Headquarters, Prov. Forces,
Charleston, S. C, U. S. A., April 6, 1861.
General Order
No. 9.
The following general instructions are issued for the
government of commanders of batteries, and will be furnished by them to
captains of batteries under their command.
I. Should Fort Sumter at any time fire upon the works on
Morris, James, or Sullivan's islands, or on any vessel or steamer in the
service of or friendly to the Confederate States, this act of aggression will
be the signal for the commencement of hostilities; the mortar, enfilade and
other batteries of the harbor bearing on Fort Sumter will immediately open
their fire upon it, with a view, first, to dismount as many of the guns as
possible, and then to effect a breach, if practicable. Great care should be
taken not to fire rapidly, but accurately.
The order to fire slowly but surely should be strictly
enforced. There must be no waste of powder, shot or shells, the object being to
worry out the garrison, if practicable.
II. The mortar batteries will continue their firing day and
night at the rate, collectively, in the daytime, of one shell every two
minutes, and at night of one every ten minutes. There being sixteen mortars in
position (four at Fort Johnson, two near the Moultrie House, two near
Sullivan's Island point, two at Mount Pleasant, and six at Cummings Point),
each mortar will be fired every thirty-two minutes in the first case, and once
every two hours and forty minutes in the second.
III. The batteries opposite to each other will endeavor to
fire in succession in relative proportion to their armaments, and so as to
cause their shells to explode sometimes immediately over and within Fort
Sumter, and at other times on its parade or interior ground. The firing, having
been commenced by the Moultrie House mortar battery (Captain Butler), will be
continued in the following order: first by the Fort Johnson (Captain James), in
the proportion of two shells from the latter to one from the former; then by
Cummings Point mortar batteries (Major Stevens and Captain King), followed by
Sullivan's Island point mortar battery (Captain Hallonquist), and then last by
the Mount Pleasant mortar battery (Captain Martin), in the proportion of three
shells from the Cummings Point mortar battery to one from each of the two
batteries.
IV. Commanders of batteries to make application for
additional ammunition.
V. Lights carefully placed, and batteries to open on Sumter
at the signal.
SOURCE: Samuel Wylie Crawford, The Genesis of
the Civil War: The Story of Sumter, 1860-1861, p. 464-5.
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