THE NAVY IN THE CIVIL WAR
Published
1883, 1885
------------------------
VOLUME II.
THE
ATLANTIC COAST.
BY
DANIEL AMMEN
REAR-ADMIRAL, U.S. NAVY
I.
Names
of Vessels, Character of Armament, and Officers Commanding them in the Attack
on Port Royal, November 7, 1861. Flag-Officer Francis S. Dupont and Captain
Charles H. Davis, Chief of Staff, with flag on board of the Wabash.
|
Name
of Vessel |
Name
of Officer Commanding |
Battery |
|
Wabash |
Commander
C.R.P. Rodgers |
28
IX-inch, 14 VIII-inch, 2 X-inch pivots |
|
Susquehanna |
Captain
J.L. Lardner |
15
VIII-inch guns |
|
Mohican |
Commander
S.W. Godon |
2
XI-inch pivots, 4 32-pounders |
|
Seminole |
Commander
John P. Gillis |
1
XI-inch pivot, 4 32-pounders |
|
Pocahontas |
Commander
Percival Drayton |
1
XI-inch pivot, 4 32-pounders |
|
Pawnee |
Lt-Commanding
B.H. Wyman |
8
IX-inch pivots, 2 12-pounder rifles |
|
Unadilla |
Lt-Commanding
Napoleon Collins |
1
XI-inch pivot, 1 20-pdr rifle, 2 24-pdr howitzers |
|
Ottawa |
Lt-Commanding
T.H. Stevens |
1
XI-inch pivot, 1 20-pdr rifle, 2 24-pdr howitzers |
|
Pembina |
Lt-Commanding
J.P. Bankhead |
1
XI-inch pivot, 1 20-pdr rifle, 2 24-pdr howitzers |
|
Seneca |
Lt-Commanding
Daniel Ammen |
1
XI-inch pivot, 1 20-pdr rifle, 2 24-pdr howitzers |
|
Vandalia
(sailing sloop) |
Commander
F.L. Haggerty |
4
VIII-inch, 16 32-pounders |
|
Isaac
Smith[1] |
Lt-Commanding
J.W.A. Nicholson |
1
30-pounder rifle, afterward 8 VIII-inch |
|
Bienville |
Commander
Charles Steedman |
8
32-pounders |
|
Augusta |
Commander
E.G. Parrott |
8
32-pounders |
|
Penguin |
Lt-Commanding
T.A. Budd |
4
32-pounders |
|
Curlew |
Lt-Commanding
P.G. Watmough |
6
32-pounders, 1 30-pounder rifle |
|
R.B.
Forbes |
Lt-Commanding
H.S. Newcomb |
2
32-pounders |
II.
Ironclad Attack on
Fortifications of Charleston H arbor, April 7, 1863.[2]
|
Name
of Vessel |
Kind
and |
Projectiles
Fired |
Nearest
Approach to Sumter or Moultrie |
Times
Hit |
Remarks |
|
|
Shot |
Shot |
|||||
|
New
Ironsides |
2
150-pdr rifles, 14
XI-inch |
1 7 |
--- --- |
1,000
yards |
Not
stated |
Confederates
say the New ironsides was hit 65 times |
|
Montauk |
1
XV-inch, 1
XI-inch |
10 16 |
--- 1 |
700
yards |
14 |
|
|
Passaic |
1
XV-inch, 1
XI-inch |
--- 2 |
9 2 |
880
yards or less |
35 |
One
gun temporarily disabled |
|
Weehawken |
1
XV-inch, 1
XI-inch |
--- --- |
11 15 |
Not
given |
53 |
One
gun temporarily disabled |
|
Patapsco |
1
XV-inch, 1
150-pdr rifle |
--- --- |
5 5 |
600
yards |
47 |
Rifle
temporarily disabled |
|
Catskill |
1
XV-inch, 1
XI-inch |
--- --- |
10 12 |
600
yards |
20 |
|
|
Nantucket |
1
XV-inch, 1
XI-inch |
--- --- |
3 12 |
750
yards |
51 |
One
gun temporarily disabled |
|
Nahant |
1
XV-inch, 1
XI-inch |
3 4 |
4 4 |
500
yards |
36 |
Turret
disabled for one day; not in good order for one month |
|
Keokuk |
2
XI-inch |
--- |
3 |
550
yards |
90 |
Totally
disabled; sunk next day off Morris Island |
|
Vessels,
9; guns in action, 23; fires, 139; range from 500 to 2,100 yards;
fuses for shells cut for flights of from 3˝ to 15 seconds; charges:
XV-inch, 35 pounds; XI-inch 15 to 20 pounds; rifles, 46 pounds.
Moultrie received 12 shots, Wagner 2, Sumter the remainder, which was
struck 55 times. |
|
Note.―Colonel
Rhett, commanding Fort Sumter, reports that no monitor approached
nearer than 1,000 yards; the Keokuk to within 900 yards; Ironsides,
1,700 yards. Beauregard reports that the fleet did not come nearer
than 1,100 yards to outer batteries, save the Keokuk, which drifted to
within 900 yards of Sumter. Engineer Echols reports nearest approach
of monitors, 900 yards; of Ironsides to Moultrie, 1,700 yards, and to
Sumter, 2,000 yards. |
III.
Return of Guns and
Mortars at Forts and Batteries in Charleston Harbor engaged with the Ironclads,
April 7, 1863, together with Return of Ammunition Expended, and Statement of
Casualties.
|
Fort
or Battery |
X-inch
Columbiad |
IX-inch
Dahlgren |
VII-inch
Brooke rifle |
VII-inch
Columbiad |
42-pounder,
rifled |
32-pounder,
rifled |
32-pounder,
smooth |
X-inch
mortars |
Grand
total |
|
Fort
Johnson |
--- |
--- |
-- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
1 |
1 |
|
Fort
Sumter |
4 |
2 |
2 |
8 |
7 |
1 |
13 |
7 |
44 |
|
Fort
Moultrie |
--- |
--- |
--- |
9 |
--- |
5 |
5 |
2 |
21 |
|
Battery
Bee |
5 |
--- |
--- |
1 |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
6 |
|
Battery
Beauregard |
--- |
--- |
--- |
1 |
--- |
1 |
--- |
--- |
2 |
|
Battery
Cumming’s Point |
1 |
1 |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
2 |
|
Battery
Wagner |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
1 |
--- |
--- |
1 |
|
Total |
10 |
3 |
2 |
19 |
7 |
8 |
18 |
10 |
77 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ammunition |
|||||||||
|
Shot |
385 |
80 |
86 |
731 |
140 |
321 |
343 |
--- |
--- |
|
Shell |
--- |
--- |
--- |
5 |
--- |
45 |
--- |
93 |
--- |
|
Total
shot and shell |
2,229 |
|
Total
pounds of powder |
21,093 |
|
Casualties
in action |
3
killed, 11 wounded |
|
Number
of shots fired by fleet |
151 |
|
Number
of shot struck vessels |
520 |
|
Of
shots fired by fleet, all but 24 were directed at Sumter |
|
|
NOTE.―This
information is compiled from reports of General Beauregard, May 24,
1863; General Ripley, April 13, 1863; Colonel Rhett, April 13, 1863;
Major Harris, Chief Engineer, dated April 28, 1863; Major Echols,
Engineer, dated April 9, 1863; General Trapier, dated April 13, 1863;
and from tabulated statements accompanying the reports of General Ripley
and Major Echols. |
IV.
Extract from “Table
of Effect of Projectiles on the Walls of Fort Sumter,” Report of major William
H. Echols, Confederate States Engineer, transmitted to Major D.B. Harris, Chief
Engineer of the Department, with his Report, dated April 9, 1863.