Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1892-12-12

1861, AFTER maj ihtctfiew WIN
Major Anderson. The rest of the s.ofy
NAV be given in Gen. s. ID. Lees words:
.sTbe order to fire the signal gun was
given to Capt. George $. James. command
ing the battery at that point. II was then
4. NJ. Capt. James at once reused h =
command and arranged to carry out tae
order. He was great admirer OF Roger
| A. Pryor. and said 10 him: '.1ou are the
only man TO whom / would give up the
honor of firing the first gun of the war,
and he offered TO allow him TO fire it. Pryor
on rece wing the offer, wasssyery much :; n
/ ta,ed. With a husky voice he said; -
I could not FIRE the first gan of the wa
/ His manner was about similar 10 that "A
Major Anderson as We left him : u
moments before on the wharf at Fort SUI.
ter. Capt James woull allow no one else
but himself to fir, this gun.
The boat, with the aides of Gen. Beaure-
girti left Fort Johnson before the arrange
ments were complete for the firing of the
gun, and laid on its oars about one-third
the distance be.ween the fnIs and Sumter,
! there to witness the first gu of the wsr
between the states. II was iced fron. q
Z l0-inch il,.f.ar At 4.30 A. u April Il,
| 1861 Capt. James was skisfal officer,
and the firieg If the she'll was a success. Ii
burst imfne liltrly over the fort apparently
about 100 feet above"
Col. \. X. Chisolm, in few notes fol-
| lowing Gen. Lees article, says that Roger
A. Pryor was not with us on our second
visit to the fort, giving me AS a reason that
his State, Virginia, had not YET seeded.
For the same reason he declined 10 fire the
signal shot Moreover, | believe he was
there as a member of Congress, ami may
have been unwiilu. 10 compromise him
self"
In litter to Gen. Beauregard, written
during the present year, which that officer
now makes public, Col. Chisoim gives a
more detailed account OF the particular af-
/ fair, substantially agreeing with that of
Gen. :. ID. Lee. already quoted.
/ We entered the boats and proceeded to
( Fort johnson. then in command of Cart.
/ George 5. James, who met us on the VIII; =,
where we delivered TO him, as per your -,
structions, your order TO fire the signal gun.
| Capt. James, seeing Gen. Pryor in the boat,
/ said to him; MIR. Pryor, have always
! been great admrer of yours, and nov
! offer you the honor of firing the first sh-
at Fort Sumter"
( zen. lSit ildltcItu, Uut WIN
| thanks declined the offer. | asked him why
he did not accept it. His reply was that
| it would not do for him to fire that shot as
| his state had not yet seeded"
| James then said Il will not give that
privilege to any other man.
| Perhaps there is not necessarily any con-
1 flict between these accounts and that OF
Major Gibbes. 1t will be seen that neither
| Gen S. D. Lee nor Col. Chisolm was at
I Fo.t johnson when the first gun was fired.
What they testify to is really that they de-
! lvered to Capt. James, who commanded the
| fort, Beauregard's order to fire, and that
James, after offering to Pryor the right to
I fire the first shot and it had been declined,
said that ''he would not give that privilege
| to any other man." What Major Gibbe-
says is, that he, as first lieutenant in com
mand of battery of l0-inch moftars, We.
actually directed by Capt James, who COIN
manded the whole artillery company, =
| fire the gun at exsetly $50 o'clock.
! sour mortars were loa led and trained.
/ one with full charge, directly on the foit
| the other according to Instructions to ex
plode high in the air, and wide of the
mark, only as signal. Corporal WEIGH,
with one lanyard in hand, and | with the
other, anxiously awaited the moment, and
watched our timepieces as the hands
marked the halt hour.
I "The shell was thrown high in the air, a
! beautiful sight, ms the whole line could b.
| traced by the burning fuse. lmmediatel
! our mine was sprung to destroy a houst
which lnterfered with our view, and then
the gun which was trained upon the fort
and was intcuded for business, was dis
charged. all within one minute. Lieut..
Henry l.. Farley, with Capt. James, com
manded Il second battery of mortars. and
! Lieut.. Hayne a detachment of reserves.
/ These are absolute facts, and the two shells
I from my battery were the first of the
siege.
! However this controversy may he settled,
! in one sense the first shot at Sumter was
/ not the first shot of the war. An editoria
note to the article of Gen. S. ID. Lee give
these facts
I when the Star of the West arrived. OF
/ the oh of January, he first snot simed
across her bow was med by 6. Il. Hayn
worth, and the seco: =. aimed directly ss
her, by Cadet Horlbeck. 1t ia ell imad tt a
before this date hos lie shot from foui
FOUNDER had been fired IRON VicSsburg by
vessel, supposed to be carrying supply OF
arms and ammunition to New Orleans"
| An article by Gen. Doubleday in the
same publication makes sill another point
1--WE have not been in the habit of regard
ing the signal shell fired from Fort Johnsc
as the first gun of the conf e. although
was undoubtedly aimed at CT Sumetr.
| Edmund Ruffn, of Virginia. is usually
credited with opening the attack by iii 1a
the first gun from he ironcla1 battery on
! Morris island. The ball from hat gan
struck the wall of the magazine where
was living"
! One circumstance well worth noting Is
that the day before the bombardment Gen.
| Beauregard had demanded of Major As-
derson the evacuation of the fort, the de-
mand being delivered, says Gen. $. II. Lee,
/ by 1.-TWO aides of Gen. Beauregard, James
| Chestnut, ,Ir, and myself. At 40 i. NJ.
he handed us his reply, refusing to accede
10 the demand, bat added, Gentlemen. il
YOU do not batter the fort to PIECES about
us, we shall he starved out in a few days.
/ The reply of Major Anderson was put into
the hands of Gen Beauregarti at 5.l5 Il.
NJ, and he was also told of this inform
remark. Anderson's reply and remark were
communicated to the Confederate authorities
at Montgomery" 1t appears that Secre-
tary of War l., T. Walker tbereupon re-
Piled to Beauregard as follows:
"Do not desire necdiessly to lombard
Fort Sumter. If Major Anderson viii
state the time at which, ~as indicated l.y
him, he will evacuate. anH~ agree in til
meantime he will not use his guns agaInss
us unless ours are employed against Fo.t
Sumter, sou are authorized thus to avoid
the cffusiou of blood. IL this, or its equiv
alert, be refused reduce the fort as your
judgement decides to be most practicable.
II was these instructions that formed the
basis OF the second api final commnniea-
ton Major Anderson. received by him
three-quarters of an hour after midnight on
the morning of April u. 'Ilis reply,
saws Gen. $. y. l.se. Indicated that lie
would eyacuate the fort on the 18th, prov
ded he dill not in the mean time receive
contradictory instructions from his Govern
ment or additional supplies, but he declined
to agree not to open Liz guns upon the
Confederate troops in The event of any hos
tile demonstrations on their part against his
flag
This statement, It APPEARS. was recarlee
by Gen. Beauregari's aides. on reading
over az "unSatis factory anil they accore-
inzly notified him ths; the hombarirets
would begin in one hour. And so the civ.
WIZ was opened.
The Lackaw anna Iron & Steel Compan
of Scranton, Pa, shnt down Saturday for