Prac­tice makes per­fect, espe­cial­ly when it comes to the pre­cise and dan­ger­ous task of artillery fir­ing at Fort Sumter dur­ing the Civ­il War. The air is thick with the sound of can­non fire as Con­fed­er­ate artillery crews engage in prac­tice ses­sions, essen­tial for hon­ing their skills. These prac­tice drills are cru­cial, as fir­ing heavy guns demands both pre­ci­sion and coor­di­na­tion among the crew. Typ­i­cal­ly com­posed of sev­en men, the crew, known as can­noneers, oper­ates a sin­gle can­non, referred to as a “piece.” The gun­ner, often the chief, directs the actions of the crew. Each step of the process, from posi­tion­ing the can­non to fir­ing the shot, must be exe­cut­ed with absolute care, as even a small mis­take can result in dis­as­ter. His­tor­i­cal records from the Civ­il War are filled with accounts of artillery acci­dents, such as the trag­ic event aboard the U.S.S. Ticon­dero­ga, where a mis­fire led to fatal con­se­quences. This empha­sizes the dan­gers involved in artillery oper­a­tions, where every action counts.

To ensure a suc­cess­ful shot, the crew fol­lows a strict sequence of actions. They first pull the can­non away from the wall, sponge out any rem­nants of the pre­vi­ous shot, and then load the can­non­ball into the bar­rel. After this, the crew aims the can­non and pre­pares for fir­ing, fol­low­ing a series of com­mands to main­tain tim­ing and coor­di­na­tion. The artillery drills, despite their seem­ing sim­plic­i­ty, are far from easy and demand skill, prac­tice, and pre­ci­sion. Each mis­step or error dur­ing the process could lead to a fail­ure, and the risks asso­ci­at­ed with han­dling these heavy weapons are ever-present. The chap­ter high­lights how artillery prac­tice is not just a mil­i­tary neces­si­ty but also a cru­cial part of prepar­ing for con­flict, where even the slight­est mis­take can lead to dev­as­tat­ing results. Through these drills, the Con­fed­er­ate forces aim to improve their artillery capa­bil­i­ties, vital to their war efforts.

March 12 brings an event at Fort Moul­trie where Con­fed­er­ate artillery demon­strates sig­nif­i­cant progress in their skill. They fire hun­dreds of blank rounds, their accu­ra­cy in hit­ting a buoy becom­ing a tes­ta­ment to their grow­ing pro­fi­cien­cy. This event stark­ly con­trasts with the sit­u­a­tion at Fort Sumter, where Major Ander­son strug­gles with lim­it­ed resources and ammu­ni­tion short­ages. Faced with these con­straints, Ander­son resorts to repur­pos­ing flan­nel shirts as car­tridge bags, a cre­ative solu­tion to the lack of prop­er sup­plies. Despite these efforts, Ander­son is frus­trat­ed by his inabil­i­ty to demon­strate the artillery pro­fi­cien­cy he knows is nec­es­sary, espe­cial­ly when com­pared to the Con­fed­er­ate forces, who are bet­ter pre­pared and more prac­ticed. He com­mu­ni­cates this chal­lenge to Wash­ing­ton, express­ing the dif­fi­cul­ties in dis­play­ing artillery exper­tise under such dire con­di­tions. The chap­ter empha­sizes the dis­par­i­ty in resources and the strain it places on Ander­son and his men, who are try­ing to main­tain the fort under increas­ing­ly dif­fi­cult cir­cum­stances.

Beyond the bat­tle­field, ten­sions also arise from admin­is­tra­tive chal­lenges and social issues at Fort Sumter. A young Black ser­vant, Thomas Moore Lynch, becomes embroiled in a con­tro­ver­sy when his cor­re­spon­dence with his moth­er sug­gests poten­tial insur­rec­tion. The South Car­oli­na gov­ern­ment claims that Lynch, alleged­ly a slave, can­not return to Fort Sumter due to sus­pi­cions about his loy­al­ty. This issue adds a lay­er of com­plex­i­ty to the already tense sit­u­a­tion, as Ander­son is forced to nav­i­gate between mil­i­tary duty and social oblig­a­tions. He express­es his dis­ap­proval of the accu­sa­tions against Lynch, feel­ing that the young man’s char­ac­ter and sta­tus are being unjust­ly ques­tioned. This debate over hon­or and duty brings to light the broad­er social and polit­i­cal dynam­ics at play, as Union sol­diers must con­tend with the deeply ingrained soci­etal struc­tures of the South. The sit­u­a­tion becomes emblem­at­ic of the per­son­al and polit­i­cal ten­sions that per­me­ate the peri­od lead­ing up to the Civ­il War.

As the chap­ter con­cludes, the under­ly­ing con­flict between Union forces and the South Car­oli­na author­i­ties becomes increas­ing­ly evi­dent. The Union sol­diers at Fort Sumter are not only fac­ing mil­i­tary chal­lenges but are also caught in a web of social and polit­i­cal dis­putes. This sets the stage for the larg­er con­flict that is brew­ing, with per­son­al hon­or, duty, and the loom­ing threat of war all play­ing sig­nif­i­cant roles in shap­ing the events. The com­plex­i­ties of mil­i­tary prepa­ra­tions, cou­pled with the per­son­al strug­gles of those involved, illus­trate the dif­fi­cult and mul­ti­fac­eted nature of the peri­od. The nar­ra­tive thus pro­vides a glimpse into the ten­sions that would soon explode into full-scale con­flict, with both sides prepar­ing for a war that would reshape the nation.