Connecting the Shots: 1861-1865

Anderson Intelligencer, May 30, 1900

 Could the same man have fired the first and last shots of the Civil War? That's the implication of some recently unearthed newspaper clippings.

 The Anderson Intelligencer of May 30, 1900, reprinted a story from the Greenville Mountaineer, signed anonymously by "Old Coins," who interviewed eyewitnesses to document the last "battle" of the Civil War, which involved Stoneman's raiders on May 1, 1865—three weeks after Robert E. Lee's surrender in Virginia. The clipping quotes a veteran of the skirmish, Butler Dyer:

Mr. Paul Allan, of Charleston, was one of the Citadel cadets and who was the man who fired the first shot of the war on the steamer "Star of the West," was also a member of this company, and fired the last shot at the enemy on this occasion, thus having the somewhat remarkable experience and distinction of having inaugurated and finished the sanguinary conflict of '61 to '65.

 The Bamberg Herald of May 19, 1921, carried an account from The Greenville News, where the skirmish was documented by Louise Vandiver, who authored the Traditions and History of Anderson County in 1928. Mrs. Vandiver (1865-1938) collected historical clippings, and her source may have been the 1900 account. 

Among the Confederate party was young man named Paul Allen, a Charlestonian, who, it is said, fired the first shot at the Star of the West, having been a Citadel cadet at the time, and who, just to complete his record in a satisfactory manner, fired the last shot at the retreating Federal cavalry in this final skirmish on the lonely road away off in Anderson county, ending, as he had begun, one of the greatest wars in all of history. 

 Mrs. Vandiver goes on to identify Andersonians who were part of that skirmish, including James L. Dean, D.S. McCullough, F.A. Silcox, J.B. Lewis, G.W. Sullivan, and E.A. Smyth. Ellison Adger Smyth became the founder of Pelzer Mills and helped make Greenville the "Textile Capital of the World." We previously reported that Smyth was involved in the Anderson skirmish. Smyth (1847-1942, raised in Charleston) also claimed to have witnessed the first shot on Fort Sumter.

 Sullivan (1847-1928) later became mayor of Williamston, which may help explain why the "Confederate Skirmish" historical marker was erected there in 1964, rather than nearer the actual site. 

 John Baylis Lewis (1848-1929) became an Anderson businessman. 

 The Stoneman Gazette previously reported how a Georgia rebel boasted of loading the first gun fired at Fort Sumter. 

More Civil War coincidences

 The possibility that the same man might have fired the first and last shots of the war reminded me of these coincidences.

 The war began and ended on farms owned by the same man. The first battle in 1861, called First Manassas (by the Union) or First Bull Run (by the Confederates), was waged on a plantation owned by Wilmer McLean (1814-1882). Seeking to protect his family from combat, he moved to Appomattox Courthouse, Va., where in 1865 generals Robert E. Lee and U.S. Grant met in his parlor as they negotiated the terms of surrender.  

 Among the Confederate veterans at Bull Run was Lt. John Long, serving with the 4th S.C. Volunteers. His son Billy Long married Caty Moore Callahan, whose father owned the farm where the Anderson skirmish occured. 

 Here are a few more coincidences that we reported previously.

The Last Casualties of the Civil War

Jay County, Indiana

 Two Confederates were killed during Stoneman's Raid after Robert E. Lee's surrender April 9, 1865.
 On May 3, 1865, in Anderson, S.C., McKenzie "Theodore" Parker of South Carolina, was killed during a confrontation with Stoneman's rear guard. A week later in Madison, Ga., Texas Ranger A.C. Wall was shot by Stoneman's 12th Ohio cavalry.
 Several Union soldiers died in Anderson during the post-war occupation. Some were at the hands of Manse Jolly, including a Lt. Chase from the Michigan. And in October, three federal soldiers from Maine were ambushed at Brown's Ferry on the Savannah River.

 Indiana claims that private John Williams was the last man to die in the Civil War. He was killed May 13, 1865, in the Battle of Palmito Ranch on the Rio Grande River in Texas.
 On May 19, a Union detachment delivering mail was attacked by Confederate guerrillas at Hodby's Bridge near Eufala, Ala., resulting in the death of John Skinner of the 1st Florida Cavalry.

Anderson Intelligencer, April 30, 1900

 

From Concord to Conquered: Two Revolutions

Commemorating the 1875 centennial of the original 'Shot Heard Round the World,' this Minuteman statue in Lexington, Massachusetts, was cast in bronze from melted-down Civil War cannons. The young sculptor was Daniel Chester French, who in 1920 gave us the great statue of Abraham Lincoln, sitting in the Lincoln Memorial. 

CONCORD, Massachusetts

 April 19, 2025, marked the semiquincentennial of Battle of the Old North Bridge, the dawn of the American Revolution, where about 400 Patriot minutemen routed 100 British Redcoats in 1775. 

 Ralph Waldo Emerson marked the occasion in 1837 by writing the Concord Hymn, which canonized the colonial uprising as "The Shot Heart Round the World." Emerson could see the old bridge from his "manse" along the Concord River.

 The Concord Hymn became a template for the Conquered Banner, written in 1865 by Confederate chaplain Father Abram Joseph Ryan to honor those who served under the Stars and Bars. (In a Boston accent, Concord rhymes with Conquered.) The Conquered Banner is quoted on Confederate monuments in Greenville, Anderson, and Abbeville—towns which were landmarks for Stoneman's Raid during the pursuit of Confederate president Jefferson Davis.

 Emerson's line about the shot heard round the world has also been applied to the bombardment of Fort Sumter, triggering the Civil War. The Georgia soldier who claimed to have loaded that shot wound up as a captive of Stoneman's Raid:  "You Are the Man Who Caused All This Trouble?" 

 When Confederates tried to justify their rebellion, they often draped their grievances in their forefathers' patriotism.

 Several events in Stoneman's Raid crossed paths with the American Revolution: 

 Remember When N.C. Voted to Save the Union?  As we deal with a polarizing presidency and a fractured society, here's a refreshing history lesson about true patriotism and the rule of law.

 Hunting Jefferson Davis to the Ends of the Earth: The pursuit of the Confederate president intersected several Revolutionary War sites, including Cowpens, S.C. 

 Reasons for the War? How Quickly They Forget: Confederate leaders left no doubt that slavery was the reason for secession, while side-stepping the Jeffersonian ideal that "all men are created equal."

 Tear it Down? Or Can We Reconcile With It? A case study from Anderson, S.C.,  reveals how we might deal with Confederate monuments.

 Greenville Mule Gets Yankee's Goat: The daughter of a Revolutionary hero, Capt. Billy Young, saw one of Stoneman's Raiders humiliated. 

 Abraham Lincoln and the Horn of Freedom: Speaking of anniversaries, this summer will mark the 74th season of Horn in the West, an outdoor drama in Boone, N.C., that interprets the American Revolution through the legend of Daniel Boone. Horn will be on a limited schedule in 2025, while the theater undergoes renovations.