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Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume 32. (ed. Reverend J. William Jones), chapter 1.45 (search)
Beauregard by direction of the Confederate authorities at Montgomery. This having been refused fire was opened on the fort on the morning of April 12th, and kept up until the 13th, when it capitulated without loss to either side. It has been reiterated ad nauseam, and much stress laid upon the fact, that the Confederates fired the first gun, implying that they therefore were the aggressors in the war. Very little thought will show the absurdity of this inference. According to Constitutional History (Hallam): The aggressor in a war (that is, he who begins it), is not he who first uses force, but he who first renders force necessary. If a man finds a trespasser or a burglar on his premises who refuses to leave when ordered off, he is hardly expected to wait to be attacked before proceeding to enforce his rights. The Federals persisted in holding and occupying a Confederate territory in defiance of all remonstrances and entreaties, and there was nothing left but to repel force