Talk:Ellison D. Smith

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Henry Farley

"Her uncle, Henry Farley, fired the first shot in the Confederate Army, serving under J. E. B. Stuart, and died fighting in the Civil War."

First of all, "fired the first shot in the Confederate Army" is really vague. Nobody in the entire Confederate army had never fired a shot before that? Did they not train? And first shot of what? A pistol? An intercontinental ballistic missile? A BB gun?

I can't find any primary sources, but what I can find credits him with firing the first round of the bombardment of Fort Sumter on the morning of 12 April, 1861, from a 10-inch coastal mortar. However, his claim to firing the "first shot" is disputed.

Then there's the issue of J.E.B. Stuart. As written, the sentence would imply that Farley was serving under Stuart when he "fired the first shot". Farley may have served under Stuart later in the war, but not during the bombardment of Fort Sumter, as Stuart's state of Virginia had not yet seceded and Stuart was still serving in the US Army/.

I propose changing the sentence to "Her uncle, Henry Farley, is widely credited with firing the first shot in the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter, initiating the US Civil War. He later served under J. E. B. Stuart, and died fighting in the Civil War." I realize "widely credited" probably merits a "weasel words" tag, but it would still be an improvement. Maybe someone could suggest something better. Beetfarm Louie (talk) 00:42, 13 December 2025 (UTC)