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Notes on the surrender of Fort Sumter.
Very soon after
Major Robert Anderson moved with his command into
Fort Sumter from
Fort Moultrie,
Governor Francis W. Pickens sent
James Fraser, of the
Charleston Light Dragoons, to me at my plantation, fifty miles south of
Charleston, with the request that I would assist with my negroes in constructing batteries on
Morris Island.
Taking my own negro men and others from the plantation of my uncle,
Robert Chisolm, and that of
Nathaniel Heyward, I was engaged in this work when
General Beauregard arrived to take command.
I then informed the governor that it would be necessary for
General Beauregard to have an aide-de-camp who was familiar with the harbor and with boating; that I was the owner of a large six-oared boat and six superior oarsmen, that were at his service free of cost.
I was thereupon commissioned lieutenant-colonel, and ordered to report to
General Beauregard.
Having visited
Fort Sumter five times under a flag of truce, and once after the surrender, I became well acquainted with most of its officers.
During a visit in company with
Captain Samuel W. Ferguson, the officers jokingly complained of being short of cigars and like luxuries.
With
General Beauregard's approval, the next time duty called us to the fort we presented them with several cases of claret and boxes of cigars.
April 12th, 1861, I visited the fort in company with
James Chesnut, Jr., and
Captain Stephen D. Lee with the demand for its surrender, and heard
Major Anderson say in conversation with us, “I shall await the first shot, and if you do not batter us to pieces we shall be starved out in a few days.”
These words being communicated to
General Beauregard, we were again sent to the fort, arriving there about 1:30 A. M., April 12th.
After waiting nearly two hours for a reply, we sent word to
Major Anderson that our orders did not admit of our waiting any longer.
He came to where we were in the guard-room, and informed us “that we had twice fired on his flag, and that if we did so again he would open his fire on our batteries.”
Under our instructions this reply admitted of no other answer than the one dated April 12th, 1861, 3:20 A. M. [see page 76], which was dictated by
Chesnut, written by
Lee, and copied by me.
Roger A. Pryor was with us on the second visit, but did not enter the fort, giving me as a reason that his State, Virginia, had not yet seceded.
For the same reason he declined to fire the signal shot.
Moreover, I believe he was then a member of Congress, and may have been unwilling to compromise himself.
The facts of the surrender of
Fort Sumter to
ex-Senator Wigfall are these:
General Beauregard, seeing the fort on fire, sent me with a note to
General James Simons, commanding on
Morris Island, in which he directed him, if he could do so without risk to his command, to offer assistance in extinguishing the fire.
I passed down between
Fort Sumter and our batteries; delivering my dispatches, I volunteered to go to
Fort Sumter, which offer was accepted.
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Colonel Wigfall, of
Texas, volunteered to accompany me. While bringing my boat from its moorings in a creek,
Wigfall, who was very much excited, jumped into a small skiff.
The flag of the fort, which had been shot away, reappeared, and
Wigfall was ordered to return, but he was out of hearing.
I was ordered to return, and obeyed.
Colonel Wigfall climbed through an embrasure, and, assuming authority from
General Beauregard, called upon
Major Anderson to surrender.
Major Anderson did not realize the unauthorized nature of
Wigfall's mission until the arrival of
Captain Stephen D. Lee, William Porcher Miles, and
Roger A. Pryor with an offer direct from
General Beauregard, similar to the one
General Simons was authorized to make.
Major Anderson was about to renew the action, when
Major David R. Jones arrived with the offer of terms for the surrender of the fort, which were virtually almost anything that
Anderson might ask, in order that we might get possession before the fleet could reinforce and provision the garrison.
I have always been of the opinion that
Major Anderson should not have surrendered when he did. The fire only consumed the officers' and men's quarters; the two magazines were uninjured, only one man had been wounded, the walls were secure, and he still had provisions which would have sustained his small command until the fleet could both have provisioned and reinforced him. I was present with
Captain Hartstene during the evacuation, and was astonished to see barrels of pork
1 being rolled out and shipped on board the
Isabel, the steamer furnished by
General Beauregard to transport
Anderson's men to the fleet.
My duty often required that I should pass
Fort Sumter and our guard-boats at night to visit
Hartstene, who commanded the poor boats we used.
I was rarely seen and had such a contempt for our guards that on one occasion, having a strong tide in my favor, we did not halt when shots were fired at us. In fact, we were seldom seen until close to the guards of the boat we sought.
Captain Hartstene was well aware how easy it was to pass to
Fort Sumter and expressed to me his uneasiness on this point; in fact, one bold officer in command of a navy barge, armed with a boat howitzer, could have easily cleared the way for a hundred barges with men and supplies to pass to the fort.
The night but one previous to the surrender was very dark.
I was ordered to
Hartstene between the fort and the fleet in the main ship-channel, and my boat touched his guards before it was seen.
Later in the war, when
Beauregard defended the fort, one of the bravest officers in his command pronounced the work untenable.
Beauregard then informed me that if necessary he would go there and hold the fort with his staff; that on no condition would he consent to give it up to
General Gillmore.
It was after this that General (then
Major)
Stephen Elliott made his gallant defense of the ruins; when, with the exception of some guns buried under the ruins of the casemate facing
Fort Moultrie, but one small gun remained mounted, and that was pointed toward the city, being used merely to fire the salutes.
