semate and captured.

Colonel Coit says he took twenty-five minutes to come from his
quarters and go to Wright's Battery, and thinks it was the first gun
shot on the Federal side. Testimony taken in the court of inquiry
indicate the time at 5.30 A.M.

* * * * *

GENERAL STEPHEN ELLIOTT.

General Stephen Elliott, the hero of Fort Sumter, a fine gentleman and
a superb officer, came up soon after the explosion. He was dressed in
a new uniform, and looked like a game cock. He surveyed the scene for
a few minutes; he disappeared and in a short time he came up to me
accompanied by Colonel A.R. Smith, of the Twenty-sixth, with a few
men, who were working their way through the crowd. He said to me:
"Colonel, I'm going to charge those Yankees out of the 'Crater'; you
follow Smith with your regiment."

He immediately climbed the counter scrape. The gallant Smith followed,
and about half a dozen men followed. And in less than five minutes he
was shot from the "Crater" through his shoulder. I believe it was the
first ball shot that day from the northern side of the "Crater."
He was immediately pulled down into the ditch, and with the utmost
coolness, and no exhibition of pain turned the command over to me, the
next ranking officer. Colonels Benbow and Wallace were both absent on
furlough.

I immediately ordered John Phillips, a brave soldier of Company I, to
go around the "Crater" to inform the commanding officer of the serious
wounding of General Elliott, and to inquire as to the condition of the
brigade on the south side. Major Shield replied that Colonel Fleming
and Adjutant Quattlebaum, with more than half the Twenty-second,
were buried up, but with the remainder of his men and with the
Twenty-third, under Captain White, and a part of Wise's Brigade we had
driven the Yankees back, and intended to keep them back.

Being satisfied that the object of the mine was to make a gap in
our line by which General Meade could rush his troops to the rear, I
ordered Colonel Smith to take his Regiment, and Captain Crawford with
three of my largest Companies, Companies K, E and B, containing nearly
as many men as Smith's, to proceed by Elliott's headquarters up the
ravine to a place immediately in rear of the "Crater"--to make the men
lie down--and if the enemy attempted to rush down to resist them to
the last extremity. This was near 6 o'clock A.M., and the enemy had
not made any advance on the North