The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-03-16

I'wiggs to the Confederate Veterans
q; the Guards Hall last night. upon
Tie assault upon Battery Wagner
was thoroughly enjoyed by a large au-
,%.icncc. which was frequently aroused
to enthusiasm by the eloquent flights
all glowing word pictures Of the
>ieah,r.
Iudyc TwiggS was introduced by
.I.dr" Falligant, who was in more
Ian usual happy mood, and whose
.emarks were loudly applaudcd. Gen.
i. NcGlashan, first vice president Of
he Confederate Veterans As,ocia
,on. presided at the meeting.
Judge Twiggs began his address
with 4 description Of the offences
around Charleston, and the position
q tho opposing forces, the Federal
forces bcsicrin" Charleston, the lIar-
iiQr Of which was defended by Forts
>Mmtcr. Noultric, Gregg. Battery
Wagner and other Notifications. The
pattcry was Il very strong carthwork,
.pcatcd al the upper end Of Morris
Island. the work having been con.
>icucted under the direction of the
best engineers Of the ~Confcdcracy.
There was considerable preliminary
fighting leading up to the main attack.
The Fc,lcrals had constructed batter
les under the direction Of Gen. Gil
more on thcotllcr end of Morris Island
and were preparing to make things de-
cidcdly uncomfortable for the ConfcI-
crates. IN attack on the fort on July
II was rrpulscd with severe loss to the
Fcdcral>. Col. Charles II. OlmStcad
and the Savannah troops participated
IN the defence on that occasion.
Gen. ". l.. T"aliafcrro, of Virginia,
whose death was recorded in ycstcr-
Gays Mo,miny NcwS, was in command
OF the fort, and Judge Twiggs spoke
fcclingly Of his old commander. lie
was assistant Inspector general on the
staff, Of which Lieut.. Henry G. Gun
ningham and DR.. Joseph Clay llabcr-
sham, Of Savannah, were also mem
bcrs.
Besides the batteries which Gen.
Gilmore had constructed on the island,
the enemy had a number Of monitors
and gunboats i'll the river, which daily
shcllcd the fort, and made things as
unpleasant as possible for the Confed-
crates. The garrison was composed Of
less than 100 mel from North Caro-
lima, South Carolina and Georgia.
Opposing them were the enemy with
over 6,00G men fortytwo large siege
guns in their four land batteries, and
a number Of S, 10, II and 15.inch guns
on their monitors.
The day was n which he will never
forget, Judge Twiggs said. Fairly in
the morning he brcakfasted with DR..
Harper, Of Augusta, one of the sur
gcons, their breakfast consisting Of
hard crackers and butter, the latter
being considered a treat. Their meal
was interrupted by a Parrot shell,
which buried itself in tho earth out
side the door and then exploded,
throwing up a large Mount Of earth
and filing the pail containing the
butter with sand. 1t was the begin
ming of tho bombardmcnt. They
forcsaw that the fort was to be a~ssail-
cd by the entire land and naval force
of the enemy. The whole seventy
guns Of the enemy opened, and for
eleven hours the air was filled with
shot and she'll CT every description.
The Confcdcratcs replied as best they
could, but their armament was far
inferior to that Of the enemy. and
many of their guns were soon disabled.
The infantry resortcd to the bomb
proofs, the roofs of which were almost
torn away by the constant explosions
of the shccls which fell within the
fort. The wooden buildings in the
fort, which had been used for officers
quarters and medical supplies, were
torn into splinters. 1t was a not July
day. and the men in the bomb-proefs
we're most uncomfortable. Gaillard's
battalion, from Charleston, preferred
to remain on the outside, sheltered
under the wall of the parapct.
The blazing July sun was obscured
by the clouds Of smoke from the burst
ing shells. The fort shook like q ship
in the grasp Of a storm. All the
heavy guns on the sea face Of the fort
we're soon disabled, and but for the
bomb-proofs and the parapets the gar
rison would soon have been annihila-
ted. The halliards were cut by he
shot and the garrison flag fell. a
score of men ran for it at once. -Four
officers seized hold Of it, carried it