The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1911-05-11
first gun Of the war; and offered to al
lo,v him 70 fire it.

Q(Sg gun Oh lu0 war, duo ohcic0 " "a
low him to FIRE It
"Pryor was very much agitated-
With a husky voice be said. I could
not fire the first gun Of the war. Cap
tain James would allow no one else
but himself to fire the first gun. 1t
was fred at 4:3o a. m. and burst i'm
mediately over the fort"
General Beaureeard mentions Ed
mund Rufin in his report and locates
him at "the iron battery on Morris
island. Colonel De Saussure. COM
mander Of the Morris island batteries.
says In bis report that his guns open
ed at 4:4a, after the signal agreed
upon had been given. Colonel De
saussure's subordinate. Major Stevens.
says that the batteries on Morris Is
land opened after the signal shell had
been fred from Fort Johnson Ruftin
served in the Palmetto guard. which
manned two batteries on Morris Is
land, the Point" (Cummings) and the
iron batteries. Captain Cuthbert OF
the Palmettos Is very explicit In bis
report. He says: "The mortar battery
at Cummings point opened fire on Fort
Sumter in its turn after the signal
shell from Fort Johnson, having been
preceded by the mortar batteries on
Sullivan's island and the Marion artil
lery Morris island. At the dawn OF
day the iron battery commenced its
work. The first shell. fred by the ven
cradle Edmund Ruffin. burst directly
upon the parapet Of the fort"
The dawn of day" which was the
time Ruffin fired his columbiad. is plac-
ed by several witnesses more than an
hour after the signal gun. Meanwhile
the bombardment had been going on
steadily from the several batteries
bearing upon the doomed fort.
Doubleday Fires sumter's First Shot.
Captain Doubleday believed that the
Edmund Rufin shot was the one that
struck the wall Of the magazine where
he was lying. He himself fred the
drst shot in return. The suns used
were thirty-two and forty-two pound
ers. The gunners aimed well. and fire
was concentrated upon an ironclad
Confederate battery about a mile dis
tant. The shot rolled or like peas. and
as It was a waste Of Iron Doubleday's
men took for a target the famous old
Fort Moultrie Of Revolutionary fame.
the one Colonel Moultrie held against
q British feet. That work was liter
ally buried under sand bags. and the
shot had very little effect there. There
were no men visible near the Confed-
crate batteries as participants. but
there was large party Of people. ap-
parently noncombatants. on the beach
of Sullivan's island. near Fort Moul-
trie. Irritated at the fact that they
had been unable to do any damage to
the enemy's batteries. couple Of the
Sumter Gunners surreptitiously. when
no officer was near. turned two guns
on this crowd. The first shot fell short.
but the second went crashing through
the Moultrie house. which was filled
with citizens watching the duel be-
tween Sumter and Moultrie. Natural
" the crowd promptly dispersed.
The first night Of the bombardment
was one of great anxiety to the little
band cooped up in Fort Sumter. The
shells dropped into the fort at reg
ular intervals all night. The second
days bombardment began at the same
hour as the first (7:30 in the morn.
Ing. At daylight the enemy's fire.
which had been slow all night, warmed
up. and the aim of the gunners was
better than it had been the day be-
fore. Fire broke out In the officers
quarters Of the fort and was extin-
guished, but 1t soon broke out in sew
eral places at once.
Flagstaff Shot Down.
When the flames broke out the Con-
federate batteries increased their fire.
and a perfect storm Of shot and shell
came upon the fort. The dagstaff was
shot down, and for the first time the
old dag dropped to the ground. This
incident was interpreted by the Con-
federates as a signal Of distress. and
here again General Beauregard showed
that a soldier IL not necessarily BY
any means steeled against the dnes
feelings Of a man Az soon as he
heard that Anderson's dag was no
longer flying he sent three Of bis
sida, W. Porcher Miles, Roger A.
Pryor and Captain Stephen D. Lee. 10
80 II Anderson's people needed and
would receive assistance In subduinl
flames which had broken out In the
barracks Of the fort. caused BY redhot
shells which the enemy was firing or
purpose, It might BE- supposed. to star
q confagratdon.
The Fort Sumter gunneIs, Of course
had to slow up on their Ore In order tt'
enable some Of the men to turn from
fighting the Confederates TO lighting
flames. Seeing this. the gunners tl
the Confederate batteries cheeretl
when a lone gun was fired from Sum
ter. When the Confederate aids ap.
peared at the fort and announced u
l~sk