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

wont W from thousands Of throats.
and thousands Of women waved their
handkerchief, toward, the men in the
fort.
Judge Twirs-- remarks upon the
sentiment attaching to a flag Of one S
country aroused great applause. clad
the Confederate States, he said.
adhered to the Stars aud Stripes
thousands would have Nocknd to their
caus" who remained away. and other
thousands would have refused To fight
against 1t. The Stars and Stripes are
again the flag Of a united country.
Long may it wave over the land Of the
free and the home Of the brave. 1t is
the symbol Of Il union that will never
be surrendered. The people If the
South are as loyal to that hag o.day
as are tho>r who live to the north
ward
There was further applause when
the speaker alluded To Fitzhugh Lee.
who fought 50 we'll nnN.r the Stars
and Bars. now molly UNFOLDING the
honor Of the Stars and Stripes at la
vana. This was followed by an clo-
rucnt pancryr;c upon the Confederate
banner.
As the sun was sinking in the west
the bombardmcnt ceased, to the great
relief Of the garrison. The oninous
pause was well understood. however.
The supreme moment had arrived.
Having failed tn reduce the fort by
bombardmcnt the enemy entire force
was to be hurled against it. The as
sault was about to take place. Gen.
Taliafcrro had w~iscl,y taken the pre-
caution carly in the bombardmcnt Of
removing the smaller guns out of the
way of the encmy's shells. They
were promptly rcmountcd, and the
ramparts manned. and the whole sea
and land face Of the fort was lined
with glittcring steel.
The enemy evidently supposed the
fort to have been practically destroyed
by the bombardmcnt. and they would
meet with but little resistance. While
the fort had been battered beyond re-
cognition almost and the heavy guns
disabled, the garrison was still in good
shape aud in good spirits. The Fed
cral column was 5000 strong, under
command Of Gen. Seymour. 1t con-
sisted Of three brigadcs from the 10th
and 18th army corps. The column
moved forward in rcgimcntal front,
led by the 5lth Massachus- It's, a negro
regiment. commanded by Col. Robert
G.. Shaw. The Fcdcrals were ordered
to use the bayonct only. Not a shot
was fired from either side as the col
advanced. There was an oppres-
sivc silence, and the rays of the setting
u danced and shimmercd along the
lines Of bayonets. The Federals were
in a short distance OF the fort when
they gave a cheer an. rushed upon it.
Immediately a dead fire crashed forth.
The fort was lit with flame from has
ton to bastion. TIE 1900 rifles and
the artillery poured in a whitening
flame at short range. The Federal
troops came %sallantly on, beating
against the fort like the waves Of the
sea. There was n harvest Of death
and men fell like ripe grain before the
sickle. The enemy pushed CALAMITY
on. Hundreds crossed the ditch at
the base of the fort and many lcapcd
the parapet to be transfxed with bayo-
nets or hurled below by the defenders.
Owing to the failure of the Federal
commander to allow for the proximity
of the creek near the fort the attack
ing force was crowded together on a
narrow strip of land between the creek
and the fort. This resulted in confu-
sion and the crowded masses offered
SPLENDID opportunity to the men in
the fort. thus greatly augmenting the
loss. 4hc 54th Massachusetts, broke
and fled, breaking the columns of the
regiment behind it and the entire bri-
gade rushed to the rear completely
routed.
Gen Seymour then ordered Col.
Putnam to advance to the attack with
his brigade, but he refused to do so,
saying that he had been ordered to re-
main where he was by Gen. Gilmore.
Afterwards, however, he CALAMITY led
forward his brigade without orders.
They were received with terrible fire,
but crossed the ditch. entered the fort
by the southeast bastion and poured
into the parapet. Another brigade
was ordered to advance, but Gen. Sey-
mour was shot down after giving tac
order. He repeated the order us he
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