MONTGOMERY, April 13, 1861.
General BRAGG Pensacola:
When you arrested Lieutenant Worden what instructions, if any, did he show you? Did he communicate to you that he had verbal instructions, and, if so, what were they? He is here under arrest, and it is important for you to reply fully.
L. P. WALKER.
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—Fire from the enemy’s batteries was resumed at daylight, and from Fort Sumter at 7 A. M. At about 8 the officers’ quarters in Sumter took fire from a shell, and the work at the guns was necessarily somewhat slackened, as nearly all the men were taken away to extinguish the flames. Shells from Moultrie and Morris’ Island fell now faster than ever. Dense volumes of smoke still poured out of the barracks at 9, when the men were again sent to the guns. At 10 o’clock the halliards on the flag-staff were cut by a shell, and the flag ran down a little and stuck, so that it appeared to be displayed at half-mast. Several ships, one a large steamer, were in the offing at 10.30, and shots were fired at them from Morris’ Island and Fort Moultrie. About 11 o’clock the fire in the barracks again burst forth fiercely. Three piles of hand-grenades and shells, placed ready for use, became heated by it and exploded at intervals. The day was oppressively warm, and the heat of the fire added, made the atmosphere of the fort almost insufferable. At 12 the whole roof of the barracks was in flames, and soon after men were set to work to take the powder out of the magazine, lest the heat should reach and explode it there. Ninety barrels were rolled out and the doors closed. The fire of Fort Sumter was now almost entirely relinquished, though from the other forts it was rather increased. Cartridges were nearly all gone, and owing to the flying sparks no more could be made. Smoke from the fire was blown into the fort so thickly that the men could not see one another. As the fire in the barracks spread from the officers’ to the men’s quarters, it became necessary to throw overboard the powder that had been taken from the magazines. All was thrown over but three barrels, which were wrapped around with wet cloths and left. From these the garrison was soon separated by the fire, and now only the cartridges in the guns were left. These were fired now and then to indicate that the fort was not silenced. Thus in truth the work was held while there was a cartridge to fire or powder enough accessible to make one. The flagstaff, which had been hit nine times, was cut at about 1, and the flag was then nailed to the cut piece, and so raised upon the ramparts. At this time both officers and men were compelled to lie flat upon their faces in the casemates, and hold wet cloths to their months to escape suffocation. Soon after Ex-Senator Wigfall came to the fort with a flag of truce, which he wished held up while he spoke; but the batteries did not respect it. He, however, represented himself as an aid of General Beauregard, and agreed for the evacuation of Fort Sumter. It was afterward learned that he had spoken falsely, and had no authority whatever from General Beauregard.
At 12.55 P. M. the flag of Fort Sumter was drawn down, and the fort was surrendered soon after upon honorable terms; the garrison to carry away the flag of the fort, and all company arms and property, and all private property; and all proper facilities to be afforded for their removal to any post in the United States the commander might elect.
No men were hurt in Sumter by the fire of the enemy. It is reported by the secessionists that no men were either killed or wounded upon their side.
A boat from the United States squadron outside, with a flag of trace, arrived at Morris’ Island, with a request to be allowed to come and take Major Anderson and his forces.—(Doc. 52.)—Tribune, Times, Herald, and World.
—A despatch from Montgomery, Ala., says that Fort Pickens was reinforced last night.—(Doc. 53.)
—To-day the President expelled from the Federal army, for refusing to act on a particular service, Captain William B. St. Johns, of the Third Infantry, and First Lieutenant Abner Smead, of the First Artillery.
—The Legislature of Pennsylvania passed the war bill without amendment last evening. Previous to its passage, the news of the bombardment of Fort Sumter was announced, and produced a profound sensation. The bill appropriates five hundred thousand dollars for the purpose of arming and equipping the militia; authorizes a temporary loan; provides for the appointment of an Adjutant-General, Commissary-General, and Quartermaster-General, who, with the Governor, are to have power to carry the act into effect.—Phila. Enquirer.
—To-day the Virginia Commissioners were formally received by the President at Washington, when they presented the resolutions under which they were appointed.—(Doc. 54.)
—The attack upon Fort Sumter, and its surrender, instead of depressing, fires and animates all patriotic hearts. One deep, strong, overpowering sentiment now sweeps over the whole community—a sentiment of determined, devoted, active loyalty. The day for the toleration of treason—treason to the Constitution, defiance to the laws that we have made!—has gone by. The people have discovered that what they deemed almost impossible has actually come to pass, and that the rebels are determined to break up this Government, if they can do it. With all such purposes they are determined to make an end as speedily as may be.—(Doc. 55.)— Times, April 16.
—Bishop Lynch, Roman Catholic, at Charleston, S. C., celebrated the bloodless victory of Fort Sumter with a Te Deum and congratulatory address. In all the churches allusions were made to the subject.
The Episcopal Bishop, wholly blind and feeble, said it was his strong persuasion, strengthened by travel through every section of South Carolina, that the movement in which the people were engaged was began by them in the deepest conviction of duty to God; and God had signally blessed their dependence on him. If there is a war, it will be purely a war of self-defence.—Tribune, April 16.
—General Beauregard, in general orders to-day, congratulates “the troops under his command on the brilliant success which has crowned their gallantry, by the reduction of the stronghold in the harbor of Charleston.”— (Doc. 56.)
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April 12th.—
To-day I beheld the first secession flag that had met my vision. It was at Polecat Station, Caroline County, and it was greeted with enthusiasm by all but the two or three Yankees in the train. One of these, named Tupps, had been questioned so closely, and his presence and nativity had become so well known, that he became alarmed for his safety, although no one menaced him. He could not sit still a moment, nor keep silence. He had been speculating in North Carolina the year before, and left some property there, which, of course, he must save, if needs be, at the risk of his life. But he cared nothing for slavery, and would never bear arms against the South, if she saw fit to “set up Government business for herself.” He rather guessed war was a speculation that wouldn’t pay. His volubility increased with his perturbation, and then he drank excessively and sang Dixie. When we reached Richmond, he was beastly drunk.
Arrived at the Exchange Hotel, Richmond. A storm rages above, and below in the minds of men; but the commotion of the elements above attracts less attention than the tempest of excitement agitating the human breast. The news-boys are rushing in all directions with extras announcing the bombardment of Fort Sumter! This is the irrevocable blow! Every reflecting mind here should know that the only alternatives now are successful revolution or abject subjugation. But they do not lack for the want of information of the state of public sentiment in the North. It is in vain that the laggards are assured by persons just from the North, that the Republican leaders now composing the cabinet at Washington were prepared to hail the event at Charleston as the most auspicious that could have happened for the accomplishment of their designs; and that their purpose is the extinction of slavery, at least in the border States; the confiscation of the estates of rebels to reimburse the Federal Government for the expenses of the war which had been deliberately resolved on; and to gratify the cupidity of the “Wide-Awakes,” and to give employment to foreign mercenaries.
But it is not doubtful which course the current of feeling is rapidly taking. Even in this hitherto Union city, secession demonstrations are prevalent; and the very men who two days ago upheld Gov. Letcher in his conservatism, are now stricken dumb amid the popular clamor for immediate action. I am now resolved to remain in Richmond for a season.
After tea I called upon Gov. Wise, who occupied lodgings at the same hotel. He was worn out, and prostrated by a distressing cough which threatened pneumonia. But ever and anon his eagle eye assumed its wonted brilliancy. He was surrounded by a number of his devoted friends, who listened with rapt attention to his surpassing eloquence. A test question, indicative of the purpose of the Convention to adjourn without action, had that day been carried by a decided majority. The governor once rose from his recumbent position on the sofa and said, whatever the majority of Union men in the Convention might do, or leave undone, Virginia must array herself on one side or the other. She must fight either Lincoln or Davis. If the latter, he would renounce her, and tender his sword and his life to the Southern Confederacy. And although it was apparent that his physique was reduced, as he said, to a mere “bag of bones,” yet it was evident that his spirit yet struggled with all its native fire and animation.
Soon after President Tyler came in. I had not seen him for several years, and was surprised to find him, under the weight of so many years, unchanged in activity and energy of body and mind. He was quite as ardent in his advocacy of prompt State action as Wise. Having recently abandoned the presidency of the Peace Congress at Washington, in despair of obtaining concessions or guarantees of safety from the rampant powers then in the ascendency, he nevertheless believed, as did a majority of the statesmen of the South, that, even then, in the event of the secession of all the Southern States, presenting thus a united front, no war of great magnitude would ensue. I know better, from my residence in the North, and from the confessions of the Republicans with whom I have been thrown in contact; but I will not dissent voluntarily from the opinions of such statesmen. I can only, when my opinion is desired, intimate my conviction that a great war of the sections might have been averted, if the South had made an adequate coup d’etat before the inauguration of Lincoln, and while the Democratic party everywhere was yet writhing under the sting and mortification of defeat. Then the arm of the Republican party would have been paralyzed, for the attitude of the Democratic party would at least have been a menacing one; but now, the Government has been suffered to fall into the possession of the enemy, the sword and the purse have been seized, and it is too late to dream of peace — in or out of the Union. Submission will be dishonor. Secession can only be death, which is preferable.
Gov. Wise, smiling, rose again and walked to a corner of the room where I had noticed a bright musǩet with a sword-bayonet attached. He took it up and criticised the sword as inferior to the knife. Our men would require long drilling to become expert with the former, like the French Zouaves; but they instinctively knew how to wield the bowie-knife. The conversation turning upon the probable deficiency of a supply of improved arms in the South, if a great war should ensue, the governor said, with one of his inevitable expressions of feeling, that it was not the improved arm, but the improved man, which would win the day. Let brave men advance with flint locks and old-fashioned bayonets, on the popinjays of the Northern cities — advance on, and on, under the fire, reckless of the slain, and he would answer for it with his life, that the Yankees would break and run. But, in the event of the Convention adjourning without decisive action, he apprehended the first conflict would be with Virginians — the Union men of Virginia. He evidently despaired, under repeated defeats, of seeing an ordinance of secession passed immediately, and would have preferred ” resistance” to “secession.”
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April 12th.—This morning I received an intimation that the Government had resolved on taking decisive steps which would lead to a development of events in the South and test the sincerity of Secession. The Confederate general at Charleston, Beauregard, has sent to the Federal officer in command at Sumter, Major Anderson, to say, that all communication between his garrison and the city must cease; and, at the same time, or probably before it, the Government at Washington informed the Confederate authorities that they intended to forward supplies to Major Anderson, peaceably if permitted, but at all hazards to send them. The Charleston people are manning the batteries they have erected against Sumter, have fired on a vessel under the United States flag, endeavoring to communicate with the fort, and have called out and organized a large force in the islands opposite the place and in the city of Charleston.
I resolved therefore to start for the Southern States to-day, proceeding by Baltimore to Norfolk instead of going by Richmond, which was cut off by the floods. Before leaving, I visited Lord Lyons, Mr. Seward, the French and Russian Ministers; left cards on the President, Mrs. Lincoln, General Scott, Mr. Douglas, Mr. Sumner, and others. There was no appearance of any excitement in Washington, but Lord Lyons mentioned, as an unusual circumstance, that he had received no telegraphic communication from Mr. Bunch, the British Consul at Charleston. Some ladies said to me that when I came back I would find some nice people at Washington, and that the rail-splitter, his wife, the Sewards, and all the rest of them, would be driven to the place where they ought to be: “Varina Davis is a lady, at all events, not like the other. We can’t put up with such people as these!” A naval officer whom I met, told me, “if the Government are really going to try force at Charlestown, you’ll see they’ll be beaten, and we’ll have a war between the gentlemen and the Yankee rowdies; if they attempt violence, you know how that will end.” The Government are so uneasy that they have put soldiers into the Capitol, and are preparing it for defence.
At 6 P.M. I drove to the Baltimore station in a storm of rain, accompanied by Mr. Warre, of the British Legation. In the train there was a crowd of people, many of them disappointed place-hunters, and much discussion took place respecting the propriety of giving supplies to Sumter by force, the weight of opinion being against the propriety of such a step. The tone in which the President and his cabinet were spoken of was very disrespectful. One big man, in a fur coat, who was sitting near me, said, “Well, darn me if I wouldn’t draw a bead on Old Abe, Seward—aye, or General Scott himself, though I’ve got a perty good thing out of them, if they due try to use their soldiers and sailors to beat down States’ Rights. If they want to go they’ve a right to go.” To which many said, “That’s so! That’s true!”
When we arrived at Baltimore, at 8 P.M., the streets were deep in water. A coachman, seeing I was a stranger, asked me two dollars, or 8s. 4d., to drive to the Eutaw House, a quarter of a mile distance; but I was not surprised, as I had paid three-and-a-half and four dollars to go to dinner and return to the hotel in Washington. On my arrival, the landlord, no less a person than a major or colonel, took me aside, and asked me if I had heard the news. “No, what is it?” “The President of the Telegraph Company tells me he has received a message from his clerk at Charleston that the batteries have opened fire on Sumter because the Government has sent down a fleet to force in supplies.” The news had, however, spread. The hall and bar of the hotel were full, and I was asked by many people whom I had never seen in my life, what my opinions were as to the authenticity of the rumor. There was nothing surprising in the fact that the Charleston people had resented any attempt to reinforce the forts, as I was aware, from the language of the Southern Commissioners, that they would resist any such attempt to the last, and make it a casus and causa belli.
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April 12th.—Anderson will not capitulate. Yesterday’s was the merriest, maddest dinner we have had yet. Men were audaciously wise and witty. We had an unspoken foreboding that it was to be our last pleasant meeting. Mr. Miles dined with us to-day. Mrs. Henry King rushed in saying, “The news, I come for the latest news. All the men of the King family are on the Island,” of which fact she seemed proud.
While she was here our peace negotiator, or envoy, came in—that is, Mr. Chesnut returned. His interview with Colonel Anderson had been deeply interesting, but Mr. Chesnut was not inclined to be communicative. He wanted his dinner. He felt for Anderson and had telegraphed to President Davis for instructions—what answer to give Anderson, etc. He has now gone back to Fort Sumter with additional instructions. When they were about to leave the wharf A. H. Boykin sprang into the boat in great excitement. He thought himself ill-used, with a likelihood of fighting and he to be left behind!
I do not pretend to go to sleep. How can I? If Anderson does not accept terms at four, the orders are, he shall be fired upon. I count four, St. Michael’s bells chime out and I begin to hope. At half-past four the heavy booming of a cannon. I sprang out of bed, and on my knees prostrate I prayed as I never prayed before.
There was a sound of stir all over the house, pattering of feet in the corridors. All seemed hurrying one way. I put on my double-gown and a shawl and went, too. It was to the housetop. The shells were bursting. In the dark I heard a man say, “Waste of ammunition.” I knew my husband was rowing about in a boat somewhere in that dark bay, and that the shells were roofing it over, bursting toward the fort. If Anderson was obstinate, Colonel Chesnut was to order the fort on one side to open fire. Certainly fire had begun. The regular roar of the cannon, there it was. And who could tell what each volley accomplished of death and destruction ?
The women were wild there on the housetop. Prayers came from the women and imprecations from the men. And then a shell would light up the scene. To-night they say the forces are to attempt to land. We watched up there, and everybody wondered that Fort Sumter did not fire a shot.
To-day Miles and Manning, colonels now, aides to Beauregard, dined with us. The latter hoped I would keep the peace. I gave him only good words, for he was to be under fire all day and night, down in the bay carrying orders, etc.
Last night, or this morning truly, up on the housetop I was so weak and weary I sat down on something that looked like a black stool. “Get up, you foolish woman. Your dress is on fire,” cried a man. And he put me out. I was on a chimney and the sparks had caught my clothes. Susan Preston and Mr. Venable then came up. But my fire had been extinguished before it burst out into a regular blaze.
Do you know, after all that noise and our tears and prayers, nobody has been hurt; sound and fury signifying nothing—a delusion and a snare.
Louisa Hamilton came here now. This is a sort of news center. Jack Hamilton, her handsome young husband, has all the credit of a famous battery, which is made of railroad iron. Mr. Petigru calls it the boomerang, because it throws the balls back the way they came; so Lou Hamilton tells us. During her first marriage, she had no children; hence the value of this lately achieved baby. To divert Louisa from the glories of “the Battery,” of which she raves, we asked if the baby could talk yet. “No, not exactly, but he imitates the big gun when he hears that. He claps his hands and cries ‘Boom, boom.'” Her mind is distinctly occupied by three things: Lieutenant Hamilton, whom she calls “Randolph,” the baby, and the big gun, and it refuses to hold more.
Pryor, of Virginia, spoke from the piazza of the Charleston hotel. I asked what he said. An irreverent woman replied: “Oh, they all say the same thing, but he made great play with that long hair of his, which he is always tossing aside!”
Somebody came in just now and reported Colonel Chesnut asleep on the sofa in General Beauregard’s room. After two such nights he must be so tired as to be able to sleep anywhere.
Just bade farewell to Langdon Cheves. He is forced to go home and leave this interesting place. Says he feels like the man that was not killed at Thermopylae. I think he said that unfortunate had to hang himself when he got home for very shame. Maybe he fell on his sword, which was the strictly classic way of ending matters.
I do not wonder at Louisa Hamilton’s baby; we hear nothing, can listen to nothing; boom, boom goes the cannon all the time. The nervous strain is awful, alone in this darkened room. “Richmond and Washington ablaze,” say the papers—blazing with excitement. Why not? To us these last days’ events seem frightfully great. We were all women on that iron balcony. Men are only seen at a distance now. Stark Means, marching under the piazza at the head of his regiment, held his cap in his hand all the time he was in sight. Mrs. Means was leaning over and looking with tearful eyes, when an unknown creature asked, “Why did he take his hat off?” Mrs. Means stood straight up and said: “He did that in honor of his mother; he saw me.” She is a proud mother, and at the same time most unhappy. Her lovely daughter Emma is dying in there, before her eyes, of consumption. At that moment I am sure Mrs. Means had a spasm of the heart; at least, she looked as I feel sometimes. She took my arm and we came in.
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FRIDAY 12
It has been rainy the latter part of the day and rains hard tonight. Went with Juliet and the boys to see the soldiers over to the Long Bridge. Nothing but the guard there. Visited the City Armory, a company of U.S. Artillery stationed there. The Military companies are now divided and stationed at various points all over the City. Treason is in our midst. One hardly knows whom to trust. But I speak my own sentiments freely as I have all the time and denounce “seceders” as Traitors. Went down to the Ave & got the NY papers. It is said today that Fort Sumpter has been provisioned without bloodshed.
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The three diary manuscript volumes, Washington during the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865, are available online at The Library of Congress.
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April 12.–At 1 a.m. four aides of General Beauregard (Colonel Chesnut, Colonel Chisolm, Captain Lee, and Mr. Pryor, of Virginia) came with a second letter, stating that as Major Anderson had been understood to make the remark to the bearers of the first letter, in taking leave, that he would “await the first shot, and if not battered to pieces, would be starved out in a few days,” it was desired to know what importance might be attached to it. The reply of Major Anderson did not satisfy the aides, who were authorized in that case to give notice that the fire would open. Accordingly, on leaving at 3½ a.m. they gave notice that their batteries would open in one hour.
At 4½ a.m. a signal shell was thrown from the mortar battery on James Island; after which the fire soon became general from all the hostile batteries. These batteries were, as nearly as could be ascertained, armed as follows, viz.:
On Morris Island: Breaching battery No. 1, two 42-pounders; one 12-pounder Blakely rifled gun. Mortar battery (next to No. 7), four 10-inch mortars. Breaching battery No. 2 (iron-clad battery), three 8-inch columbiads. Mortar battery (next to No. 2), three 10-inch mortars.
On James Island: Battery at Fort Johnson, three 24-pounders (only one of them bearing on Fort Sumter). Mortar battery south of Fort Johnson, four 10-inch mortars.
On Sullivan’s Island: Iron-clad (floating) battery, four 42-pounders. Columbiad battery No. 1, one 9-inch Dahlgren gun. Columbiad battery No. 2, four 8-inch columbiads. Mortar battery west of Fort Moultrie, three 10-inch mortars. Mortar battery on parade, in rear of Fort Moultrie, two 10-inch mortars. Fort Moultrie, three 8-inch columbiads; two 8-inch sea-coast howitzers; five 32-pounders; four 24-pounders. At Mount Pleasant, one 10-inch mortar.
Total, firing on Fort Sumter, 30 guns, 17 mortars.
At 7 a.m. the guns of Fort Sumter replied, the first shot being fired from the battery at the right gorge angle, in charge of Captain Doubleday. All the officers and soldiers of Major Anderson’s command were divided into three reliefs, of two hours each, for the service of the guns, Lieutenants Snyder and Meade, of the Engineers, taking their turns with the other officers in the charge of batteries.
Of the forty-three workmen constituting the Engineer force in the fort nearly all volunteered to serve as cannoneers, or to carry shot and cartridge to the guns.
The armament of the fort was as follows, viz.:
Barbette tier: Right flank, one 10-inch columbiad, four 8-inch columbiads, four 42-pounders. Right face, none. Left face, three 8-inch seacoast howitzers, one 32-pounder. Left flank, one 10-inch columbiad, two 8-inch columbiads, two 42-pounders. Gorge, one 8-inch sea-coast howitzer, two 32 pounders six 24-pounders. Total in barbette, 27 guns.
Casemate tier: Right flank, one 42-pounder, four 32-pounders. Right face, three 42-pounders. Left face, ten 32-pounders. Left flank, five 32-pounders. Gorge, two 32-pounders. Total in casemate, 21 guns. Total available in both tiers, 48 guns.
Besides the above, there were arranged on the parade, to serve mortars, one 10-inch columbiad to throw shells into Charleston and four 8-inch columbiads to throw shells into the batteries on Cummings Point. The casemate guns were the only ones used. Of these, those that bore on Cummings Point were the 42-pounder in the pan-coupé of the right gorge angle, the 32-pounder next to it on the gorge, which, by cutting into the brick wall, had been made to traverse sufficiently, and the 32-pounder next the angle on the right flank, which, by cutting away the side of the embrasure, had been made to bear on a portion of the Point, although not on the breaching batteries.
The guns of the first tier, that bore on Fort Johnson, were four 32-pounders on the left flank. (Of these, one embrasure had been, by order, bricked up.)
The guns that bore on the three batteries on the west end of Sullivan’s Island were ten 32-pounders, situated on the left face, and one at the pan-coupé of the salient angle (four embrasures being bricked up).
The guns bearing on Fort Moultrie were two 42-pounders, situated on the right face, and one at the pan-coupé of the right shoulder angle.
The supply of cartridges, 700 in number, with which the engagement commenced, became so much reduced by the middle of the day, although the six needles in the fort were kept steadily employed, that the firing was forced to slacken, and to be confined to six guns–two firing towards Morris Island, two towards Fort Moultrie, and two towards the batteries on the west end of Sullivan’s Island.
At 1 o’clock two United States men-of-war were seen off the bar, and soon after a third appeared.
The fire of our batteries continued steadily until dark. The effect of the fire was not very good, owing to the insufficient caliber of the guns for the long range, and not much damage appeared to be done to any of the batteries, except those of Fort Moultrie, where our two pounders appeared to have silenced one gun for a time, to have injured the embrasures considerably, riddled the barracks and quarters, and torn three holes through their flag. The so-called floating battery was struck very frequently by our shot, one of them penetrating at the angle between the front and roof, entirely trough the iron covering and woodwork beneath, and wounding one man. The rest of the 32-pounder balls failed to penetrate the front or the roof, but were deflected from their surfaces, which were arranged at a suitable angle for this purpose. We could not strike below the water line on account of the sea wall behind which the battery had been grounded, and which was just high enough to allow their guns to fire over it, and to intercept all of our ricochet shots.
The columbiad battery and Dahlgren battery near the floating battery did not appear to be much injured by the few shot that were fired at them. Only one or two shots were fired at Fort Johnson, and none at Castle Pinckney or the city.
Our fire towards Morris Island was mainly directed at the iron-clad battery, but the small caliber of our shot failed to penetrate the covering, when struck fairly. The aim was therefore, taken at the embrasures, which were struck at least twice, disabling the guns for a time. One or two shots were thrown at the reverse of batteries 3 and 4, scattering some groups of officers and men on the lookout, and cutting down a small flagstaff on one of the batteries. At one time during the day a revenue schooner which had been seized by the insurgents was observed lying at anchor between Sullivan’s Island and Mount Pleasant. Lieutenant Snyder, Corps of Engineers, who had charge at this time of the battery firing in this direction, directed two or three shots at her with such effect as to put one of them through the vessel and cause her to haul down her colors, the flag of the so-called Confederate States, to hoist her anchor and sails, and get out of range as soon as possible.
One or two shots were thrown at the hulks which had been anchored in the channel on a line between Cummings Point and Fort Moultrie, to be fired at night if our fleet should attempt to come in. As no person appeared on board, the fire was not continued in this direction.
The barracks caught fire three times during the day, from shells, apparently, but each time the flames, being in the first or second stories, were extinguished by a pump and application of the means at hand. Peter Hart, who was formerly a sergeant in Major Anderson’s company, and employed by me at the time as a carpenter, was very active and efficient in extinguishing the flames.
The effect of the enemy’s fire upon Fort Sumter during the day was very marked in respect to the vertical fire. This was so well directed and so well sustained, that from the seventeen mortars engaged in firing 10-inch shells, one-half of the shells came within or exploded above the parapet of the fort, and only about ten buried themselves in the soft earth of the parade without exploding. In consequence of this precision of vertical fire, Major Anderson decided not to man the upper tier of guns, as by doing so the loss of men, notwithstanding the traverses and bomb-proof shelters that I had constructed, must have been great. These guns were therefore only fired once or twice by some men who ventured upon the parapet for this purpose. In doing this they managed without much care, producing little or no effect upon the enemy, besides doing injury to the guns. At the third fire of the 10-inch columbiad at the right gorge angle, it was omitted to throw the friction wheels out of bearing and consequently in the recoil the gun ran entirely off its chassis, overturning itself and in its fall dismounting the 8-inch sea-coast howitzer next to it.
The direction of the enemy’s shells being from the northeast, north, southwest, and southeast, sought every part of the work, and the fuses being well graduated, exploded in most instances just within the line of parapet. To this kind of fire no return was made. The four 8-inch columbiads that I had planted in the parade to be used as mortars on Cummings Point were not used, neither was the 10-inch columbiad, arranged to fire shot and shells towards the city. The hot-shot furnaces were not used nor opened. The effect of the direct fire from the enemy’s guns was not so marked as the vertical. For several hours firing from the commencement a large proportion of their shot missed the fort. Subsequently it improved, and did considerable damage to the roof and upper story of the barracks and quarters, and to the tops of the chimneys on the gorge. The aim of the guns during the day, with the exception of batteries Nos. 1 and 2, on Cummings Point, appeared to be directed to dismount the guns of our barbette tier. Those from Fort Moultrie succeeded in dismounting an 8-inch columbiad, and in striking on its side and cracking a second 8-inch columbiad, both situated on the right flank. The roof of the barracks on this flank and the stair towers were much damaged by this fire.
The shots from the guns in the batteries on the west end of Sullivan’s Island did not produce any considerable direct effect, but many of them took the gorge in reverse in their fall, completely riddling the officers’ quarters, even down to the first story, so great was the angle of fall of many of the balls.
Three of the iron cisterns over the hallways were destroyed by shots during the day, and the quarters below deluged by their contents of water, aiding in preventing the extension of the fire. The shots from these batteries and from Fort Moultrie, aimed at the embrasures, failed to produce any effect. None of the shot came through, although one shell exploded in the mouth of one embrasure.
A part of the guns from Cummings Point essayed to dismount the barbette tier on the gorge, and the remainder to breach the gorge, or rather the pan-coupé at the right gorge angle. At this latter point, two columbiads and a Blakely rifled gun fired almost constantly. The effect of this fire on this day was to breach around the embrasure of the first tier at the pan-coupé to a depth of twenty inches, and to put one shot through the filling, consisting of brick and bluestone combined, with which the embrasure opening of the second tier had been filled. One shot was also put through the top of a loophole window on the second tier, another through the top of the main gate, and a third through the magazine ventilator at the right of the gorge, falling between the pier and the inner wooden ceiling.
Three of the embrasure cheek-irons that I had placed in the second tier loopholes, were knocked out of place. Several of the stones that had been placed in the first tier loopholes were struck, but owing to the lead run in around them to hold them in place none were broken.
The penetration of the 8-inch columbiad balls from Cummings Point was eleven inches at the first shot–and that of the twelve-pound bolt from the Blakely gun was the same, as ascertained by measurement. The latter, however, threw its shot with greater accuracy, and with less time of flight, than the former. The distance was about 1,250 yards.
The shot from Cummings Point that passed a little over the gorge took the left face in reverse, damaging the masonry of the parade wall, coping, &c., and splintering the chassis of one gun in barbette. As an instance of strength of masonry, I may mention that one 10-inch shell from Cummings Point fell upon the second tier casemate arch, which was not covered by concrete or flagging, and so good was the masonry of this 15-inch arch that the shell did not go through, although it bedded itself, and broke off from the soffit below a large fragment of brickwork.
The night was very stormy, with high wind and tide. I found out, however by personal inspection, that the exterior of the work was not damaged to any considerable extent, and that all the facilities for taking in supplies in case they arrived, were as complete as circumstances would admit. The enemy threw shells every ten or fifteen minutes during the night. The making of cartridge bags was continued by the men, under Lieutenant Meade’s directions, until 12 o’clock, when they were ordered to stop by Major Anderson. To obtain materials for the bags all the extra clothing of the companies was cut up, and all coarse paper and extra hospital sheets used.
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MONTGOMERY, April 12, 1861.
General BEAUREGARD, Charleston, S. C.:
What was Major Anderson’s reply to the proposition contained in my dispatch of last night!
L. P. WALKER.
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CHARLESTON, S. C., April 12, 1861.
L. P. WALKER:
He would not consent. I write to-day.
G T. BEAUREGARD
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HEADQUARTERS PROVISIONAL FORCES,
Charleston, 8. C., April 12, 1861.
Hon. L. P. WALKER, Secretary of War:
SIR: I have the honor to transmit the inclosed copy of a correspondence with Major Anderson, in consequence of which our fire was opened upon Fort Sumter at 4.30 o’clock this morning, as already communicated to you by telegraph. The pilots reported to me last evening that a steamer, supposed to be the Harriet Lane, had appeared off the harbor. She approached slowly, and was lying off the main entrance, some ten or twelve miles, when the pilot came in.
Respectfully, your obedient servant,
G.T. BEAUREGARD,
Brigadier-General, Commanding.
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CHARLESTON, April 12, 1861.
Hon. L. P. WALKER:
Heavy firing all day. Several guns dismounted in Sumter. Our batteries all safe. Nobody hurt. Four steamers off the bar. The sea pretty rough.
G. T. BEAUREGARD.
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HDQRS. FIRST REGIMENT SOUTH CAROLINA VOLS.,
April 12, 1861—12 noon
Maj. W. H. C. WHITING,
Acting Adjutant and Insp. Gen., Morris Island, S. C.:
MAJOR: It is reported from the lookout on the lighthouse that three steamers are in sight off the bar. One is supposed by the light-house keeper to be the Harriet Lane. This one is in sight from the hill at my camp, and appears different in its build and rig from a merchant steamer. A heavy gun was fired a short time since at sea, probably from this steamer.
I have the honor to be., very respectfully, your obedient servant,
MAXCY GREGG,
Colonel First Regiment South Carolina Volunteers.
P. S.–The steamer referred to is also reported to have approached the merchant steamer which was off the bar, and has now gone southward.
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APRIL 12, 1861–afternoon.
The Pawnee, Harriet Lane (certain), and the Baltic (conjectured, from my knowledge of her build) are at anchor close at the North Channel; Illinois (conjectured)at anchor at the main bar. The wind and sea strong from the southeast; heavy surf. Troops are posted for the night. As many more as you can send will be welcome, No casualties whatever. Troops in good spirits. With your re-enforcements send, if possible, crackers and dried beef, or other provisions, in their haver-sacks. Shells still fire badly, owing to fuses prematurely bursting. The ships may try to send boats in. Already guns are trained and ranged for night firing on the landing. It is doubtful if the ships will try it. They may. If they run past they will have to go to the city. Men fire deliberately.
By order of General Simons:
W. H. C. WHITING,
Adjutant and Inspector General.
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FORT PALMETTO, STONO INLET, S.C., April 12, 1861.
Brigadier-General BEAUREGARD:
GENERAL: I have the honor to call your attention to the force at this point. From the accounts received from abroad, large military preparations seem to have been made against us. A vigorous diversion of their force may be made at this point, and as your attention is much occupied by the large preparations in Charleston Harbor, I take the liberty of bringing our force here to your notice, that you may increase it if the same is, in your opinion, expedient. We have been occupied all day strengthening our fortifications by the use of sand bags. With some laborers here, the main fortifications could be made much stronger against assault. The work is of such a character that it can only be done by those who are accustomed to this sort of labor.
I have the honor to remain, your obedient servant,
J. J. POPE,
JR., Captain of Light Artillery, Commander of the Post.
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CHARLESTON HOTEL, Charleston, S.C., April 12, 1861.
Brigadier General BEAUREGARD,
Commanding Provisional Forces, Charleston, S. C.:
SIR: You were pleased to say, in your letter of yesterday, to Governor Pickens, in reference to my tender of services: “So soon as a sufficient force shall have been collected on Morris Island or elsewhere to form two brigades thereat, I shall be most happy to accept his [my] proffered services.” There being now on Morris Island the two regiments belonging to General Simons’ brigade, Colonel Gregg’s regiment of volunteers, and Colonel Kershaw’s regiment, also the whole or a part of Colonel Hagood’s regiment (both of my division), making as large or a larger number of my division proper than of General Simons’ command proper, I submit that the state of things contemplated in your letter has arisen, and respectfully ask to be assigned immediately to that command.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
M. L. BONHAM,
Major-General Division, South Carolina Volunteers.
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HEADQUARTERS, STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA,
April 12, 1861.
DEAR GENERAL: The display at Light-house Inlet, perhaps, is a feint, and if so, they intend to re-enforce, as you say, through Bull’s Bay and Sullivan’s Island Inlet; but I think there is danger at Stono, and of coming up in the rear of the city by the Long Bridge. The regiment, stationed at the race-course, is in good position, but they ought to have pickets out, so as to be in hearing of Stono, so as to report immediately to the colonel of the regiment if any attack is made. If they come through Sullivan’s Island Inlet or Creek, then Castle Pinckney might play her guns as they turn around to Sumter.
Respectfully,
F. W. PICKENS.
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HEADQUARTERS, April 12, 1861.
DEAR GENERAL: Plan of battle just determined on at Gregg’s quarters. Whiting, Huger, Gregg, Trapier, and Simons all agree that we greatly need infantry, to defend the batteries from assault. Four large steamers are plainly in view, and standing off the bar all day. Unanimous opinion that a landing will be attempted, and fears that some of the batteries will be taken, unless supported. Have made the best distribution of the troops we have, but need every man you can send. Should you not be here personally to direct! Such is the general opinion. I send this by order of Simons, who is at Gregg’s, and left me here to write, and send without delay.
Very respectfully,
LOUIS T. WIGFALL.
P. S.–We have no glass here, and have to rely entirely upon the eye to examine steamers. Four plainly in sight, and another vessel out a short distance. Fight expected to-night.
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HDQRS. PROVISIONAL ARMY CONFEDERATE STATES,
Charleston, S. C., April 12, 1861.
Lieutenant-Colonel DE SAUSSURE, Morris Island, S. C.:
SIR: In order to economize our mortar ammunition, I desire that at or after 12 m. this day you should double the interval between the firing of the shells; that is, four minutes instead of two during the day, and twenty minutes instead of ten during the night. The action of your mortar batteries in that respect will guide the others elsewhere. Be careful, also, not to fire too fast at your other batteries, and to call in time for additional ammunition when required.
Respectfully, your obedient servant,
G. T. BEAUREGARD,
Brigadier-General, Commanding.
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HDQRS. PROVISIONAL ARMY CONFEDERATE STATES,
Charleston, S.C., April 12, 1861.
Maj. W. H. C. WHITING,
Assistant Adjutant-General, &c., Morris Island, S.C.:
MAJOR: Your note is received. Firing, I hope, will soon be better. To save ammunition of mortars, the time between each shell thrown should be doubled by day and by night–that is, four minutes instead of two for the first, and twenty minutes instead of ten for the last. I have written to Colonel De Saussure to that effect. This change should take place after 12 m. this day. The batteries elsewhere will follow those of Cummings Point. Great care should be taken at the other batteries (gun) not to fire too fast or uselessly, and timely calls for ammunition should be made. I have requested Colonel Wigfall to lend his assistance to General Simons as a volunteer aid. Be careful to strengthen the force protecting the batteries on south end of Morris Island, for if a landing is made it will be done there, probably. How would it do to send General Bonham to command from about the lighthouse down to Light-house Inlet? I am trying to dispatch to that locality as many new arrivals as possible. They will do very well for those hills.
Yours, truly,
G. T. BEAUREGARD,
Brigadier-General, Commanding.
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HEADQUARTERS STEAMSHIP ATLANTIC,
Off Key West, April 12, 1861.
Lieut. Col. E. D. KEYES,
Secretary to General-in-Chief, Washington, D.C.:
COLONEL: In obedience to the special instructions of the General-in-Chief, I proceeded to New York on the 2d, and arrived there on the morning of the 3d instant, and was engaged until Saturday, the 6th, in preparing for this expedition. On the afternoon of that day Barry’s battery (Company A, Second Artillery), Hunt’s company (M, Second Artillery), Duane’s company of Sappers and Miners, and Companies C and E (Johns’ and Clitz’s), Third Infantry, and twenty Engineer carpenters were embarked on board the steamship Atlantic, Captain Gray. We hauled out in the stream at dark, but continued to take in cargo through the night, and on Sunday morning at 3½ weighed anchor and went to sea. On Tuesday and Wednesday we had a heavy gale, dead ahead, the horses of the battery suffering very much from the heavy sea, the wet, and the cold, and were preserved only by the substantial excellence of our ship and the vigilant care of the officers. Only two died during the gale, and the rest are doing well. My command are all healthy and in good spirits.
I have directed Lieutenant Balch, ordnance officer, to make on the proper offices requisitions for various articles which were not to be procured at our departure. I respectfully urge that they be sent immediately.
I ordered the purchase of two 6-pounder rifled guns, which are said to be at Fort Columbus, and that a 42-pounder rifled gun, also at that post, be sent, with all the necessary implements and projectiles, by the first vessel. I have also directed Lieutenant Balch to make a special estimate of guns for Fort Jefferson, which may be of vital importance, and which should be furnished without delay.
I would respectfully and earnestly urge that six 42-pounder rifled guns, with implements complete, and one thousand rounds of ammunition to each gun, as specified in the requisition of Lieutenant Balch, be immediately prepared and sent by steamer to Fort Pickens. Their value will be inestimable. With them we shall be able to act, if need be, with great efficiency against Fort McRee, Barrancas, and the navy-yard, and place our opponents from an offensive to a defensive position. I earnestly solicit the approbation of the General-in-Chief on this subject, and that the guns may be prepared and sent by steam without a moment’s delay. James’ apparatus for rifling guns is at Fort Columbus, and the guns, if diligence be exercised, may be prepared for shipment in a week.
We go into Key West for two or three hours on important duty enjoined by the General-in-Chief, and from thence to Fort Jefferson for some indispensable articles, where we shall be delayed only a short time, and shall then proceed to our destination.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
HARVEY BROWN,
Colonel, Commanding.
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WASHINGTON, D.C., April 12, 1861.
Hon. SIMON CAMERON, Secretary of War:
SIR: I have the honor to report that in obedience to your instructions, dated April 6, 1861, I left Washington on the evening of the same day in company with Mr. R. S: Chew, and arrived at Charleston, S.C., on the evening of the 8th instant. Immediately after my arrival I visited Governor Pickens, and, having informed him of the nature of my written instructions, stated that Mr. Chew had requested me to ask his excellency for an interview at his earliest convenience. The governor replied that he would receive Mr. Chew at once, and shortly after I accompanied Mr. Chew to the governor’s quarters. Mr. Chew read to the governor, in my presence, a message from the President of the United States, handing him a copy of the same, which was compared by the governor. The governor stated to Mr. Chew that, South Carolina having ratified the constitution of the Confederate States, General Beauregard now had charge of military affairs in the vicinity of Charleston, and that, as General Beauregard was near at hand, he would desire to have him present at the interview. To this Mr. Chew assented, and General Beauregard having been called into the room, the governor read and handed to him the copy of the message which he had just received.
In compliance with your verbal instructions, I asked Governor Pickens if I would be permitted to proceed to Fort Sumter for the purpose of remaining on duty at that post. The governor referred me to General Beauregard for an answer, by whom the request was peremptorily refused. I then asked if I would be permitted to hold communication with Major Anderson at Fort Sumter, with the distinct understanding that after such interview I should immediately return to Charleston. This was also refused, General Beauregard remarking that no communication whatever would be permitted with Major Anderson, except to convey an order for the evacuation of the fort, such being the instructions received from Montgomery
I then informed Governor Pickens and General Beauregard that I had no further official business to transact with them, and that it was the desire of Mr. Chew and myself to start North that night. Both replied that there would be no obstruction to our departure, and each of them detailed an officer of the staff to escort us to the railroad depot. We left Charleston at 11 o’clock p.m. on the 8th instant, arriving here this morning. We were detained several hours at Florence, S.C., and at Richmond, Va., in consequence of the railway trains failing to connect at those places. I brought back with me the sealed dispatch for Major Anderson, intrusted to my care by the President.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
THEO. TALBOT,
Brevet Captain, Assistant Adjutant-General, U.S. Army.
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