[473] of the brigade of Brigadier-General W. H. F. Walker forthwith for duty in Christ Church Parish. I have the honor to be, General, very respectfully, your obedt. servt.,Clifton H. Smith, A. A. G.
Report of the part taken by Fort Moultrie in the action of the 7th of April.
Headquarters, Fort Moultrie, S. C., April 13th, 1863.Sir,—I have the honor to submit the following statement of the part taken by this fort in the action with the ironclad fleet of the Abolitionists on the 7th of this month. On the 5th the attacking fleet, consisting of eight turreted gunboats and the steam-frigate Ironsides, crossed the bar and took a position about three miles and a half or four miles from this fort. On the 7th it advanced in the direction of the harbor, one of the turreted boats some distance in advance. As soon as the leading boat came within range I reported the fact to the Brigadier-General commanding, and received orders from him to commence the action. Thinking it was the object of the enemy to run by Fort Sumter, I permitted the firing to be rapid at the commencement, using every precaution, however, to encourage deliberation in aiming. The boats engaged were at all times, during the action, within range of the guns of this fort. About threequarters of an hour after the first gun was fired the frigate Ironsides steamed up to within sixteen hundred yards and took a position apparently with a view of taking a prominent part in the action. All the guns that could be brought to bear were trailed upon her and fired, and she in a few minutes afterwards moved out of range. The fire was generally directed upon the boat in advance, and, I think, with some effect. Shots were seen to strike frequently, many of them breaking to pieces. The guns engaged were manned by Companies A, E, F, and G, 1st South Carolina Infantry, commanded respectively by Captains T. A. Huguenin and R. Press Smith, First-Lieutenant Erwin, and Captain B. S. Burnett. The mortars, by Companies F and K, Captain C. H. Rivers, were fired with creditable accuracy. Officers and men performed their duties with spirit and celerity. During the action the flag-staff was cut down by a shot from the enemy, which, in falling, struck Private Lusby, Company F, 1st South Carolina Infantry, causing his death in a few minutes. This was the only casualty of any importance. One gunner, Private Harrison, Company G, lost a finger by some inadvertence in running a gun into battery, but returned to his post after getting his wound dressed. When the flag was struck down Captain W. H. Wigg, A. C. S., promptly placed the regimental flag in a conspicuous place upon a traverse. Captain W. H. Wardlaw, A. Q. M., and Lieutenant and Adjutant Mitchell King and First-Lieutenant D. G. Calhoun were likewise prompt in placing the battle and garrison flags in conspicuous positions. Major T. M. Baker, 1st South Carolina Infantry, was wherever his services would be most useful. The ordnance officer, Second-Lieutenant Thomas Williams, was at his post at the magazine. Much credit is due to him for the good condition of the gun-carriages and the ordnance stores. I have already submitted a report of
First-Lieutenant W. E. Hane, Adjutant of forces on Sullivan's Island:
This text is part of:
1883. Harper. New York.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.