Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1911-04-11

. who were participants. They are =
. given 10 the readers Of The Jour y
. nal without the paper assuming =
= responsibility for their accuracy. .
Toward the close of 1860 the nation
al defenses of Charleston harbor, con-
sisting of Castle Pinchney, Fort Moul-
trie and Fort Sumter, were garrisoned
by an army OF IS men instead of the l.
csc men that yere required. Fort Moul-
trie alone. where IS soldiers were sta
toned. required 500 men for its de-
Tense.
Fort Moultrie was considered rath-
er pleasant station, Suliivans Island
being a favorite summer resort Many
Of the wealthy citizens OF Charleston
had their summer residences there, and
indeed some of them lived there all
the year round The garrison consist
ed OF two skeleton companies and the
regkmentaI band Of the First artillery.
They had occupied the fort since 1851,
and were fairly we= acquainted in the
neighborhood. Indeed. several of the
men had been enlisted at the post, ana
were native CaroIinians.
As the political pot began TO boil to-
ward the close of 1860 and secession
was openly discussed, tne social posi-
ton of the garrison became anomalous
Army officers had always been favor
ties in the south; but enlisted men
we're social outcasts. 1t was rather
surprising. therefore, to find them re-
ceiving attentions from civilians. But
the secessionfsts were determined Il
have the fort and they wanted TO
get il without bloodshed They had
failed with the commissioned officers
and they had no better success with
the soldiers; every enlisted man re-
NAMED faithful to the Union.
The old commander or Fort Moultrie'
Col. John l. Gardner. was removed;
the new one. Mai. Robert Anderson, of
Kentucky, arrived on November p. As
a southern man. he was expected to
be reasonable. If he had scruples upon
the question of qualified. allegiance, ne
might surrender on demand, on purely
professional grounds. But his actions
clearly indicated that he would not sur
render on demand He continued de-
fensive preparations with as much ener-
CIV and zeal as his predecessor, ana
manifestly meant TO fight This was
very discourag ing to the preachers OF
bloodIess secession. and when he trans
ferred his command to Sumter their oc-
cupation was completely gone. Nothing
put war would now get him out.
The transfer of Major Anderson's COM
maud from Moultrie TO Sumter was neat
" executed early in the evening OF De-
cember g. 1850 1t was few minutes
after sunset when the troops left Moul-
trie. the short twilight was about over
when they reached the boats; 10 or 20
minutes more carried them TO Sumter.
The workmen had gust settled down to
an evenings enjoyment when armed men
a. the door startled them. There was
no parleying. no explaining; nothing but
stern commands, silent establishment,
and prompt obedience. The workmen
were on the wharf. outside the fort, be-
fore they were certain whether their
captors were secessionists or Yankees.
Meantime. the newly arrived troops
were busy enough. Guards were posted
embra sures secured. and. as far as prac-
ticable. the place was put in defen-
sible condition against any storming
party which chagrin might drive the
guard-boat people to send against It,
such an attempt was perfectly feasible
The night was very dark: the soldiers
were on unknown ground and could not
ind their way about readily; many OF
the embrasures could not be closed; and
there were at least a hundred willing
guides and helpers already on the
wharf and in a fine frame of mind for
such work But nothing was at
/ tempted.
/ PREPARING SUMTER FOR DEFENSE.
| At dawn of December q the men were
up and ready for any emergency; indeed,
most of them had been up all night.
/ Captain Foster had been specially busy
with his former employees. Among them
he found several loyal men, and also
some doubtful ones who were willing TO
share the fortunes of the garrison. These
I constituted an acceptable addition to our
working strength. although those class
ed as doubtful would have been an ele-
ment Of weakness in case of fight.
I However they did much good work be-
i fore hostilites began. and the worst ones
were weeded out before we were closely
/ invested Those who remained to the end
i were excellent men. They endured the
/ hardships OF the siege and the dangers
I of the bombardment without a murmur
and left Sumter with the garrison with
little besides the clothes they stood in.
They were the first volunteers for the
/ Union.
Fort Sumter was unfinished. and the
interior was filled with building ma
/ terials, guns. carriages, shot. shell, der
ricks, timbers. blocks and tackle. and
coils of rope in great confusion. Few
guns were mounted, and these few were
chiefly on the lowest tier. The work was
intended for three tiers of guns. but the
embrasures Of the second tier were in
complete. and guns could be mounted on
the first and third tiers only.
The complete armament of the work
had not yet arrived. but there were
more guns on hand than we could
mount or man. The first thing to be
considered was immediate defense. The
/ possibility of a sudden dash by the
eremy. under cover OF darkness and
i guided by the discharged workmen then
+ In Charleston, demanded instant atten-
ton. Il was impossible to spread g.
meR over ground intended for $50. so
some Of the embrasures had to be
bricked up. Selecting those. therefore.
i essential to artillery defense, and
mounting guns in them, Anderson
closed the rest. This was the work of
many days; but we were I'm no immediate
danger OF an artillery attack. The
I armament OF Moultrie was destroyed;
its guns were spiked. and their car
riages burned and II would take a
longer time to put them in condition
than IL would TO mount the guns OF
Sumter.
Moving such immense quantities of
material. mounting guns. distributing
shot. and bricking up embrasures kept
us busy for many weeks. But order
was coming out of chaos every day, and
the soldiers began TO feel that they
we're a match for their adversaries
I Gsfu they rould NOT shut their ewes 10