Devil Doc
When Death smiles, Corpsmen smile back
It was at 4:30 a.m. on this day in 1861 that the first engagement of the American Civil War broke out at Fort Sumter. A 67-year-old secessionist and farm-paper editor named Edmund Ruffin volunteered to fire the first shot to strike the fort. He later said, "Of course, I was highly gratified by the compliment and delighted to perform the service."
People in Charleston watched from rooftops as Fort Sumter was hit with a barrage of cannon fire for the rest of the day and into the next. The fort was hit by 3,341 shells, but none of the Union soldiers were killed or injured in the shelling. The only Union casualties of the engagement came during the 27th shot of a hundred gun ceremonial salute of surrender. On the rebel side, only 1 casualty. A man bled to death from injuries incurred while tending a misfiring cannon.
Doc.
People in Charleston watched from rooftops as Fort Sumter was hit with a barrage of cannon fire for the rest of the day and into the next. The fort was hit by 3,341 shells, but none of the Union soldiers were killed or injured in the shelling. The only Union casualties of the engagement came during the 27th shot of a hundred gun ceremonial salute of surrender. On the rebel side, only 1 casualty. A man bled to death from injuries incurred while tending a misfiring cannon.
Doc.