Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1886-04-10

| or some friend had given him a hint we could
not tel; but by the time Lieutenant Hall got to
| the end of the wharf Delanes boat was beyond
gunshot.
Fooled in his attempt to arrest the deserter,
| Lieutenant Hall returned to the fort, and the
| procession started for the steamer. First came
| the drummers and filters playing yankee Doc
dle;" then the six sergeants carrying the top
| mast with the flag; then the troops. think
| there were about sixty OF them. There had been
| seventy odd, but two had been killed by an ac-
cident and six or eight wounded. The steamer
that awaited them was the. Planter, a cotton
| boat of the high-pressure rlsuasion. The tide
| was high and the main-deck of the steamer was
| on level with the wharf. She was still blowing
OFF steam, as Ii determined to drown the efforts
| ofthe drummer and ffers Her hurricane-deck
| was very high above the main-deck, to enable
her to carry three or four tier of cotton-bales,
| and her pilot-house was perched like a large
sized sentry-box on the forward end of the hur-
| ricane-deck. The pilot cOiored man and a
| slave, with an intelligent countenance, watched
! the proceedings from the window of the pilot
| house, and a man in naval undress uniform
paced the hurricane-deck abaft the smoke
| stacks. Our baggage ana the wounded
had already been put on board, and the
| that there seemed to be no convenient
place on it for the topmast and the colors.
Lieutenant Hall, who was post quartermaster,
was present exercising the functions of his Office
and he directed the sergeants to put their bur-
aen on the hurilcane-deck. This was easier said
| than done. The hurricane-deck was at least
| eight feet above the main-deck, and the top
mast was heavy one. However, they got the
lighter end we'll up, and some men were sent on
| deck TO help them with pull. Before their
arrival the man in the naval uniform stepped
| forward good-naturedly, as if to lend them a
| helping hand, and laid hold of the topmast. At
that moment Lieutenant Hall sprang on deck,
| and seizing the good-natured man by the arm,
swung him unceremoniouSly away from the
flagstaff, saying, ''How dare you lay your hand
on that hag.' The gCOd-natured man said
nothing, and quietly resumed pacing the deck.
was an eX-1eutenant OF the United States
| navy who had gone with his State, and, could
not help thinking at the time, was sorry for it.
was told his name at the time, but have for
II. q
very tall, with reddish hair, very close cut, and
tnsed with gray, and might have been forty
The colored pilot was afterwards Congress
man. 1t was he who carried the steamer
to the United States blockading squadron off
the bar. He afterwards represented the Beau
Tort district OF South Carolina in Congress.
INCIDENTS OF THE SIEGE.
Most of the men were glad to leave Sum-
ter. Not that their stay there had been mis-
cradle. With the exception of a few weeks
when the ration was reduced to inconvenient di-
mansions. they had been as jolly a set of men
as ever were confined in fortress. Lven
chronic grumblers were entertaining Perfect
health, regular habits, good appetite q fair
ration, plenty of work, and no dissipation had
produced their natural results; and no men ever
endured confinement more cheerfully went
to work with lighter hearts than the Sumter
garrison. Then the novelty of their situation
formality of declaration; besieged, yet bound
In honor not to interfere with the be-
sbse haG f for sbt time to purchase
and then having that permission suddenly
withdrawn; their mail at first allowed and
afterward disallowed; and thousand other in
expl1cable things, were topics of discussion that
never could become tiresOme. Even the activ-
1ty OF their enemies was a source of amusement,
and the hostile batteries being constructed
around them were watched with as much in
terest by the besieged as they could have been
by the beSieSers. And how could the culprit
help being interested in the building OF the scat
fold? Most OF the batteries were visible, and
looked like enormous ant-hills inhabited by
most industrious colonies. They were always
at work. Dark objects were constantly crawl
ing over and around the hills, and by degrees
they grew into shape, and became recognizable
as parapets. Some grew rapidly, others slowly,
and the Sumter soldiers would assume to dag
nose the character of the builders from the
that one is being built by ardent rebels" And
that, another one would reply, directing at
tention to one OF slower growth, undoubtedly
by nlggerS." "Or lazy vagabOnds from the rice
regions" says q third. ''Or crackers from the
swamps of Florida, from fourth. And so on
In almost endless variety, to the infinite amuse-
ment of the men.
But the invisible batteries, perhaps, afforded
most amusement. There was not hidden halt
acre within range OF sumter unaccredited with
a battery. Every soldier, almost, set up one in
his Imagination, and would argue by the hour
IN favor OF us existence: When argument
and fabulous sums were offered by way OF wager
by men who rarely owned dollar. OF course
the betting was all bombaSt. There were no
takers. But the offerings were all the more lib
S SIdi anu iiNeiy vi that ACCOUNT, ana none the
ieS Ss, amusing ,i
q, nen tiie hIuuen batteries were unmaSked
luGIe was !nucn DISAPPOINTMENT. There were
puis tnlee III an, unless, as was boldly asserted
W solilS VI lhe Unsupported ones, the rebels
MSLe Jew IN reserve, or as others said,
dlon Know good place tor a battery when
sney saw IL but the Illumination OF the false
Rlopnels was nothIhg 10 the eXultat1On OF the
snlee tofsunt i 3nes. How they wagged their
nst.us auu SOU toIu you SO was exceedingly
hIi as the men, pretending to
onainaarinI 800 al'S as eHPerts IN military
.r,. n,n fi IiI ~ tnelh IN the gravest
snIota arrson oH, a,f 10 t II SNORT the
souaa1aS Ont Of as,or, .I itu a.at couIo De
81 ohsar,,o.;o o'oi' AnSAuohI 'hab caLne unoer
Avs ~ '"''
UNDER WAY AT LAST.
But i am wandering from INV story The
grand denonemep, had Talon n,ooo ~,
- ,-,.-; -, -, -. po' nc hio-
ool 100 h'A piociaiAueu Ihelr existence,
anu the lalSe prophets mad forgotten their dis |
appointment. The commandment was over and |
the hungry garrison was ready to go,-in fact, |
they mad taken their departure. There were
none of the earmarks of a surrender about it. |
Ihey carried their cOlOrs, and their guns and |
iioIIy rouu9s oi ammunition In their cartridge |
VanIs.a nanIIa oa,oS ~ " Tue HiarLia tune or
stepped on board of the PIanter not souers
mained in Sumter. Whether il was a conces |
sion 10 the galiantry with which Major An |
uerson hau uelenoeo MS post or not, cannot |