Captains of the Civil War | Page 7

Mount Pleasant battery, nearly two miles off from Sumter. At
half-past four, in the first faint light of a gray morning, a sudden spurt
of flame shot out from Fort Johnson, the dull roar of a mortar floated
through the misty air, and the big shell--the first shot of the real
war--soared up at a steep angle, its course distinctly marked by its
burning fuse, and then plunged down on Sumter. It was a capital shot,
right on the center of the target, and was followed by an admirable
burst. Then all the converging batteries opened full; while the whole
population of perfervid Charleston rushed out of doors to throng their
beautiful East Battery, a flagstone marine parade three miles in from
Sumter, of which and of the attacking batteries it had a perfect view.
But Sumter remained as silent as the grave. Anderson decided not to

return the fire till it was broad daylight. In the meantime all ranks went
to breakfast, which consisted entirely of water and salt pork. Then the
gun crews went to action stations and fired back steadily with solid shot.
The ironclad battery was an exasperating target; for the shot bounced
off it like dried peas. Moultrie seemed more vulnerable. But
appearances were deceptive; for it was thoroughly quilted with bales of
cotton, which the solid shot simply rammed into an impenetrable mass.
Wishing to save his men, in which he was quite successful, Anderson
had forbidden the use of the shell-guns, which were mounted on the
upper works and therefore more exposed. Shell fire would have burst
the bales and set the cotton flaming. This was so evident that Sergeant
Carmody, unable to stand such futile practice any longer, quietly stole
up to the loaded guns and fired them in succession. The aim lacked
final correction; and the result was small, except that Moultrie, thinking
itself in danger, concentrated all its efforts on silencing these guns. The
silencing seemed most effective; for Carmody could not reload alone,
and so his first shots were his last.
At nightfall Sumter ceased fire while the Confederates kept on slowly
till daylight. Next morning the officers' quarters were set on fire by
red-hot shot. Immediately the Confederates redoubled their efforts.
Inside Sumter the fire was creeping towards the magazine, the door of
which was shut only just in time. Then the flagstaff was shot down.
Anderson ran his colors up again, but the situation was rapidly
becoming impossible. Most of the worn-out men were fighting the
flames while a few were firing at long intervals to show they would not
yet give in. This excited the generous admiration of the enemy, who
cheered the gallantry of Sumter while sneering at the caution of the
Union fleet outside. The fact was, however, that this so-called fleet was
a mere assemblage of vessels quite unable to fight the Charleston
batteries and without the slightest chance of saving Sumter.
Having done his best for the honor of the flag, though not a man was
killed within the walls, Anderson surrendered in the afternoon.
Charleston went wild with joy; but applauded the generosity of
Beauregard's chivalrous terms. Next day, Sunday the fourteenth,
Anderson's little garrison saluted the Stars and Stripes with fifty guns,

and then, with colors flying, marched down on board a transport to the
strains of Yankee Doodle.
Strange to say, after being four years in Confederate hands, Sumter was
recaptured by the Union forces on the anniversary of its surrender. It
was often bombarded, though never taken, in the meantime.
The fall of Sumter not only fired all Union loyalty but made
Confederates eager for the fray. The very next day Lincoln called for
75,000 three-month volunteers. Two days later Confederate letters of
marque were issued to any privateers that would prey on Union
shipping. Two days later again Lincoln declared a blockade of every
port from South Carolina round to Texas. Eight days afterwards he
extended it to North Carolina and Virginia.
But in the meantime Lincoln had been himself marooned in
Washington. On the nineteenth of April, the day he declared his first
blockade, the Sixth Massachusetts were attacked by a mob in Baltimore,
through which the direct rails ran from North to South. Baltimore was
full of secession, and the bloodshed roused its fury. Maryland was a
border slave State out of which the District of Columbia was carved.
Virginia had just seceded. So when the would-be Confederates of
Maryland, led by the Mayor of Baltimore, began tearing up rails,
burning bridges, and cutting the wires, the Union Government found
itself enisled in a hostile sea. Its own forces abandoned the Arsenal at
Harper's Ferry and the Navy Yard at Norfolk. The work of demolition
at Harper's Ferry had to be bungled off in haste, owing to