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The actions with the forts
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A navy gun on land, 1863: this piece was placed on Morris island in the attempt to reduce the Charleston forts |
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The reduction and final capture of the Confederate strongholds that guarded the important ports of entry of the
Confederacy on the
Atlantic coast and the
Gulf were in every case a cooperation between the navy and the army, and to both belong the honor of the successful outcome, which, singly and alone, neither branch of the service could have accomplished.
The old brick and mortar fortress of
Pulaski guarded the entrance to the
Savannah River.
Late in 1861, almost entirely through the use of the navy, the
Federals had control of the
Atlantic coast, and in the vicinity of
Savannah their ships were patrolling the waters of
Ossabaw and
Wassaw sounds, and their gunboats had penetrated up the
Edisto River in the direction of the city.
But
Pulaski's frowning guns afforded shelter for any blockade-runners that might succeed in eluding the blockading fleet.
It was necessary to reduce this strong fortress before a stop could be put to the attempts of the venturesome runners.
General Q. A. Gillmore directed the placing of batteries of rifled guns and mortars upon Big Tybee Island, and by the end of February, 1862, other batteries were erected in the rear of the fort, completely enfilading it.
On the 10th of April, 1862, thirty-six heavy rifled cannon and mortars began the bombardment, and after two days of uninterrupted firing, although the
Fort was gallantly defended, it was so badly battered that it was forced to surrender.
But
Fort McAllister, at the mouth of the
Ogeechee, did not fall until
W. T. Sherman had arrived at the end of his march from
Atlanta and
General Hazen's troops carried the battery by assault.
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These three pictures speak eloquently of the ruin wrought by the combined efforts of the army and navy to gain possession of
Fort Pulaski.
At the left an 8-inch smooth-bore points upward as the
Confederates swung it for use as a mortar against the
Federal batteries.
Beside it lies one of the mortars, dismounted and rendered useless by the fire from the
Federal batteries, while in the lower picture the huge breaches made in the walls of the
Fort are vividly apparent.
It was no easy task to accomplish all this.
Without part of the land expedition; floundering through mud, they protected the troops from
Tattnall's flotilla while guns were dragged with difficulty over the marshy surface of
Jones Island and placed in position.
The doomed garrison refused to surrender on April 10, 1862, and for two days withstood a terrible bombardment from the thirty-six heavy-rifled cannon and mortars.
Only when the battered Fort became utterly untenable was it surrendered on April 12th to the besiegers that surrounded it, ready to open fire again.
Fort became utterly untenable was it surrendered on April 12th to the besiegers that surrounded it, ready to open fire again.
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Quite as remarkable were the continual and ineffectual attempts on the part of the
Federal forces to reduce the city of
Charleston.
To its wharves blockade-runners continually made their way up to the very last days of the war. Off its harbor was maintained the strongest fleet, in the point of efficiency, weight of metal, and actual fighting qualities, that existed in that day. Month after month,
Charleston was assailed both by water and land.
Under the direction of
General Gillmore and
General Terry, breaching batteries were erected in the marshes, and although most of the outlying earthworks and batteries were taken, many determined assaults were repulsed.
Fort Wagner, on
Morris Island, continued its brave and determined resistance until September 7, 1863, when it was evacuated just as a strong force of three thousand troops was ready to make the third assault.
Although reduced to nothing but a pile of brick dust and debris,
Sumter did not surrender, though day and night the fire of heavy guns from both the war-ships and the heavy artillery of the army was kept up.
Charleston's defense was something for her citizens to look back upon with pride.
It was neither the
Federal army nor navy that caused her downfall, but, as a contemporaneous writer has put it, “
General Sherman took the city by turning his back on it.”
The harbor of
Wilmington, North Carolina, had two entrances available for vessels of not more than twelve feet draft, and therefore two blockading squadrons were maintained.
Fort Caswell guarded the southern entrance to the
Cape Fear River, and
Fort Fisher the northern.
The Navy Department of the
Federal Government had been anxious from the opening of the war to reduce these defenses, but this could only be done by a combined army and navy attack, and up to the time of the assumption of command of the
Union armies by
Grant, it was not deemed expedient to spare the troops.
Admiral Farragut, on September 5, 1864, was appointed to the command of a naval force to cooperate with the land
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Heroic sacrifices at Charleston
It would have been almost sacrilege to retouch in any way the dim and faded photographs from which these pictures were made.
Taken by a Confederate photographer at
Charleston in the early part of the war, long lost to view, they preserve sights that inspired the men and women of the
South with an intensity of purpose rarely exampled in history.
In the upper picture is the famous floating battery built by subscription by the women of
Charleston.
Its guns were first fired in the attack on
Fort Sumter that began the war. From that time forth every nerve was being strained by the
Confederacy to put an ironclad flotilla in commission.
South Carolina was conspicuous in its efforts to this end.
Flag-Officer Duncan N. Ingraham superintended the navy-yard at
Charleston and under his direction the “Palmetto State” and the “
Chicora” were built.
The keel of the latter was laid behind the
Charleston post-office in March, 1862, and she was launched the following August. Five hundred tons of iron were required for her armor and the country was scoured by willing searchers for every scrap of metal that could be melted up. On January 31, 1863, the “
Chicora” and the “Palmetto State” suddenly came down from
Charleston and disabled both the “
Mercedita” and the “Keystone State,” receiving the former's surrender.
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The floating battery and the “Chicora” |
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forces for this purpose,
General Grant having signified his belief that the army could be ready by the 1st of October of that year.
Admiral Farragut's health not permitting his assumption of this duty, it was assigned to
Admiral Porter.
For the first attempt at the destruction of
Fort Fisher there was used the most gigantic torpedo ever employed in warfare.
This consisted of an old gunboat, the
Louisiana, changed to resemble a blockade-runner and filled with powder.
Much doubt as to the value of the experiment was entertained by experienced officers, but it was believed to be worth a trial.
On the evening of December 23, 1864, she was towed in almost to the beach, the rest of the fleet keeping well off the coast.
Arriving near the beach, she was cast off, and, under her own steam, ran up on the sand three hundred yards from the
Fort about 11:30 P. M. The slow fuse was lit, the crew deserted her, and at 1:40 A. M. she blew up. The explosion had not the slightest effect on the works.
It was a complete failure.
About 12:40 P. M. that day (the 24th) the largest fleet ever assembled under the flag of the
United States up to that time, began the naval bombardment.
Admiral Porter had under his command fifty-seven vessels, with a total of six hundred and twenty-seven guns.
The garrison had only a limited amount of ammunition, and its commander,
Colonel Lamb, gave orders that each gun should be fired only once every half-hour, except by special instructions, and unless the
Federals should attempt to run past the works, in which case each gun-commander was to use his piece to its full capacity.
This slow fire caused the admiral to believe that the works had been silenced, and he signaled to keep up only a moderate fire to hold down the activities of the garrison and as a notification to
General Butler that he could bring in the transports with the troops.
The landing and attack took place on Christmas Day.
The fire from the ships was slow and methodical, as at target practice.
Great holes were dug in the parapets by the gigantic
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In this picture of December, 1864, the
Federal vessels lie peaceful before the
Fort so impregnable to their attacks early the preceding year.
The shore appearing below was lined with
Georgia sharpshooters by
Captain George W. Anderson, Jr., commander of the
Fort when the monitor “
Montauk” and four gunboats advanced to the attack of Feb. 1, 1863.
The “
Montauk,” under
Commander John Lorimer Worden, hero of the original “Monitor,” was the first Federal ironclad to arrive in
Ossabaw Sound.
Early on January 27th, it furiously attacked the fort.
On this occasion the
Federal vessels did not attempt to cross the line of piles and torpedoes.
The Confederates were confident that in the second attack attempts would be made to land boat-parties to assault the works, and the sharpshooters were posted to prevent this.
Commander Worden and his consorts, however, contented themselves with engaging the
Fort with their heavy guns and mortars.
Although the
Federals kept up a terrible fire, it failed to do more damage to the
Fort than could be repaired at night.
The Confederate guns responded vigorously in kind, and the “
Montauk” was struck forty-six times.
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This vivid photograph, taken in
Mobile Bay by a war-time photographer from New Orleans, was presented by
Captain Drayton of the “
Hartford” to
T. W. Eastman, U. S. N., whose family has courteously allowed its reproduction here.
Never was exhibited a more superb morale than on the “
Hartford” as she steamed in line to the attack of
Fort Morgan at
Mobile Bay on the morning of August 5, 1864.
Every man was at his station thinking his own thoughts in the suspense of that moment.
On the quarterdeck stood
Captain Percival Drayton and his staff.
Near them was the
chief-quartermaster,
John H. Knowles, ready to hoist the signals that would convey
Farragut's orders to the fleet.
The admiral himself was in the port main shrouds twenty-five feet above the deck.
All was silence aboard till the “
Hartford” was in easy range of the fort.
Then the great broadsides of the old ship began to take their part in the awful cannonade.
During the early part of the action
Captain Drayton, fearing that some damage to the rigging might pitch
Farragut overboard, sent
Knowles on his famous mission.
“I went up,” said the old sailor, “with a piece of lead line and made it fast to one of the forward shrouds, and then took it around the admiral to the after shroud, making it fast there.
The admiral said, ‘Never mind, I'm all right,’ but I went ahead and obeyed orders.”
Later
Farragut, undoing the lashing with his own hands, climbed higher still.
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The “Hartford” just after the battle of Mobile Bay |
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Farragut at the pinnacle of his fame
Leaning on the cannon, Commander David Glasgow Farragut and Captain Percival Drayton, chief of staff, stand on the deck of the “Hartford,” after the victory in Mobile Bay, of August, 1864.
When Gustavus V. Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, proposed the capture of New Orleans from the southward he was regarded as utterly foolhardy.
All that was needed, however, to make Fox's plan successful was the man with spirit enough to undertake it and judgment sufficient to carry it out. Here on the deck of the fine new sloop-of-war that had been assigned to him as flagship, stands the man who had just accomplished a greater feat that made him a world figure as famous as Nelson.
The Confederacy had found its great general among its own people, but the great admiral of the war, although of Southern birth, had refused to fight against the flag for which, as a boy in the War of 1812, he had seen men die. Full of the fighting spirit of the old navy, he was able to achieve the first great victory that gave new hope to the Federal cause.
Percival Drayton was also a Southerner, a South Carolinian, whose brothers and uncles were fighting for the South. |
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Where the Confederates fought Farragut shot for shot: interior of Fort Morgan, Mobile Bay, in 1864
From these walls the gunners of Brigadier-General Richard L. Page, C. S. A., sighted their pieces and gave the Federal vessels shot for shot.
It was a fight at close range, since the obstructions in the channel compelled the fleet to pass close under the guns of the fort.
During the hour while the vessels were within range, the Fort fired 491 shots, about eight a minute.
When the fight was thickest the Confederate gunners fired even far more rapidly, enveloping the vessels, and especially the “Hartford” and the “Brooklyn,” in a veritable hail of missiles.
The Fort was an old five-sided brick works mounting its guns in three tiers.
It was built on the site of the little redoubt (Fort Bowyer) that had repelled the British fleet in 1814.
Within the Fort were mounted thirty-two smooth-bores and eight rifles.
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The entire front wall was reinforced by enormous piles of sand-bags to enable its four feet eight inches of solid brick to withstand the broadsides of the fleet.
Although the other fortifications at the entrance to Mobile Bay surrendered the day after the battle, it took more than Farragut's broadsides to reduce Fort Morgan.
A siege-train had to be brought from New Orleans and a land attack made by the troops under General Gordon Granger, August, 22, 1864.
Not till 3,000 missiles had been hurled into and around the Fort by the combined guns of the army and navy did the brave garrison of Fort Morgan surrender after a gallant defense of twelve hours. In the picture some of the damaging effects of the terrific gunnery of the fleet are evident in the sea wall. |
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shells, until the whole face of the works began to take on the irregularity of the neighboring sand-dunes.
The troops, about fifteen hundred men under command of
General Weitzel, advanced their skirmish lines to within about seventy-five yards of the fort, capturing a small outwork and over two hundred men. By a personal reconnaissance,
Weitzel ascertained that the two days terrible bombardment by the fleet and the previous explosion of the powder-ship had done no practical injury to the parapets and interior.
He therefore reported to
Butler and to
Admiral Porter that the works could not be taken by assault.
That evening,
General Butler notified
Admiral Porter that he was convinced that it was impossible to take the
Fort by assault as the naval fire had not damaged the works, and that he proposed to withdraw all his men and return to
Fortress Monroe, which he did on the 27th.
This ended the first combined attempt against
Fort Fisher.
Admiral Porter was much disappointed at
Butler's leaving him, and began to fear that the
Confederates would abandon
Fort Fisher and entrench themselves further up the river out of reach of his guns.
So he attempted to deceive his foe. “I thought it best,” he says, “under the circumstances, to let the enemy think we had abandoned the expedition entirely, and sent the fleet to a rendezvous off
Beaufort, one or two at a time, to look as if they were crippled.”
Evidently the
Confederates did not anticipate the early return of the fleet.
The supporting army was withdrawn to a point sixteen miles north of
Wilmington.
No lookout was kept up the coast, and, in consequence, the first tidings of the return were sent from
Fort Fisher itself, when, on the evening of the 12th of January, 1865, its few defenders saw from the ramparts the Federal fleet returning.
At that time there were but eight hundred men in the garrison, and about one hundred of them were unfit for duty.
The principal, and almost the only, organization represented was the Thirty-sixth North Carolina regiment.
Sunrise revealed
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The battered walls of
Fort Morgan, in 1864, tell of a terrific smashing by the
Federal navy.
But the gallant Confederates returned the blows with amazing courage and skill; the rapidity and accuracy of their fire was rarely equalled in the war. In the terrible conflict the “
Hartford” was struck twenty times, the “
Brooklyn” thirty, the “
Octorora” seventeen, the “
Metacomet” eleven, the “Lackawanna” five, the “
Ossipee” four, the “
Monongahela” five, the “
Kennebec” two, and the “
Galena” seven.
Of the monitors the “
Chickasaw” was struck three times, the “
Manhattan” nine, and the “Winnebago” nineteen.
The total loss in the Federal fleet was 52 killed and 170 wounded, while on the Confederate gunboats 12 were killed and 20 wounded. The night after the battle the “
Metacomet” was turned into a hospital-ship and the wounded of both sides were taken to
Pensacola.
The pilot of the captured “
Tennessee” guided the
Federal ship through the torpedoes, and as she was leaving
Pensacola on her return trip
Midshipman Carter of the “
Tennessee,” who also was on the “
Metacomet,” called out from the wharf: “Don't attempt to fire no. 2 gun (of the”
Tennessee “), as there is a shell jammed in the bore, and the gun will burst and kill some one.”
All felt there had been enough bloodshed.
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to their astonished gaze a new and what appeared to them a more tremendous aggregation of fighting ships than before, with transports carrying troops.
General Alfred H. Terry, with a force of about eight thousand men, had been assigned, this time, to the duty of cooperating with the fleet for the reduction of
Fort Fisher.
The fleet consisted of forty-nine vessels of the heaviest class, with six hundred and twenty-seven guns.
On the morning of the 13th, the fleet stood close in and engaged the batteries, whose guns replied under the same instructions as during the first bombardment: that is, to husband their ammunition by firing very slowly, except when necessary to concentrate on a special vessel.
During the day and night of the 13th, about seven hundred men arrived as reenforcements, making in all about fifteen hundred in the garrison.
The bombardment lasted during the 13th and 14th without abatement.
The Federal troops landed on the 13th at a point about four miles north of the fort, and nine days supplies were sent ashore with them.
The advance on the forts was commenced immediately.
When the sun rose on the 15th of December, the streams of shell from the vessels were redoubled, and before noon but one good gun was left on the land face of the fort.
By that time the casualties had increased so that the defense had less than twelve hundred men to hold the parapets.
Soon after noon a small reenforcement of about three hundred and fifty men, sent by
Bragg, succeeded in reaching the works.
The defenders could see the assaulting columns getting ready to deliver their attack.
A column of sailors and marines was making its way toward the sea face, to cooperate with the infantry on the land side.
In the mean time, the assault on the land face by the infantry was pushed strongly over the works into the interior, taking one section after another against a most obstinate defense.
Colonel Lamb was badly wounded, as was
General Whiting, the district commander, who was present but had
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The Confederate ironclad ram “Tennessee”
Mobile Bay, on the morning of August 5, 1864, was the arena of more conspicuous heroism than marked any naval battle-ground of the entire war. Among all the daring deeds of that day stands out superlatively the gallant manner in which
Admiral Franklin Buchanan, C. S. N., fought his vessel, the “
Tennessee.”
“You shall not have it to say when you leave this vessel that you were not near enough to the enemy, for I will meet them, and then you can fight them alongside of their own ships; and if I fall, lay me on one side and go on with the fight.”
Thus
Buchanan addressed his men, and then, taking his station in the pilot-house, he took his vessel into action.
The Federal fleet carried more power for destruction than the combined
English,
French, and Spanish fleets at
Trafalgar, and yet
Buchanan made good his boast that he would fight alongside.
No sooner had
Farragut crossed the torpedoes than
Buchanan matched that deed, running through the entire line of Federal vessels, braving their broadsides, and coming to close quarters with most of them.
Then the “
Tennessee” ran under the guns of
Fort Morgan for a breathing space.
In half an hour she was steaming up the bay to fight the entire squadron single-handed.
Such boldness was scarce believable, for
Buchanan had now not alone wooden ships to contend with, as when in the “
Merrimac” he had dismayed the
Federals in
Hampton Roads. Three powerful monitors were to oppose him at point-blank range.
For nearly an hour the gunners in the “
Tennessee” fought, breathing powder-smoke amid an atmosphere superheated to 120 degrees.
Buchanan was serving a gun himself when he was wounded and carried to the surgeon's table below.
Captain Johnston fought on for another twenty minutes, and then the “
Tennessee,” with her rudder and engines useless and unable to fire a gun, was surrendered, after a reluctant consent had been wrung from
Buchanan, as he lay on the operating table.
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The bravest of the brave — the Confederate ironclad ram “Tennessee” |
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The bravest of the brave — the Confederate ironclad ram “Tennessee” |
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waived his rank and was assisting the
Confederate commander in keeping the troops in hand.
Owing to the strong construction of the interior of the fort, and its division by the heavy traverses, the
Federals were compelled to take the traverses one at a time, driving the
Confederates from gun-chamber to gun-chamber.
The final stand was made by part of the , garrison at Battery Buchanan, near the end of the point.
But this was also taken.
None of the guns of the main Fort was spiked, the men fighting the serviceable ones until the last extremity, but those of Battery Buchanan were spiked by the few occupants, who had left the work before the surrender of
Fort Fisher, taking with them all the boats that might have served for the escape of a large part of the remaining garrison.
Shortly after ten o'clock in the evening of January 15, 1865, resistance ceased in
Fort Fisher, and the place was surrendered.
The defenses of the city of
Mobile had been pronounced by
General Joseph E. Johnston the strongest in the
Confederacy.
To guard the city itself there were three heavy lines, the outer consisting of fifteen redoubts, the inner of sixteen enclosed forts, and the middle one of nineteen bastioned forts and eight redoubts.
The harbor forts were designed to sustain attacks on both the land and water fronts.
On the eastern side lay
Fort Morgan, at
Mobile Point, and on the western side
Fort Gaines, on Dauphine Island; while Fort Powell guarded the bay entrance of Grant Pass, that admitted small boats north of Dauphine Island.
Just below the city were ten batteries, placed to command the channel.
Torpedoes and rows of piles blocked the channels, with here and there an opening through which a vessel might crawl.
Fort Morgan and
Fort Gaines had been
United States fortifications, but were taken by the
Confederates at the beginning of the war.
Morgan had sixty guns, with a water battery in front, and
Gaines was armed with thirty guns.
Besides these land defenses, the
Confederates had the ram
Tennessee, probably the most powerful vessel ever constructed for their
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The “Monongahela” --a fearless wooden ship
To this “heart of oak” belongs the distinction of being the first vessel to ram the huge Confederate ironclad “Tennessee.”
After Farragut, crying, “Damn the torpedoes!”
had astounded both the Confederates and his own fleet by running the “Hartford” right through the line of submarine volcanoes, the “Tennessee” moved down with the intention of ramming the wooden ships in turn.
She missed the “Hartford” and then the “Richmond,” which escaped across the line of torpedoes like the flagship.
In attempting to ram the “Lackawanna,” the Confederate ironclad swung abeam of the channel, exposing her side full and fair to the “Monongahela,” which had been fitted with an artificial iron prow.
Commander Strong endeavored to seize the opportunity to ram; but, owing to the fact that the “Kennebec” was lashed to her side, the “Monongahela” could not attain full speed, and only a glancing blow was struck.
Later, when the “Tennessee” came up single-handed to attack the fleet above the forts, Farragut ordered the wooden vessels to try the effect of ramming the ironclad.
Again the “Monongahela” was the first to advance to the attack and succeeded in striking the “Tennessee” fair amidships.
So violent was the shock that many of the men on both vessels were knocked down.
The blow, which would have sunk any vessel in the Federal fleet, did no more harm to the “Tennessee” than it did to the “Monongahela.”
Her iron prow was wrenched off and the butt-ends of her bow planks were shattered, while only a small leak was started in the “Tennessee.”
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Government, and a number of well-armed wooden vessels.
They added immensely to the defensive strength of the city.
General Gordon Granger landed on Dauphine Island, on the 3d of August, 1864, with fifteen hundred men and moved up to
Fort Gaines.
Entrenchments were thrown up before the works on the 4th, and arrangements made to cooperate with
Farragut's fleet, which was to enter the harbor the next morning, in order to close the port of
Mobile and destroy the great ram
Tennessee. At six o'clock in the morning,
Farragut's powerful fleet of eighteen vessels entered the main channel.
The Federal ships were all thoroughbred war vessels; not a single one but what was built for the service.
They swept on to the attack with four monitors in the starboard column, close inshore.
As they passed the
Fort and water batteries, where the
Brooklyn and
Richmond came very nearly going aground, they completely smothered the
Confederate fire.
The
Tecumseh, under the command of
Captain T. A. M. Craven, was sunk by a torpedo as the fleet advanced.
Admiral Farragut, unable to see through the smoke, went up the mainmast almost as high as the maintop.
While here, a quartermaster fastened a rope around him to keep him from falling.
But if deeds of bravery are to be mentioned in telling of
Mobile Bay, much credit must be given to the small Confederate gunboats,
Morgan,
Gaines, and
Selma, that kept up a raking fire which caused great havoc among the advancing vessels.
To the great ram
Tennessee and the magnificent fight that she fought, honor is due also.
Her engines were hastily constructed, and of insufficient strength.
She charged through the whole line; the
Hartford dodged her, although it had been the desire of brave old
Admiral Buchanan's heart to sink the flagship.
The
Brooklyn had a narrow escape, and the
Monongahela, under
Commander James H. Strong, attempted to ram the
Tennessee, and drove, bows on, against her side; the blow hardly changed the great ram's direction.
The
Ossipee attempted to follow the
Monongahela's lead, but the
Tennessee
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Leaders on sea and land — Farragut and Granger after the battle of Mobile Bay
This splendid picture shows the calm and finely-molded features of the great admiral just after the accomplishment of a feat which save in bravery o'er-topped his great achievement of the passage of the forts below New Orleans.
There Farragut had done what was pronounced impossible, but at Mobile he had fought his way through dangers ten times more formidable.
Here, with the modesty which ever characterized him, he sits within the captured Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island, discussing with General Gordon Granger plans for the combined attack by which Fort Morgan was taken on August 22, 1864.
It was to Granger that Mobile finally surrendered. |
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passed between them, and made for the
Oneida, which was not under steerageway.
It was at this exciting moment that the monitors drew up, and the
Winnebago, forging ahead, took her position between the ram and her seemingly helpless prey.
The Federal vessels had been hampered, in a measure, by being lashed side by side in couples, in the way that
Farragut had run the batteries at
Port Hudson, but now having passed the forts they began to cast off their lashings.
Enabled, in the broader water, to maneuver and use their broadsides, they drove the little Confederate fleet before them, the
Selma surrendering to the
Metacomet, the
Gaines being disabled and soon in flames.
The
Morgan sought the protection of
Fort Morgan, and during the night steamed ahead to the inner harbor and anchored under the batteries protecting the city of
Mobile.
The Federal vessels, being now out of range of the forts, dropped anchor and their crews were sent to breakfast.
It was a meal that was never finished.
Admiral Buchanan, who had passed through the whole Union line, stopped under the protecting guns of
Fort Morgan and looked back up the bay. Turning to
Commander Johnston, the brave old admiral, who had taught many of the commanders of the ships opposed to him their lessons in naval tactics, said, “Follow them up,
Johnston; we can't let them off that way.”
On came the
Tennessee, one vessel against the entire Federal fleet!
Signals flew from the flagship; the monitors were given orders to come into close action, and the
Monongahela, Lackawanna, and
Ossipee, which had false iron prows, were ordered to prepare to ram. The
Tennessee was as unwieldy as a raft of logs; she made no attempt to dodge the blows of her more agile antagonists.
The
Monongahela struck her square amidships, with the only result that she carried away her own bow, and the
Lackawanna, striking the
Tennessee on the other side, suffered likewise.
The Confederate ram was uninjured.
The
Hartford came bearing down upon her now; the ships met almost bows
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In the top picture appear six of the gun positions within
Fort Fisher, from which the
Confederates so long defied the blockading fleet covering the approach and departure of blockade-runners to and from
Wilmington, N. C. Only after two powerful expeditions had been sent against it did the
Federals finally gain possession of this well-constructed work.
In the centre is seen a portion of the “
Mound,” an artificial eminence used as a lookout.
It was on this that the light for the guidance of blockade-runners was established early in the war. The Confederates had destroyed all other aids to navigation along the coast, but it was of the utmost importance that vessels with cargoes for
Wilmington should be able to make port and discharge their precious “ballast” in the form of munitions of war. In the view of the bomb-proof at the bottom of the page is evident the pains that have been taken to make the works impregnable.
At the point where the brick chimney rises, the cooking for a section of the garrison was done in safety.
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The “mound” at Fort Fisher, where blockade-runners were signaled |
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The well-shored bomb-proof |
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on, but the
Hartford's anchor acted as a fender, and with their port sides touching, the two vessels scraped by each other.
The solid 9-inch shot from the
Federal flagship bounded off the
Tennessee's sloping sides; she attempted to fire her broadside battery in turn, but her primers failed, and only one shot pierced the
Hartford's side, exploding on the berth-deck, wounding an officer and killing several men.
In attempting to make a quick turn, with the object of again ramming, the
Hartford came into collision with the
Lackawanna; it was a narrow escape, for almost under the spot where
Farragut was standing, the flagship was cut down within two feet of the water-line.
But now the monitors came up. From this minute on to the time that the
Tennessee hauled down her flag, she never fired a shot and was literally hammered into submission.
Even after the flag was lowered, the
Ossipee, that had started another ramming charge and could not stop in time, struck her a slight blow.
At the same moment the commanders of the two vessels recognized each other and passed a friendly hail.
For over an hour the one-sided fight had been maintained.
The
Tennessee had lost two killed and nine wounded, and the Union fleet, in passing the forts and in the subsequent actions with the gunboats and the ram, had fifty-two killed and one hundred and seventy wounded. There were ninety-three lost by the sinking of the
Tecumseh.
Fort Powell had been evacuated on the 5th, and
Fort Gaines did not long survive the catastrophe to
Buchanan's fleet.
The siege was pressed, and the
Confederates, appreciating that resistance was useless, asked for a truce to arrange terms of surrender.
The arrangements were made on the 7th, and the surrender took place on the 8th.
The next day,
General Granger moved his command, reenforced by three new regiments, across the bay, landing at
Navy Cove, four miles from
Fort Morgan, on the bay side of
Mobile Point.
Each succeeding night slight advances were
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The flagship “Malvern”
In this vivid portrait group of
Admiral Porter and his staff, taken in December, 1864, appear the men selected by him to aid in accomplishing the fall of
Fort Fisher and the conclusion of the navy's most important remaining tasks in the war. At the extreme left stands the young and indomitable
Lieutenant W. B. Cushing, fresh from his famous exploit of blowing up the Confederate ram “
Albemarle” ; fifth from the left, with his arms folded, is
Lieutenant-Commander K. R. Breese, another young officer scarcely less daring than
Cushing and now
Porter's flect-captain.
Lieutenant-Commander Henry A. Adams, Jr., stands on
Porter's right.
A number of volunteer officers are in the group.
Porter was ever quick to recognize the bravery of the volunteers and their value to the service.
From the decks of the “
Malvern” (shown below) were directed the final operations at sea of the North Atlantic squadron in the war.
Fort Fisher by 1864 had become the most formidable line of works in the
Confederacy, and it was evident to the navy that this position at the mouth of the
Cape Fear River, North Carolina, would have to be reduced if blockade-running into
Wilmington was to be broken up. The first attack on
Fort Fisher, December 24-25, 1864, was unsuccessful, owing to an unfortunate division in military authority in which
General Benjamin F. Butler played an overweening part.
After the second attack, January 13-15th,
Admiral Porter, from the deck of the “
Malvern,” witnessed the gallant onslaught of
General Terry's troops upon the land side of the fortifications, while 1,600 of his own sailors and 400 marines with pistol and cutlass tried to board the sea face.
Amid the cheers of both army and navy, the news of the surrender of the garrison was received very soon afterward.
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Picked men in the navy — Porter and his staff, December, 1864 |
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made and entrenchments dug, carrying the advance closer to the fort.
A siege-train arrived, and by the 21st, twenty-five siege-and naval-guns and sixteen mortars were emplaced under the severe fire from the fort.
The bombardment by the batteries, both ashore and afloat, began at daylight on the 22d and continued all that day and during the following night.
All the guns of the
Fort except two were disabled, and the walls breached in several places.
By morning it was evident to
General Page that a further resistance was useless.
At 6 A. M. on the 23d, the garrison ran up a white flag.
The entire bay was now in the hands of the
Federals, but the city of
Mobile had not yet fallen.
It was supposed by some that the city could be taken at pleasure, but the opportunity of immediate occupation slipped by, and
General Dabney H. Maury collected a sufficient force of Confederate troops in the fortifications around the city to require the operations of a regular siege.
Nothing was done until
General Grant, on the 19th of January, 1865, ordered
General Canby to move against
Selma or
Montgomery, in order to destroy the railroads and prevent the
Confederates from bringing the remains of
Hood's army against
Sherman, who was about to begin his march through the Carolinas.
The general-in-chief suggested that
Mobile Bay would be the best point to move from if the city could be captured without too much delay, and
General Canby determined to make the attempt.
He was at New Orleans, and the forces that had operated against the forts around lower
Mobile Bay had been detached from his command.
He decided to use these in an attack from the east, on account of the strength of the lines encircling the city on the west.
Accordingly, he moved about thirty-two thousand men against
Spanish Fort, on the bay shore at the mouth of the
Apalachee River, seven miles due east of the city.
The movement began on the 17th of March, and by the 8th of April the
Federals had ninety guns in position and
Spanish Fort closely invested, aided by as many of the
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259]
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The navy lost lieutenant Samuel W. Preston
This brave and promising young officer was an ardent advocate of the effectiveness of land detachments of sailors and marines against forts.
At Fort Fisher came the coveted opportunity and Preston paid for his belief in it with his life.
The heavy loss on the beach cast a gloom over the navy despite the success of the assaulting column of soldiers under General Terry.
Ensign (now Rear-Admiral) Robley D. Evans was one of those severely wounded.
The 200-pounder Parrott gun above was the forward pivot-gun of the “Wabash” and did as much damage in the bombardments of Fort Fisher as any other single gun in the fleet.
The gun-crew that served it was composed of picked men and every effective shot aroused hearty cheers. |
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gunboats under
Admiral Thatcher as could get up within range.
On the evening of the 8th, the
Federal troops got a foothold in the works, and that night the garrison retreated.
Fort Blakely, north of
Spanish Fort on the
Apalachee, and also blocking one of the passes into the city by water from the head of the bay, was invested by a column of thirteen thousand men from
Pensacola, under
General Frederick Steele.
The investment began on April 2d, and the
Fort was carried by a general assault in which thirty-four hundred prisoners were taken, on the 9th. Fort Tracy and Fort Huger, the two remaining works guarding the east of the city, were evacuated on the night of the 10th.
The way was thus opened for the fleet, and after clearing the channels of torpedoes, with which the bay was filled, and which caused in the end the destruction of two ironclads, one tin-clad, a wooden gunboat, and several tugs, with a loss of over fifty men, the fleet moved up to the city, and
General Granger was sent to take possession.
On the afternoon and night of April 11th he moved with two divisions of his corps to Starke's Landing where the forces embarked the next morning for
Catfish Point, five miles below
Mobile.
The city was finally in Federal hands by noon of the 12th.
General Maury evacuated the lines and retreated northward.
As soon as all concerned learned that
Lee and
Johnston had surrendered, the Confederate forces throughout
Alabama,
Mississippi, and
eastern Louisiana gave up their arms on May 4th.
At the same time
Commodore Farrand agreed to surrender his fleet to
Admiral Thatcher, and the terms were carried out on the 10th, when the vessels were turned over to
Fleet-Captain Simpson at Nanna Hubba Bluff on the
Tombigbee River,
Alabama.
Captain Simpson received four vessels, one hundred and twelve officers and three hundred and thirty men. The surrender of the Trans-Mississippi army and navy took place on the 26th of May, the last ships of the Confederate Navy being turned over to
Admirals Thatcher and
Lee of the
West Gulf and
Mississippi squadrons.
