366 Southern Historical Society Papers.
"He readily and cheerfully acceded to this complimentary request as he always did to the call of every duty. * * * *
"At 4 o'clock on the morning of November 24th 1863, a sentinel reported to him that the tide had washed aside some of the chevaux- de-frise that protected the surface of the fort from assault, and he at once proceeded to examine the condition of those defences.
" Whilst inspecting them, on the outside of Sumter, a shell burst near him, and he was terribly mangled.
" He lay there for fifteen minutes, on the wet rocks, then, finding that he did not return, they sought for him, and found him in his agony.
"He was borne into the fort that he had fought for so gallantly, and his heart's blood flowed upon her stones, consecrating them by that crimson baptism."
Four hours of intense suffering, borne in unmurmuring fortitude, and the death "he deemed for honor sweet" came to his relief, and Frank Harleston's duty was done !
Friends and comrades bore his body, dressed in his uniform, to the church-yard at Stansberry, on the Cooper river, and he was laid to rest by the side of kindred dust — in the flower of his youth, the pride of his family, the brave among the bravest, the true among the truest ; the gentle, the modest, the strong and faithful soldier* — one of the self-sacrificing heroes of Fort Sumter.
The Tablet was unveiled by Miss Anna Colcock and Miss Harriet Lowndes Rhett.
- NoTE. — The Tablet is of pure, white marble, chaste and beautiful in its
execution, and bears this inscription:
Laurae Parenii Coronatus.
Francis Huger Harleston, Captain of Cadets;
First Honor Graduate of the S. C M. A., i860;
Captain ist Reg't S. C Artillery, C. S. A. Regulars ;
Killed on duty at Fort Sumter, Nov. 24, 1863.
Aged 24 years.
Erected by His Friends.
