The Civil War: A Soldier's Story

Chapter 1: The Beginning

      I grew up as a wealthy child, being the son of wealthy plantation owners and all. I was taught etiquette, and to act like any high class person should. But, that all changed, when I was a young man, and South Carolina succeeded from the Union. I was persuaded to be put in the army by my parents, who said,"Fight for our rights, Andrew, and protect our way of life". So I was put in the army, and was trained to fight and serve my new country, the Confederate States of America. I believe that it was April of 1861, when I was told to go to the shore, and be ready for an assault on Fort Sumter, a Union Military base of the coast. I stood by my cannon, and waited for any sign from the commander to start bombarding   the fortress. Suddenly, the commander ordered me to aim at the fort and fire at will. Now, in the back of my mind I was afraid that I might kill someone, but I eventually got used to fighting. The moment I lit the fuse, the cannon went off, giving just enough time for me to dive out of the way as it shot back, sending a loud BOOM, as the cannonball went flying in the air.   It struck the fort, and exploding in a ball of light, sending shrapnel out in all directions. I continued to shoot the cannon for hours, until I ran out of ammunition. It was another soldiers turn to man the cannon, and I could see already the tiredness he was expecting, havong to shoot it for many hours. A day or two later, the fort was reduced to one level, almost being completely destroyed by our bombardment. The soldiers inside surrendered, and no one got hurt. Secretly, I was thankful for that. Little did I know, I would have a long journey ahead of me in this new, dangerous now war-torn country.