THE FORT SUMTER MEMORIAL.
Dedicated "'To the Confederate Defenders of Charleston Fort Sumter 1861-1865," a handsome memorial stands on the Battery at Charleston, S. C., facing that historic pile of masonry guarding the entrance to Charleston harbor and which defied for four long years the hammering of Federal guns to reduce it to silence. This tribute to its heroic defenders in those four years was made possible by the bequest of $100,000 left to the city of Charleston by the late Andrew B. Murray, "whose benefactions during his life and bequests at his death make a rich chapter in the civic record of Charleston."
The monument stands some twenty-five feet high, with its bronze group and granite base rising in the center of a circular granite pavement. The group shows a youthful warrior with short sword and shield, in an attitude of unyielding defense, and behind and above him is a figure representative of the womanhood which inspired such faith and courage, "significant of the spirit of Charleston."
About the base are shown scenes depicting the workers at Fort Sumter bringing up bags of sand to fill the breaches made by Federal guns, and there are stars to represent the States of the Confederacy. The warrior's shield carries the coat of arms of South Carolina.
The dedication of this great memorial was on October 20, 1932, with imposing ceremonies. The only survivor of the defenders of Fort Sumter now living in Charleston, Col. William Robert Greer, rendered tribute to his comrades "'who for their faith and their courage endured a great fight."" The address of the occasion was by Gerald W. Johnson. The veil was drawn by Mrs. J. Stuart Walker, of Durham, N. C., granddaughter of Col. Alfred Rhett, first commanding officer of Fort Sumter, Miss Lavinia Inglesby Huguenin, granddaughter of Col. Thomas Huguenin, last Confederate commander at the Fort; Miss Ann Stuart Barnwell, grandniece of Maj. Stephen Eliott, second in command under Colonel Rhett; and Miss Camilla Floride Bissell, granddaughter of Maj. John Johnson, Confederate Engineers, who was stationed at the Fort.
A colorful scene was enhanced by the presence of military companies, old and new, with their distinctive uniforms and headdress—such as the Washington Light Infantry, the Sumter Guards, and the cadets from the Citadel.
In the following, Mr. John Grimball Wilkins, of
Charleston, gives the story in characteristic vein, with fact and sentiment interwoven.