On Wednesday, April ninth, the batteries on
Tybee being completed, order was given to open fire on the following morning, (Thursday,) April tenth.
The following special and general orders explain themselves:
General orders--no. 17.
The batteries established against
Fort Pulaski will be manned and ready for service at break of day to-morrow.
The signal to begin the action will be one gun from the right mortar of battery Halleck, (two thousand four hundred yards from the work,) fired under the direction of
Lieut. Horace Porter,
Chief of Ordnance; charge of mortar eleven pounds, charge of shell eleven pounds, elevation fifty-five degrees, and length of fuse twenty-four seconds.
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This battery (two thirteen-inch mortars) will continue firing at the rate of fifteen minutes to each mortar alternately, varying the charge of mortars and length of fuse, so that the shells will drop over the arches of the north and north-east faces of the work, and explode immediately after striking, but not before.
The other batteries will open as follows, namely:
Battery Stanton, (three thirteen-inch mortars, three thousand four hundred yards distant,) immediately after the signal, at the rate of fifteen minutes for each piece, alternately from the right; charge of mortar fourteen pounds, charge of shell seven pounds, elevation forty-five degrees, and length of fuse twenty-three seconds, varying the charge of mortar and length of fuse as may be required.
The shells should drop over the arches of the south face of the work, and explode immediately after striking, but not before.
Battery Grant, (three thirteen-inch mortars, three thousand two hundred yards distant,) immediately after the ranges for battery Stanton have been determined, at the rate of fifteen minutes for each piece, alternately from the right; charge of shell seven pounds, elevation forty-five degrees, charge of mortar and length of fuse to be varied to suit the range, as determined from battery Stanton.
The shells should drop over the arches of the south face of the work, and explode immediately after striking, but not before.
Battery Lyon, (three ten-inch columbiads, three thousand one hundred yards from the work,) with a curved fire, immediately after the signal, allowing ten minutes between the discharges for each piece, alternating from the right; charge of guns seventeen pounds, charge of shell three pounds, elevation twenty degrees, and length of fuse twenty seconds; the charge and length of fuse to vary as required.
The shell should pass over the parapet into the work, taking the gorge and north face in reverse, and exploding at the moment of striking or immediately after.
Battery Lincoln, (three eight-inch columbiads, three thousand and forty-five yards from the work,) with a curved fire, immediately after the signal, allowing six minutes between discharges for each piece, alternating from the right; charge of gun ten pounds, charge of shell one and a half pounds, elevation twenty degrees, and length of fuse twenty seconds, directed the same as battery Lyon, upon the north face and gorge in reverse, varying the charge and length of fuse accordingly.
Battery Burnside, (one thirteen-inch mortar, two thousand seven hundred and fifty yards from the work,) firing every ten minutes, from the range as obtained for battery Sherman; charge of shell seven pounds, elevation forty-five degrees, charge of mortar and length of fuse varying as required from those obtained for battery Sherman.
The shells should drop on the arches of the north and north-east faces, and explode immediately after striking, but not before.
Battery Sherman, (three ten-inch mortars, two thousand six hundred and fifty yards from the work,) commencing immediately after the ranges for battery Grant have been determined, and firing at the rate of fifteen minutes for each piece, alternating from the right; charge of shell seven pounds, elevation forty-five degrees, charge of mortar and length of fuse to be fixed to suit the range as determined from battery Grant.
The shells should drop over the arches of the north and north-east faces.
Battery Scott, (three ten-inch and one eightinch columbiad, one thousand six hundred and seventy-seven yards from the work,) firing solid shot, and commencing immediately after the barbette fire of the works has ceased.
Charge of teninch columbiads twenty pounds, elevation four and a half degrees; charge of eight-inch columbiad ten pounds, elevation five degrees.
This battery should breach the
pancoupe between the south and south-east faces, and the embrasure next to it in the south-east face; the elevation to be varied accordingly, the charge to remain the same.
Until the elevation is accurately determined, each gun should fire once in ten minutes, after that, every six or eight minutes.
Battery Sigel, (five thirty-pounder Parrotts and one twenty-four pounder James, one thousand six hundred and twenty yards from the work,) to open with four and three fourth seconds fuse on the barbette guns of the
Fort at the second discharge from battery Sherman.
Charge for thirty-pounders, three and one fourth pounds; charge for twenty-four pounder, five pounds; elevation, forty degrees for both calibres.
As soon as the barbette fire of the works has been silenced, this battery will be directed, with percussion-shells, upon the walls, to breach the
pancoupe between the south and south-east faces, and the embrasure next to it in the south-east face; the elevation to be varied accordingly, the charge to remain the same.
Until the elevation is accurately determined, each gun should fire once in six or eight minutes; after that, every four or five minutes.
Battery McClellan (two forty — two and two thirty-two-pounders James, one thousand six hundred and twenty yards from the work) opens fire immediately, after battery Scott.
Charge for forty-two-pounder, eight pounds; charge for thirty-two-pounder six pounds; elevation of forty-two-pounder four and one fourth degrees, and thirty-two-pounder, four degrees.
Each piece should fire once every five or six minutes after the elevation has been established; charge to remain the same.
This battery should breach the works in the
pancoupe between the south and south-east faces, and the embrasure next to it in the south-east face.
The steel scraper for the grooves should be used after every fifth or sixth discharge.
Battery Totten (four ten-inch siege-mortars, one thousand six hundred and eighty-five yards from the work) opens fire immediately after battery Sigel, firing each piece about once in five minutes; charge of mortar three and a half pounds, charge of shell three pounds, elevation forty-five degrees, and length of fuse eighteen and a half seconds. The charge of mortar and length
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of fuse vary, so as to explode the shell over the north-east and south-east faces of the work.
If any battery should be unmasked outside the work, battery Totten should direct its fire upon it, varying the charge of mortars and length of fuse accordingly.
The fire from each battery will cease at dark, except especial directions be given to the contrary.
A
signal-officer at battery Scott, to observe the effects of the thirteen-inch shells, will be in communication with other signal-officers stationed near batteries Stanton, Grant, and
Sherman, in order to determine the range for these batteries in succession.
By order of
Special orders--no. 32.
The following reassignments to batteries are hereby made, namely: gel,
1. Battery Totten,
Capt. D. C. Rodman, Seventh Connecticut Volunteers;
Capt. S. H. Gray, Seventh Connecticut Volunteers;
Second Lieut. S. J. Corey, Seventh Connecticut Volunteers, with a detachment of Seventh Connecticut Volunteers in three reliefs.
2. Battery McClellan,
Capt. H. Rogers, with company H, Third Rhode Island Volunteer artillery, in three reliefs.
3. Battery Sigel,
Captain C. Seldeneck, Forty-sixth New-York State Volunteers;
Captain T. Hohle, Forty-sixth New-York State Volunteers, with companies B and H, Forty-sixth regiment New-York State Volunteers, in three reliefs.
4. Battery Scott,
Captain Pardon Mason, with company F, Third Rhode Island Volunteer artillery, in three reliefs.
5. Battery Halleck,
Capt. O. S. Sanford, Seventh Connecticut Volunteers;
Capt. E. S. Hitchcock, Seventh Connecticut Volunteers;
Second Lieut. S. S. Atwell, Seventh Connecticut Volunteers, with a detachment of Seventh Connecticut Volunteers, in three reliefs.
6. Battery Sherman,
Captain D. C. Francis, Seventh Connecticut Volunteers;
Captain J. B. Dennis, Seventh Connecticut Volunteers;
Second Lieut. V. B. Chamberlain, with a detachment of Seventh Connecticut Volunteers, in three reliefs.
7. Battery Burnside,
Sergeant J. E. Wilson, company A, Corps of Engineers;
Sergeant P. Maguire, company A, Corps of Engineers;
Sergeant Wadlie, with a detachment of Eighth Maine Volunteers, in three reliefs.
8 and 9. Batteries Lincoln and Lyon,
Capt. Louis H. Pelouze, Fifteenth infantry,
Acting Inspector General Department of the South, with
Capt. L. C. Tourtellotte, company B, Third Rhode Island Volunteer artillery, in two reliefs.
10. Battery Grant.
Capt. Charles E. Palmer, of life.
Seventh Connecticut Volunteers;
Capt. Jerome Tourtellotte, Seventh Connecticut Volunteers;
First Lieut. Wm. E. Phillips, Seventh Connecticut Volunteers, with a detachment of Seventh Connecticut Volunteers, in three reliefs.
11. Battery Stanton,
Capt. B. F. Skinner, Seventh Connecticut Volunteers;
Capt. Theo. Bacon, Seventh Connecticut Volunteers;
First Lieut. Theo. Burdick, Seventh Connecticut Volunteers, with a detachment of Seventh Connecticut Volunteers, in three reliefs.
By order of
Special orders--no. 37.
Flag-Officer Du Pont having, in compliance with a request from the
Major-General Commanding the Department of the South, directed a detachment of sailors from the frigate
Wabash, under command of
Lieutenant John S. Irwin, United States Navy, to report to
Commander C. R. P. Rodgers, United States Navy, for service on one of the batteries, they are assigned to battery Sigel, just vacated by two companies of the Forty-sixth New-York State Volunteers, and will take charge of the three thirty-pounder Parrotts and one twenty-four pounder James on the right of that battery.
The balance of the battery will remain with
Captain Turner, United States Army,
Commissary of Subsistence, and will be served by a detachment of the Eighth Maine regiment, under
Captain McArthur.
By command of
The bombardment did not begin as early as was anticipated on Thursday morning. It was postponed an hour or two in order to send a flag of truce, by Lieutenant Wilson, of the Topographical Engineers, to Fort Pulaski, to the commander of the post, demanding an immediate surrender of the works.
The following are copies of the demand and reply.
sir: I hereby demand of you the immediate surrender and restoration of
Fort Pulaski to the authority and possession of the
United States.
This demand is made with a view to avoiding, if possible, the effusion of blood, which must result from the bombardment and attack now in readiness to be opened.
The number, calibre and completeness of the batteries surrounding you, leave no doubt as to what must result in case of refusal; and as the defence, however obstinate, must eventually succumb to the assailing force at my disposal, it is hoped you will see fit to avert the useless waste
This communication will be carried to you under a flag of truce by
Lieut. J. H. Wilson, United States Army, who is authorized to wait any period
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not exceeding thirty minutes from delivery for your answer.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
reply.
sir: I have to acknowledge receipt of your communication of this date, demanding the unconditional surrender of
Fort Pulaski.
In reply I can only say that I am here to defend the
Fort, not to surrender it.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
We opened our batteries on
Fort Pulaski on the morning of the tenth inst. After thirty hours continuous firing a practicable breach was made, and preparations for storming were about to commence, when the rebel flag was struck.
We have captured forty-seven guns, seven thousand shot and shell, forty thousand pounds of powder, three hundred and sixty prisoners, with their small arms and accoutrements, and a good supply of provisions.
One of our men was killed; none wounded.
sir: The flag of our country waves over
Fort Pulaski.
I summoned the garrison to surrender, at sunrise, on the morning of the tenth inst. Immediately on receiving their refusal, at eight A. M., we opened fire, the bombardment continuing without intermission for thirty hours. At the end of eighteen hours firing, the
Fort was breached in the south-east angle, and at the moment of surrender, two o'clock P. M., on the eleventh inst., we had commenced preparations for storming.
The whole armament of the
Fort, forty-seven guns, a great supply of fixed ammunition, forty thousand pounds of powder, and large quantities of commissary stores, have fallen into our hands; also three hundred and sixty prisoners, of whom the officers will be sent North by the first opportunity that offers.
The result of this bombardment must cause, I am convinced, a change in the construction of fortifications as radical as that foreshadowed in naval architecture by the conflict between the
Monitor and
Merrimac.
No works of stone or brick can resist the impact of rifled artillery of heavy calibre.
Too much praise cannot be given to
Captain Q. A. Gilmore, United States Engineers, (
Acting Brigadier-General,) the officer immediately in charge of our works on
Tybee Island, for his industry, skill, and patriotic zeal.
Great credit is also due to his assistants,
Lieut. J. H. Wilson, United States Topographical Engineers, and
Lieut. Horace Porter, of the Ordnance Department.
I have also to gratefully acknowledge the services of
Capt. C. R. P. Rodgers, United States Navy, who, with one hundred of his men, from the
Wabash, under the command of
Lieut. Irwin, did nobly at the guns.
Our gallant volunteers, under the scientific direction of
Capt. Gilmore, displayed admirable energy and perseverance in the construction of the earthworks on
Tybee Island; and nothing could be finer or more impressive than the steadiness, activity, skill and courage with which they worked their guns in battery.
When I receive the reports of the officers more immediately in command,
Brig.-Gen. H. W. Benham, and
Acting Brig.-Gen. Gilmore, a statement more in detail will be immediately forwarded; but I cannot close without expressing my thanks to both these officers, and the hope that
Acting Brig.-Gen. Gilmore may be confirmed in the position of
Brigadier-General, to which, in this bombardment, he has established such deserving claims.
I am happy to state that our loss was but one man killed, the earthworks of our batteries affording secure protection against the heaviest fire of the enemy.
The loss of the enemy has been stated as three severely wounded.
I have the honor to be, sir, most respectfully, your very obedient servant,
David Hunter,
Major-General Commanding Department of the South.
sir: I have the honor to report the conclusion of the operations of the siege of
Fort Pulaski, in
Savannah River, Ga., which have resulted in the capture of that fortress and its armament, and the unconditional surrender of the effective force of the garrison, amounting to three hundred and sixty-one, of whom twenty-four were officers, besides about eighteen who were sick or wounded.
This siege is, as I would remark, the first trial, at least on our side the
Atlantic, of the modern heavy and rifled projectiles against forts erected and supposed to be sufficiently strong, prior to these inventions, almost equalling, as it would appear, the revolution accomplished in naval warfare by the iron-clad vessels recently constructed.
These operations, with the cordial assistance and cooperation of the naval forces, under
Flag-Officer S. F. Du Pont, have been accomplished by a portion of the troops of my division, for the most part under the immediate direction of
Capt. Q. A. Gilmore, Corps of Engineers,
Acting Brig.-General, and
Chief Engineer of the siege, to whose report, a copy of which is respectfully forwarded
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herewith, I have the honor to refer you for the detail of the operations.
Immediately after our arrival in this department, as you are aware, I visited
Tybee Island, (on the thirty-first ult.,) and carefully inspected the works being erected there for the direct attack upon this Fort, which had been well advanced by
Gen. Gilmore, under the direction of that faithful and judicious officer,
Brig.-Gen. T. W. Sherman, my predecessor in this district.
These works consisted of eleven batteries, prepared for thirty-five to thirty-seven pieces of heavy ordnance, extending along an oblique line of about one and a half miles in length, opposite the south-east face of the
Fort, the extremities of this line being at distances, respectively, of about one and two miles from the
Fort.
They were placed with great skill and judgment, and constructed properly, and with as much strength and regularity as the circumstances of the case would permit; and the care and forethought of the engineer in providing for the proper supply of ordnance and other stores that might be needed, is worthy of especial mention, the whole arrangement at
Tybee Island meeting my entire approval.
Desiring, however, if possible, to obtain a concentric fire upon the work, I endeavored to arrange with
Gen. Viele (commanding at
Dawfuskie Island) to accomplish this object, directing him, upon the sixth inst., to place a battery on
Long Island to attack the gorge of the
Fort on the west; and after a second visit to him on the ninth, to construct another (if practicable, and the distance was not too great) upon
Turtle Island, on the north, the object being mainly the moral effect of an encircling fire, rather than the expectation of any serious effect upon the walls at that distance.
From some cause, however, the heavy ordnance for these batteries did not arrive in time, and the lighter pieces most available, and placed in position on
Long Island, served rather as a diversion than for any serious demonstration upon the work.
The main attack upon the
Fort, as you are aware, commenced on the morning of the tenth inst., at about half-past 7 o'clock, and immediately after the refusal of its commander to surrender, according to your summons, previously sent.
Being present yourself, at or between our batteries, for the greater portion of the day, during the contest between these batteries and the
Fort, you are, of course, personally aware of the great efficiency with which these batteries were served, and of the successful commencement of the breach at the south-east angle of the
Fort on that day. You are also aware of the efficient and accurate firing of the guns at the
Fort, directed as they were with great precision, not only at our batteries, but even at the individual persons passing between them or otherwise exposed.
The firing on our part, though delayed at first by the necessity of obtaining the proper range, was kept up with such vigor that over three thousand projectiles varying in size from the thirteen-inch mortar-shell to the thirty-pound
Parrott shot, were thrown at the
Fort during the first day.
At evening, as it was necessary to guard against the possibility of attack from the
Wilmington marshes, a force of some two regiments was stationed upon the ridges of land adjacent, one immediately in rear of the upper batteries, and one on a ridge running toward
Tybee River; and to give
Gen. Gilmore an opportunity for the rest which he required, I arranged with him to remain myself at the batteries, in general charge of the forces, during the first half of the night, directing, at the same time, that the shells should be thrown at the
Fort every ten or fifteen minutes during the night, for the purpose of fatiguing the garrison.
This shell practice, especially during the early part of the night, while the moon was up, was reported to be most successful, or fully as accurate as by daylight.
As a principal battery, of one James and five
Parrott guns, near the
Fort, appeared not to have been as successfully served as was possible during the day, and as a detachment of one hundred seamen from the Navy, under
Lieut. Irwin, had been kindly furnished to us by
Flag-Officer Du Pont, (at the suggestion of
Capt. C. R. P. Rodgers,) which had unfortunately reached us too late for the first assignment to the batteries, I directed that a portion of this battery should be placed in the hands of this command, and the remainder with suitable men, to be under
Captain Turner, A. C. S., late of the First artillery,
U. S.A., and now
Chief Commissary of your staff, and the
James and three of the Parrott guns were assigned to the naval detachment accordingly.
At about seven on the morning of the eleventh the fire opened with great vigor and accuracy, the certainty as to direction and distance being greatly beyond that of the previous day, especially on the part of the enemy, there being scarcely any exposure of our force that did not draw a close shot, while the embrasures and parapets of our batteries were most accurately reached.
At about ten to eleven A. M., I visited the batteries, finding each of them most efficiently served, especially the small mortar-batteries nearest the
Fort, the batteries just referred to, in charge of the Navy and
Capt. Turner, and the columbiad batteries under
Capt. Pelouze.
I found that an embrasure at the breached point, which was much enlarged on the previous day, was now opened to fully the size of the recess arch, or some eight or ten feet square, and the adjacent embrasures were rapidly being brought to a similar condition.
At about noon the whole mask and parapet-wall of the casemate first injured fell into the ditch, raising a ramp quite visible to us, and soon after the corresponding parts of the adjacent casemates began to fall, the Parrott and James shot passing quite through, as we could see the heavy timber blindage in rear of the casemates, to the rear of the magazine, on the opposite (north-west) angle of the
Fort.
In this state of things I felt sure that we would soon be called to peel off the whole scarp-wall from the front of the casemates of the south-east front, making a breach greatly larger than the
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small garrison could defend, with, probably, another smaller breach upon the opposite side; and I at once determined that, if the resistance was continued, it would be best, and entirely practicable, to storm the
Fort successfully within thirty to forty hours. And I had given directions to
Gen. Gilmore, to have suitable scaling-ladders prepared for the purpose, and was arranging for the proper forces, boats, etc., when, at about two P. M., we discovered a white flag thrown up, and the rebel flag, after telling, out to the wind for a few minutes at
half-mast, came slowly to the ground.
I then directed my
Assistant Adjutant-General,
Capt. A. B. Ely, to leave for the
Fort; but finding soon after your own
Adjutant-General,
Major Halpine, at the batteries, I commissioned him (accompanied by
Capt. Ely) to proceed there with the terms I proposed — simply those of your own first note, demanding the surrender of the garrison, and all the armament and weapons; no other modification to be allowed than that they should have as favorable terms as are given by our Government in this war.
General Gilmore reaching the upper batteries soon after, and appearing to desire it, and as his services most eminently merited that his wishes should be gratified, I authorized him to pass over to accept the surrender of the
Fort; and the terms assented to by him, are essentially those dictated by me, excepting, perhaps, those relating to the disabled men, who would otherwise have been a burden to us. And by the return of these, I have endeavored to provide by a letter from
Col. Olmstead, the rebel commander, for the receiving of a like number of men of the Forty-sixth New-York regiment, captured from Tybee about two weeks since.
I have now, in closing, but the pleasing duty of deporting upon the instances of individual merit that have come under my observation during that siege, which report must necessarily be brief, where so many have done so well.
And to the kind and cordial cooperation of the naval forces under
Flag-Officer Du Pont, I feel that our highest thanks are due; for it was only by their assistance that we have been completely enabled to isolate the
Fort from the hope of succor and relief; while the needy supply of ordnance stores and other material most needed by us, at the last moment, has been of great value.
And the battery manned by their detachment, under
Lieut. Irwin, I have the pleasure of stating, was one of the most efficiently served against the
Fort during the action; a supervision being kept over it constantly by
Capt. C. R. P. Rodgers in person — an officer who, an acquaintance of more than twenty years standing assures me, is without a superior in our own or any other service.
To
Acting Brigadier-General D. A. Gilmore, (
Captain of Engineers,) the highest praise is due, for the exercise of his great professional skill and judgment, and his laborious industry, in arranging and personally superintending all the general preparations, and all the details of the actual siege, which has resulted so successfully, showing him eminently worthy of the position and rank in which his previous
Commander,
Gen. Sherman, had placed him, as far as was in his power; and which rank I would respectfully ask — your interest for confirmation of by the
President.
Capt. Pelouze,
Acting Inspector-General of the Department;
Capt. Turner,
Chief Commissary of the Department;
Lieut. Porter, of the
United States Ordnance Department, and
Lieut. Wilson,
Topographical Engineers--all in charge of batteries — rendered most zealous and efficient service, which their previous military education has so well fitted them for.
Lieut. P. H. O'Rourke, of the United States Engineers, acting as
Assistant Engineer to
Gen. Gilmore, was also most energetic and useful.
Of your own staff, I had the pleasure of noticing repeatedly under fire, most actively engaged,
Major Halpine,
Assistant Adjutant--General ;
Lieut. Smith,
Acting Assistant Adjutant--General;
Major Hough, most especially zealous;
Major Wright,
Captains Thompson and
Dole,
Lieuts. Stockton,
Hay, and
Kinsie, your Aids — not only complying with your own directions, but ready to aid me at all times when needed.
Lieut.--Col. Hall, of the Volunteer Engineer regiment, deserves most especial commendation for his activity, zeal, and general usefulness at all times, by night and by day, by which he constantly rendered most valuable services, as did the battalion of his fine regiment during the siege and previously; and
Captain McArthur, of the Eighth Maine regiment, being highly praised by different officers who witnessed his successful management of his men at the batteries, deserves my commendation.
The companies of the Third Rhode Island artillery, under
Capt. Tourtelotte, served their guns most efficiently; and the Seventh Connecticut regiment, under
Colonel Terry, very ably manned the batteries which they had most laboriously constructed; so that I designated them, as I was pleased to find had been (unknown to me) the previous selection of
Gen. Gilmore, for the honor of being the first to garrison the surrendered Fort.
Of my personal staff, my senior Aid,
Lieut. A. B. Ely,
Acting Assistant Adjutant-General, was constantly with me when not occupied otherwise by my direction; still showing most eminently every qualification, as he had done previously, for the responsible position for which I had selected him — and
Lieut. S. U. Benham, my junior Aid, and
S. H. Hawks, Acting Aid, were ready and prompt in the discharge of their duties.
Col. Serrell, of the Volunteer Engineer regiment, (acting temporarily on my staff,) showed great zeal and activity throughout the action.
I would respectfully recommend in relation to the commander of the garrison of the
Fort,
Col. Chas. H. Olmstead, whose gallant conduct as an enemy, and whose courtesy as a gentleman are entitled to all consideration, that should you deem it proper, the courtesy of the return of his
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own sword, should be extended to him. His defence I would remark, was continued until almost the latest limit possible; for a few hours more of our fire, would, to all appearance, have sufficed for the destruction of the magazine and a larger portion of the
Fort, while another day would have unavoidably placed the garrison at the mercy of a storming column from our command.
I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant.
H. W. Benham,
Brigadier-General Commanding Northern District, Department of the South.
sir: I have the honor to report that several batteries established on
Tybee Island, to operate against
Fort Pulaski, opened fire on the morning of the tenth inst., at a quarter-past eight o'clock, commencing with the thirteen-inch mortars.
When the range of these pieces had been approximately obtained, by the use of signals, the other batteries opened in the order previously prescribed in “General orders, no.
Seventeen,” from these headquarters, hereunto appended, as part of this report, so that by half-past 9 o'clock all our batteries--eleven in number — had commenced their work.
The breaching batteries opened at half-past 9 o'clock. With the exception of four ten-inch columbiads, dismounted at the outset by their own recoil, in consequence of their having been supplied pintles, and from very serious defects in the wrought-iron chapis, which will be noticed more fully in my detailed report, all the pieces were served through the day.
With few exceptions, strict regard was paid to the instructions laid down in the order regulating the rapidity and direction of the fire.
At dark all the pieces ceased firing, except the thirteen-inch mortars, one ten-inch mortar, and one thirty-pound
Parrott, which were served through the night at intervals of twenty minutes for each piece.
The only plainly perceptible result of this cannonade of ten and a half hours duration, the breaching batteries having been served but nine and a half hours, was the commencement of a breach in the easterly half of the
pancoupe connecting the south and south-east faces, and in that portion of the-south-east face spanned by the two casemates adjacent to the
pancoupe. The breach had been ordered in this portion of the scarp so as to take in reverse, through the opening, the magazine located in the angle formed by the gorge and north face.
Two of the barbette guns of the
Fort have been disabled, and three casemate guns silenced.
The enemy served both tiers of guns briskly through-out the day, but without injury to the
materiel or
personnel of our batteries.
The result from the mortar-batteries was not at all satisfactory, notwithstanding the care and skill with which the pieces were served.
On the morning of the eleventh our batteries again opened a little after sunrise, with decided effect, the
Fort returning a heavy and well-directed fire from its barbette and casemate guns.
The breach was rapidly enlarged.
At the expiration of three hours the entire casemate next the
pancoupe had been opened, and by eleven o'clock the one adjacent to it was in a similar condition.
Directions were then given to train the guns upon the third embrasure, upon which the breaching batteries were operating with effect, when the
Fort hoisted the white flag.
This occurred at two o'clock P. M.
The formalities of visiting the
Fort, receiving the surrender and occupying it with our. troops, consumed the balance of the afternoon and evening.
I cannot indulge in detail, however interesting and instructive, in this hasty and preliminary report; but the pleasing duty of acknowledging the services of the officers and men under my command, during the laborious and fatiguing preliminaries for opening fire, as well as during the action, I do not feel at liberty to defer.
The labor of landing the heaviest ordnance, with large supplies of ordnance stores, upon an open and exposed beach, remarkable for its heavy surf, taking advantage of the tide day and night the transportation of these articles to the advanced batteries under cover of night; the erection of seven of the eleven batteries in plain view of
Fort Pulaski, and under its fire; the construction upon marshy ground in the night-time exclusively of nearly one mile of causeway, resting on fascines and brushwood; the difficult task of hauling the guns, carriages and chapis to their positions, in the dark, over a narrow road, bordered by marsh, by the labor of the men alone, (the advance being two and a half miles from the landing;) the indomitable perseverance and cheerful deportment of the officers and men under the frequent discouragement of breaking down and miring in the swamp, are services to the cause and country which I do not feel at liberty to leave unrecorded.
An idea of the immense labor expended in transporting the ordnance can be gained from the fact that two hundred and fifty men could hardly move a thirteen-inch mortar, loaded, on a sling-cart.
Another circumstance deserving especial mention, is, that twenty-two of the thirty-six pieces comprised in the batteries were served during the action by the troops who had performed the fatiguing labors to which I have referred above.
They received all their instructions in gunnery, at such odd times as they could be spared from other duty, during the week preceding the action.
The troops which participated in all the heavy labor, were the Forty-sixth New-York Volunteers,
Col. Rudolph Rosa; the Seventh Connecticut volunteers,
Col. Alfred H. Terry; two companies of the New-York Volunteer Engineers (
Capt. Graef and
Lieut. Brooks) under command of
Lieut.-Col.
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James F. Hall; two companies of the Third Rhode Island artillery, (
Capts. Mason and
Rodgers,) and a small detachment from company A, corps of engineers, under
Sergeant James E. Wilson.
Col. Terry and
Lieut.-Col. Hall entered most zealously upon the discharge of their varied duties.
A detachment from
Col. Rosa's regiment, under
Capt. Hinkle, have occupied, since the twenty-second of February, an advanced and very exposed position on
Lazaretto Creek, by which boat communication between
Fort Pulaski and the interior was cut off. Several interesting reconnoissances of
Wilmington Island were made by
Capt. Hinkle, one of which, commanded by
Col. Rosa, developed some useful information.
Lieut. Horace Porter, of the Ordnance Department, has rendered signal, important and indispensable services.
Besides discharging most faithfully the special duties of ordnance officer, he directed, in person, the transportation of the heaviest ordnance, and drilled and instructed the men in its use, laboring indefatigably day and night.
He was actively engaged among the batteries during the action.
Lieut. James H. Wilson, Corps of
Topographical Engineers, joined my command eleven days before the action, and did good service in instructing the artillerists.
He rendered efficient service with the breaching batteries on the tenth and eleventh.
Capt. S. H. Pelouze, Fifteenth infantry,
U. S.A., and
Capt. J. W. Turner, of the Commissary Department,
U. S.A., member of
Gen. Hunter's staff, volunteered for the action, and did good service in the batteries.
I am under obligations to
Commander C. R. P. Rodgers,
U. S.N., for skilfully serving four siegeguns in battery Sigel on the eleventh.
Lieut. P. H. O'Rourke, Corps of Engineers, and
Adam Badeau,
Esq., volunteered, and served on my staff as aids during the tenth and eleventh.
Sergeant J. E. Wilson, of Co. A, Corps of Engineers, (regular army,) did excellent service in mounting the heavy guns and getting them ready for action.
He commanded battery Burnside during the action.
No mortar-battery was served more skilfully than his.
I will close this preliminary report by some general deductions from absolute results, without going into details or reasons.
1. Mortars (even thirteen-inch sea-coast) are unavailable for the reduction of works of small area like
Fort Pulaski.
They cannot be fired with sufficient accuracy to crush the casemate arches.
They might, after a long time, tire out any ordinary garrison.
2. Good rifled guns, properly served, can breach rapidly at one thousand six hundred and fifty yards distance.
A few heavy round shot, to bring down the masses loosened by the rifled projectiles, are of good service.
I would not hesitate to attempt a practicable breach in a brick scarf at two thousand yards distance, with guns of my own selection.
3. No better piece for breaching can be desired than the forty-two pounder
James.
The grooves, however, must be kept clean.
Parrott guns, throwing as much metal as the
James, would be equally good, supposing them to fire as accurately as the Parrott thirty-pounder.
I append to this report a map, giving the position of our several batteries, and the orders issued, assigning the detachments to the batteries, and regulating the direction and rapidity of the firing.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant
sir: I have the honor to submit the following report of the operations of the troops under my command, in connection with the investment and reduction of
Fort Pulaski.
The plan of operations assigned to me comprised the erection of batteries on the
Savannah River, to cut off communication between the
Fort and the city of
Savannah, from which supplies, ammunition and men were drawn; and to establish batteries on the islands adjacent to the
Fort, against the gorge and left flank, with which, in conjunction with the batteries on
Tybee Island, the
Fort could be reduced.
The expedition for these purposes was fitted out at
Port Royal, and consisted of a detachment of the Third Rhode Island artillery, a detachment of volunteer engineers, a battalion of the Eighth Maine regiment, the Sixth regiment Connecticut Volunteers, the Forty-eighth New-York Volunteers and a full supply of heavy ordnance and intrenching tools.
A full reconnaissance and report had previously been made by
Lieut. J. H. Wilson,
Topographical Engineers, of the water communications with the
Savannah River, by which it was developed that the rebels had sunk the hulk of a brig, securely fixed in its position by means of heavy piles, in what is known as “Wall's cut,” an artificial channel connecting
Wright River, one of the outlets of the
Savannah, with
Bull River, which last, by its connection, forms a direct communication with the harbor of
Port Royal, thus serving as a thoroughfare between that harbor and
Savannah.
The removal of this hulk was the first thing to be accomplished, and was intrusted to
Major 0.
S. Beard, Forty-eighth New-York Volunteers, who, with the aid of a company of the Volunteer Engineers, and by means of mechanical appliances suggested by his own ingenuity, succeeded after three weeks of unremitting night labor, and in close proximity to the rebel forces, in removing the piles and hulk from the channel, so as to admit of the passage of gunboats and light-draught steamers.
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This being accomplished, the expedition proceeded to the north end of
Dawfuskie Island, at which point a camp and depot were established for operations in the
Savannah.
Reconnoissances for suitable locations for the batteries were there made, under the superintendence of
Capt. and
Acting Brig.-Gen. Gilmore, during which the telegraphic communication between
Fort Pulaski and
Savannah was cut, and the wires, both land and submarine, removed for about the distance of one mile.
Venus Point, on Jones's Island, on the north side of the
Savannah, and the upper end of
Long Island, in the
Savannah River, were recommended as the most feasible positions to be occupied.
These islands, as well as all others in the river, are merely deposits of soft mud, on sand shoals, always covered at high-tide, and overgrown with dank grasses.
The occupation of points so unfavorable for the erection of batteries, was rendered still more difficult by the presence in the
Savannah of a fleet of rebel gunboats, constantly passing and always on the alert.
To have floated the ordnance in the flatboats in which it had been placed, into the
Savannah River, would have exposed it to capture by the gunboats; to move it over the swamps seemed almost impossible, while at the same time it would constantly be exposed to view from the river.
The alternative was adopted of moving the armament of one battery by hand, at night, on shifting tram-ways, across Jones's Island; and this was accomplished on the night of the eleventh of February.
A drenching storm added to the difficulties — the men often sinking to their waists in the marsh, and the guns sometimes slipping from the tram-ways.
By morning the guns were in position on the river, and the next day resisted, with unfinished platforms, and without cover, an attack from the rebel gunboats, disabling and driving them off.
Three days after, another battery was erected on
Bird Island, in the
Savannah, under cover of the battery on Jones's Island.
Bird Island was selected in preference to the upper end of
Long Island, as affording a more uninterrupted command of the south channel of the river.
Since the erection of the batteries, the works have been completed on both islands — the one on Jones's Island being called Fort Vulcan, and that on
Bird Island, battery Hamilton; and although the material of which they are composed, (mud, highly saturated with water,) is of the most unfavorable description, they are both creditable specimens of field-works, and evidence the great labor and perseverance of the troops, under the most trying circumstances — the fatigue-parties always standing in water twenty-four hours.
The positions selected for batteries to aid in the reduction of the
Fort, were the lower end of
Long Island and the south side of
Turtle Island.
As these two points were directly under the fire of the
Fort, it was deemed advisable to delay the erection of the batteries until those on
Tybee Island were ready to open.
Hence, it was not until the night before the bombardment commenced, that they were thrown up. The intrenchments were completed; but before the guns were all in position, the
Fort surrendered unconditionally.
The mortar-batteries on
Long Island did good execution.
In reporting the results accomplished, I have to refer to the services rendered by the staff of
Gen. Sherman, without which the work could not have been performed.
These officers were
Capt. and
Acting Brig.-Gen. Gilmore,
Chief Engineer;
Capt. John Hamilton,
Chief of Artillery;
Lieut. J. H. Wilson,
Topographical Engineer;
Lieut. Porter, Ordnance Corps, and
Lieutenant O'Rourke, Engineer Corps.
Hesitating at no amount of exposure or fatigue, they succeeded, by their individual examples, in inspiring the men with that energy and zeal which alone could have led them to accomplish the arduous labor required.
I am also greatly indebted to the services of
Capt. Sears, of the Volunteer Engineers, and to
Captain J. H. Liebenau,
Assistant Adjutant-General.
The accompanying sketch exhibits the positions of the batteries.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Flag-ship
Wabash, Port Royal harbor,
S. C., April 13, 1862.
sir: The despatches from the
Commanding General of this Department to the
Honorable Secretary of War, will convey the gratifying intelligence of the fall of
Fort Pulaski.
It was a purely military operation, the result of laborious and scientific preparation, and of consummate skill and bravery in the execution.
It would not have pertained to me to address you, in reference to this brilliant and successful achievement, had not
Major-General Hunter, with a generous spirit long to be remembered, permitted the navy to be represented on this interesting occasion, by allowing a detachment of seamen and officers from this ship to serve one of the breaching-batteries.
I have thanked the
General personally for this kindness, and I desire, at the same time, to express my acknowledgments to
Brig.-Gen. Benham and
Acting Brig.-Gen. Gilmore for the acts of consideration shown by them to my officers and men.
I enclose the report of
Commander C. R. P. Rodgers, who had the honor to command the battery Sigel, on the second and important day.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
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sir: I have the honor to report the return of the detachment from this ship, which had the good fortune to take part in the bombardment of
Fort Pulaski.
It reached
Tybee on the morning of the tenth instant, just before the fire was opened, and the batteries being already manned, our men could not participate in the action of the first day.
Gen. Hunter,
Gen. Benham, and
Gen. Gilmore all manifested the most generous desire to give the navy a share in the good work; and on the eleventh, the most important day, two rifled guns in battery Sigel, one of the nearest and most exposed batteries, and consequently one of the posts of honor, were assigned to the men of the
Wabash.
We occupied it at daybreak, and kept up a steady and well-directed fire until the
Fort hauled down its flag, at two o'clock P. M.
The officers and men behaved well.
I beg leave to commend to you
Lieut. Irwin,
Acting Master Robertson, and
Midshipmen M. L. Johnson and
F. H. Pearson,
Lewis Boun, captain of the forecastle, and
George H. Wood, quartermaster.
When the enemy hoisted the white flag,
Gen. Benham most courteously invited me to detail a naval officer to accompany the officers sent by him to arrange the terms of the surrender, and I sent
Lieut. Irwin upon that honorable duty.
I spent the first day of the bombardment in the trenches with
Gen. Hunter, and in visiting the different batteries, which I caused to be visited by several of our officers and men, that they might profit by the experience to be acquired.
The bombardment began at eight o'clock A. M on the tenth, and continued during the day.
At first, while procuring the ranges, it was somewhat inaccurate, many of the artillerists being quite untrained.
On the second day, in spite of a high wind, the firing from the rifled guns and columbiads was excellent, the former boring into the brick face of the wall like augers, and the latter striking and breaking off great masses of masonry which had been cut loose by the rifles.
The four upper batteries were about sixteen hundred yards distant from
Fort Pulaski, and quite beyond the distance at which it has hitherto been held practicable to effect a breach, but it proved an easy breaching range with those wonderful projectiles which we now possess.
When the
Fort surrendered, the barbette guns had been silenced, and many of them dismounted.
The breach was practicable in two places, and could have been stormed without doubt.
Our projectiles were passing through it, and were knocking down the opposite wall, which protected the main magazine, so that the garrison were convinced that in an hour the magazine must have blown up. The heavy thirteen-inch mortars inflicted much less injury than I had expected.
The casemates did not seem at all shaken by them.
The parade-ground had been farmed into deep furrows, into which the shells rolled and burst, without the power of doing much harm.
The guns used by the men of the
Wabash were three thirty-pounder Parrotts, and one twenty-four-pounder
James.
I am, very respectfully,
Terms of capitulation.
sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith the terms of capitulation for the surrender to the
United States of
Fort Pulaski, Ga., signed by me this eleventh day of April, 1862.
I trust these terms will receive your approval, they being substantially those authorized by you, as commander of the
District.
The Fort hoisted the white flag at forty-five minutes past one o'clock this afternoon, after a resistance since eight o'clock yesterday morning to the continuous fire of our batteries.
A practicable breach in the walls was made in eighteen and a half hours firing by daylight.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your most obedient servant,
sir: I have the satisfaction of enclosing to you herewith the terms of surrender of
Fort Pulaski, as arranged this day by
Acting Brig.-Gen. Q. A. Gilmore, whom I despatched to the
Fort for that purpose immediately after the appearance of the white flag from that Fort, about two P. M.,
this day — the anniversary of the opening of the fire upon
Fort Sumter by the rebels, last year.
The terms agreed to by
Col. C. H. Olmstead, the rebel commander of the
Fort, are essentially those dictated by myself; and such as I trust will meet with your approval, from my previous communications with you on this subject.
With much congratulation to you on this first success in your present department, I have the honor to be, most respectfully, your obedient servant,
Terms of capitulation agreed upon for the surrender to the forces of the
United States of
Fort Pulaski,
Cockspur Island, Ga.:
art. 1. The Fort, armament, and garrison to be surrendered at once to the forces of the
United States.
art. 2. The officers and men of the garrison to be allowed to take with them all their private effects, such as clothing, bedding, books, etc. This not to include private weapons.
art. 3. The sick and wounded, under charge
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of the hospital steward of the garrison, to be sent up under a flag of truce to the confederate lines; and at the same time the men to be allowed to send up any letters they may desire, subject to the inspection of a Federal officer.
Signed the eleventh day of April, 1862, at
Fort Pulaski,
Cockspur Island, Ga.
rebel officers captured.
Col. Chas. H. Olmstead, commanding post.
Major John Foley.
Adjutant M. H. Hopkins.
Quartermaster Robert Irwin.
Commissaries
Robert D. Walker,
J. T. McFarland.
Sergeant-Major Robert H. Lewis.
Quartermaster's
Sergeant Wm. C. Crawford.
Ordnance Sergeant Harvey Sims.
officers of the Montgomery guard,
Savannah.
Capt. L. J. Gilmartin,
First Lieut. John J. Symons,
Senior Second Lieut. Christopher Hussey,
Junior Second Lieut. C. M. Murphy.
German Volunteers,
Savannah.
Capt. John H. Steigen,
Senior Second Lieut. Henry Warner,
Junior Second Lieut. Charles Umback.
Oglethorpe light infantry,
Savannah.
Capt. T. W. Sims,
First Lieut. H. C. Truman,
Junior Second Lieut. James Ackerman.
Wise guard,
Macon County, Ga.
Capt. M. J. McMullin,
First Lieut. T. W. Montfort,
Senior Second Lieut. J. D. N. Lullow,
Junior Second Lieut. John Blow.
Washington Volunteers,
Savannah.
Capt. John McMahon,
First Lieut. Francis Blair,
Senior Second Lieut. J. C. Rowland,
Junior Second Lieut. A. J. McArthur.
Account by a participant.
On the eighth of April,
Gen. Hunter and staff went ashore on
Tybee Island.
It was intended to open fire the next morning, but a delay of one day was found necessary.
Gen. Hunter did not take up his headquarters ashore, though he visited the batteries, and on the first day of the bombardment remained at them.
Gen. Benham was in the action both days, but the command was left with
General Gilmore.
Capt. Pelouze, late
Adjutant-General on
Gen. Sherman's staff, and now
Inspector-General of the Department of the South, volunteered to take command of a battery, and was assigned to two.
Lieut. Wilson, who had been engaged in drilling his men, at their guns for several days, acted on the staff of
Gen. Gilmore, and exercised a sort of supervision of several of the batteries in conjunction with
Lieut. Porter.
On the night of the ninth I rode with
Lieut. Porter through the batteries.
His object was to ascertain if it would be possible to open fire at sunrise in the morning.
We visited each battery in turn: first the two mortar-batteries,
Stanton and
Grant, the furthest from the
Fort.
These were to be commanded by
Capts. Skinner and
Palmer, of the Connecticut Seventh.
Then batteries Lyon and Lincoln, under
Capt. Pelouze. One of them mounted three ten-inch, and the other three eight-inch columbiads.
All of these four works were more than three thousand yards from
Pulaski.
Battery Burnside, under command of
Sergeant Wilson, of the Ordnance, mounted one thirteen-inch mortar; battery
Sherman commanded by
Capt. Francis, consisted of three thirteen-inch mortars.
There stretched out an interval of ground beyond this battery, half a mile or more, entirely exposed.
One battery, (Halleck,
Capt. Sanford,) only interrupted it.
Halleck was two thousand four hundred yards from the
Fort, and contained the last of the thirteen-inch mortars.
The next was battery Scott,
Capt. Mason, of the Third Rhode Island, only one thousand six hundred and seventy-seven yards from
Fort Pulaski.
It containe three teninch columbiads, and one eight-inch. Next came battery Sigel,
Captain Seldeneck, of the Forty-sixth New-York, and battery McClellan,
Capt. Rodgers.
Both of these, which were side by side, were one thousand six hundred and twenty yards distant from the centre of
Pulaski.
The former mounted one twenty-four-pound
James, and five twenty-pound Parrott guns; the latter two twelve pound
James, and two thirty-two-pound James Last of all was battery Totten, under
Capt. Rod man, where were placed the four ten-inch mortars.
All of these nearest batteries were very close together, and, as they were to be so much exposed, connected by trenches or covered ways.
The splinter-proofs now were immediately in the rear of the batteries, so that the men could pass directly from their guns to cover.
These works were erected on a narrow strip of fast land, and just behind them was a wide swamp, into which it was hoped that most of the enemy's shells would fall.
The batteries, though open, were still admirably protected.
A man could scarcely be hurt, unless in passing between them, or in the event of a shell falling directly into the works and exploding; when, of course, all in the neighborhood were endangered.
The swamp extends into the interior of the
Island, and seemed likely to receive some of the shot and shell aimed at the lower batteries, but its position in the rear of those most exposed seemed almost providential.
Men were very busily at work without lanterns, at every one of the batteries, piling or filling shells, building revetments to render the parapets still more secure, lowering the terrepleins, deepening the trenches.
And
Porter went around to each gun, to ascertain if its captain was prepared with whatever would be necessary on the morrow.
Some wanted one implement, and some another; these had no priming-wire, and those no friction-tube All the thousand little needs that spring up invariably in an emergency
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were imperious.
Lists were made out, and sent into headquarters, and officers assured that everything possible should be obtained, and the rest must be dispensed with.
At the ten-inch mortar battery, fuse-plugs were still wanting, and the ordnance officer was in despair.
He had brought out a specimen of one prepared for another piece, in hopes it might serve; and although one trial doubtless convinced him how vain were his hopes, he persisted in poking his plug again and again into the hole; but it was of no use. Here were these four pieces, at this most advanced position, rendered entirely useless.
Not one could be fired.
Finally, a happy thought struck him; there was a Yankee regiment on the island; all Yankees are whittlers; if this regiment could be turned out to-night, they might whittle enough fuse-plugs before morning to fire a thousand rounds.
So we put spurs to our horses, and rode (in the darkness) bravely over the open space which separates the batteries back to camp.
The Sixth Connecticut was ordered out to whittle, and did whittle to advantage, providing all the plugs that were used in battery Totten on the two succeeding days.
In the ordnance yard was a confused group — wagons waiting for their piles of implements, workmen manufacturing or mending implements and weapons; others providing ammunition; officers making out lists, or filling them up, or giving various orders; every now and then a messenger arriving or leaving, all by night; a lantern burning dimly here and there; and the moon struggling to look down through misty clouds.
Camp could be seen beyond some sand-hummocks in the distance; and the incessant roar of the surf prevented all noise of our hammering or shouting from reaching the ears of the beleaguered garrison, unconscious how near its fate was at hand.
The sentinel on the walls cried out, “All's well ;” and a private soldier exclaimed: “Ah!
you wouldn't say that, if you could see what we are about over here.”
It was long past midnight before we were all abed, in the lightkeeper's house; for
Gen. Gilmore's headquarters were established in the shanty where the keeper of
Tybee light once slept calmly, undisturbed by wars or rumors of wars.
Five of us bunked in one garret, in our blankets.
We had been used to talk late into the night, but this time all the sleep that could be secured before daylight was necessary.
A
Major-General and three of his aids lay in the opposite room, no better off than we; a Brigadier and his staff below.
One man was awake, without being called, in the morning, and that was
Lieut. Wilson, who was to carry the demand for a surrender; and none of the others was later than he.
Wilson had fairly earned the honor, which nobody grudged him; but how we feared he might bring back terms!
Everything was got ready to open fire, so soon as he should return with a defiance.
He bore a written summons from
Gen. Hunter, and a man was stationed in the light-house to watch his course.
His boat, with its white flag waving under the Stars and Stripes, was allowed to cross the creek that separates Tybee from
Cockspur Island.
He was met at the shore and detained there.
It seemed an age to us who were waiting.
Then word came that Ife had started to return; he was ashore; he was at headquarters.
“What word did he bring?”
“A sealed letter.”
Just then
Gen. Hunter stepped out of his room, and remarked blandly: “
Gen. Gilmore, you may open fire as soon as you please.”
O'Rourke, lucky dog, carried the message to
Lieut. Porter, who was at battery Halleck, and to have the honor (well deserved) of firing the first gun. A classmate of his, just one year before, had fired the opening gun on
Fort Sumter.
So appropriately and opportunely was the insult to the Stars and Stripes avenged.
The formal demand carried by
Lieut. Wilson has probably already been made public.
It was felicitous in calling for a surrender and
restoration of
Fort Pulaski.
The reply was gallant: “We are here to defend, not to surrender the
Fort.”
So
Porter opened fire, and the other batteries followed in their order, and
Pulaski was not more than four or five minutes behindhand in replying, although she had not anticipated an attack so soon.
In a very short while all of our own works were engaged.
The great thirteen-inch mortars were long in getting the range, and, to tell the truth, did not succeed in retaining any accurate range at all. Several of the columbiads were dismounted early in the action, but not by the enemy — the accident was owing to some defect in their pintles.
Then one of the mortars in battery Sherman became useless for an hour or more ; still, battery Burnside, with its single piece, was doing good execution, and up at battery McClellan the firing was rapid and accurate.
Wilson was there.
The three
Generals and their aids were on the ground;
Gen. Hunter remaining all day at a point to the left of battery Lincoln;
Gen. Benham being more active, and
Gen. Gilmore hard at work, knowing that his spurs were to be won.
Pelouze was provoked because one of his guns was dismounted, and
O'Rourke was delighted because he was bidden to put it in order, under fire.
This was accomplished by the help of a detachment of volunteer engineers, of whom
Col. Hall was in command.
Aids and orderlies galloped across the dangerous ground, and
Generals, more cautious for officers than these for themselves, ordered the younger men to take the least uncovered road.
“Down, gentlemen, down,” said
General Hunter, when those around him were needlessly exposing themselves.
Horses fastened near the battery got frightened at the prodigious noise, and broke their bridles, scampering off to camp; no orderly could be sent, under that fire, for a horse; an aid came along soon after; as a sorry substitute, some quartermaster had lent him a brute that evidently would stand any fire without running; the rider had no spurs nor whip, and he labored the animal with the flat of his sword; so a comrade afoot, but accustomed to ride, sat down on the roadside, took off his own spurs, and fastened
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them on the aid, who thus won his spurs even earlier than
Gen. Gilmore.
All this while the fire was becoming more frequent and more accurate, and the reply more vigorous.
Shells fell within a few yards of our batteries every few moments, many of them exploding, but most of them went into the marsh.
The men soon got so that they could distinguish a casemate from a barbette discharge, and only the batteries on Goat's Point (the nearest to the
Fort) could be reached by the guns in embrasure; so the cry, instead of being “cover” every time a discharge was seen, became “Barbette” or “Casemate.”
The interval between the discharge and the arrival of a shot was several seconds — quite long enough for those near cover to seek it. Of course in the open intervals there was no cover to be sought.
Some would lie flat on the ground, others stalked or rode indifferently along.
By and by we could tell when a gun was trained on any particular battery, and even the cry of “Barbette” disturbed but a few. With good glasses it was possible to watch the enemy as he loaded a piece or got it into battery, and if his range was known, then the call was “Rifle,” or by whatever name the piece was distinguished.
The rebels told us afterward that they were as skilful as our own men in eluding the fire.
By and by the shot and shells began to fall faster within
Fort Pulaski--fewer exploded in the air, but clouds of dirt arising told that the parade or the ramparts had been struck.
Huge traverses — some of sand-bags, some of sod — had been built in the parapet, which served as an admirable cover for the enemy, but many of these were struck; the bricks began to tumble in many places from the wall; one or two projectiles were seen to enter the embrasures; and at each skilful shot, a shout went up from all our batteries.
After a while the men jumped up on the parapets to watch each shot, and regular signals were exchanged between the batteries.
The clouds of smoke did not interfere materially with the view, and the windage was slight.
Shells could be seen just as they escaped from the tempest of fire and smoke belched out at the discharge, and traced in their passage through the air, sometimes hidden by a cloud, sometimes coming out again, often until they fell within the walls.
Two mortar-batteries along the shore outside of the
Fort opened during the morning on Goat's Point, whither the enemy directed his hottest fire.
At about one o'clock, the halyards attached to the flagstaff were shot away, and the flag came down, but it was immediately raised in a less conspicuous place.
During the afternoon, an embrasure in the
pancoupe, on the south-east angle of the
Fort, was struck repeatedly, and pieces of the brickwork observed to give way. This angle was the nearest point to the batteries, and in a direct line with the magazine of
Fort Pulaski--a fact well known to us from plans of the work in our possession.
Afterward all the efforts to effect a breach were directed to this spot.
Several of the guns, however, which were most relied on to accomplish this object, were out of order; the mortar-shells were observed to fall mostly wide of the mark; and no remarkable result could be noticed even when one fell within the
Fort.
Numerous marks, however, all along both faces of the work which were exposed, told of the force and accuracy of our firing.
By night-fall, the breach was so far effected that it was evident to all it could eventually be converted into a practicable one.
The heavy bombardment was discontinued at dark, three mortar-batteries firing one shell each at intervals of fifteen minutes all night long, so as to worry the enemy, and prevent his making any attempt to stop the breach or otherwise repair his damages, but without any idea of doing him material harm.
Several of his guns had evidently been dismounted, and others silenced, during the day. The breach had been commenced, but on the whole the result did not seem especially encouraging.
It might be less considerable than we flattered ourselves, and the mortar firing had certainly not been a success; we were unable to know how great was the damage we had inflicted; we had, however, lost no men, and had no gun dismounted; but for all that we could tell, the bombardment might last as long as that of
Island Number10.
The men and officers were very thoroughly tired, with the absolute work they had undergone, and the still more fatiguing excitements; few had had time to eat or drink; many, however, had night duties to perform.
Strong infantry pickets were placed, and still stronger supports, lest an attempt should be made to relieve the garrison, or to distract us by some unexpected attack, and many of the preparations necessary for the first day's firing, were renewed in anticipation of the second.
The bombardment on the first day began at about half-past 7 o'clock; the firing had been kept up all night, as I have said, one shell thrown every five minutes; but shortly after daybreak all our batteries were opened again.
The reply was more vigorous than on the day before.
On one side every gun was in readiness, and did good service.
The great columbiads under
Capt. Pelouze were especially effective; they certainly shook the walls of old
Pulaski, and demoralized them to a considerable extent.
All along our line the firing was more rapid and more accurate; I frequently counted five shots striking within his walls within five seconds, and sometimes the
Fort was struck as often as seven times within as many seconds.
Rebel officers told me afterward that, on an average, one out of three of the shots that were fired took effect, and that during all of the second day one shot or shell every minute was the average they received.
Early this morning,
Capt. Seldeneck, of battery Sigel, was relieved, and
Capt. C. R. P. Rodgers, of the frigate
Wabash, with a portion of the
Wabash's crew, worked several of the guns of this battery during the remainder of the fight.
At the same time
Capt. Turner,
Chief of Commissary on
Gen. Hunter's staff, and
Lieut. Wilson, undertook to drill a detachment of the Eighth Maine Volunteers,
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(
Col. Rust.) These men were utterly ignorant of their duties, knew not even the names of the different parts of the pieces, but they went to work, were
drilled under fire, and in twenty minutes were able to serve their guns with more than tolerable accuracy, and did some of the most effective service during that day. This same regiment lay not more than half a mile in the rear of battery Halleck for more than half of the entire engagement, covered only by some brushwood, but perfectly content with their exposed position, because they were told that it might prove eminently an important one.
Early on the second day, especial attention was directed toward the breach; every gun that could be brought to bear upon the
pancoupe was trained that way, and the aperture began soon to show the effects.
In an hour or two, it became large enough for two men to enter abreast, and the nearest embrasure on its left was also considerably enlarged.
Meanwhile, all the other effects of the day before were enhanced; shots struck all over the two exposed faces of the
Fort; the two mortar-batteries on the shore of
Cockspur Island were silenced, and several of the casemate guns were struck, through the embrasures.
A man was hurt in battery Scott, on this morning, by a shell, which fell almost vertically into the battery, and exploded, striking the poor fellow in the head, side, and leg, horribly wounding him, and burying another with fragments of the revetment.
The wounded man soon afterward died; the other was unhurt.
This was the only casualty of the action on our side, except that a lieutenant received a slight blow in the jaw. The battery put up by
Gen. Viele, on
Long Island, opened fire this morning, and was sufficiently vigorous in its compliments to merit and receive repeated replies, and affording good service by the destruction it occasioned.
The gunboat
Norwich, lying somewhere on the right of the
Fort, in the direction of the sunken hulk of which I have previously spoken, also became engaged — the distance must, however, have been too great for her to have rendered any special assistance; still she, too, got an occasional answer from the garrison.
On this day clouds of red dust were seen to rise more frequently from the
Fort, indicating that the brickwork of which it is constructed was hit, and after a while the great breach became so large that the propriety of a storming party was discussed.
The lower part of the aperture was partly filled by the
debris that fell from above; the arch of the casemate was not only laid bare, but evidently shaken, and a gun in barbette, immediately over the breach, was tottering and ready to tumble below.
The breach by its side was also momently becoming wider, and just as
Gen. Benham was questioning whether a messenger should not be sent to demand even the surrender before risking so great a loss of human life as must have been incurred in an assault, the rebel flag on old
Pulaski was lowered half-way, and a final gun fired from a casemate in the
Fort.
As the flag was not completely hauled down, uncertainty was felt on our side for a moment, but all firing ordered at once to cease.
In a moment more the white flag was raised, and amid cheer after cheer, all along the batteries on
Tybee, down came the stars and bars.
It was the eleventh of April, a year to a day from that time when the Stars and Stripes were first dishonored by
Americans.
General Hunter was aboard the
McClellan, with his aids, watching the engagement.
Gens. Benham and
Gilmore were ashore, and rode rapidly out to Goat's Point.
It was some moments before we could believe that the
Fort had really struck its colors, and that what we had been hoping for and laboring for, and fighting for so long, was actually accomplished.
Those who had known of these endeavors from the start shook hands, and as
General Gilmore rode along the men cheered him lustily.
They knew how much of the credit of this result was due to him. Immediately upon arriving at Goat's Point,
Gen. Gilmore, with his Aids,
Capt. Adam Badeau and
Col. Rust, entered a boat and put off for the
Fort.
Their passage was rough; the way had never been travelled before by Union sailors since our arrival; the channel was unknown, and the skiff got aground.
The heavy sea struck her, and she nearly swamped, but the crew rowed hard, and the
Aid and the
Colonel bailed out the water with their hats, and, soaking with the salt tides of the
Savannah, the party landed on
Cockspur Island.
A long wooden causeway extends over the marsh perhaps a quarter of a mile, up to the
Fort.
Badeau was sent in advance, bearing a white flag, to meet the rebel officer who was approaching.
This proved to be
Capt. Sims, of the Georgia Volunteers, and lately editor of the Savannah
Republican.
He apologized for the delay, and said he had supposed that the Union party was to land at another wharf; he was taken up to
Gen. Gilmore, introduced, and then led the party back to the
Fort.
At the entrance stood
Colonel Olmstead, the commandant.
He showed the way to his own quarters, having previously requested that several National officers who were approaching, might, as a matter of courtesy, be desired to remain outside until the preliminaries were adjusted.
This was accorded him, and an interview of an hour took place, at which only himself and
General Gilmore were present.
The terms of the capitulation having been settled,
Gen. Gilmore was shown over the
Fort by the
Colonel, and then took his leave, accompanied by
Col. Rust.
Messengers from
Gen. Hunter had meantime arrived.
These, together with
Gen. Gilmore's Aid, made the rounds of the
Fort under the escort of
Col. Olmstead, who introduced us to his officers, and were the only persons present when the swords were delivered.
Major Halpine, as the representative of
General Hunter, received the weapons.
The ceremony was performed in the
Colonel's headquarters, all standing.
It was just at dark, and the candles gave only a half-light; the weapons were laid on a table, each officer advancing in turn, according to his rank, and mentioning his name and title;
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nearly every one added some remark; the
Colonel's was dignified: “I yield my sword, but I trust I have not disgraced it.”
Some of the others were not equally felicitous.
Major Halpine, in reply, spoke gracefully of the painfulness of the duty he had been called upon to perform — to receive the swords of men who had shown by their bravery that they deserved to wear them.
The scene was touching, for however unrighteous the cause in which these men had been engaged, they thought it was their country's, and they had risked their lives for it. The condition of the
Fort showed that they were.
brave; and, indeed, was the best justification of their defeat.
As soon as the surrender was complete,
Colonel Olmstead turned to his officers and began making some remarks to them, upon which his captors withdrew.
The American flag was then raised on the ramparts, and
Pulaski became again part of the possessions, as well as of the property, of the
Union.
The arms of the privates had been previously stacked on the parade, and the men marched to quarters.
Both officers and men were allowed to remain all night in their usual quarters.
The interior of the
Fort presented a sorry sight.
Blindages had been put up extending on all sides of the rampart, and a part rendered bomb-proof; but shot and shell had burst through many of them, had knocked in walls, had broken down stairways, entered casemates, upset guns, and piled up masses of rubbish and
debris all around.
Seven guns on the parapet were dismounted, nearly every traverse had been struck and partly torn to pieces; all the passage — ways were obstructed by piles of stones and fallen timber; the magazine had been struck, and part of its outer casing of brick torn away, while at the breach the havoc was, of course, greatest of all. The breach was quite practicable, and so acknowledged by the commandant; the ditch, sixty feet across, was more than half filled up by the fragments that had fallen, and half a dozen men abreast could have entered the aperture.
The
Colonel declared, however, that he should have held out until nightfall had the magazine not been struck.
This, of course, settled his fate, and rendered any prolonged resistance a useless risk of life.
Forty thousand pounds of powder, seven thousand shot and shell, and forty-seven guns, were captured.
The prisoners were three hundred and sixty in number, and belonged to the Georgia volunteers, the
Oglethorpe light infantry, and to a German regiment.
They seemed an intelligent set of men, and many of them declared themselves staunch secessionists.
They cheered their officers when mustered for the last time under arms.
The officers were various in character and apparently in position.
The
Colonel excited the sympathies of his captors by a bearing at once soldierly and subdued.
The officers invited the Unionists to their quarters, where several took supper, and some even slept with the rebels whom they had been fighting a few hours before.
There was no bitterness apparent on either side; no desire to introduce personal animosities.
The rebels had some three or four men badly wounded, but none killed.
One officer,
Adjutant Hopkins, was hurt by dust or cement falling in his eyes.
They represent that they knew of our proceedings at
Tybee, and thought it useless to attempt to interrupt them; they had not anticipated that their walls could be breached; and, indeed, as such an event in breaching, at the distance of one thousand six hundred yards, is unprecedented in war, this expectation is not surprising.
They assured us that most of our mortar-shells flew wide of the works, and that most of those which struck did little damage.
In proof, they showed places on the ramparts where these enormous missiles had exploded, and yet not forced their way further than the arch of the casemates.
In no instance had they sustained any material injury from one of these shells.
If several had chanced, however, to strike in the same spot; that is to say, if the range could have been got and then kept, a different story might have been told.
As it was, the universal report among officers and men was, that the
James projectiles did the effective breaching; that the accuracy of their firing was wonderful, and the force of the shock irresistible.
Frequently half a dozen would follow in succession, in the same place.
The projectiles were entirely new to the garrison; they called them cart-wheels.
The columbiads, however, undoubtedly weakened the walls, and made them more susceptible to the shock of other missiles.
The rebels say they sent off a messenger through the swamps to
Savannah, with news of the surrender, immediately after hauling down the flag.
They remained in the
Fort during the next day, when
Gens. Hunter,
Benham and
Gilmore visited it.
Colonel Terry, of the Seventh Connecticut, is now in command, having come over with his regiment on the night of the surrender.
He and his men well deserve the honor, for their services have been untiring and important throughout the entire investment, and during the actual bombardment.
On Sunday, the thirteenth, the prisoners were divided into two parties; the officers and about two thirds of the men were placed in the
Ben De Ford, the remainder on the
Honduras, and conveyed to
Bay Point.
Here they were transferred to the
Star of the South and the
McClellan, for transportation to Fort Columbus, New-York harbor.
As the
McClellan was leaving the wharf, a sad procession marched down, in dusty and shabby gray uniforms, unarmed, each man bearing his bundle.
Just so I had seen them come out of
Fort Pulaski, where they had flaunted their flag in our faces so long; but the Stars and Stripes were waving in their old place again, though over dilapidated walls, and those who fought against the nation had been made to feel that the nation had might as well as right on its side.
Still, when I saw the dingy crowd on the
McClellan sailing off into imprisonment, and silently waving their hats and garments to another
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tearful and silent throng on the
Star of the South, who quietly returned the cheerless salute, I could not but feel that the way of the rebel is hard.--
N. Y. Times.
Rebel account.
Corporal Law arrived in the
Fort, in company with the signal man, whom he went to pilot, at five o'clock Friday morning, the day of the surrender.
He remained inside the works during the whole of the bombardment on that day, and left as the flag was lowered, making his way to the
South Wharf as the enemy's steamer was approaching the north landing.
When the bombardment commenced on Thursday, none of the enemy's batteries on
Tybee were visible, except from the smoke which pointed out the different localities to our garrison.
The shot and shell from the
Fort soon removed all obstacles of trees and sand, when all were discernible.
They were four in number--two mortar, one rifle, and one
Parrott gun — the last mentioned being a short distance above the burnt chimneys opposite to
King's Landing.
They all bore chiefly on the south-east angle of the
Fort.
The firing of the enemy on Thursday was not so effective as to create an apprehension that the work would fall.
The enemy were obtaining the range of their guns for the operations of night and the day following.
Most of their shells fell outside the
Fort, tearing up the earth in every direction.
The yard of the V, or demiloon, on the west side, was ploughed up as if dug into pits, by the shell which went over the
Fort.
Still a large breach was made in the wall, and the rifled guns poured shot and shell through it, utterly demolishing the bomb-proof timbers and damaging the officers' quarters.
The north-east casemates were all in which the garrison could bunk with any security whatever, through Thursday night, though but little sleep was enjoyed, as the enemy threw twelve shells per hour into the
Fort until daylight.
These facts were obtained from the officers of the garrison.
Corporal Law witnessed the whole of Friday's fight for himself, mingling freely with the garrison throughout the terrible scene.
It is impossible to give his account on paper.
The firing from both sides was equally rapid and destructive, so far as could be ascertained.
On the part of the enemy, one mortar-battery was completely silenced, a portion of the rifle-battery, and seven out of the ten guns of the
Parrott battery dismounted.
One mortar had been planted on the north — west corner of Cockspur, on the night of Wednesday, but this was silenced early in the fight, and seven kegs of their powder captured.
At the close of the fight all the parapet-guns were dismounted except three--two ten-inch columbiads, known as “
Beauregard” and “
Jeff Davis,” but one of which bore on the
Island, and a rifle-cannon.
Every casemate-gun in the south-east section of the
Fort, from No.
Seven to No.
Thirteen, including all that could be brought to bear upon the enemy's batteries except one, were dismounted, and the casemate walls breached, in almost every instance, to the top of the arch — say between five and six feet in width.
The moat outside was so filled with brick and mortar that one could have passed over dry-shod.
The officers' quarters were torn to pieces, the bomb-proof timbers scattered in every direction over the yard, and the gates to the entrance knocked off. The parapet walls on the
Tybee side were all gone, in many places down to the level of the earth, on the casemates.
The protection to the magazine in the north-west angle of the
Fort had all been shot away, the entire corner of the magazine, next to the passage-way, was shot off, and the powder exposed, while three shot had actually penetrated the chamber; of this Corporal Law is positive, for he examined it for himself before leaving.
Such was the condition of affairs when
Col. Olmstead called a council of officers in a case-mate, and, without a dissenting voice, they all acquiesced in the necessity of a capitulation, in order to save the garrison from utter destruction by an explosion, which was momentarily threatened.
Accordingly, at two o'clock P. M., the men were called from the guns and the flag lowered.
Early in the day
Col. Olmstead had no doubt of his ability to silence every battery on the
Island, and to this end he determined, when night came and the enemy's fire was slackened, to change the position of all his heavy guns, so as to bring them to bear on the enemy.
As the day progressed, however, his situation became desperate, and he was forced to yield under the circumstances stated.
Corporal Law witnessed the whole fight of Friday, and says a braver and more determined garrison are not to be found in the annals of history.
Every man did his duty with alacrity, and there being few guns that bore on the enemy, there was a continued contest as to who should man them.
When volunteers were called for to perform any laborious duty, there was a rush of the men from every company in the
Fort.
All did their duty, and did it fearlessly, throughout the engagement, and to the very moment of the capitulation.
Among the last guns fired were those on the parapet, and the men stood there exposed to a storm of iron hail to the last.
All this, our informant says,
Col. Olmstead and his officers will verify when they have an opportunity of being heard.
Corporal Law saw the wounded.
A member of the
Wise Guards, had one leg shot off and the other badly crushed.
One
Oglethorpe lost an arm and had the other shattered, and shoulder badly damaged; thinks he could not survive.
Another
Oglethorpe lost a hand.
A member of another company, not recollected, lost a foot.
He intended getting a list of names and particulars to bring up at night, not anticipating so early a surrender.
Sergeant-Major Lewis told him none of the
Savannah boys were seriously hurt.
Col. Olmstead also told him he would send up a report at the close of the day's operations, but the enemy's movements toward the
Fort were so rapid, after the flag was lowered, he
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being under no obligations to remain, not being a member of the garrison, he had no time to wait for it, and then made his escape.
It may be considered strange that, under the circumstances, no more damage was sustained by the garrison.
It is a mystery, but not incredible, after the experience of
Moultrie and
Sumter.
--Savannah Republican, April 23.