The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-04-27
Thursday Memorial Day, But
 Bank Holiday Only Indication

Thursday, April se, was Memorial Day,
 Just es years and 15 days age the cadets bf the South Carolina Mili r tary academy, the Citadel, on Morris Island, E, G., fired the first gun of the War Between the States at the Harriet Lane, a Federal steamef ap- pfpaehlns the Charleston harbor bar, bringing Supplies for Major Ander- sons eAfrisen cut off In Fort sum ter,
 President Jefferson Davis wired the order to fro from a room on the secehd fleor of the Winter building, at Court and Market stroots, Mont Eomery, Ala. That was April ls. 1861.
 That shot began tho revolutionix- Ing of warfare. It was the fore runner of the greatest changes mlli- tary science had known. Tho United States army had been allowed, liter ally to go to pot. and the Federal forces were merely the skeleton reg iments that, in great measure, con ficers. and a few mon. The troops of tho Confectionery were even In sorrier plight, for they did not have as much as the Federals and lacked manufacturing section to back them. Numbers of them, however, were graduates of West Point, Flu ropean universities, and many had
 Lack of supplies put the Confed- crates on their mettle, necessity forcing the invention of many things; lack of material. others.
 It was President Davis who planned the military defenses on become the model of the world. and remain unchanged to this day. Logs with bank of sand in front of them. Before the bombardment of the Federal fleet this test fortifica. . tion was called, In official papers Battery Wagner. When the fleet re- tired, driven off. the report spoke of the redoubt as Fort Wagner" It was estimated that for every ton of sand in the works, the Federal fleet fired two tons of iron. and when the bombardment was over the shells had made the works bigger than be- fore the firing started. There is not harbor defense of any consequence in the world today that is not copied from President Davis idea. Lacking navy to resist blockade the Confederates, at Norfolk, Va. raised the burnt wreck of the old Federal cruiser Merrimac, coated her with railroad rails, christened her | the Virginia, and with her sunk hali the Federal fleet in Hampton Roads The Merrimac, as she is generally | called, fought an engagement with | the later launched Federal ironclat Monitor. drove the. Monitor to cover under the guns of Fortress Monroe where she refused to come out, but later, because of the destroyed bea- cons in the Roads, and because of her great draft, ran aground and was abandoned. The turret plan of the Monitor is used on battleships to this day.
 Defense of ports and armored na- vies were born in the Confederacy Warfare had undergone an utter | change.
 Long Range Guns.
 The next high light in '. .rfare was | turned on by the Federals. The Con- | federateA commerce destroyer and | cruiser Alabama" was engaged off Cherbourg, France, by the federal | cruiser "Kearsarge." I'm yankee | commander, using rare judgement in that day and time of blind. pellmell courage, utilized his long range guns
 kept at a distance from the southern | ship and literally cut the Alabama | to pieces, sinking her. The damage to the Federal ship was slight. One southern shell lodged in the stern post of the Kearsarge. Had 1t ex- ploded the story might have been different.
 But the Federal captain had proven
 the advantage of cool judgment over bravado. He savtd his ship and won