south carolina militia fired the first shot of the civil war at 4:30 am.
south carolina militia fired the first shot of the civil war at 4:30 am.
what individual fired the first shot of the civil war at 4:30 am?
south carolina militia
on friday, april 12, 1861, at 4:30 a.m., confederate batteries opened fire, firing for 34 straight hours, on the fort. edmund ruffin, noted virginian agronomist and secessionist, claimed that he fired the first shot on fort sumter. his story has been widely believed, but lieutenant henry s. farley, commanding a battery of two 10 inch siege mortars on james island fired the first shot at 4:30 a.m. no attempt was made to return the fire for more than two hours. the fort's supply of ammunition was not suited for the task; also, there were no fuses for their explosive shells, which means that they could not explode. only solid iron balls could be used against the confederate batteries. at about 7:00 a.m., captain abner doubleday, the fort's second in command, was given the honor of firing the union's first shot, in defense of the fort. he missed, in part because major anderson did not use the guns mounted on the highest tier, the barbette tier (where the guns could engage the confederate batteries better), where the gunners would be more exposed to confederate fire. the firing continued all day. the union fired slowly to conserve ammunition. at night, the fire from the fort stopped, but the confederates still lobbed an occasional shell into sumter. on saturday, april 13, the fort was surrendered and evacuated. during the attack, the union colors fell. lt. norman j. hall risked life and limb to put them back up, burning off his eyebrows permanently. a confederate soldier bled to death having been wounded by a misfiring cannon. one union soldier died and another was mortally wounded during the 47th shot of a 100 shot salute, allowed by the confederacy. afterward, the salute was shortened to 50 shots. accounts, such as in the famous diary of mary chesnut, describe charleston residents along what is now known as the battery, sitting on balconies and drinking salutes to the start of the hostilities.
fort sumter
some witnesses among the regulars reported the first shot was fired by a colonial onlooker from behind a hedge or around the corner of a tavern. some observers reported a mounted british officer firing first. both sides generally agreed that the initial shot did not come from the men on the ground immediately facing each other. speculation arose later in lexington that a man named solomon brown fired the first shot from inside the tavern or from behind a wall, but this has been discredited. some witnesses (on each side) claimed that someone on the other side fired first; however, many more witnesses claimed to not know. yet another theory is that the first shot was one fired by the british, that killed asahel porter, their prisoner who was running away (he had been told to walk away and he would be let go, though he panicked and began to run). historian david hackett fischer has proposed that there may actually have been multiple near-simultaneous shots. historian mark urban claims the british surged forward with bayonets ready in an undisciplined way, provoking a few scattered shots from the militia. in response the british troops, without orders, fired a devastating volley. this lack of discipline among the british troops had a key role in the escalation of violence.
battles of lexington and concord