Contents
-SUBJECT INDEX -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD
James Ford Rhodes (1848–1927). History of the Civil War, 1861–1865. 1917.
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| await the usual roll-call and order for breakfast. Having no more bread, they ate pork and damaged rice. At seven o’clock, Anderson gave the order and Sumter discharged its first gun at Cummings Point, following up this shot with a vigorous fire. An hour and a half later Sumter opened upon Moultrie and from that time “a steady and continuous fire” between the two “was kept up throughout the day.” 1 For the people of Charleston who gathered on the house-tops and thronged to the wharves and to their favorite promenade, the Battery, this artillery duel was a mighty spectacle. They had lost all love for the Union; they hated the American flag somewhat as the Venetians hated the Austrian and, though apprehensive of danger to their husbands, sons and brothers, they rejoiced that the time was drawing near when the enemy should no longer hold a fort commanding their harbor and city. | 12 |
| In the early afternoon the fire of Sumter slackened; cartridges were lacking, “although the six needles in the fort were kept steadily employed” until all “the extra clothing of the companies, all coarse paper and extra hospital sheets” had been used. 2 After dark Sumter stopped firing; the Confederate batteries continued to throw shells, though at longer intervals. As, during the dark and stormy night, “it was almost confidently expected that the United States fleet would attempt to land troops upon the islands or to throw men into Fort Sumter by means of boats,” there was ceaseless vigilance on Morris and Sullivan’s islands. 3 Early on Saturday morning [April 13] the bombardment was renewed. The men in the fort ate the last of the damaged rice with pork, but they sprang briskly to their work. “Fort Sumter opened early and spitefully and paid especial attention to Fort Moultrie,” wrote Moultrie’s |
