Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 12.djvu/553

 Letters from Fort Sumter. 543

ing on rapidly. Many of the fair daughters of the land visited our camp this evening and expressed great sympathy for the Rebels.

September 8. — We camp to-night two miles from Georgetown, and after marching four days, find ourselves only fourteen miles distant from Lexington. We can't understand the circle in which we are moving. General Preston Smith's brigade is alone, and I suppose that our General is taking his boys to see the capitol of the .State. Marched eighteen miles.

Letters from Fort Sumter. By Lieutenant Iredkll Jones, of First Regiment, S. C. Regulars.

Fort Sumter, August 29, 1863.

My Dearest Mother, — * * * I am happy to inform you that we have been spared the disagreeable whiz of 200 and 300-pound Parrots for the past few days. The enemy have not fired on us since the 26th instant, the reason whereof we are not able to tell for certain ; but, as usual, have various conjectures and surmises. Some say they are out of ammunition; others that they have accomplished all they expected of their land batteries, and others, still, that they are only waiting to get their mortars in position. I think the first supposition is the most reasonable, for they could have had no conception that it would have required so much ammunition to reduce us, the more so as their General publicly asserted that the fort would be knocked to pieces in six hours after he opened on it. I think the quiet means more than many suppose, and I would not be surprised if the next attempt is in combined attack between their monitors and land bat- teries with redoubled fury. But whatever their mode, or whenever they see fit to make another attack, I hope and trust that our fortifica- tions in the harbor will be sufficient to repel it. As to ourselves in the poor old fort, I hope we will give them the best we have got. To-night Captain Harleston's company leaves the fort, so that our company is the only one of the regiment now left here to guard the honor of the fallen fortress.

We have three barbette guns to fight, but of these one has its trunnion cracked, and the other two have the parapet knocked away from in front of them. After the fight on the night of the 26th in front of Wagner, in which the enemy took our rifle-pits and captured