On the 78th Anniversary (January 9, 1939) of what some consider to be the first shot fired in the Civil War a monument was dedicated on Morris Island, SC. Seventy-eight years before, Citadel cadet George E. Haynsworth, of Sumter, SC, fired his cannon at the United States supply ship Star of the West from a battery on Morris Island manned by Citadel cadets under the command of Major P. P. Stevens. The ship was attempting to resupply Fort Sumter. The monument was built by five cadets of Belgian blocks which had once formed a part of the pavement of the original Citadel building on Marion Square in Charleston. A bronze plaque was attached to the monument which was titled- The Cadet Battery. It reads “Near this point January 9, 1861, Citadel cadets fired upon the Union ship Star of the West, the first shot of the War Between the States. Erected January 9, 1939, by The Citadel Yacht club.” The bronze plaque was paid for by subscriptions from cadets who lived in many parts of the United States and was cast in Atlanta. Shown in the picture below General Charles Summerall, the president of The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, is holding the bronze plaque with cadet Donald S. Fraser of Spartanburg, commodore of The Citadel Yacht club, standing to his left.

Five coast guard vessels transported the official party and guests, about 125 people, to the island. General Summerall and several cadets spoke. Two grandsons of George E. Haynsworth, the cadet gunner, who pulled the lanyard that fired the first shot, represented the family. They were the Reverend Waties R. Haynsworth of Eutawville and George W. Haynsworth of Sumter. In the picture below taken during the ceremony the Reverend is on the left and George Haynsworth, a junior in Sumter High School is on the right.