Fort Sumter Bombarded: Cumming's Point and Moultrie
"Shells burst with the greatest rapidity in every portion of the work, hurling the loose brick and stone in all directions, breaking the windows, and setting fire to whatever wood-work they burst against. The solid-shot firing of the enemy's batteries, and particularly of Fort Moultrie, was directed at the barbette guns of Fort Sumter, disabling one ten-inch columbiad (they had but two), one eight-inch columbiad, one forty-two-pounder, and two eight-inch seacoast howitzers, and also tearing a large portion of the parapet away. The firing from the batteries on Cumming's Point was scattered over the whole of the gorge, or rear, of the fort. It looked like a sieve. The explosion of shells, and the quantity of deadly missiles that were hurled in every direction and at every instant of time, made it almost certain death to go out of the lower tier of casements, and also made the working of the barbette or upper uncovered guns, which contained all our heaviest metals, and by which alone we could throw shells, quite impossible. During the first day there was hardly an instant of time that there was a cessation of the whizzing of balls, which were sometimes coming half a dozen at once. There was not a portion of the work which was not seen in reverse (that is, exposed by the rear) from mortars.".
At noon, Friday, the supply of cartridges in the fort was exhausted, when the blankets of the barracks and the shirts of the men were sewed into the required bags and served out. No instrument was in the fort for weighing the powder, thus forbidding all precision in the charge, and, as a consequence, causing much variation in planting the shot. When we add that the guns wanted both tangents, breech or telescopic sights, that wedges served instead of bearing-screws, we can only express astonishment at the accuracy attained. Not a structure of the enemy escaped the solid balls of the columbiads and paixhans. The village of Moultrieville--a gathering of summer-houses belonging to citizens of Charleston--was completely riddled.
The fleet appeared off the harbor at noon, Friday. Signals passed between Anderson and the vessels, but no effort was made to run the gauntlet. Along Morris and Sullivan's Islands were anchored small batteries, commanding the harbor-entrance, expressly designed to prevent the passage of vessels over the bar and up the channel. To have passed these would only have brought the vessel in range of the irresistible guns of Cumming's Point and of Moultrie. No wooden frame could have withstood their fearful hail. The only feasible plan was, under cover of the night, to run in with small boats, or to force a landing on Morris Island and carry the batteries by assault. Either plan would have proven successful, if conducted with spirit, though it would have entailed much loss of life. Why it was not undertaken is only explainable on the inference that Mr. Lincoln did not want to retain Sumter. The possession of the fort was a matter of no military importance; a blockade would render all the defences of the harbor useless. The assault on the fort would serve to initiate the war for the Union, and thus instate the President's policy for the suppression of the rebellion. The refusal to withdraw the garrison from Charleston harbor unquestionably was the subtle key to unlock the national sympathies and to place in Mr. Lincoln's hands the entire power of the loyal States. He counted well upon the madness of the Confederates, and simply opened the way for them to assail the government by assaulting its garrison. This was the part for Fort Sumter to play; and, having played it successfully, it was not necessary to retain the position. The evacuation of the fortress, and the return to the North of its garrison, to excite public sympathy, would be worth more to the cause of the Union than the reinforcement and retention of the stronghold.
During Friday the officers' barracks within the fort were set on fire several times, but were extinguished. Guns were fired at intervals through the night, to prevent repairs.
Saturday morning, at the earliest light, the cannonading was resumed with redoubled fury. By eight o'clock the red-hot balls from the furnace in Moultrie came to prove that the revolutionists would use every means to dislodge the obstinate Anderson. Soon the barracks and quarters were in flames, past all control. The men were then withdrawn from the guns, to avert the now impending danger to the magazine. The powder must be emptied into the sea. Ninety barrels were rolled over the area exposed to the flames, and pitched into the water. By this time the heat from the burning buildings became intense, fairly stifling the men with its dense fumes. The doors of the vault were, therefore, sealed, while the men crept into the casemates to avoid suffocation by cowering close to the floor, covering their faces with wet cloths. An occasional gun only could be fired, as a signal to the enemy and the fleet outside that the fort had not surrendered. The colors still floated from the staff. When the winds bore the smoke and flames aside, its folds revealed to the enemy the glorious stars and stripes, waving there amid the ruin and treble terror, unscathed. Its halliards had been shot away, but, becoming entangled, the flag was fixed. Only the destruction of the staff could drag it down.