Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1886-08-14
fHE ATTACK ON SUMTER.
HOW THE CONFEDERATE BATTER
les OPENED FIRE.
A Scene of Excitement in Charles
tOn-Partly Dressed Feopie hush-
ING Through the Streets.


A Scene of Excitement in Charles
tOn-PartIy Dressed People RUSH
ING Through the Streets.
Tn an account OF the attack on Fort
Sumter MAJOR De Fontaine tells, in the
SomtL,ra Birouae. the condition Of af-
fairs in the city If Charleston. He says:
April 12th! The hour OF action is at
hand II il not vet daylight, but every
officer and every private in that circle Of
batteries is at his post. The curtains Of
tha nioht are drawn aside, and as the
bells Of the distant city strike. one-twO
-three-four-a group OF soldiers gather
around mortar at Fort johnson. They
little realize however, that in those sill
very notes rolling across the waters o.
the bay, they have heard the death-knen
of eighty years OF peace.
Among the officers are Colonel James
II. Chestnut, ex-United States SENATOR
Colonel A. II. Chisholm, now the
editor and proprietor of mining
journal in New York, and MAJOR
Stepben d. Lee, subsequently
lieutenant General, the aides of Beau
re ard. by whom the final note was con-
v we'd TO Major Anderson. Watch In
hand. they await the approach of the
half hour when the signal gun is to sound
the tocsi1 of civil war; and as the last
second of the last minute is recorded
upon the dial-platc, there is flash Of
bright light, the thunder of gun. and
an e,eycn-inch shell traces its pathway
toward Fort Sumter with a long, thin
line of fire. Another quickly follows
and the chorus of battle is fairly opened
the prelude to mighty drama OF revo-
luton. The first of these shells was
discharged by Captain George S. James,
and the second by Lieutenant Hampton
Gibbs.
The scene of that April morning in
tie city of Charleston will never be fully
portrayed. Nor tongue, nor pen, nor
canvas can convey an idea of the reality
in all of its details. Let the reader i'm
agine a population startled from their
slumbers by such an alarm Lights fash
as if by magic from the widows of every
house, and in the twinkling of an eye, as
it were. an agitated mass of people are
rushing impeiuously toward the water
front Of the city. Grave citizens. whose
dignity under ordinary circumstances is
unimpeachablc are at the top of their
speed, dressing as they run, and sending
up wild hurrahs as if they must have
some such safety-valve for their enthu-'
siasm or be suffocated. There are men
sans coats, women sGnS crinoline, and
children in their night gowns. 1.-THE
Battery, of fashionable promenade, pre-
sents scene of deshabiile in every style.
And SO. with faces pale, hair unkempt,
and eyes sharpened by the strange fas-
cination of the weird spectacle, the i'm
FASHIONED multitude stand by the hour
peering into the darkness ana reading
the progress Of the fight by the flashing
of the guns.
Our batteries had all opened, or, to use
the language of Colonel Ripley, 'rung
their breakfast bell for Major Anderson
For nearly two hours they pounded at
the walls of Fort Sumter with desperate
|, energy, but without eliciting response.
Scarcely, however, had objects on the
low coast become well defined amid the
shadows of the morning when, as il
wrathful from the enforced delay, there
suddenly poured from parapet and case
ment storm of iron hail The murmur
rang through the crowd and was caught
! up and carried into the city: Fort Sum
. ter has orened fire." The battle now
ragged with fury, and the fiery messen-
gers from both sides followed each other
with spiteful haste. Short, sharp re-
ports with spurts of fame told Of burst
! ing shells in and around the beleaguered
fortress, while splashes of spray or clouds
of crumbled brick marked the ugly force
of round shot on its face To the specta-
tor, no display of pyrotechnic skill could
have been more attractive.
AT dawn a shower of rain dispersed
the throng gathered on the Battery"
but at sunrise thousands again congre-
gated, who, with fever undiminished,
watched the progress of the fight. Ths
elegant mansions in the neighborhood
were also filed with observers. while in
the roadway of the broad plaza were hun
dreds of carriages anil the h rsemen who
had hurried to the scene from towns and
villages miles away.
A siagle incident illustrates the enthu-
siastic sentiment which pervaded the en-
tire community. Among the spectators
was deciepid old gentleman over sew
enty years OF age. Long before day
light he had tottered to one of the
wharles as point of observation.
found him still there in the afternoon, on
my return from the Notifications, and
announced to him "that thus far no one
was hurt" Taking me by the hand, he
remarked: Sir, have five sons on Nor
ris Island, and they are all that attach
me to life, but would not utter one
murmur while standing over their graves
if they died fgbtin0 to-dav