnut and Captain Lee will, for a reasonable time,
await your answer.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
G. T.Beauregard, Brigadier-General Commanding.

Major Anderson replied as follows:

Fort Sumter, S. C., April 11, 1861.

General: 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 obligations to my government,
prevent my compliance. Thanking you for the fair, manly and
courteous terms proposed, and for the high compliment paid
me,
I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Robert Anderson,
Major, First Artillery, Commanding.

Major Anderson, while conversing with the messengers of General

Beauregard, having remarked that he would soon be starved into a
surrender of the fort, or words to that effect, General Beauregard
was induced to address him a second letter, in which he proposed
that the major should fix a time at which he would agree to
evacuate, and agree also not to use his guns against the
Confederate forces unless they fired upon him, and so doing, he,
General Beauregard, would abstain from hostilities. To this second
letter Major Anderson replied, naming noon on the 15th, provided
that no hostile act was committed by the Confederate forces, or any
part of them, and provided, further, that he should not, meanwhile,
receive from the government at Washington controlling instructions
or additional supplies.
The fleet which was to reinforce and supply him was then collecting
outside the bar, and General Beauregard at once notified him, at
3:20 a. m. on the morning of the 12th of April, that he would open
fire on the fort in one hour from that time.
The shell which opened the momentous bombardment of Fort
Sumter was fired from a mortar, located at Fort Johnson on James
island, at 4:30 on the morning of the 12th.
For over three months the troops stationed on the islands
surrounding Fort Sumter had been constantly employed building
batteries, mounting guns, and making every preparation for the
defense of the harbor, and, if necessary, for an attack on the fort if
the government at Washington persisted in its refusal to order its
evacuation. Lieut.-Col. R. S. Ripley, an able and energetic soldier,
commanded the artillery on Sullivan's island, with his headquarters
at Fort Moultrie, Brigadier-General Dunovant commanding the island.
Under Ripley's direction, six 10-inch mortars and twenty guns bore
on Sumter. The guns were 24, 32 and 42 pounders, 8-inch
columbiads and one 9-inch Dahlgren. The supports to the batteries
were the First regiment of rifles, Colonel Pettigrew; the regiment of
infantry, South Carolina regulars, Col. Richard Anderson; the
Charleston Light Dragoons, Capt. B. H. Rutledge, and the German
Flying Artillery, the latter attached to Col. Pettigrew's command,
stationed at the east end of the island. These commands, with
Ripley's battalion of South Carolina regular artillery and Capt. Robert
Martin's mortar battery on Mount Pleasant, made up the force under
General Dunovant.
On Morris island, Gen. James Simons was commanding, with Lieut.-
Col. W. G. De Saussure for his artillery chief, and Maj. W. H. C.
Whiting for chief of staff. The infantry supports on the island were
the regiments of Cols. John Cunningham, Seventeenth South
Carolina militia, and Maxcy Gregg, Johnson Hagood and J. B.
Kershaw, of the South Carolina volunteers. The artillery was in
position bearing on Ship channel, and at Cummings point, bearing
on Sumter. The fleet making no attempt to come in, the channel
batteries took no part in the bombardment of Sumter.
On Cummings point, six 10-inch mortars and six guns were placed.
To the command and direction of these guns, Maj. P. F. Stevens was
specially assigned. One of the batteries on the point was of unique
structure, hitherto unknown in war. Three 8-inch columbiads were
put in battery under a roofing of heavy timbers, laid at an angle of
forty degrees, and covered with railroad T iron. Portholes were cut
and these protected by heavy iron shutters, raised and lowered from
the inside of the battery. This battery was devised and built by Col.
Clement H. Stevens, of Charleston, afterward a brigadier-general
and mortally wounded in front of Atlanta, July 20, 1864, leading his
brigade. "Stevens' iron battery," as it was called, was "the first
ironclad fortification ever erected," and initiated the present system
of armor-plated vessels. The three mortars in battery at Fort
Johnson were commanded by Capt. G. S. James. The batteries
above referred to, including Fort Moultrie, contained fifteen 10-inch
mortars and twenty-six guns of heavy caliber.
For thirty-four hours they assaulted Sumter with an unceasing
bombardment, before its gallant defenders consented to give it up,
and not then until the condition of the fort made it impossible to
continue the defense. Fort Moultrie alone fired 2,490 shot and shell.
Gen. S. W. Crawford, in his accurate and admirable book, previously
quoted, thus describes the condition of Sumter when Anderson
agreed to its surrender:

It was a scene of ruin and destruction. The quarters and

barracks were in ruins. The main gates and the planking of the
 windows on the gorge were gone; the magazines closed and
surrounded by smouldering flames and burning ashes; the
provisions exhausted; much of the engineering work destroyed;
and with only four barrels of powder available. The command
had yielded to the inevitable. The effect of the direct shot had
been to indent the walls, where the marks could be counted by
hundreds, while the shells, well directed, had crushed the
quarters, and, in connection with hot shot, setting them on fire,
had destroyed the barracks and quarters down to the gun
casemates, while the enfilading fire had prevented the service
of the barbette guns, some of them comprising the most
important battery in the work. The breaching fire from the
columbiads and the rifle gun at Cummings point upon the right
gorge angle, had progressed sensibly and must have eventually
succeeded if continued, but as yet no guns had been disabled or
injured at that point. The effect of the fire upon the parapet was
pronounced. The gorge, the right face and flank as well as the
left face, were all taken in reverse, and a destructive fire
maintained until the end, while the gun carriages on the
barbette of the gorge were destroyed in the fire of the blazing
quarters.

The spirit and language of General Beauregard in communicating

with Major Anderson, and the replies of the latter, were alike
honorable to those distinguished soldiers. The writer, who was on
duty on Sullivan's island, as major of Pettigrew's regiment of rifles,
recalls vividly the sense of admiration felt for Major Anderson and his
faithful little command throughout the attack, and at the surrender
of the fort. "While the barracks in Fort Sumter were in a blaze,"
wrote General Beauregard to the secretary of war at Montgomery,
"and the interior of the work appeared untenable from the heat and
from the fire of our batteries (at about which period I sent three of
my aides to offer assistance), whenever the guns of Fort Sumter
would fire upon Moultrie, the men occupying the Cummings point
batteries (Palmetto Guard, Captain Cuthbert) at each shot would
cheer Anderson for his gallantry, although themselves still firing
upon him; and when on the 15th instant he left the harbor on the
steamer Isabel, the soldiers of the batteries lined the beach, silent
and uncovered, while Anderson and his command passed before
them."
Thus closed the memorable and momentous attack upon Fort
Sumter by the forces of South Carolina, and thus began the war
which lasted until April, 1865, when the Southern Confederacy, as
completely ruined and exhausted by fire and sword as Fort Sumter
in April, 1861, gave up the hopeless contest and reluctantly accepted
the inevitable.
The following is believed to be a correct list of the officers who
commanded batteries, or directed, particularly, the firing of the guns,
with the commands serving the same:
On Cummings point: (1) Iron battery—three 8-inch columbiads,
manned by detachments of Palmetto Guard, Capt. George B.
Cuthbert directing, assisted by Lieut. G. L. Buist. (2) Point battery—
mortars, by Lieut. N. Armstrong, assisted by Lieut. R. Holmes; 42-
pounders, Lieut. T. S. Brownfield; rifle gun, directed by Capt. J. P.
Thomas, who, with Lieutenant Armstrong, was an officer of the
South Carolina military academy. Iron battery and Point battery both
manned by Palmetto Guard. (3) Trapier battery—three 10-inch
mortars, by Capt. J. Gadsden King and Lieuts. W. D. H. Kirkwood
and Edward L. Parker; Corp. McMillan King, Jr., and Privates J. S. and
Robert Murdock, pointing the mortars; a detachment of Marion
artillery manning the battery, assisted by a detachment of the
Sumter Guards, Capt. John Russell.
On Sullivan's island: (1) Fort Moultrie—Capt. W. R. Calhoun,
Lieutenants Wagner, Rhett, Preston, Sitgreaves, Mitchell, Parker,
Blake (acting engineer). (2) mortars—Capt. William Butler and
Lieutenants Huguenin, Mowry, Blocker, Billings and Rice. (3) Mortars
—Lieutenants Flemming and Blanding. (4) Enfilade—Captain
Hallonquist and Lieutenants Valentine and Burnet. (5) Floating
battery—Lieutenants Yates and Frank Harleston. (6) Dahlgren
battery—Captain Hamilton.
On Mount Pleasant: (1) Mortars—Captain Martin and Lieuts. F. H.
Robertson and G. W. Reynolds.
On Fort Johnson: (1) Mortars—Capt. G. S. James and Lieut. W. H.
Gibbes.
Immediately upon the fall of Sumter the most active and constant
efforts were made by Governor Pickens and General Beauregard to
repair and arm the fort, to strengthen the batteries defending the
harbor, and to defend the city from an attack by the Stono river and
James island. General Beauregard inspected the coast, and works of
defense were begun on James island and at Port Royal harbor.
But South Carolina was now to enjoy freedom from attack, by land
or sea, until early in November, and while her soldiers and her
people were making ready her defense, and her sons were flocking
to her standard in larger numbers than she could organize and arm,
she was called upon to go to the help of Virginia. William H. Trescot,
of South Carolina, in his beautiful memorial of Brig.-Gen. Johnston
Pettigrew, has described the spirit with which "the youth and
manhood of the South" responded to the call to arms, in language
so true, so just and so eloquent, that the author of this sketch
inserts it here. Writing more than five years after the close of the
great struggle, Mr. Trescot said:

We who are the vanquished in this battle must of necessity

leave to a calmer and wiser posterity to judge of the intrinsic
worth of that struggle, as it bears upon the principles of
constitutional liberty, and as it must affect the future history of
the American people; but there is one duty not only possible but
imperative, a duty which we owe alike to the living and the
dead, and that is the preservation in perpetual and tender
remembrance of the lives of those who, to use a phrase scarcely
too sacred for so unselfish a sacrifice, died in the hope that we
might live. Especially is this our duty, because in the South a
choice between the parties and principles at issue was scarcely
possible. From causes which it is exceedingly interesting to
trace, but which I cannot now develop the feeling of State
loyalty had acquired throughout the South an almost fanatic
intensity; particularly in the old colonial States did this devotion
to the State assume that blended character of affection and
duty which gives in the old world such a chivalrous coloring to
loyalty to the crown.... When, therefore, by the formal and
constitutional act of the States, secession from the Federal
government was declared in 1860 and 1861, it is almost
impossible for any one not familiar with the habits and thoughts
of the South, to understand how completely the question of
duty was settled for Southern men. Shrewd, practical men who
had no faith in the result, old and eminent men who had grown
gray in service under the national flag, had their doubts and
their misgivings; but there was no hesitation as to what they
were to do. Especially to that great body of men, just coming
into manhood, who were preparing to take their places as the
thinkers and actors of the next generation, was this call of the
State an imperative summons.
The fathers and mothers who had reared them; the society
whose traditions gave both refinement and assurance to their
young ambition; the colleges in which the creed of Mr. Calhoun
was the text-book of their studies; the friends with whom they
planned their future; the very land they loved, dear to them as
thoughtless boys, dearer to them as thoughtful men, were all
impersonate, living, speaking, commanding in the State of
which they were children. Never in the history of the world has
there been a nobler response to a more thoroughly recognized
duty; nowhere anything more truly glorious than this outburst of
the youth and manhood of the South.
And now that the end has come and we have seen it, it seems
to me that to a man of humanity, I care not in what section his
sympathies may have been matured, there never has been a
sadder or sublimer spectacle than these earnest and devoted
men, their young and vigorous columns marching through
Richmond to the Potomac, like the combatants of ancient Rome,
 beneath the imperial throne in the amphitheater, and exclaiming
with uplifted arms, "morituri te salutant."

President Lincoln had issued his proclamation calling for 75,000

volunteers to coerce the South; Virginia had withdrawn from the
Union, and before the end of April had called Lee, J. E. Johnston and
Jackson into her service; the seat of the Confederate government
had been transferred from Montgomery, Ala., to Richmond; and early
in May, General Beauregard was relieved from duty in South Carolina
and ordered to the command of the Alexandria line, with
headquarters at Manassas Junction. He had been preceded by
General Bonham, then a Confederate brigadier, with the regiments of
Colonels Gregg, Kershaw, Bacon, Cash, Jenkins and Sloan—First,
Second, Seventh, Eighth, Fifth and Fourth South Carolina volunteers.
Before General Beauregard's arrival in Virginia, General Bonham with
his Carolina troops had been placed in command of the Alexandria
line, the regiments being at Fairfax Court House, and other points of
this line, fronting Washington and Alexandria.
These South Carolina regiments were reinforced during the month of
July by the Third, Colonel Williams; the Sixth, Colonel Rion, and the
Ninth, Colonel Blanding. The infantry of the Hampton legion, under
Col. Wade Hampton, reached the battlefield of Manassas on the
morning of July 21st, but in time to take a full share in that decisive
contest.
On the 20th of June, General Beauregard, commanding the "army of
the Potomac," headquarters at Manassas Junction, organized his
army into six brigades, the First commanded by Bonham, composed
of the regiments of Gregg, Kershaw, Bacon and Cash. Sloan's
regiment was assigned to the Sixth brigade, Early's; and Jenkins'
regiment to the Third, Gen. D. R. Jones. Col. N. G. Evans, an officer
of the old United States army, having arrived at Manassas, was
assigned to command of a temporary brigade—Sloan's Fourth South
Carolina, Wheat's Louisiana battalion, two companies Virginia
cavalry, and four 6-pounder guns.
On the 11th of July, General Beauregard wrote to the President that
the enemy was concentrating in his front at Falls church, with a force
of not less than 35,000 men, and that to oppose him he had only
about half that number. On the 17th, Bonham's brigade, stationed at
Fairfax, met the first aggressive movement of General McDowell's
army, and was attacked early in the morning. By General
Beauregard's orders Bonham retired through Centreville, and took
the position assigned him behind Mitchell's ford, on Bull run. The
Confederate army was in position behind Bull run, extending from
Union Mills ford on the right to the stone bridge on the left, a
distance of 5 miles.
The brigades were stationed, from right to left, as follows: Ewell, D.
R. Jones, Longstreet, Bonham, Cocke, and Evans on the extreme
left. Early was in reserve, in rear of the right. To each brigade a
section or a battery of artillery was attached, except in the case of
Bonham who had two batteries and six companies of cavalry
attached to his command. Seven other cavalry companies were
distributed among the other brigades. Bonham's position was behind
Mitchell's ford, with his four regiments of Carolinians; Jenkins' Fifth
regiment was with General Jones' brigade, behind McLean's ford,
and Sloan's Fourth regiment was with Evans' brigade on the left, at
the stone bridge. With this disposition of his little army, General
Beauregard awaited the development of the enemy's movement
against him.
At noon on the 18th, Bonham at Mitchell's ford and Longstreet at
Blackburn's ford, were attacked with infantry and artillery, and both
attacks were repulsed. General McDowell was engaged on the 19th
and 20th in reconnoitering the Confederate position, and made no
decided indication of his ultimate purpose. The delay was golden for
the Confederates. Important reinforcements arrived on the 20th and
on the morning of the 21st, which were chiefly to fight and win the
battle, while the main body of Beauregard's army held the line of
Bull run. General Holmes, from the lower Potomac, came with over
1,200 infantry, six guns and a fine company of cavalry; Colonel
Hampton, with the infantry of his legion, 600 strong, and the
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