Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1911-04-19

first gun of the war; and offered to al
low him to fire it.
"Pryor was very much agitated.
With a husky voice he 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. It
was fired at 4:30 a. M and burst i'm
mediately over the fort"
| General BeaureGard mentions Ed
| mund Ruf6n in his report and locates
him at 1.-THE iron battery on Morris
Island. Colonel De Saussure, COM
mander of the Morris island batteries.
says In his report that his guns open
ed at 4:4S. 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. Rufin
served in the Palmetto guard. which
manned two batteries on Morris Is
land. the Point" tCummings) and the
iron batteries. Captain Cuthbert OF
the Palmettos is very explicit In his
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 it's
work. The first shell. fired 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 Ruffin shot was the one that
struck the wall of the magazine where
he was lying. He himself fred the
first shot in return The guns used
were thirty-two and forty-two pound
ers. The gunners aimed we'll. and fire
was concentrated upon an ironclad
Confederate battery about a mile dis
tant. The shot rolled off 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
a British fleet That work was liter
ally buried under sand bags, and the
shot had very little effect there. There
yiSihln tho Con fQ2-
crate batteries as participants, but
there was a 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. a 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 filed
with citizens watching the duel be-
tween Sumter and Moultrie Natural
ly 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 $3.50, 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 it 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 perfect storm of shot and shell
came upon the fort The Flagstaff was
shot down, and for the first time thu
old flag 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 is not necessarily by
any means steeled against the finel
feelings of a man. AS soon as be
heard that Anderson's flag was nc
longer flying he sent three of bis
aids. W. Porcher Miles, Roger A
Pryor and Captain Stephen D. Lee. tt
see if Anderson's people needed and
would receive assistance in subduing
flames which had broken out in Tie
barracks Of the fort. caused by redho,
). shells which the enemy was firing on
J. purpose. it might be supposed. to start
r conflagration
E The Fort Sumter gunners. of course
had to slow up on their fire in order to
= enable some of the men to turn from
. fighting the Confederates to fighting
flames. Seeing this. the gunners in
the Confederate batteries cheered
when a lone gun was fired from Sum
ter. When the Confederate aids ap-
peared at the fort and announced to
| Major Anderson tha humane mission