Troops Leave the State.
INCIDENTS ON THE WAY.
There was much discussion at the time as to who really fired the first
gun at Sumter. Great importance was attached to the episode, and
as there were different opinions, and it was never satisfactorily
settled, it is not expected that any new light can be thrown on it at
this late day. It was first said to have been General Edmond Ruffin,
a venerable octogenarian from Virginia, who at the secession of South
Carolina came to this State and offered his services as a volunteer.
He had at one time been a citizen of South Carolina, connected with a
geological survey, and had written several works on the resources and
possibilities of the State, which created quite an interest at that
day and time. He was one of the noblest types of elderly men it has
ever been my fortune to look upon. He could not be called venerable,
but picturesque. His hair hung in long silvery locks, tied in a queue
in the fashions of the past centuries. His height was very near six
feet, slender and straight as an Indian brave, and his piercing black
eyes seemed to flash fire and impressed one as being able to look into
your very soul.
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