The National tribune., 1899-06-15

its authorized agents. The leading secession
lists had all along counted upon Maj. Ander
son, whose wife was Southern woman, with
drawing from The army and casting his fortune
with them when the proper time came that ht
could do it with honor TO himself To thai
end they had made preat spread for him on
Christmas Eve, at which they had imblhed SC
freely in drinking toasts to the success Of the
"ne- Cause" that near midnight the Major,
pretending 10 be laboring under excessive
poiat;onS clamorcd 10 be taken to the fort, and
the regular Sullivans Island beat had 10 be
fired up fer that purpose But no sooner was
the boat gone with his would be friends, Mr..
Pickens, Rhett ct al. than Maj. Anderson, who
had been tonderly laid in his little bed, arose
and summoned all his men in line in the parade
ground of the fcrt After outlining his pur-
pose, he began preparations for evacuating the
fort and after getting everything safely over
to Sumter, they set fire to the gun carriages
Of these heavy Col;lmbiads which bore upon
Sumter. About o'clock in the morning the
fire was seen at Charleston. The people sup
posing that while the Ma jor was sleeping of
his debaucil Of the night previous, the soldiers
had become drunk and set fire to the barracks,
sent over. fire apparatus by the early boat,
only TO find the fort deserted
After marching under the banner we passed
on down King Street turning into Meeting
Street and were quartcred in the Charleston
Hotel for supper. Our host instructed the bar
keeper in the large and elegantly furnished
saloon to give the boys all they wanted and
ask no questions AT o'clock that night
when We were marched to the wharf to take the
boat for Fort Moultrie, it was very evident that
many Of the boys had accepted of the hospi-
talitics OF our host as far as wet goods was con-
cerncd, for the boat was obliged to leave many
of the patriots" behind BY II o'clock that
night we had passed inside the grim walls OF
the fort. and the sadness that filed my soul as
gazcd up at the massive gates which seemed
TO say "All hope is gone as they closed behind
us, have not forgotten to this day.
The oddity of our surroundings was soon
forgotten temporarily at lcast-in the sclec-
TONS OF our bunks i'll the large barracks quar-
tcrs and ere another hour passed we were all
slowed away in comfortable beds. AS the
incidents Of the past few days had shut out all
desire for sleep on my part, the night was
largely spent in rejecting upon the past and
maturing plans for the future.
The next morning We responded early to our
first reveille, after which we anxiously recon,
noitcred the position. being especially inter
ested in the great, wierd- looking guns, of which
meme of us had ever seen any before. On the
ramparts OF the west wing of the fort were
several large 64 and 72-pound Columbiads,
which, having their carriages burned beneath
them. were useless. These guns had been
thus disabled by Maj Anderson the night OF
the evacuation, as they were the only ones in
the fort that could be brought to bear on Fort
Sumter,
There were also two light guns, probably
II Founders, on the parade ground which had
been spiked. There were two 81 and two "a
FOUNDER smooth bore guns on the ramparts
that were in good order and could be used with
some effect on vessels approaching in the main
ship channel. These laStnamed guns were
to furnish us amusement for the next few
weeks. After breakfast we were divided into
squads and began drilling with these guns.
The squad to which was assigned had
charge OF the first gun in the line, 80 pounder
and it afforded us good exercise and a fund oI
information, as our instructor was a fine
looking, golden-haired youth fresh from West
Point, who tok great interest and pleasure in
teaching us all about the guns their carriages,
ammunition. and the art of firing fuse and per
cussion shell, solid and case shot, grape, cold
and hot Shot and much information necessary
to avoid accidents, etc.
In short time We became quite proficient in
the art of handling these monster dogs of war,
and thus time went on with nothing to break
the monOtony but an occasional rumor of q
man of-war being on the way to reinforce Fort
Sumter, or fleet to storm our position. In the
meantime guns and carriages were being
replaced in the west wing of the fort, to be in
readiness to commence the attack on Sumter
In the squad to which belonged were sew
eral who were quite wealthy, having theil
servants to cook for them the provisions which
they bought themselves, being too patriotic L
allow the State to furnish them with rations.
- (To be continued.)