"So Here is a Nice Mess:" The Navy Shells Wagner and Sumter from Land and Sea at Charleston



This watercolor, titled "View of Charleston Harbor and its Defenses," shows the Navy and Army siege lines
on Morris Island.  The Navy Battery is on the left and the ironclads can be seen on the far right.

Having failed to take Fort Wagner by direct assault, Brigadier General Quincy Gilmore elected to start a formal siege operation against Confederate defenses. His plan was to blast the Confederate out of their positions in a similar manner to siege operations conducted against Vicksburg and Port Hudson. He also expanded the target list to include Fort Sumter. The problem Gilmore faced was the same problem faced by Union ground forces out West: a lack of heavy guns.  Like the sieges of Port Hudson and Vicksburg, the Navy came to the Army's aid.

Rear Admiral John Dahlgren furnished the necessary resources. He provided two English-made 70-pounder Whitworth Rifles (captured from a blockade runner), two 200-pounder Parrott Rifles, and five 100-pounder Parrott Rifles. In addition, sailors and soldiers dragged ten mortars into position (an excellent discussion on the Naval battery's particular guns and the batteries can be found at Craig Swain's "Marker Hunter" blog).

Navy gun crews with the Whitworth Rifles

Dahlgren assigned Commander Foxhall Parker, Jr. to oversee the newly designated "Naval Battery" and "Naval Brigade." Parker served as Dahlgren's adjutant for the squadron aboard USS Wabash and gave the commander leeway in finding the necessary sailors and marines to man and protect the guns. In a major concession to Army-Navy cooperation, naval units on shore fell under Gilmore's command.

This is not to say Dahlgren and his ships would stand idly by. The admiral assigned two monitors, Passaic and Patapsco, to take aim at Fort Sumter from 2,000 yards out. Four other Union monitors (Weehawken, Catskill, Montauk, and Nahant) took aim at Fort Wagner, with New Ironsides and several wooden gunboats in reserve.

Harper's Weekly's Theodore Davis' interpretation of
the Navy Battery firing at Fort Sumter. 

The bombardment from land and sea on Forts Wagner and Sumter began on August 17th and last through the 24th. Dahlgren and Gilmore were cordial during the first four days of the bombardment. Things went a little sour on the 21st when Gilmore asked the monitors to suppress Wagner's sharpshooters.  Dahglren frequently stated to Gilmore that he could have the monitors at any time.  In this case, however, Dahlgren explained the finer points of tides and currents to the general and concluded that his ships could not simply charge in whenever needed.

Dahlgren's sketch of the position of his ironclads during the August
17th bombardment of Fort Wagner and Battery Gregg.

Surprisingly, Gilmore was not offended.  He changed his tune when he asked Dahlgren to leave Wagner alone, and go all in with all his ironclads at Fort Sumter at close range. Once again, Dahlgren hesitated and explained the difficulties of attacking Sumter, namely the shallow waters around the fort. He finally decided on releasing two monitors, Passasic and Weehawken, to assault Sumter at close range. Both monitors ran aground during their attack.

But, Gilmore would change his mind several times about where he wanted the Navy's resources. Though Army-Navy cooperation had improved since Du Pont left, Dahlgren expressed major frustrations with his Army counterpart. It seemed that every time Dahlgren prepared to send his monitors at Sumter, Confederate sharpshooters from Fort Wagner would take aim at Gilmore's sappers.  Angered, Gilmore would demand the monitors to return. One telegram provided proof of Dahlgren's frustration. Gilmore signaled Dahlgren during the operation to "Send [the monitors] back, they are inspecting us with their spyglasses."

The end result of the seven day bombardment looked impressive. Several sections of the brick and mortar of Fort Sumter were smashed. Yet Sumter and Wagner remained in control of their respective garrisons. Dahlgren recalled several monitors for repairs caused by Confederate guns. The Catskill in particular took several critical hits. Wagner's guns struck Catskill seven times near the pilot house, which resulted in her commanding officer Commander George Rogers' death. In his final report on the operation to Secretary Welles, Dahlgren believed that he did not have enough ironclads to attack Sumter, suppress Wagner's guns, and perform other duties in Georgia. Thus, the operation ended in failure.

The Naval Battery recorded mixed results as well. Parker reported that his four gun battery fired 703 Parrott shells, 373 of which struck Sumter.  Over two hounded solid shots came from the Whitworth rifles. More shots would have come from the Whitworths if it wasn't for one that exploded, killing four sailors. A shell exploded after it became jammed half into the barrel. Sailors attempted to ram the shot further into the gun.

When Dahlgren heard that Passaic ran aground, he wrote in his diary, "So here is a nice mess."  It should have been his final conclusion for this particular operation.

Vicksburg Campaign-The Navy Shells Port Hudson From the River and Land

Farragut's squadron attempting to the run the guns at
Port Hudson and the destruction of USS Mississippi.

As we approach the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg and the vast public interest in it, let us not forget the importance of Vicksburg.  Listen to the words of a Confederate Army engineer stationed in Vicksburg, Mississippi: "I am almost sorry to hear of Lee's progress Northward; for it looks as if the importance of Vicksburg were not understood.  What is Philadelphia to us if the Mississippi be lost?" 

Union  leaders in the West understood the importance of Vicksburg and spent considerable resources to take the town.  The "siege" of Vicksburg formally began on 18 May 1862 when Mayor L. Lindsay rejected the U.S. Navy's demand to surrender. Taking Vicksburg turned out to be more than just a simple assault.  It involved a complex process of controlling not only the Mississippi River, but its secondary rivers and nearby towns that guarded the river approaches. One of these towns near Vicksburg was Port Hudson, Louisiana.  The river town is strategically positioned on the Mississippi near the Red River.  Confederate forces used the Red River to bring supplies to Vicksburg from the west.  Thus, any encirclement of Vicksburg by Union ground forces was pointless unless Port Hudson was subdued.

The first major move on Port Hudson was to suppose to be a joint Army-Navy effort between Admiral David Farragut and Major General Nathaniel Banks.  However, Farragut grew tired of Banks' sluggish movements and delays. Since he took New Orleans with no ground forces, Farragut somewhat arrogantly believed he could push past Port Hudson and seize control of the Red River-Mississippi River junction with just his ships. 

Gunners from USS Richmond
prepare to fire the ship's forward
Parrott Rifle at Port Hudson

With USS Hartford in the lead, Farragut's seven ship squadron steamed up river in pairs with USS Mississippi bringing up the van of the squadron alone. The operation did not go well as all the seven ships ran aground as they attempted to hug the west bank of the river.  Hartford and Albatross got free and under the cover morning fog successfully passed the guns.  The other five were not so lucky as the wind blew away the fog.  Four of the ships received heavy damage, but successfully retreated back down stream. 

Mississippi, however, took several critical hits, caught on fire and sank.  The frigate's executive officer and future Admiral of the Fleet, Lieutenant George Dewey stayed on board long enough to spike the guns.  Thus ended the career of one of the Navy's most famous ships.  Farragut did not hear about Mississippi's demise until he read about it in local newspapers.  The movement was not one of the admiral's finest hours.

After that operation, the Navy was much more cautious and respectful of Port Hudson's defenses. Both Union and Confederate forces settled in for a long siege.  Banks' forces eventually encircled Port Hudson on the eastern side and U.S. Navy ships bombarded the town from positions down river.  

"Battery No. 10"-The Navy contributed four IX-inch
Dahlgrens to the Army's eighty-nine gun siege train
that encircled Port Hudson.  Sailors from USS
 Richmond manned the battery.

Steam sloops such as USS Monogahela (manned by both Dewey and  another Spanish-American War hero, Winfield Scott Schley) and Richmond, along with the ironclad USS Essex rotated in and out of the bomb line. The mortar schooner squadron that allegedly worked so well at New Orleans, returned from Hampton Roads and also began a steady bombardment of the town. 

After several failed assaults by Union ground forces on Port Hudson's extensive fortification network, Banks decided to blast the Confederates out of their position.  He brought in over eighty heavy guns to shell the Confederate defenses.

The Confederate defenders, however, had their own heavy guns.  Of particular note was a 10-inch Columbiad, which inflected heavy loses on Union ground forces.  Having nothing to respond to such firepower, the Army turned to the Navy for help.
The Navy had an answer. Originally intended for a new fort at Head of Passes (where the  Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico), the Navy had four IX-inch Dahlgrens in surplus.  The Navy agreed to transfer the weapons to the Port Hudson siege lines.  Labeled "Battery No. 10," gun teams from Richmond manned the weapons and took up positions about a mile east of the town. 

Malvern Hill-Covering the Retreat, July 1-2, 1862

When electing to pull back from Richmond and conduct his "change of base," General George McClellan instructed the Army of the Potomac to fall back towards Harrison's Landing on the James River.    With the Confederate Army in hot pursit, the Union Army made its stand at Malvern Hill.  The James River Flotilla at the time consisted of the the ironclads USS Galena and Monitor, along with the wooden gunboats USS Jacob Bell, Aroostook, and Mahaska. 

Monitor and Jacob Bell provided cover for the Army upstream near City Point. Aroostook served as a communications vessel with signaling officers keeping lines open between ships and the Army on shore. Galena and Mahaska anchored at a section of the James River known as Turkey Bend (now known as Turkey Point, go here for a modern day map of the region) with a clear view of Malvern Hill. In a move that would bring great ridicule upon him in the press, McClellan then came on board Galena for discussions with the Navy. 

Alfred Waud deptiction of Galena and Mahaska during Malvern Hill.

On July 1 watches on Galena spotted the Confederate Army approaching Malvern Hill.  With U.S. Army Signal Corps officers on board, Galena and Mahaska opened up on Confederate positions with their 100-Parrot Rifle and IX-Inch Dahlgrens for two hours.  When rapid fire bombardment stopped at 8 p.m., the two ships fired 206 shells.

While the rate of fire was impressive, there were considerable problems with the bombardment.  All issues originated in the fact that the Confederate formations were upwards of two miles away.  The longest fuzes in the ships' arsenal was for 15-seconds, thus several shells exploded prematurely and some even exploded near Union formations.   Despite the issues, Union soliders were thankful that the Navy had their back during the retreat.  Several times, U.S. Naval officers reported that when Union soldiers spotted them from shore, they cheered. 

An 1864 Republican cartoon lampooning General George McClellan's presence on board USS Galena during the Battle of Malvern Hill. 

The Hatteras Expedition - One More Time

CWN 150 Blogger Gordon has provided coverage of the US Navy’s first big operation of the Civil War, the Hatteras Expedition, in two prior posts (18 Aug 2011 and 21 Sept 2011), so I certainly don’t mean to duplicate prior content. That said, I had to share with you this illustration I found in the online collection “Civil War Drawings” on the Library of Congress web site.


The picture struck me because it is so dynamic; it resonates with activity. In the right foreground are infantry companies forming up on the beach. In the left foreground additional troops are coming ashore in the surf, and behind them ships boats are bringing in more. Towards the background on the left, the Revenue Cutter Harriet Lane appears to be providing close inshore gun support, foreshadowing the role played by destroyers in the D-Day landings at Normandy. In the background in line-ahead formation are the “big boys”: the steam frigate Minnesota, the sailing sloop Cumberland, the steam frigate Wabash, and the side-wheel steam gunboat Susquehanna. The target of their gunfire is in the right background, Fort Clarke, and you can see the shells bursting over the fort.