“Your surrender must be unconditional, sir. I can grant you no other terms.”
“Well, sir, if I must surrender, it gives me pleasure to surrender to so brave an officer as you.”
“You do perfectly right to surrender, sir; but I should not have done it on any condition.”
“Why so? I do not understand you.”
“Because I was fully determined to capture the fort or go to the bottom.”
“I thought I had you, Commodore, but you were too much for me.”
“How could you fight against the old flag, General?”
“Well, it did come hard at first; but if the North had only let us alone, there would have been no trouble. They would not abide by the Constitution.”
“You are mistaken, General, and the whole South is mistaken. The North have always been willing that the South should have all her rights, under the Constitution. The South began the war, and she will be responsible for the blood which has been shed to-day.”
Thus, in an hour and twelve minutes, the fort which the Rebels confidently expected would prevent the gunboats from ascending the river was forced to surrender, and there was unobstructed water communication to the very heart of the Southern Confederacy. Their line of defence was broken.