THE “SWAMP ANGEL.”
73
various experiments tried under liis directiono ascertain the hearing qualities of the marsh.an y soundings were made at various points witha thirty-foot iron rod, and the mud was found inh a ces to be twenty feet deep, the rod being pushedWn to that depth with ease. The swamp wasCovered with wild grass; but this grass had no sus-ming power whatever, and it was quite easy for^ en on a plank to start waves of mud across ther tace °f the marsh. A platform was constructed,_ dpilesof san( i_b a g Sj regularly laid, were mounted11 d. It was found that the platform held GOO} ^ttds to the square foot, uniformly distributed,at 900 pounds to the foot the platform sankone corner, and the sand-bags slid off andpushed in the mud. A story was current in thePartment at the time that a requisition had beenth ^ '‘° ® 0 ^ 0Ile l Serrell by some one, more of a witu an an officer, in which a detail was called for ofWenty men eighteen feet long to do duty in fif-t6e « feet of mud ”
11 the morning of the 2d of August a generalh for the construction of the marsh battery^ as submitted by Colonel Serrell to General Gill-e. It received his immediate approval, andparations were begun for cutting the timberbuilding a trestle-work roadway across thes h. This road, some two and a half miles long,th n i la< ^ e during the following week, and then6 diffi eu i t
construction of the marsh batteryleg 8 r! i0mmence d under the direct fire of Batter-Sm i as ^ e fl> Cheves, and Simkins and the otherConfederate works on James Island. Aand ^ ar ^ e P ar t.V °f soldiers was detailed to makeU, , ^ sand-bags. A mock battery was builtpro - Colonel Serrell’s orders to the left of the°P°?ed marsh battery by Lieutenants EdwardsPeer 1U1 '^ eS Hartman, °f the Volunteer Engi-fli'e *' 01 ' ^ 1G l )u, 'l )0 se of drawing the Confederaterjij !’ 0ln our working parties. .»tj l0 Us Plan was successful. The foundation forree ^. rea l battery was commenced under the di-Platf 0 ' 1 Colonel Serrell by placing two largePilii ° rms on the surface of the marsh. Sheetflj ° ' Vas driven to surround the gun-platform.p°- P'dng to be pressed down into the mud,a i 6| f at one end, was fastened crosswise top 0 l° n e Pole by a rope. The shorter end of thisf or having been attached to one of the plat-ing s loaded with sand-bags, a party of men onthe ° | er Platform, pulling on the long end oft 0 ii e ’ Pushed the piling down the twenty feete Sand substratum. In this way much of
it w a & i
■W° r k' Uone, but it was found most convenient toWgiVyOuf fifteen soldiers at each end, and by thefliis^f thirt y men push the pile down. Wlieninto , Ul u a tion of piling had all been pressed downdecij' 3 aCe . 8urr ounding what was to be the gun-f°8eth ® n ^ a S e °f pine logs was bolted securelycon g t r er . 8urr °undmg three sides of it. On thisWei^i . Ue fi°n of cross-beams 13,000 sand-bagse arri e ^ n |’ ° Ver tons wel ' e placed, having beenrom the camp of the Volunteer Engineers
across the trestle work, and a parapet with epaule-ment was built upon it.
On the 12tli day of August a careful picketingof all the streams and inlets thereabout was madeby boats armed with naval howitzers, so that thesoldiers at work in the marsh should not be sur-prised, and on the 17th an 8-incli 200-pounderParrott rifle gun was successfully transported overthe marsh and mounted in the battery. J It wasimmediately christened the “ Swamp Angel ” bythe soldiers in the camp.
On the morning of August 21st General Gillmore sent a communication to General Beauregard, whowas in command of the Confederate troops in themilitary district of Charleston , with the demandfor the immediate evacuation of Morris Islandand Port Sumter, and stating that unless this wasdone the city itself would be shelled from “ bat-teries already established within easy and effectiverange of the heart of the city.” No attention waspaid to this notice, and that night General Gillmore ordered Lieutenant Charles Sellmer, 11th Regi-ment Maine Volunteers, who had been a sergeantof artillery in the old army before the war, and isnow a captain in the 3d Regiment United StatesArtillery, to take a detachment of his command tothe battery and sight the gun just to the left ofthe steeple of St. Michael’s Church in Charleston .Colonel Serrell, assisted by Lieutenant Edwards,had laid the line of fire in the afternoon. Theywere kept in the battery for over three hours undera tremendous fire from the enemy while putting inrange stakes to fire by in the night, as no part ofthe city could then be seen. The gun was givenan elevation of 31° 30', Colonel Serrell havinghad the top carriage altered to enable this to bedone ; and it was charged, by special instructions,with twenty pounds of powder, being four poundsgreater than the ordinary service charge.
At half-past one on the morning of August 22dthe first shell with percussion-fuse was fired fromthe “Swamp Angel.” The noise made by bellsand whistles in the middle of the night told theUnion soldiers that the shell had fallen into thecity. Sixteen shells were fired that early morninghour. Twelve of the shells fired were of Mr. R.P. Parrott’s own construction at the West Pointfoundry, and filled with a fluid composition, andthe other four shells were filled with “Short’sSolidified Greek Fire.” General Beauregard wroteGeneral Gillmore on the morning of August 22d,saying, “Your firing a number of the most destruc-tive missiles ever used in war into the midst of acity taken unawares and filled with sleepingwomenand children will give you a bad eminence inhistory.” The general replied, and on August 23dtwenty more shells, filled with “Greek fire,” werefired from the gun in the marsh. Six of theseshells exploded in the gun, doubtless shorteningthe life of the piece to some extent. On the thirty-sixth discharge of the “ Swamp Angel,” the breechof the gun just behind the vent blew out of itsjacket and the gun was thrown forward on the
kis gun never was used in breaching the walls of Fort Sumter, and the great 300-pounder rifle gun whichdid such execution on that fort never fired into Charleston.— Editors.
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