THE FIRST OVERT ACT. BY DR. W. C. ALEXANDER, NASHVILLE, TENN.
In an article in the Nashville Banner of January 22, I called attention to the fact that the statement frequently made that the bombardment of Fort Sumter was the first overt act of war on the part of the South was erroneous. I stated that the authoritative attack on the vessel, the Star of the West, over three months before the reduction of Fort Sumter was the first overt act of war on the part of the South.
I also stated that the men who manned those guns were not men at all—they were boys who had left their school in Charleston, then known as the Citadel Academy, and had been enrolled as State troops. I stated that my interest in this incident was in the fact that I had been once a cadet in that famous school, and was anxious that this incident should not be overlooked.
The article referred to called forth a number of letters, and one of them is so interesting that I have been requested to give it to the CONFEDERATE Veteran. It is from a classmate of mine, Col. O. J. Bond, who has been prominently connected with the Citadel Academy ever since his graduation, first as professor, then for many years the very able superintendent, and at present the Dean of the School, whose present name is "The Citadel, the Millitary College of South Carolina." This is his letter, of date January DAS) 8
"Dear Will: Your article, according to our records, is entirely correct as to the facts about the 'first hostile shot of the War of Secession.'.... The Charleston Mercury of January 10, 1861, in its account of the Star of the West incident, used the headlines:
" "THE WAR BEGINS ENGAGEMENT AT FORT MORRIS ATTEMPTED RE-ENFORCEMENT OF FORT SUMTER THE STAR OF THE WEST IS FIRED INTO AND DRIVEN BACK THE CITADEL CADETS FIRE THE FIRST SHOTTED GUN THE UNITED STATES FLAG HAULED DOWN THREE OF THE SHOTS TAKE EFFECT.' "'
"Similarly, Harper's Weekly, New York, in its issue of January 19, 1861, headlines its article on the engagement:
"""THE FIRST OF THE WAR,' and gives its readers a picture of the Star of the West and a map of Charleston Harbor.
"Just after the Ordinance of Secession, in or-
der to protect the entrance to Charleston Harbor,
Governor Pickens ordered fortifications to be constructed on Morris Island; and on January 1, 1861, the Zouave Cadets, German Riflemen, and Citadel Cadets, under the command of Lieut. Col. John L. Branch, of the First South Carolina Regiment of Rifles (and a Citadel graduate of the Class of 1846), occupied Cummings Point on this island and began the construction of the 'Sand Battery.' When completed, it was armed with four smoothbore 24-pounders, and manned by the Citadel Cadets, who were the only troops there
familiar with artillery.
"When the Star of the West appeared in the early morning of January 9, the Cadets were ordered to their posts, Maj. P. F. Stevens, the Superintendent, in command. When the vessel came opposite the Battery, Major Stevens ordered the Cadets to fire, and the Cadet Captain gave the command: 'Number One, Fire!' Cadet G. E. Haynesworth, of Sumter, pulled the lanyard, and was, therefore, the man who fired the first shot of the war. After that the firing was by the four guns in turn.
"Captain McGown, in command of the Star of the West, made the following report of the action:
"When we arrived about two miles from Fort Moultrie—Fort Sumter being about the same distance—a masked battery on Morris Island, where there was a red Palmetto flag flying, opened fire upon us, a distance of about five-eighths of a mile. We continued on under fire of the battery over ten minutes, several of the shots going clean over us. One passed just clear of the pilot-house. Another passed between the smoke-stack and the walking beam of the engine. Another struck the ship just aloft of the fore-rigging, and stove in the planking, and another came within an ace of ~ carrying away the ruddey.'
"The New York Evening Post quoted an officer on board the vessel as saying, jokingly: 'The people of Charleston pride themselves upon their hospitality, but it exceeded my expectations. They gave us several balls before we landed.'
"As this action occurred before the inauguration of President Lincoln, it has been passed over as 'an incident,' and the actual beginning of hostilities at the later date when the policy of the United States was decided upon, and the State of South Carolina, seeing that a conflict was inevitable, ordered the reduction of Fort Sumter."
I beg leave also to append the following extract from the historic sketch in the present catalog of the School:
"The value to the State of the military training given at The Citadel is strikingly shown by the fact that, of the two hundred and forty graduates before the close of the War between the States, about two hundred were officers in the Confederate service, and forty-three laid down their lives on the battle field. The list of Citadel officers in that great conflict is an honor roll of which any institution may well be proud.
"There are two dates in the history of the two State military academies, the Citadel and the Arsenal (in Columbia) which mark the boundaries of this greatest military struggle of the century. Between January 9, 1861, and May 9, 1865, what a tragic history was enacted! On the former date, Maj. P. F. Stevens, Superintendent and graduate of The Citadel, in command of a detachment of Citadel Cadets, manning a battery of 24-pounders, drove off the steamer Star of the West, which was attempting the relief of Fort Sumter—thus firing the first hostile shot of the War.
"On the latter date, Capt. J. P. Thomas, Superintendent of The Arsenal, and also a graduate of The Citadel, with the cadets at his command, had a skirmish with Stoneman's raiders near Williamston, S. C., thus firing the last shot of the War delivered by any organized body of troops east of the Mississippi River.
""At the present time, the corps of cadets has an annual drill for the Star of the West medal, for the best drilled cadet of that corps, presented many years ago to the institution by Dr. B. H. Teague, a veteran of the Confederate army. This medal gets its name from a piece of oak wood, in the form of a star, taken from the historic vessel."
We believe that these facts should not be forgotten.