necessary to write at length. Whether one regards "the firing of the first gun on Fort Sumter as the first rash act of a wild and fatal delusion," or as the beginning of the greatest war in modern times for constitutional liberty and against the lust for power and territorial domination, no fair man can deny the heroism against unnumbered odds displayed by the Confederate soldiers.
It would be interesting to quote the opinion of Lord Wolseley as to the value of the study of the siege of Charleston in its tactical features as compared with the siege of Sebastopol and other great naval attacks. All the world wondered at the marvellous success of the blockade runners, and the pages of history may be searched in vain for greater heroism than that displayed by Glassell, Dixon and others who first proved to the world the value of the torpedo in naval warfare; but let two sets of figures suffice:
GENERAL SUMMARY FORT SUMTER, FEBRUARY 1, 1865.
Total number of projectiles fired against it 46,053
Total weight in tons of metal thrown (estimate) 3,500
Total number of days under three great bombardments 117
