Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Poetry and Incidents., Volume 1.
Frank Moore, Ed.

8. a suggestion, to Major Anderson.

Although without question
All credit is due
To your courage and skill,
Dear Anderson; still,
One little suggestion
V. F. makes to you.
Why didn't you throw,
When the first bullet fell
Round your fort, a few shell
Ten inches or so
Towards the town
Where they say,
All the people came down
To see, through their glasses
(The pitiful asses!)
How soon stout Fort Sumter would crumble away?
Suppose that a bomb--
Or a dozen — had come
Majestically sailing
Right over the railing,
That runs round the green,
(Which a delicate flattery
Has christened “The Battery,” )
How many brave Southerners there had been seen?
And each beautiful lady
Of the “Five Thousand” fair,
Who “held themselves ready”
Would they have staid there?
'Twas a thing to have done,
If only for fun,
Just to show how the gallant spectators could run!