The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1886-07-30
FORT sUN1pTER.
Southern Account osthe Opening of the
War of tile Rebellion,

A Southern Account osthe Opening of tho
War of the Rebellion.
Southern Bivouac for July: In an
account OF the attack on Fort Sump-
ter Major De Fontaine tells, in the
Southern Rivouac for July, the condi.
tion of affairs in the city of Charles.
ton. He says:
April 18th! The hour of action is
at hand. 1t is not yet daylight, but
every officer and every private in that
circle OF batteries is at his post. The
curtains OF the night are drawn aside,
| and as the bells of the distant city
strike, one-tw o-three-four-agr group
of soldiers gather around mortar in
Fort Johnson. They little realize,
however, that in those silvery notes
rolling across the waters of the bay,
they have heard the death-knell OF
eighty years OF peace.
Among the officers are Colonel james
II. Chestnut, ex-United States Senator
Colonel A. II. Chisholm, now the edi-
tor and proprietor of a mining journal
in New York, and Major Stephen d.
Lee, subsequently, Lieutenant Gen
eral, the aides of Beauregard, by
whom the final note was conveyed to
Major Anderson. Watch in hand,
they await the approach of the half
hour when the signal gun is to sound
the tocsin OF cixil war, and as the last
second Of the last minute is recorded
upon The dial-plate, there is the flash
OF bright light. the thunder of q gun,
and an eleven-inch shell. traces it's
pathway toward Fort Sumter with a
long thin line OF fire. Another quick
ly follows, and the chorous OF battle
is fairly opened, the prelude to
mighty drama OF revolution. The
first of these shells was discharged by
Captain George S. James, and the sec
ond by Lieutenant Hampton Gibbes.
The scene OF that April morning in
the city of Charleston will never be
fully portrayed. Nortongue, nor pen,
nor canvas can convey an idea of the
reality in all of it's details. Let the
reader imagine q population startled
from their slumbers by such an alarm.
Lights flash as if by magic from the
windows OF every house, and in the
twinkling OF an eye. as it were, an agi-
tated mass of people are rushing i'm
petuously toward the water front OF
thecity. Gravecitizens, whose dignity
under ordinary circumstances is un-
impeachabe, are at the top of their
speed, dressing as they run, and send
ing up wild hurrahs as if they must
have some such safety-valve for their
enthusiasm or be suffocated There
are then sans coats, women sans crino-
line, and children in their night-gowns
"The Battery" or fashionable prom.
| enade, presents a scene ofdeshabillein
every style, and the mysteries of the
feminine toilet are revealed with q
reckless disregard of all the formula
OF conventional attire. And so with
faces pale, hair unkempt, and eyes
sharpened by the strange fascination
OF the weird spectacle, the impassioned
multitude stand by the hour peering
into the darkness and reading the pro-
gress 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
Sumpter with desperate energy, but
without eliciting response. Scarcely,
however, had objects on the low coast
become we'll defined amid the shadows
OF the morning when, as if wrathful
from the enforced delay, there sud
denly poured from parapet and case
ment, a storm OF iron hail. The mur-
muir rang through the crowd and was
caught on and carried into the city,
Fort Sumpter has opened tire!" The
battle now ragged with fury, and the
| fnnry- f<>f
lowed each other with spiteful haste
Short, sharp reports with spurts OF
flame told OF bursting shells in and
around the beleaguered fortress, while
splashes OF spray or clouds of crum-
pled brick marked the ugly force
OF round shot on it's face. To the
spectator, no display OF pyrotechnic
skill could have been more attractive.
At dawn g shower of rain dispersed
the 1hrong gathered on the "battery,' -
but at sunrise thousands again con-
, gregated who, with fever rundiminished,
watched the progress of the fight The
elegant mansions in the neighborhood
were also filled with observers, while
in the roadway Of the broad plaza
We're hundreds OF carriages and the
horsemen who had hurried to the
, scene from towns and villages miles
away.
A single incident illustrates the en-
! thusiastic sentiment which pervaded
, the entire community. Among the
spectators was q decrepit old gentle
man over seventy years of age Long
before daylight chad tottered to one
of the wharves as point OF observa-
, tion. found him still there in the af.
! ternoon, on my return from the forti-
tications, and announced to him chat
thus far no one was hurt" Taking
me by the hand, he remarked, "Sir,
have five sons on Morris Island, and
they ar all that attach me to life,
, but | would not utter one murmur
| while standing over their graves ifthey
died fighting to-day