The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1911-04-15

first gun of the war and offered to al
low him TO FIRE 1t.
Pryor a very much agitated
With a husky voice he said. 4 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
a fired at 4:30 a. m. and burst i'm
~mediately over the fort"
General Beauregard mentions Ed
mund Ruffin 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 his report that his guns pen
cd at 44S, 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 fired from Fort johnson. Rufin
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 his
report. He says: "The mortar battery
at Cummings point opened fire on Fort
Sumter in It's turn after the signal
shell from Fort Johnson, having been
preceded by the mortar batteries on
S%ullivan'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 Rufin, burst directly
upon tae parapet Of the fort"
The dawn Of day" which was the
time Rutin 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 RUlin 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 Eunners aimed well, and fire
was concentrated upon an ironclad
Confederate battery about a mile dis
tant. The shot rolled off like peas, and
MS 1t 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
were no men visible near the Confed
crate batteries as participants. but
there was a large party Of people, ap.
parently noncOmbatants, on the beach
of Snllivan's island, neal Fort Moul-
trie. Irrit0ted 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 07:3W 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 1t 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.