THE FIRST STEP IN THE WAR

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mortar woke the echoes from every nook and corner of the harbor, and inthis the dead hour of night, before dawn, that shot was a sound of alarmthat brought every soldier in the harbor to his feet, and every man, woman,and child in the cityof Charleston fromtheir beds. A thrillwent through thewhole city. It wasfelt that the Rubi-con was passed. Noone thought of go-ing home; unusedas their ears wereto the appallingsounds, or the vividflashes from the bat-teries, they stoodfor hours fascinatedwith horror. A fterthe second shell thedifferent batteriesopened their fire onFort Sumter, andby 4:45 a. m. the fir-ing was general andregular. It was ahazy, foggy morn-ing. About day-light, the boat withthe aides reachedCharleston , and theyreported to GeneralBeauregard.

Fort Sumter didnot respond withher guns till 7:30a. m. The firing fromthis fort', duringthe entire bombard-ment, was slowand deliberate, andmarked with littleaccuracy. The firing continued without intermission during the 12th, andmore slowly during the night of the 12th and 13th. No material changewas noticed till 8 a. h. on the 13th, when the barracks in Fort Sumterwere set on fire by hot shot from the guns of Fort Moultrie. As soon as

FROM A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN t8S3.