Mexico weekly ledger., 1882-10-12


went to the guns and opened fire in
As soon as the fort answered,
the Confederate guns were ordered
to fire one-third faster, and the re-
was that within an hour not one
of the barbette OF upper tier of guns
in the fort could be used. One was
in the muzzle and split down
for four feet, and three or four were
upset and hurled a dozen feet. Those
left intact could not be worked on
account of the enemy's fire. When
a shell struck the wall anywhere with
in thirty feet of a gun a shower of
mortar and pieces of brick were
hurled clear over the fort, and solid
shot were continually passing over
and around the guns. The dismount-
ing of the guns was plainly noted by
a hundred men with glasses. and the
announcement called forth cheers all
around the circle.
FIGHTING SLOWLY.
Anderson could not have had the
faintest hopes of saving Sumpter,
and he seems to have fought more to
gain time or in the way of duty, than
10 silence any OF the guns opposed.
His firing for the first two hours was
very wild, and ever in the afternoon
not one shot hit where four missed.
With the ordnance of 1864 he might
have damaged Moultrle and the float
ing battery, but he conld not have ST.
fenced them or inflicted any great loss
of life. So little were his cannon
balls feared that hundreds of Con-
federates stood outside the works to
get a better view of the fight. With
SO few men in the fort only a few
guns could be worked, and those but
slowly.
HOT SHOT.
Before noon the Confederates be-
gan using hot shot, and the third one
which entered the fort set a building
Oh fire. This emergency had beer
provided for, and the flames were
quickly extlnguished, but to be kin.
died again and again during the day
by the same means. After the mer
had orders to desert the upper tier Of
guns and serve the next tier they
were well protected, and fired witt
more regularity. When Fort Stump
ter was ready for occupancy it wa
pronounced by artillery engineers tt
be i~mpregnable. From twenty to thir
ty feet of brick, stone, sand and eartl
stood between the balls of an .nem,
and the defenders within. Within al
hour after the first gun was fired tn
fort was not only being knocked t.
pieces by old-fashioned ordnance
but was menaced by a danger neve
dreamed of by its builders-that o
mortar firing. While subsequen
events proved that. the stronghold
could not be battered so badly bu
that it could be defended, it was
dozen times shown that bombs coul,
be dropped into it from the sea a
well as the land.
AS NIGHT CAME DOWN.
As night fell, Anderson called; hi
men from the guns, and preparation
; were made for what was likely to ol
cur during the long night. The las
gun fired from Sumpter that day wa
at the floating battery. The ba
struck the water a hundred feet short
jumped over the battery, and missin
the boat by only two orthree feet san
into the water. Some believed ths
because the fort had ceased firing
had surrendered, and there was ii
tense interest to learn the truth. N
!, one could set off in a boat and al
| proach the fort on account of th
> Confederate fire, which did not slacl
/ en- in the least as the target was 10.
/ sight of in tile gloom of night. Whe
a shell struck the walls and explode
a bright fash dispelled the darkness
for an instant, and twice before mic
night the bombs and hot shot I,
newed the conflagration inside. Fro
the first gun in the morning until
O'Clock in the evening, Fort SumPtt
had been struck over 1900 time.
t Every barbette gun was dismountet
almost every foot of the walls SCARE
and pounded, and there were sever;
spots where the walls were dug OF
l to a distance of ten feet. Durin
the day many a bomb fell into tt
inclosure, and it seemed a mirac
t that half the garrison had not bee
' wiped out.
!, H MORROW.
: When day broke again 20, 900 pal,
Of eyes were strained to catch sigl
Of the fort. The flag was ripping
the morning breeze. Twenty-fo'
: hours of the most terrific poundiI
. had failed to bring down the sta
E and stripes Or weaken the bra'
hearts Of the defenders. The. mt
went to breakfast, as before, we
again tolled off into reliefs, and
day broke in all its glory the GU
: began believing defiance. Long b
fore noon hot shot rekindled the fire
;, and at noon the barracks were bur
n ing fiercely. From this hour the gu
were fred only ct long intervals, e