SUMTER. 



667 



Mortar battery, west of Fort Moultrie, 3 10-inch 

 mortars. 



Mortar battery, on parade, in rear of Fort Moultrie, 

 2 10-inch mortars. 



Fort Moultrie.'?, 8-inch columbiads ; 2 8-inch S. C. 

 howitzers ; ."> ^-pounders ; 4 24-pounders. 



At Mount 2'Uasant. 1 10-inch mortar. 



Total, tiring on Fort Sumter, 30 guns, 17 mortars. 



Of the 43 workmen constituting the engineer 

 force in Fort Sumter, nearly all volunteered to 

 serve as cannoniers, or to carry shot and cart- 

 ridges to the guns. 



The armament of the fort was as follows : 



Barbettf Tier. Right flank 1 10-inch columbiad; 

 4 8-inch columbiads ; 4 42-pounders. 



Right face. None. 



Left face. 3 8-inch sea-coast howitzers ; 1 32- 

 pounder. 



Left flank. 1 10-inch columbiad ; 2 8-inch colum- 

 biads ; 2 42-pounders. 



Gorge. 1 8-inch sea-coast howitzer; 2 32-pounders ; 

 6 24-pounders. 



Total in barbette, 27 guns. 



Casemate Tier. Right flank. 1 42-pounder; 4 32- 

 pounders. 



Right face. 3 42-pounders. 



Lett face. 10 32-pounders. 



Left flank. 5 32-pounders. 



Gorge. 2 32-pounders. 



Total iu casemate, 21 guns. Total available in both 

 tiers, 48 guns. 



Besides the above, there were arranged on 

 the parade, to serve as mortars, 1 10-inch co- 

 lumbiad to throw shells into Charleston, and 4 

 8-inch columbiads to throw shells into the bat- 

 teries on Cummings' Point. The casemate guns 

 were the only ones used. Of these, those that 

 bore on Cummings' Point were the 42-pouuder 

 in the pan-coupe of the right gorge angle ; the 

 32-pounder next to it on the gorge, which, by 

 cutting into the brick wall, had been made to 

 traverse sufficiently ; and the 32-pounder next 

 the angle on the right flank, which, by cutting 

 away the side of the embrasure, had been made 

 to bear on a portion of the point, although not 

 on the breaching batteries. 



The guns of the first tier, that bore on Fort 

 Johnson, were 4 32-pounders, on-the left flank ; 

 of these one embrasure had been, by order, 

 bricked up. 



The guns that bore on the three batteries on 

 the west end of "Sullivan's Island "were 10 

 32-pounders, situated on the left face, and one 

 at the pan-coupe of the salient angle, (four em- 

 brasures being bricked up.) 



The guns bearing on Fort Moultrie were 2 

 42-pounders, situated on the right face, and 

 one at the pan-coup6 of the right shoulder 

 angle. 



The supply of cartridges, seven hundred in 

 number, with which the engagement com- 

 menced, became so much reduced by the middle 

 of the day, although the six needles in the fort 

 were kept steadily employed, that the firing 

 was forced to slacken, and to be confined to six 

 guns, two firing towards Morris' Island, two 

 towards Fort Moultrie, and two towards the 

 batteries on the west end of Sullivan's Island. 



At 1 o'clock on the 12th, two United States 



men-of-war were seen off the bar, and soon 

 after, a third appeared. 



The effect of the fire was not very good, 

 owing to the insufficient calibre of the guns for 

 the long range, and not much damage appeared 

 to be done to any of the batteries except those 

 of Fort Moultrie, where the two 42 -pounders 

 appeared to have silenced the gun for a time, 

 to have injured the embrasures considerably, 

 riddled the barracks and quarters, and torn 

 three holes through the flag. The so-called 

 " floating battery " was struck very frequently 

 by shot, one of them penetrating at the angle 

 between the front and roof, entirely through 

 the iron covering and wood work beneath, and 

 wounding one man. The rest of the 32-pounder 

 balls failed to penetrate the front or the roof, 

 but were deflected from their surfaces, which 

 were arranged at a suitable angle for this pur- 

 pose. 



The columbiad battery and Dahlgren bat- 

 tery, near the floating battery, did not appear 

 to be much injured by the few shots that were 

 fired at them. Only one or two shots were 

 fired at Fort Johnson, and none at Castle 

 Pinckney or the city. 



The fire towards Morris' Island was mainly 

 directed at the iron-clad battery, but the small 

 calibre of the shot failed to penetrate the cov- 

 ering when struck fairly. The aim was there- 

 fore taken at the embrasures, which were struck 

 at least twice, disabling the guns for a time. 

 One or two shots were thrown at the reverse of 

 batteries " 3 " and " 4," scattering some groups 

 of officers and men on the lookout, and cutting 

 down a small flagstaff on one of the batteries. 



The barracks caught fire three times during 

 the day, from shells apparently, but each time 

 the flames, being in the first or second stories, 

 were extinguished by a pump and application 

 of the means at hand. 



The effect of the Confederate fire upon Fort 

 Sumter during the day was very marked in re- 

 spect to the vertical fire. This was so well di- 

 rected and so well sustained, that from the sev- 

 enteen mortars engaged in firing 10-inch shells, 

 one-half the shells came within or exploded 

 above the parapet of the fort, and only about 

 ten buried themselves in the soft earth of the 

 parade, without exploding. In consequence of 

 this precision of vertical fire, Major Anderson 

 decided not to man the upper tier of guns. 



Saturday dawned a bright and lovely day, 

 but the flags of each of the combatants were 

 still flying in stately defiance, and the cannon 

 continued to send forth their fiery thunder. 

 Within Fort Sumter, the last of the rice was 

 cooked that morning, and served with the pork, 

 the only other article of food left in the mess- 

 room. After this the fire was reopened, and 

 continued very briskly as long as the increased 

 supply of cartridges lasted. The surrounding 

 batteries had reopened fire at daylight, and con- 

 tinued it with rapidity. The aim of their guns 

 was better than on the previous day. 



It soon became evident that they were firing 



