The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-02-14
THE FIRST GUN.
Who Fired the Signal Shot for the BoE-
bardment of Sumter?


Gen Beauregard recently furnished
to the newspapers Of New Orleans a re-
ply to the recent assertion that Maj
| W. NJ Gibbes, of South Carolina, fired
| the first shell at Fort Sumter The
final responsibility for that act is. of
course, on the man who gave instruc-
tons TO open fire, namely. Beauregard
| himself; while he also had his orders
But as to the battery commander who
received and executed that order, this,
aecording,to Gen. Beauregard, was Capt
George S. James
The same question came MP several
years ago in the Century Magazine and
the Battles and Leaders of the Civil
War" Gen S. D. Lee had contributed
to that series of war articles his reni-
niscences OF THE First Step in the
| War" He had been one Of Beaure-
CARDS aides-de-camp at the lombard
| ment OF Sumter, and with James Chest
| nut, jr, Roger A. Pryor and a. r
Chisolm, who were also on Beauregard's
staff. had gone in boat from Fort
Sumter 10 Fort Johnson, on James Is
| land, in the early morning of April u,
1851, after q final interview with Maj.
Anderson. The rest of the story may
be given in Gen. S. D. Lees words:
1.-THE order to fire the signal gun was given 70
Capt. George :. James commanding the bat
terry al that point. II was then 4 a. II. Capt
James at once reused his command ana ar
ranged 10 carry out the order He was great
adnlirer OF Roger A Pryor and said 10 him;
You are the only man 10 whom would give up
the honor Of firing the first gun Of the war and
he offered to allow him to IRE It Pryor, on re-
celYlng the cfer, was very much ag.tated
with husky voice. he said: I could mol fire
the first gun Of the war. His manner was
about similar TO that Of Maj Anderson. as we
left him few moments before on the wharf at
Fort Sumter. Capt James would allow no
one else but himself TO fire this gun
The boat, with the aides Of Gen Beaurcgard
left Fort johnson before the arrangements
were complete for the firing Of the gun ane laid
on lis oars, about one-third the distance be-
tween the fort and Sumter, there to witness the
firing Of the first gun Of the war between the
states. II was fired from ten-inch mortar at
4:30 a. N, April T. 1861 Capt James was a
skiIlful officer, and the firing OF the shell was
success. 1t burst Immediately over the fort,
apparently about one hundred feet above"
Col A. R. Chisolm, in a few notes
following 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 rea-
son he declined to fire the signal shot.
Moreover, / believe ne was there as a
member Of congress, and may have been
unwilling to compromise himself"
In a letter to Gen. Beauregard, writ
ten during the present year, which that
officer now makes public Col Chisolm
gives a more detailed account of the
particular affair." substantially agreeing
with that of Gen. S. d. Lee, already
quoted:
Eve entered the boats and proceeded to Fort
johnson, then in command of Capt. George 5.
James, who met US on the wharf where we de-
livered 10 him, as per your instructions the
order TO fire the signal gun Capt. James, see
ing Gen. Pryor in the boat, said TO him;
Mr.. Pryor have always been great ad-
nirer Of yours, and now offer you the honor Of
firing the first shot at Fort sumter
"Gen. Pryor felt fattered, but with many
thanks declined the ofer. I 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: 4 will not give that prfvi-
lege to any other man"
Perhaps there is not necessarily any
conflict between these accounts and
that of Maj Gibbes. 1t viii be seen
that neither Gen. S. d. Lee nor Col
Chisolm was in Fort johnson when the
first gun was fred. What they testify
to is really that they delivered to Capt
James, who commanded the fort,
Beauregard's order to fire, and that
James, after Offering to Pryor the right
to fire the first shot and it had been de-
clined, said that he would not give
that privilege to any other man" What
Maj. Gibbes says Is that he, as first
lieutenant, in command of battery of
ten-inch mortars, was actually directed
by Capt. James, who commanded the
whole artillery company, to fire the
gun at exactly 4:8o o'clock
"Our mortars were loaded and trained, one
with a full charge, directly on the fort; the
other, according 10 instructions, TO explode
high in the air, and wide OF the mark, only as
signal Corporal Welch, with one Lanyard in
hand, and I with the other, anxiousy awaited
the moment and watched our umepieces as the
hands marked the half hour.
THE shell was thrown high in the air, beau
tful sight, as the whole line could be traced BY
the burning fuse. Immediately our mine was
sprung 20 destroy house which interfered with
our view, and then the gun which was trained
upon the fort, and was intended for business,
was discharged, all within one minute Lieut.
Henry L. Farley, with Capt James, commanded
q second battery OF mOrtars, and Lieut. Hayne
q detachment of reserves. These are absolute
facts, and the two shells from my battery we're
the first OF the siege"
However this controversy may be set
tied, in one sense the first shot at Sum-
ter was not the first shot of the war.
An editorial note to the article Of Gen.
5. d. Lee gives these facts.
when the Star Of the West arrived, on the
eth CT January, the first shot fired across her
bow was fred by q. Haynsw0rth. and the sec
ond aimed directly az her BIZ Cadet Eor.beok
i is claimed that before this date a hostile
shot from a four FOUNDER had been fred from
Vicksburg by Horace Miller a. a passing United
State vessel supposed 10 be carrying supply
Of arms and ammunition 20 New Orleans"
An article by Gen Doubleday IN the
same publication makes stu another
point: ave have not been in the habit
of regarding the signal she'll fred from
Fort johnson as the first gun Of the
conflict although it was undoubtedly
aimed al Fort Sumter. Edmund Rufiin,
of Virginia, IS usually credited with
opening the attack BY firing the first
gun from the ironclad battery on Nor
RS island. The ball from that gun
struck the wall OF the magazine where
l was lying
One circumstance well worth noting
IS that the day before the lombard
ment Beauregard had demanded II
Mai Anderson the evacuation OF tae
fort, the demand being delivered, says
Gen 5. d. Lee, by Two aides Of Gen
Rearrec-ard Inns Chestnut II ard