The barracks at Fort Sumter caught fire three times that first day, but each time the fire was extinguished. One gun on the parapet was dismounted; another damaged. The wall about one embrasure was shattered to a depth of 20 inches. That was the Blakely rifle, in part, firing with “the accuracy of a duelling pistol.” The quarters on the gorge were completely riddled. When night descended, dark and stormy, Fort Sumter’s fire ceased entirely. With the six needles available, the work of making cartridge bags went forward; blankets, old clothing, extra hospital sheets, and even paper, were used in the emergency. In the meantime, the supply fleet, off the bar since the onset of hostilities, did no more than maintain its position. It had been crippled upon departure when Seward’s meddling had caused withdrawal of the powerful warship _Powhatan_. Now, bad weather prevented even a minimum supporting operation. [Illustration: Col. Louis T. Wigfall. From Mrs. D. Giraud Wright, A Southern Girl in ’61. Courtesy Doubleday & Company.] On the morning of the 13th, Sumter opened “early and spitefully,” and, with the increased supply of cartridges, for a while kept up a brisk fire. About midmorning hot shot set fire to the officers’ quarters. The Confederate fire then increased; soon the whole extent of the quarters was in flames; the powder magazines were in danger. The blaze spread to the barracks. By noon the fort was almost uninhabitable. The men crowded to the embrasures for air or lay on the ground with handkerchiefs over their mouths. For a time the fort continued to fire; valiant efforts had saved some of the powder before the onrush of the flames forced the closing of the magazines. Meanwhile, at every shot, the Confederate troops, “carried away by their natural generous impulses,” mounted the different batteries and “cheered the garrison for its pluck and gallantry and hooted the fleet lying inactive just outside the bar.” [Illustration: Interior of Fort Sumter after the bombardment of April 1861. The Left Flank barrack is at the left; the Left Face is at the right. From G. S. Crawford, The Genesis of the Civil War.] [Illustration: Interior of the Gorge after the April 1861 bombardment. Parade entrance to sally port is at center.]