“Now it is some school boys popping away at a ship-from shore”.
The battery at Morris Island was equipped with 8 inch guns.
The “School Boys” fired under the orders of an officer of the South Carolina Militia.
“I wonder if the bullets actually struck the ship.”
8 inch artillery projectiles are not bullets. Star of the West was hit 3 times by the guns on Morris Island. But she was not seriously damaged and no crewman were injured.
“The “School Boys” fired under the orders of an officer of the South Carolina Militia.”
There’s no need to put the words “school boys” in danger quotes. That is exactly what they were. School boys, not trained artillery men.