48

THE BOAT ATTACK ON SUMTER.

guns work on the trenches went on steadily untilSeptember Gth, when they were pushed up to thediteli of Wagner. All that day we cannonadedthe fort, preparing the way for an assault to bemade the next day at 9 a. m. Wagner was soonsilenced, and thereafter the men worked in broaddaylight without molestation, whereas, before thattime, as Admiral Dahlgreu states, “a man couldnot show a finger.”

About daylight on the 7th a message was re-ceived by the admiral from army headquarters,stating that the enemy had evacuated Wagner andGregg, and that Morris Island was in our posses-sion. The news spread quickly, and afloat andashore speculation was rife as to what the nextmove would be and how the great advantage gainedwould be improved. “ On to Charleston ! ” was theprevailing sentiment.

General Gillmore , anticipating an attempt of theenemy to recover a footing on Morris Island, re-quested the admiral to send a monitor up as nearas practicable to Battery Gregg to frustrate any at-tempt in this direction, and the present Bear -Ad-miral E. B. Collioun with the Wevhawken was finallyselected for the duty. In carrying out these ordersthe monitor grounded badly within easy range of theConfederate batteries on Sullivan’s Island. About5 o’clock all the other iron-clads came up to engagethe batteries on Sullivan’s Island, while an exam-ination was being made of the obstructions acrossthe channel-way, two hundred yards above Sumter,as the admiral was desirous of learning if therewas a passage on either side of them, and also,what was the condition of Sumtei’’s channel-face.For this duty my command, the Patapsco, was des-ignated, with the Lehigh as a support. We had torun some fifteen hundred yards of batteries onSullivan’s Island before Sumter could be reached.Realizing the insignificant power of two monitorsagainst the force of the enemy’s batteries, and thefact that the more quickly the duty was performedthe fewer were the chances of disaster, I determinednot to jeopardize the Lehigh’s safety as well as thePatapsco’s, and orders were given to get up a goodhead of steam, to load the guns with grai>e andcanister, and to turn the turrets fore and aft in aline with the keel, the guns pointing forward.Waiting until the iron-clads were hotly engagedwith the enemy, the order “four bells and a jingle”(full speed ahead) was given, and, not waiting forher consort, the Patupsco dashed forward. Whenthe enemy perceived the object of this movement,many of their batteries opened on us heavily, butit was not until we had reached a point about 150yards from Sumter and the like distance from theobstructions, that we encountered the terrific con-verging fire from Fort Moultrie, Batteries Bee andBeauregard, and the batteries still farlher up thebay. To make an examination of Sumter and theobstructions occupied 25 or GO minutes, (luringwhich time we were struck 25 times by the heaviestprojectiles of the enemy, and suffered serious dam-age. We fired several rounds of grape and canisterat buoys supporting the obstructions, supposed tobe of rope and extending from shallow water at apoint two hundred yards above Sumter, in a north-

easterly direction, to the shoals on the Sullivan’sIsland side. We did not see a man on Sumter norany sign of a gun on the channel-face, whichseemed to be intact. Having accomplished theobject of our mission, the bow of the Patapsco wasturned seaward to run the gauntlet again and reportto Admiral Dahlgreu the result of our examination.The iron-clads were still heavily engaged when wecame up to the Ironsides, to which vessel the ad-miral had gone at the beginning of the engage-ment; I found him in the gangway, looking illand anxious, but evidently much relieved at thePatapsco’s safe return. Many officers of the vesseland the fleet shared in this feeling. When it isremembered that, since the first attack on Sumterby Du Pont , no demonstration had been made,except in full force and under cover of the night,that the enemy had exact range to cover with theirguns the approach to the obstructions, and thatwhile making the examination we were enduringthe converging fire of the enemy’s heaviest bat-teries, only about eight hundred yards distant,our escape from more serious results seems re-markable.

As soon as my report was made the iron-cladswithdrew from action and took up their usual an-chorage for the night.

The morning of the next day (September 8th)found the Wevhawken still aground and the enemypounding away at her. About 10 A. M. signal wasmade from the flag-ship, “ Iron-clads assist Wee-hawken.” Slipping the moorings of the Patapscowo hastened to the relief, but before we had gath-ered headway a shot from the grounded monitorlanded in Moultrie and exploded a magazine ; thiselicited loud cheers from sailors and soldiers, andthe admiral signaled, “Well done, Weehawken .”Collioun was defending his vessel vigorously andvaliantly when, by 11 A. M., the iron-clads movedinto position and opened a strong fire on the Sulli-van’s Island batteries. Collioun was then left inpeace and afforded an opportunity to arrange forthe liberation of his vessel from her extremelyperilous position. About 4 r. M. she floated. About1:80 p. M., as we were heaving up the Patapsco’sanchor, in obedience to the signal, “Withdrawfrom action,” our engine was disabled from theeffect of our own fire. I hailed the Nahant anddirected Lieutenant Cornwell, her commandingofficer, to drop down to our assistance and take usin tow. This order was given through our sur-geon, Dr. Wheeler, who, at great personal risk,went forward and passed it along. Cornwell wasprompt and efficient in obeying the order, under aheavy fire, and he soon had us within easy hail oftho present Vice-Admiral Bowan’s vessel, theIronsides, which had taken up her anchoragebeyond tho range of the enemy’s guns. As weapproached, Rowan made a welcome signal for meto come on board his ship to dine, as usual. Hisviews and mine in regard to tho situation, and ourideas as to future operations, were in perfect har-mony. He had had a large professional experience,and T never saw his equanimity or judgment dis-turbed under the most trying circumstances; whilethe intelligent handling and fighting of his ship