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evening of the 11th of February, the Shenandoah, Juniata, Canandaigua, Georgia, Pawnee, Sonoma, Ottawa, Winona, Wando, and Iris to that point.
A large number of army transports had arrived also, with troops under the command of General Potter.
A preliminary to landing was to find a favorable depth of water and hard ground.
It was only on the evening of the 17th that a satisfactory landing-place was found, and 750 men were disembarked under cover of howitzers in launches; the remainder of the force landed the following day, and took up its line of march for Charleston.
As on the morning of the 18th that city was found evacuated, it does not seem necessary to note further than the return of the naval vessels and transports to Charleston.
Commander Belknap, in the monitor Canonicus, lying near Moultrie, reported heavy fires in Charleston and on James Island at 1 A. M. (18th), and heavy explosions were heard.
At daylight haze and smoke shut out the view.
At 8 A. M. he threw two heavy shells into Moultrie, and received no reply; the Confederate flag was, however, flying over it and Castle Pinckney, and the city of Charleston also, but no movement was visible.
At this time a magazine blew up in Battery Bee.
The forts had been evacuated the previous night, and an army boat from Morris Island hoisted the flag over Moultrie.
About 9 A. M. the Canonicus sent a boat and took possession of a small steamboat, a blockade-runner, under English colors, that had been on shore for several days near Fort Moultrie.
The admiral reports that upon the evacuation of Charleston, he found the ram Columbia, which had been ready for service on January 12th, and grounding coming out of dock, had been seriously strained through lying on uneven bottom.
Her length was 209 feet; extreme beam, 49 feet, with a
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