Comte de Paris, History of the Civil War in America. Vol. 3.
Henry Coppee , LL.D., Ed.

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[146] bay of Charleston would have rendered the greatest possible service to the cause of the South. An effort was made to make neutral powers believe that the fleet charged with guarding this bay had been destroyed or dispersed. To effect this the positive successes achieved by Commodore Ingraham were exaggerated, and some consular agents on board of one of the small steamers which had appeared in the waters of Moultrie certified that after the conflict they had tried in vain to discover the whereabouts of the Federal fleet. It is probable that they looked for it among the narrow northern passes, whereas it had rendezvoused at the entrance of the southern pass for the purpose of giving chase to the iron-clads; which did not prevent the blockade from being effective. Perhaps their accommodating vision had been obscured by the fog. However that may be, they took good care not to go out into the offing to verify the fact to which they pretended to testify, and their evidence, formally contradicted by that of all the Federal officers, was not taken into consideration by the neutral powers. No merchant-vessel was imprudent enough to venture in the midst of the Union fleet on the strength of the proclamation of the Confederate authorities.

Just as the blockading squadron was resuming its positions DuPont learned that on the previous day it had experienced another check not far from the bay of Charleston. The group of islands extending south of this bay, upon which the Federals had long since obtained a footing, is bounded by the estuary of Stono River. Some Union vessels occupied the entrance of this arm of the sea, deep but tortuous, and sometimes ascended it for a considerable distance in search of blockade-runners, who, it was said, could communicate with Charleston by that way without passing through the entrance guarded by DuPont. The Confederates determined to lay an ambuscade for them, and erected some batteries along both banks of the Stono, which they fortified, taking care to mask their guns. On the 30th of January, the Union steamer Isaac Smith having penetrated into the channel, they allowed her to pass without revealing their presence; then, when the vessel had proceeded as far up as Legareville, she was attacked by the cross-fire of these batteries, which riddled her with shot and soon obliged her to haul down her flag. Another