326 THE FLAG OF FORT SUMTER. The assailants knew that the fort was on fire, and that its inmates were dwellers in a heated furnace, yet they inhumanly intensified the fury of the attack from all points. The heat and vapor became stifling, and the garrison were compelled, frequently, to lie upon the ground, with wet cloths on their faces, to prevent suffocation by smoke. Yet they would not surrender. They bravely kept the old flag flying. Eight times its staff had been hit without serious injury; now, at twenty minutes before one o'clock, it was shot away near the peak, and the flag, with a portion of the staff, fell down through the thick smoke among the gleaming embers. Through the blinding, scorching tempest, Lieutenant Hall rushed and snatched up the precious ensign, before it could take fire. It was immediately carried by Lieutenant Snyder to the ramparts, and, under his direction, Sergeant Hart, who for weeks had been Major Anderson's faithful servant and friend, but was a non-combatant by agreement, sprang upon the sand-bags, and with the assistance of Lyman, a mason from Baltimore, fastened the fragment of the staff there, and left the soiled banner flying defiantly, while shot and shell were filling the air like hail. Almost eighty-five years before, another brave and patriotic Sergeant (William Jasper) had performed a similar feat, in Charleston harbor, near the spot where Fort Moultrie now stands. One was assisting in the establishment of American nationality, the other in maintaining it. At half-past one o'clock, the notorious Senator Wigfall (who, as soon as he had received his salary from the National Treasury, had hastened to Charleston, and there became a volunteer aid on the staff of General Beauregard) arrived at Sumter in a boat from Cummings's Point, accompanied by one white man and two negroes. Leaving the boat at the wharf, Wigfall passed around the fort until he came to the first embrasure, or port-hole, through which he saw private John Thompson, of the fort. The Texan was carrying a white handkerchief on the point of his sword, as a flag of truce. He asked permission to enter the embrasure, but was denied. "I am General Wigfall,” he said, "and wish to see Major Anderson." The soldier told him to stay there until he could see his commander. "For God's sake let me in!" cried the conspirator, "I can't stand it out here in the firing." The privilege was denied him for the moment. He then hurried around to the sally-port, at which place he had asked an interview with Anderson. Finding the passage strewn with the burning timbers of the gate, the poor fellow, in utter despair, ran around the fort, waving his white handkerchief imploringly toward his fellow-insurgents, to prevent them from firing. It was useless. The missiles fell thick and fast, and he was permitted to crawl into an embra 1 Captain Foster, in his report, says:-" As soon as the flames and smoke burst from the roof of the quarters, the enemy's batteries redoubled the rapidity of their fire, firing red-hot shot from most of their guns." Afterward, on the occasion of his being presented with a sword by the citizens of Taunton, Massachusetts, Major Anderson, alluding to the inhumanity of his assailants, said:-"It is one of the most painful recollections of that event, that when our barracks were on fire, and the men were compelled to cover their faces with wet handkerchiefs, and lie with their faces upon the ground, to avoid suffocation, instead of sending a white flag, with assistance to extinguish the flames, then threatening us with destruction, they rapidly increased their fire upon us from every battery, in total disregard of every feeling of humanity." 3 See page 134. 4 See the device on the Sumter Medal, near the close of this chapter, in which Hart is represented in the act of planting the flag-staff. For a full account of this, and attending circumstances, see Lossing's Pictorial Field-book of the Reco lution, ii, 550. A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE CONSPIRATORS. 327 sure, after he had given up his sword to a private soldier there. He was almost exhausted by fatigue and affright. At his place of entrance, Wigfall met Captain J. G. Foster, Lieutenant J. C. Davis, and Surgeon S. W. Crawford, all of whom were afterward general officers in the Army; also Lieutenant R. K. Meade. Trembling with excitement, he said: "I am General Wigfall; I come from General Beauregard, who wants to stop this bloodshed. You are on fire, and your flag is down; let us stop this firing." One of the officers replied: "Our flag is not down, Sir. It is yet flying from the ramparts." Wigfall saw it where Peter Hart and his comrade had nailed it, and said: "Well, well, I want to stop this." Holding out his sword and handkerchief, he said to one of the officers :-"Will you hoist this?" "No, Sir," replied the officer; "it is for you, General Wigfall, to stop them." "Will any of you hold this out of the embrasure?" he asked. No one offering, he said: "May I hold it, then ?" "If you wish to," was the cool reply. Wigfall sprang into the embrasure, or port-hole, and waved the white flag several times. A shot striking near frightened him away, when he cried out excitedly: "Will you let some one show this flag?" Corporal Charles Bringhurst, by permission, took the handkerchief and waved it out of the port-hole, but he soon abandoned the perilous duty, exclaiming: "I won't hold that flag, for they don't respect it. They are firing at it." Wigfall replied, impatiently: "They fired at me two or three times, and I stood it; I should think you might stand it once." Turning to Lieutenant Davis, he said: "If you will show a white flag from your ramparts, they will cease firing."-"It shall be done," said Davis, "if you request it for the purpose, and that alone, of holding a conference with Major Anderson." The commander, in the mean time, with Lieutenant Snyder and Surgeon Crawford, had passed out of the sally-port to meet Wigfall. He was not there, and they returned, and just as Davis had agreed to display a white flag, they came up. Wigfall said to Major Anderson: "I come from General Beauregard, who wishes to stop this, Sir."-" Well, Sir!" said Anderson, rising upon his toes and settling firmly upon his heels, as he looked the traitor in the face, with sharp inquiry. "You have defended your flag nobly, Sir," continued Wigfall; "you have done all that can be done, Sir. Your fort is on fire. Let us stop this. Upon what terms will you evacuate the fort, Sir?" Anderson replied: "General Beauregard already knows the terms upon which I will evacuate this fort, Sir. Instead of noon on the 15th, I will go now."-"I understand you to say," said Wigfall, eagerly, "that you will evacuate this fort now, Sir, upon the same terms proposed to you by General Beauregard?" Anderson answered: "Yes, Sir; upon those terms only, Sir."" Then," said Wigfall, inquiringly, "the fort is to be ours?""Yes, Sir; upon those conditions," answered Anderson. "Then I will return to General Beauregard," said Wigfall, and immediately left.' Believing what had been said to him to be true, Major Anderson allowed a white flag to be raised over the fort. This account of Wigfall's adventure I derived from the written statements of Captain (afterward General) Seymour, Surgeon (afterward General) Crawford, and private John Thompson, and from the verbal statements of Major (afterward Major-General) Anderson. 328 ASSAULT ON FORT SUMTER ENDED. At a little before two o'clock, Colonels Chesnut, Pryor, Miles (W. P., who was a volunteer aid on Beauregard's staff), and Captain Lee, went over to Sumter directly from the presence of their commanding general, who was at Fort Moultrie, to inquire the meaning of the white flag. When informed of the visit of Wigfall, they exchanged significant glances and smiles, and Colonel Chesnut frankly informed Major Anderson that the Texan conspirator had not seen Beauregard during the last two days. Wishing to secure for himself alone the honor of procuring the surrender of Fort Sumter, Wigfall had, by misrepresentations, obtained leave from the commander on Morris Island to go to the beleaguered fort. He went there with a white flag in his hand and a black falsehood on his lips, and played a most ludicrous part. He was an acknowledged and cherished leader of the rebellion, and was an admirable representative of the cause in which he was engaged, for it was the offspring of falsehood and fraud. Assured of Wigfall's mendacity, the deceived and indignant commander said to the new deputation: "That white flag shall come down immediately." They begged him to leave matters as they were until they could see Beauregard. He did so, and the firing ceased. • April 13, 1861. a The bombardment on Saturday was seen by thousands of spectators. About three thousand insurgent troops were engaged in the work, while almost double that number were held in reserve-mere spectators. Beside these observers were the inhabitants of Charleston, who covered the roofs of houses, the Battery, the wharves, and every place where a view might be obtained. It was like a holiday in that city. The Battery was crowded with women, gayly dressed; and to most of the inhabitants it had only the significance of a sublime spectacle. During the afternoon and early evening, several deputations from Beauregard visited Major Anderson, for the purpose of obtaining from him better terms than he had proposed. He was firm. They offered him assistance in extinguishing the flames in Sumter. He declined it, regarding the offer as an adroit method of asking him to surrender, which he had resolved never to do. Finally, between seven and eight o'clock in the evening, Major D. R. Jones, accompanied by Colonels Miles and Pryor, and Captain Hartstene,' arrived at the fort with a communication from Beauregard, which contained an agreement for the evacuation of the fort according to Anderson's terms, namely, the departure of the garrison, with company arms and property, and all private property, and the privilege of saluting and retaining his flag. Anderson accepted the agreement, and detailed Lieutenant Snyder to accom 1 Captain Hartstene had been an excellent officer in the National Navy, and had some fame as an explorer of the Arctic seas, in search of Sir John Franklin. He had resigned his commission, abandoned his flag, and entered the service of its enemies. He was now a volunteer aid to Beauregard. His kindness to the garrison. was conspicuous. 2 A ludicrous incident occurred at this interview. Colonel Pryor, armed with sword, pistols, and bowie knife, and assuming the air of a man who possessed the fort and all within it, seeing a tumbler on a table, and what he supposed to be a whisky-bottle near it, poured out of the latter a sufficient quantity of liquid to half fill the former, and drank it, supposing it to be "old Bourbon." The taste not agreeing with its appearance, he inquired if it was water, when Surgeon Crawford informed him that he had swallowed a strong solution of the iodide of potassium, a dangerous poison. Pryor, with face pale with terror, begged the surgeon to give him relief at once. His weapons were laid aside, a powerful emetic was administered, and in the course of an hour or so, that infamous Virginian went on his way rejoicing in his deliverance. Surgeon Crawford, wearing the stars of a major-general, met the traitor, just at the close of the war, in a really sadder condition than when he administered the friendly emetic. THE DEFENDERS OF FORT SUMTER. 329 pany Captain Hartstene to the little relief-squadron outside, to make arrangements for the departure of the garrison. A part of that night, the brave defeuders of Fort Sumter' enjoyed undisturbed repose. Not one of their number had been killed or very seriously hurt during the appalling bombardment of thirty-six hours, when over three thousand shot and shell were hurled at the fort. The same extraordinary statement was made concerning the insurgents. It was too extraordinary for ready belief, and for a long time there was doubt about the matter, at home and abroad, and grave journalists and sparkling satirists had food for many a telling paragraph.3 Testimony seems to show that it was true.1 Governor Pickens watched the bombardment on Saturday morning with a telescope, and that evening he made a most extraordinary speech to the excited populace from the balcony of the Charleston Hotel. "Thank God!" 1 The following are the names of the defenders of Fort Sumter: OFFICERS.-Major Robert Anderson; Captains, J. G. Foster and Abner Doubleday; First Lieutenants, Jefferson C. Davis, George W. Snyder, Truman Seymour (then brevet captain), Theodore Talbot (then assistant adjutant-general), and Norman J. Hall; Second Lieutenant, Richard K. Mead; and Assistant Surgeon Samuel W. Crawford. NON-COMMISSIONED Officers.-Quartermaster-Sergeant, William H. Hamner; Sergeants, James E. Gallway, John Renshaw, John Carmody, John McMahon, John Otto, Eugene Sheibner, James Chester, William A. Harn, and Thomas Kiernan; Ordnance-Sergeant, James Kearney; Corporals, Christopher Costolow, Charles Bringhurst, Henry Ellerbrook, Owen McGuire, and Francis J. Oakes; Musicians, Robert Foster and Charles Hall; Artificers, Henry Straudt, John E. Noack, and Philip Andermann; Confidential Mail and Market Man, Peter Hart. PRIVATES. Patrick Murphy, Tedeschi Onoratto, Peter Rice, Henry Schmidt, John Urquhart, Andrew Wickstrom, Edward Brady, Barney Cain, John Doran, Dennis Johnson, John Kehoe, John Klein, John Lanagan, John Laroche,* Frederick Lintner, John Magill, Frederick Meier, James Moore, William Morter, Patrick Neilan, John Nixon, Michael O'Donald, Robert Roe, William Walker, Joseph Wall, Edmund Walsh, Henry R. Walter, Herman Will, Thomas Wishnowski, Casper Wutterpel, Cornelius Baker, Thomas Carroll, Patrick Clancy, John Davis, James Digdam, George Fielding, Edward Gallway, James Gibbons, James Hays, Daniel Hough, John Irwin, James McDonald, Samuel Miller, John Newport, George Pinchard, Frank Rivers, Lewis Schroeder, Carl A. Sellman, John Thompson, Charles H. Tozer, William Witzmann. All of the officers but three were highly promoted during the war. Major Anderson was commissioned a brevet Major-General; Captains Foster and Doubleday were raised to full Major-Generals; Lieutenants Davis, Seymour, and Hall, were commissioned Brigadiers; and Surgeon Crawford received the same appointment. Lieutenant Snyder died in November following, and Lieutenant Talbot died in April, 1862. Lieutenant Meade resigned his commission and joined the insurgents. Major Anderson performed gallant service in the war with Mexico. Captain Seymour had been an extensive traveler. His ascent of Popocatapetl, in Mexico, the highest mountain in North America, has been frequently mentioned. Captain Foster was severely wounded at Molino del Rey, in Mexico; Lieutenant Davis was in the battle of Buena Vista; and Lieutenant Talbot had crossed the Rocky Mountains with Frémont's first expedition. * Captain Foster, in his report, said that of the 10-inch shells, thrown from seventeen mortars, one-half went within or exploded over the parapet of the fort, and only about ten buried themselves in the soft earth of the parade without exploding. This statement shows how impossible it was to man the barbette and area guns. ་ The London Times, alluding to the bombardment, the conflagration, et cætera, without causing serious personal injury, said:-"Many a 'difficulty' at a bar has cost more bloodshed. Was this a preconcerted feat of conjury? Were the rival Presidents saluting one another in harmless fireworks to amuse the groundlings? The whole affair is utterly inexplicable. . . . The result is utterly different from all we are accustomed to hear of the Americans. There, a word and a blow has been the rule. In this case, the blow, when it does at last come, falls like snow, and lights as gently as thistle-down." Vanity Fair, a humorous weekly sheet then published in New York, contained the following stanzas, in a poem called The Buttle of Morris Island, already quoted from in the text: "Then came the comforting piece of fun, Of counting the noses, one by one, To see if any thing had been done 'Nobody hurt!' the cry arose; And this was the sadly ludicrous close Of the Battle on Morris Island." "It is said that the only living creature killed in the conflict was a fine horse belonging to General Dunnovant, which had been hitched behind Fort Moultrie."-Duyckinck's War for the Union, i. 115. * Deserted on the 22d of April, 1861. 330 REJOICINGS IN CHARLESTON. he exclaimed, “the war is open, and we will conquer or perish. . . We have humbled the flag of the United States. I can here say to you, it is the first time in the history of this country that the Stars and Stripes have been humbled. That proud flag was never lowered before to any nation on the earth. We have lowered it in humility before the Palmetto and Confederate flags; and we have compelled them to raise by their side the white flag, and ask for an honorable surrender. The flag of the United States has triumphed for seventy years; but to-day, the 13th of April, it has been humbled, and humbled before the glorious little State of South Carolina." The populace were wild with delight, and while brave soldiers were sleeping in Fort Sumter, the insurgents were indulging in a saturnalia of excitement in the rebellious city. On the following day-the holy Sabbath-the fall of Fort Sumter was commemorated in the churches of Charleston. The venerable "Bishop of the Diocese, wholly blind and physically feeble," said a local chronicler,1 was led by the Rector to the sacred desk," in old St. Philip's Church, when he addressed the people with a few stirring words. Speaking of the battle, he said:"Your boys were there, and mine were there, and it was right that they should be there." He declared it to be his belief that the contest had been begun by the South Carolinians "in the deepest conviction of duty to God, and after laying their cause before God-and God had most signally blessed their dependence on Him." Bishop Lynch, of the Roman Catholic Church, spoke exultingly of the result of the conflict; and a Te Deum was chanted, in commemoration of the event, in the Cathedral of St. John and St. Finbar, where he was officiating. On Sunday morning," long before the dawn, Major Anderson and his command began preparations for leaving the fort. These were April 14, completed at an early hour. Lieutenant Snyder and Captain 1860. Hartstene soon returned, accompanied by Captain Gillis, commander of the Pocahontas; and at about the same time the Charleston steamer Isabel, provided by the military authorities at that city for carrying the garrison out to the Baltic, where Mr. Fox was waiting to receive them, approached the fort. When every thing was in readiness, the battle-torn flag which had been unfurled over Fort Sumter almost four months before, with prayers for the protection of those beneath it, was raised above the ramparts, and cannon commenced saluting it. It was Anderson's intention to fire one hundred guns, but only fifty were discharged, because of a sad accident attending the firing. Some fixed ammunition near the guns was ignited, and an explosion instantly killed private David Hough, mortally wounded private Edward Gallway, and injured some others. The Palmetto Guard, which had been sent over from Morris Island, with the venerable 1 The Battle of Fort Sumter and First Victory of the Southern Troops: a pamphlet published in Charleston soon after the evacuation of Fort Sumter. The Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church alluded to was Thomas Frederick Davis, D. D., then and now (1865) residing at Camden, South Carolina. 2 The Palmetto Guard received honors as the chief instrument in the reduction of Fort Sumter. The mothers, wives, sisters, and sweethearts of the Guard," said the Charleston Mercury of the 1st of May, "contributed the sum of two hundred dollars for the purpose of presenting a gold medal to that corps." It was completed at that date, the devices on it having been made with a graver instead of a dic. On one side was a Palmetto-tree, with a rattle-snake in coil and rattles sprung. Over the tree the name of the company, and around the border the words: "From their mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters." On the other side was a |