FLAG OF THE FIRST REGIMENT SOUTH CAROLINA REGULAR ARTILLERY.
CLAUDINE RHETT, CHARLESTON, 8. C.
One of the most interesting incidents of the winter of 1892-93 to the veterans of Charleston has been the recovery of the long lost regimental colors of the Ist Regiment South Carolina Regular Artillery and their presentation by the surviving officers of that command to the city of Charleston.
In the early days of the civil war the ladies of Charleston, by the hands of Mrs. Gen. R. 8. Ripley, gaye a handsome silk flag to the artillerists who then garrisoned Fort Moultrie. During the bombardment of Fort Sumter the hot shot fired from Moultrie caused Maj. Anderson's surrender of Fort Sumter to the Confederates, April 13, '61. A detachment of these artillerists was then placed in charge of Fort Sumter, and was thenceforth known as the Ist Regiment South Carolina Regular Artillery. The flag went with them, and was used daily on parade.
Tron-plated ships of war are now in use all over the world, but they were first tried in Charleston harbor, April 7, 1863, when Ericsson's fleet of monitors attacked Fort Sumter. They were confident that they would take Charleston, but our artillerists gave them such a warm reception that in the course of two hours the much yaunted iron-clad fleet withdrew from the contest badly worsted.
Fighting for Charleston began again on July 10, 1863, and the guns of Sumter were employed by day and by night until that fortress was reduced to the condition of a silent, dismantled earthwork, when it was placed in charge of an infantry guard, and the artillerists were withdrawn and sent to man other batteries around the harbor, after forty-eight days of continuous service, exposed to hungerand great fatigue. Gen. Beauregard, in recognition of their services, issued the following complimentary order:
Charleston, 8. C., August 27, 1863. General—The Commanding General has witnessed with genuine pride and satisfaction the defense made of Fort Sumter by Col. Rhett, his officers and the men of the 1st
Regiment South Carolina Regular Artillery, noble fruits of the discipline, application to their duties, and the soldierly bearing of officers and men, and of the organization of the regiment. In the annals of war no stouter defense was ever made, and no work ever before encountered as formidable a bombardment as that under which Fort Sumter has been successfully held. tespectfully your obedient servant, Tuomas JorpDAN, Chief of Staff. To Brig. Gen. Ripley, Commanding First Military District South Carolina, Charleston, 8. C.
When Charleston was evacuated in 1865, Lieut. Col. Yates, who commanded the regiment (Col. Alfred Rhett being in command of the brigade of regulars), left the flag in Charleston, no other flag than the Confederate battle flag being allowed in the field. Upon his return to that city, after the surrender of Johnston's army, he was informed that the flag had been hidden in a garret for safe keeping, and had been destroyed by rats. Recently it was found in the hands of a relic seller, and was immediately bought by two of the officers of the Ist Artillery for $100,
Col. Yates' widow resides in Bessemer, Ala., with her daughter, Mrs. Roberts, who was born on the 13th of April, 1861, and was baptized Belle Sumter, in memory of her father's participation in the capture of Fort Sumter. No sooner did these noble women hear of the finding of the old flag than they claimed the right as Col. Yates' representatives to bear the expense of procuring it for the city of Charleston, and forwarded the money for that purpose. The recovered emblem of the Ist Regiment South Carolina Regular Artillery was then formally presented to the City Council, and has been placed alongside of the full length portrait of Gen. Beauregard, and just above Charleston's proudest historical treasure, the sword of Beauregard.