Confederate Veteran

The First Cannon-Shot of the War

Volume 5, May 1897, page 273

A gunner of the Washington Artillery of Charleston explains the shot that struck Fort Sumter on 8 March 1861 — officially an accident, in fact fired deliberately by Cannoneer E. Lindsay Halsey — and prints Beauregard's and Maxcy Gregg's reports of it.

Signed “Louis Sherfesee, Rock Hill, S. C.”

Cite as

Louis Sherfesee, “The First Cannon-Shot of the War,” Confederate Veteran 5, no. 5 (May 1897)*: 273.

The page in the scanned volumeThe whole volume at the Internet Archive

Published
May 1897issue inferred
Volume
5, no. 5
Pages
273
Author
Louis Sherfesee

The transcription runs on into the next article, “The Capture of Harper's Ferry,” which is not part of this piece.

THE FIRST CANNON-SHOT OF THE WAR. Louis Sherfesee, Rock Hill, S. C.:

In looking through an old Veteran (July, 1896) I see that Comrade C. A. Doolittle, in his article on "Charleston Harbor,' mentions the noted shot fired from the Iron Battery at Fort Sumter on the morning of March 8, 1861. That shot has a history. The Washington Artillery, of Charleston, of which Doolittle and | were then members, had charge of the Iron Battery on Morris Island, and its commander, the gallant Capt. George H. Walter, would regularly march 'the company from camp to the battery twice a day for drill, and in drilling we went through all of the movements required in artillery practice, even to firing blank cartridges. The guns of the battery were eight-inch Columbias, then the heaviest guns in service, and were trailed on Fort Sumter, thirteen hundred yards distant. This drilling and practicing was becoming monotonous; then, too, the boys were "spoiling" for a fight. As we marched back to camp on the evening of March 7, Cannoneer E. Lindsay Halsey said to a few of us: "I am tired of this nonsense, and intend to puta stop to it, and in such a way as to raise a commotion to-morrow morning." The next morning, March 8, during the exercises, when he gave the command, "Fire!" it was literally obeyed, the ball flying over the water and striking Fort Sumter. You can well imagine the excitement in the harbor and in Charleston. Maj. Anderson opened his port holes, and everything for awhile looked as if the judgment day had come. The following correspondence, from the records, will explain the result:

HEADQUARTERS PRov. ARMy, CONFEDERATE STATES OF A MERICA, CHARLESTON, S. C., March 9, 1861. Hon. L. P, Walker, Secretary of War, Montgomery, Ala.

Sir: I inclose you herewith the report of Col. M. Gregg, First Regiment South Carolina Volunteers, commanding on Morris Island, reporting the accidental shooting of a loaded gun toward Fort Sumter on the 8th inst. It appears to have been entirely accidental; but I have ordered a thorough investigation of the affair to be made at once, and in order to prevent the recurrence of an event which might be attended with such disastrous consequences, I have ordered that hereafter no gun should be used for practice without first ascertaining whether it be loaded or not.;

. T. BEAUREGARD, Brigadier- general Commanding. INCLOSURE.

HeEapguarters Morais Istanp, S. C., March 8, 1861. To the Chief of Staff of Brig.-Gen, Beauregard.

Sir: Iam informed by Maj. Stevens that a shot was accidentally fired from the iron battery this morning, which struck Fort Sumter. Maj. Stevens was practicing with blank cartridges, and does not know how a shot got in. He does not suspect that it was put in by any man intentionally. Maj. Stevens is about to go with a flag to Fort Sumter to explain the accident. I have to request that Gen. Beauregard will forward this note for the information of the commander-in-chief.

I have the honor to be your obedient servant,

Maxey Greae, Col. First ol. First Reg. South Carolina Volunteers.

THE CAPTURE OF HARPER'S FERRY. W. A. Johnson, second lieutenant of Company D, Second South Carolina Volunteers, writes to Judge Robert L. Rodgers, historian of Camp No. 159, U. C.

. V., Atlanta, Ga.;

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I have noted that in all the histories I have read the credit of the capture of Harper's Ferry, in September, 1862, i is given to Gen. Stonewall Jackson and his com"mand. a truth is that Maryland Heights, on the

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north bank of the Potomac River and opposite the town, were stormed nd captured by Kershaw's Brigade of South Carolina troops, supported on its flanks. by Barksdale's Brigade of Mississippians, both brigades belonging to McLaws' Division. Kershaw's Brigade did all the fighting in capturing the Heights, and "lost heavily. Barksdale's Brigade lost, I think, only one man. The fight at Crampton's Gap occurred after the capture of the Heights and before the surrender of Harper's Ferry. Cobb's old brigade suffered most, and it was a part of McLaws' Division. The forces on the north side of the river were composed of Anderson's and McLaws' Divisions, with some cavalry, the whole force being under the command of Gen. LaFayette McLaws. The capture of the Heights gave the Confederate forces complete command of the ferry, as we hauled cannon up the mountain and opened a "plunging" fire on the town; and this artillery fire, coupled with Jackson's investment on the south side, compelled the Federals to surrender.

Kershaw's Brigade was composed of four regiments at that time: the Second. Third, Seventh, and Eighth South Carolina Regiments, commanded respectively by Cols. J. D. Kennedy, Nance, Aiken, and E. B. Cash.

The scan

What the scanner made of this page, and what it is in the printed original.

  • “eight-inch Columbias” is “Columbiads”; “Maxey Greae” is “Maxcy Gregg”; “puta stop” is “put a stop”; “L. P, Walker” is L. P. Walker.

Editorial notes

Statements in this article that are wrong, doubtful, or worth setting beside another account. The article’s own text is left as printed.

  1. “an old Veteran (July, 1896) … Comrade C. A. Doolittle, in his article on “Charleston Harbor””

    A useful cross-check: it fixes Doolittle's piece to the July 1896 number, which is where it appears — Volume 4, page 229. The two men served in the same company and give the same incident from opposite ends. Doolittle wrote that “how the ball got into the gun is a mystery up to the present time”; Sherfesee names the man who put it there.

  2. “the noted shot fired from the Iron Battery at Fort Sumter on the morning of March 8, 1861”

    The date is right and the documents printed with the article are genuine, from the Official Records. Note that this is not the first shot of the war in any usual sense — the Citadel cadets had fired on the Star of the West two months earlier, on 9 January, and the bombardment opened on 12 April. The Veteran carried all three claims over the years without ever reconciling them.

  3. “the guns of the battery were eight-inch Columbiads … trailed on Fort Sumter, thirteen hundred yards distant”

    Consistent with the standard descriptions of the Iron Battery at Cummings Point. Compare Doolittle's “two 64 Columbian guns” in the same magazine, which is not.