St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1893-03-25
THE FIRST GUN.


Who 1,rsA The sisael SHOT ser The Bo.
bardmsat u SumterS
Gen. Beaurcgard recently furnishe
70 the newspapers Of New Orleans Q n
ply to the recent assertion that Ma.
w. II. Gibbes, Of South Carolina. fire
the first shell at Fort Sumter Tn
final responsibility for that act ID. o
course. on the man who gave instruc
tions to open fire. namely. Beauregar'
himself; while he also had his orders
But as to the battery commander VIII,
received and executed that order. this
according:to Gen Beauregard, wa Capt
George s Jamea
The same question came up severa
years ago in the Century Magazine ana
the BATTLES and Leaders Of the Civi
War" Gen. S. D. Lee had contributed
| to that series Of war articles his remi
niscences of ''The First Step. In the
War" He had been one of Beaure
CARDS aides-de-camp at tho bombard'
ment Of Sumter, and with Jlns Chest
NUT, jr. Roger A. Pryor and A. R
Chisolm, who were also on Beauregard'i
stan. had gone in . boat from Fort
Sumter to Fort johnson, on James L.
land, in the carly morning Of April II.
1861, after . final interview with Mai
Anderson. The rest Of the story may
be given in Gen. S. d Lees words:
''The order to nre the signal gun Was given to
Capt George S James, commanding the bat.
terry NJ that point II Was then - n. Capt
James at once reused his command and ar-
ranged TO carry out the order He WAS great
admtrer Of Roger A. Pryor, and said to him:
You are the only man TO whom I would give up
the honor OF firing the nrss gun Of the war; and
he offered TO allow him TO nre e Pryor. on No
cetvins the ofler, Was very much agitated-
With husky voice. he said: I could not IRE
the nrst gun OF the war; His manner was
about similar to that Of MAJ Anderson. - Ne
left him few mome0ts before on the wharf at
Fort Sumter. Capt James would allow no
one else but himself to frc this gun.
''Thc boat with the aides Of Gen. Beaureeard
left Fort johnson before tho arrangemenu
were complete for the firing Of the gun and laid
on it's oars, about one third the distance be-
tween the fort and Sumter. there 70 witness the
firing OF the nrst gun OF the war between the
states II was fred from ten-inch mortar 1T
40 n m. April II. 1851 Capt James WAS
skillful onncer and the firing OF the shell was .
success. II burst Immediately over the fort
apparently about one hundred feet above"
Col A. r Chisolm. in . 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 . reason that his state. Virgins,
had not yet seeded. For the same rea-
son he declined to fire the signal shot
Moreover. ] believe he was there a q
Of congress. and may have been
to compromise himself"
In . letter to Gen. Beauregard, writ
ten during the present yeor. which that
officer now makes public. Col Chisolm
gives = more detailed account of the
particular affair. substantially agreeing
with that of Gen. s d Lee, already
quoted:
1--WE entered the boats and proceeded 70 Fort
Johnson. then in command Of Csp:. George s
James, who met ~ on the wharf, where We de-
;vercd to him, - per your instructions. the
,rdcs to fire the signal gun Capt James, see.
ing Gen. Pryor In the boat, said 10 him:
"'Mr. Pryor. I have always been great ad-
nirer OF yours. and now offer you the honor Of
1ring the flrst shot at Fort sumter
Gen Pryor felt natsered, but with many
hanks declined the offer. asked him whv he
lid not accept It His reply was that II would
rot do for him to nre that shot, as his state had
lot yet seeded
"James then said: Il Will not give that prfvi- |
cge to any other man"
Perhaps there is not necessarily any
conflict between these accounts and
hat of Maj Gibbea II will be seen
hat neither Gen. 8 ID. Lee nor Col
,hisolm was in Fort johnson when the |
irst gun WAS fired What they testify |
o is really that they delivered to Capt |
James, who commanded the fort |
order to fire. and that |
Iames, after offering to Pryor the right
o fire the first shot and it had been de-
lined. said that he would not give
hat privilege to any other man." What
laj. Gibbes says is that he, as first
in command of a battery Of
en-inch mortars. was actually directed
y Capt James. who commanded the
rhole artillery company, to fire the
un at exactly 4:30 o'clock.
''Our mortars were loaded and trained, one
'i,h full charge, directly on the fort: tho
ther, according to Instructions, to explode
igh in the air, and vide OF the mark, only a
gnal Corporal welch. with one Ian. ard in
md. end with tho other, anxiously . vsitcd
,e moment. and watched our timepteces as the
The shell was thrown high IN the air, . beau-
full light, Is the whole line could be traced BY
,e burning fuse Immediately our mine was
,rung to destroy house which interfered with
n view, and then the gun which was trained
pom the fort, and Was intended for business,
rs discharged. all within one minute Lieut..
eury L Farley, with Capt James. commanded
second battery Of mortars, and Lieut. Hayne
OF re erves- These are absolute
cts, and the two shells from my battery were
e first Of the siege"
However this controversy may be set
ed, in one sense the first shot at Sum-
r was not the first shot of the w>r.
n editorial note to the article Of Gen.
d. Lee gives these facts
'When the Star Of the West arrived. on the
OF January, the first shot fred across her
~ Was fired by G. Hsynsworth, and the Sec
d. aimed directly ~ her, BY Cadet HOrlbeck | \
il claimed that before this date hostile
ot from . four-pounder had been fired from
cksburg by Horace Miller ~ passing United
ate vessel, supposed to be carrying supply
arms and ammunition to New Orleans"
An article by Gen. Doubleday in the I
me publication makes still another !.
lint: I'VE have not been in the habit
regarding the signal shell fred from
ort johnson - the first gun of the
nflict although it was undoubtedly ,
med at Fort Sumter. Edmund Ruffin. .
Virginia, Is usually credited with ,
'ening the attack by firing the first ,
IN from the ironclad battery on Nor.
island. The ball from that gun
ruck the wall Of the magazine where
was lying" +,
One circumstance well worth noting ,
that the day before the lombard
ent Beauregard had demanded Of
ai Anderson the evacuation Of the
IT. the demand being delivered. says q
n. s d. Lee, BY two aides Of Gen.