mile distant from the latter structure was Fort Powell.
Early in August, Admiral Farragut’s fleet was reinforced by two
iron-clads from James river, and two from the Mississippi.
Soon after sunrise on the morning of the 5th of August, signals were
given to all the fleet, and at twenty minutes to six the gunboats and
monitors were underweigh, moving up the bay.
The vessels were lashed side by side in couples, for better protection,
and in order to assist each other when any became disabled. Chains and
sand bags were laid on the decks over the machinery, to resist a
plunging fire; while sheet chains and other protective material were
hung on the sides of the vessels. The first object of the Admiral was to
pass the forts, inflicting as much damage to them as possible in the
transit, and then to engage and overcome the rebel gunboats, and the
formidable ram which lay in the inner waters. The attacking fleet
comprised fourteen wooden vessels, and four iron-clad monitors.
About seven o’clock the leading vessels came under fire from Fort
Morgan, and the rebel gunboats anchored under the guns of the fort;
while the Federal vessels, advancing in as close order as safety
permitted, replied with their rifled bow guns, and as soon as the range
permitted, with their formidable broadsides, driving the rebels from
their guns, and breaching the walls of their defences. The Admiral was
lashed in the main-top of his flagship, the Hartford, from which exposed
situation he had a good view of the battle, and communicated his orders
through speaking tubes.
At half-past seven the leading Monitor, the Tecumseh, struck a torpedo,
which exploded with terrific and fatal force, and the staunch vessel,
overcome by the terrible concussion, sank in the vortex, engulfing her
brave commander, Captain T. A. M. Craven, and all but ten of her crew.
This remnant was picked up while struggling in the water by a boat from
the Metacomet, under a storm of shot and shell. The fate of the Tecumseh
did not check the advance of the fleet, for all the brave sailors in the
squadron well knew that they were exposed to the same frightful fate,
and had entered the combat prepared to encounter the danger. The
flagship Hartford, with the Metacomet lashed to her port side, now took
the lead, and, boldly followed by the remainder of the squadron, passed
the forts without serious damage, and were out of range in an hour’s
time.
The Hartford was now assailed by the rebel ram Tennessee; a most
formidable vessel upon which the rebels confidently relied for the
destruction of the whole Federal fleet, should they succeed in passing
the forts, and avoiding the dangerous obstructions. The Confederate
gunboats Morgan, Gaines, and Selma, also courageously took part in the
combat, but were soon disposed of by the Union vessels as they came up.
In half an hour the Selma was a prize to the Metacomet, and the Gaines
had ran ashore under the guns of Fort Morgan, while the Morgan had
escaped to the city docks.
The iron-clad Tennessee, bearing the flag of Admiral Buchanan,
maintained a fierce and sanguinary combat with the heavier Union vessels
for nearly two hours. This vessel was one hundred and eighty feet in
length, sheathed with iron plates, five inches in thickness, of narrow
plates, strongly bolted, and backed by two feet of solid oak. She was
armed with a powerful ram, and had two ports on either side, closed by
iron shutters turning upon a pivot. The wooden ships defiantly
encountered the Tennessee, although her armor was impervious to their
guns, while the iron-clads grappled fiercely with their formidable
antagonist. The Manhattan, with one of her fifteen-inch shot, broke
through the armor of the Tennessee, and a monitor shot disabled the
steering gear, and thus rendered her helpless. At ten o’clock she
surrendered. Twenty officers and about one hundred and seventy men were
captured in this vessel, and ninety officers and men in the Selma. The
capture of these two vessels terminated the glorious battle of the 5th
of August. On the following day one of the iron-clads shelled Fort
Gaines with such effect that Colonel Anderson the commander sent a
communication to Admiral Farragut offering to surrender. General
Granger, commanding the United States military forces then investing
Mobile, was sent for, and the terms of capitulation were signed by the
respective parties on board the Hartford.
On the night of the 5th of August, Fort Powell was attacked, and blown
up, the guns falling into the hands of the naval commander. From this
time onward movements were in preparation for attacking Fort Morgan, and
on the 22nd of August, with day-dawn, a bombardment was opened from the
shore batteries, the Monitors and ships inside, and the vessels outside
the bar. At six A. M. on the 23d, a white flag was displayed by the
rebels, and at two o’clock the fort was unconditionally surrendered to
the navy and army of the United States by General Page, the commander.
The capture of Forts Powell, Gaines and Morgan, and the destruction of
the rebel fleet, gave the navy possession of the bay, and closed the
port to all ingress or egress of blockade runners. This was all that was
contemplated. Possession of the city of Mobile could not make the
blockade more effectual, and without a sufficient cooperating land
force, which could not then be spared to take and hold the place,
further demonstration was not advisable.
To obstruct naval operations, the bay had been strewn with torpedoes,
and as late as the 13th of September, Rear Admiral Farragut wrote the
department that he was still engaged in removing them. One hundred, it
was reported, had been placed in the bay by the rebels.
SHERMAN’S MARCH FROM SAVANNAH TO GOLDSBORO’, N. C.
JANUARY TO MARCH, 1865.
The city of Savannah, and the forts around it, were, on the 18th of
January, 1865, transferred to General Foster, who commanded the
Department of the South, and General Sherman once more pushed
forward—this time to reach Goldsboro’, in North Carolina, and open
communication with cooperating forces from that point. The capture of
Charleston was incidental to this campaign; but was left to General
Foster’s command. The order to march was given on the 19th of January.
Savannah was garrisoned by a division of the 19th Army corps, under
General Grover, while General Schofield’s corps, the Twenty-third, was
sent to reinforce Generals Terry and Palmer, who were operating on the
coast of North Carolina.
Sherman’s march lasted about two months, and was attended by skirmishes
and small battles, but was never checked; and, in the end, was
thoroughly successful in accomplishing its intended purpose. The
condition of the rivers, swollen by thaws and rains, at first caused the
army some trouble. But all obstacles were speedily overcome.
An engagement at Rivers’ Bridge, on the 3d of February, was the earliest
fighting of moment. The point was carried with the loss of one officer
and seventeen men. The troops engaged were a division of the Seventeenth
corps, under Generals Thomas and Smith. Heavy skirmishing took place, at
Blackville, Williston and Aiken, between General Kilpatrick’s cavalry,
and the rebel cavalry of Wheeler.
On the 12th of February, General Sherman was at Orangeburg, where there
was some fighting. By this time he had isolated Branchville and
Charleston, so that the rebels would probably be obliged to evacuate
those places. His next blow was aimed at Columbia. This beautiful city
is one hundred and twenty-eight miles from Charleston. The rebels, under
Hampton, abandoned it on the 16th, having first fired a large quantity
of cotton which was there accumulated. On the 17th it was surrendered to
General Sherman, who, in anticipation of the occupation of the city, had
issued to General Howard orders concerning the conduct of the troops.
These were to destroy absolutely all arsenals and public property not
needed for his own use, as well as all railroads, depots, and machinery
useful in war to an enemy, but to spare all dwellings, colleges,
schools, asylums, and harmless private property. But, as it turned out,
before one single public building had been fired by order, the
smoldering fires, set by Hampton’s orders, were kindled by the wind, and
communicated to the buildings around. About dark they began to spread,
and got beyond the control of the troops, and raged until about four A.
M., when the wind subsiding, the flames wore subdued. “I was up nearly
all night,” says General Sherman, “and saw Generals Howard, Logan,
Woods, and others, laboring to save houses and protect families thus
suddenly deprived of shelter, and of bedding and wearing apparel. I
disclaim on the part of my army any agency in this fire, but on the
contrary claim that we saved what of Columbia remains unconsumed. And
without hesitation I charge General Wade Hampton with having burned his
own city of Columbia, not with a malicious intent, but from folly and
want of sense in filling it with lint, cotton, and tinder.” During the
18th and 19th, the arsenal, railroad depots, machine shops, foundries,
and other buildings were destroyed by detailed working parties, and the
railroad track torn up down to Kingsville and the Wateree bridge, and up
in the direction of Winnsboro’.
The next principal point was Cheraw, which was entered, after a toilsome
march, on the 3d of March. Charleston had, meanwhile, been evacuated by
General Hardee, on the 18th of February, and many guns and much
ammunition had been conveyed thence to Cheraw. These were now captured
by General Sherman, who also broke up the railroad as far as Darlington,
and the branch road from Florence to Cheraw. He then pushed on to
Fayetteville, which he occupied on the 11th of March. The enemy, broken
into small detachments, were all the while retiring before Sherman’s
advance, but at the same time were harassing him by occasional dashes.
One of these, made by Hampton, on the 9th, led to a brisk engagement
between his forces and Kilpatrick’s cavalry, in which the latter were
victorious. But the rebels, fearing for Raleigh, now endeavored to
concentrate in Sherman’s front. Beauregard’s troops, from Columbia,
Cheatham’s from the West, the garrison of Augusta, and Hardee’s from
Charleston, were to be speedily massed together, under the command of
General J. E. Johnston. General Sherman’s plan was to feign an attack on
Raleigh, but really to push on to Goldsboro’. One obstacle in his path
was Hardee, who, with twenty thousand men, had made a stand between Cape
Fear river and South river. General Williams, with the Twentieth corps,
was thereupon ordered to dislodge Hardee and capture the position. The
result was the
BATTLE OF AVERASBORO’.
MARCH 15–16, 1865.
This fight commenced about noon, and lasted till night. Skirmishing
continued all night, and on the morning of the 16th, the battle was
renewed, with great fury. Severe fighting took place during the day,
without satisfactory results. The enemy held his position, although
suffering heavy loss. Everything indicated the presence of Hardee’s
whole army corps. He evacuated the line, during the night of the 16th,
however, and fell back to Averasboro’, pursued by Ward’s division of the
Twentieth corps. His dead and wounded were left on the field, and
abandoned along the road to Averasboro’. General Ward pressed up to
Averasboro’, holding the plank road in front, while the balance of the
command moved off to the right, across Black river, on the Goldsboro’
road, now uncovered. The National loss in this fight was four hundred
and forty-six in the Twentieth corps, one hundred and eight in the
Fourteenth, and one hundred and seventy-one in Kilpatrick’s
command—total, seven hundred and thirty-seven. The number of rebels,
buried on the field, and paroled wounded, was three hundred and
twenty-seven—exclusive of those they carried off, and the unhurt
prisoners captured by the Unionists.
The advance of General Sherman was immediately continued, in an easterly
direction from Averasboro’, along the Goldsboro’ road. General Johnston
had suddenly moved from Raleigh, and concentrated his entire force at a
village called Bentonsville, on this road, eighteen miles from
Averasboro’, intending to fall on Sherman’s left flank and overwhelm it,
before the arrival of its cooperating column. But the Union commander,
anticipating such a movement, was wholly prepared for it.
A battle ensued at Bentonsville, the Union line being complete and
strong, and the rebels on the defensive, in intrenchments.
BATTLE OF BENTONSVILLE.
MARCH 20, 1864.
At noon the enemy left his works and advanced on Jeff. C. Davis’ two
divisions. Buell and Hobart were overwhelmed, and pressed back through
the woods more than a mile and a half. Vandeveer’s, Mitchell’s, Fering’s
and Cogswell’s brigades, on the right, fought stubbornly and
desperately, and lost but little ground. There was temporary confusion,
and a rout was imminent. Five batteries of artillery were massed at a
point where a hospital had been established in the morning, the balance
of Jackson’s division, Twentieth corps, were placed on the left, and a
new line formed. During the day five grand charges were made by the
enemy, massed, but each was repulsed. They succeeded in capturing three
guns of the Nineteenth Indiana battery, but only two were taken off.
There was desperate fighting all day, the musketry firing being very
heavy. Although they gained considerable ground on the left during the
day, the rebels retired to their main line, when night fell, leaving the
greater part of their dead and wounded on the field.
The rebel loss was twenty-five hundred in killed and wounded. Seven
hundred were captured. The Twenty-sixth Tennessee regiment was captured
entire, colors and all, with a large part of the Twelfth Louisiana.
The National loss was quite severe, being estimated at sixteen hundred
and forty-three. During the temporary confusion caused by the furious
charge on Carlin’s division, the Unionists lost about two hundred and
fifty prisoners.
This was the last important battle in which General Sherman was engaged.
General Schofield had entered Goldsboro’ on the 21st, and General
Sherman’s forces, immediately after the fight at Bentonsville, advanced
to that place.
On the 25th the Newbern railroad was completed, and the army was
receiving its supplies from that base. Between the 27th and 30th General
Sherman had visited City Point, and conversed with the President and
General Grant, for the arrangement of the final campaign of the war, and
had returned to Goldsboro’.
THE OCCUPATION OF CHARLESTON, S. C.
FEBRUARY 18, 1865.
General Sherman’s advance, as has already been noted, isolated
Charleston, and caused its evacuation by General Hardee. The rebels
abandoned the city on the night of the 17th of February, and the
National forces occupied it next day. General Foster, suffering from
wounds and ill health, had, meantime, been relieved by General Gilmore,
and it was by the forces of this officer and of Admiral Dahlgren, that
the far-famed cradle of the rebellion was finally occupied.
The following was General Gilmore’s dispatch, announcing the capture of
the city:
“CHARLESTON, S. C., February 18, 1865.
“Major-General HALLECK, Chief of Staff:—
“GENERAL—The city of Charleston and all its defences came into our
possession this morning, with about two hundred pieces of good
artillery and a supply of fine ammunition.
“The enemy commenced evacuating all the works last night, and Mayor
Macbeth surrendered the city to General Schemmelfinnig at nine o’clock
this morning, at which time it was occupied by our forces.
“The cotton warehouses, arsenals, quartermaster’s stores, railroad
bridges and two iron clads were burned by the enemy. Some vessels in
the ship yard were also burned.
“Nearly all the inhabitants remaining behind belong to the poorer
class.
“Very respectfully,
“Q. A. GILMORE, General Commanding.”
* * * * *
The rebel movement of evacuation commenced on the night of Friday, the
17th, the garrison of Sullivan’s Island and Point Pleasant quietly
withdrawing and retreating over the road by Christ’s Church, just in
time to escape Potter’s advance cutting them off. The troops in the city
moved out on the northeastern railroad, as did the garrison on James
Island, which was finally evacuated on Saturday morning.
Shortly after daylight on Saturday, it was discovered that there were no
troops in and about Sumter, or Moultrie, or in the works on James
Island. Lieutenant-Colonel Bennett, of the Twenty-first United States
colored troops, commanding Morris Island, immediately dispatched Major
Hennessy, of the Fifty-second Pennsylvania volunteers, to Fort Sumter,
in a small boat, to ascertain whether the fort was evacuated. Major
Hennessy proceeded to Sumter, and soon waved the Stars and Stripes over
the battered battlements of the work, from which they had been torn down
in April, 1861. The sight of the old flag on Sumter was an assurance
that the enemy had evacuated all their works, and it was hailed by every
demonstration of joy on ship and shore. Another boat, in charge of
Lieutenant Hackett, of the Third Rhode Island artillery, was immediately
sent to Fort Moultrie to take possession of that work, and raise again
the National colors upon its parapet. The navy, anxious to share in the
honors of the day, also launched a boat, and strove to gain the beach of
Sullivan’s Island before the army, and an exciting race ensued between
the boats of the different branches of the service.
The army boat, under Lieutenant Hackett, reached the shore in advance.
As she touched, the officer and crew sprang off on the beach, through
the surf, and rushed for the goal. The parapet was soon gained, and the
flag given to the breeze, amid the cheers of the soldiers and sailors,
who had come up a moment or two behind him. The guns were all spiked,
and the carriages somewhat damaged. A large quantity of munitions was
found in the magazines, which the enemy had not time to destroy.
When the flag floated over Moultrie, Lieutenant-Colonel Bennett, Major
Hennessy, and Lieutenant Burr, of the Fifty-second Pennsylvania, started
for the city, giving orders to have troops follow. They pulled up the
bay, while the rebel iron-clads and vessels were in flames and the city
itself was burning at various points. Reaching Fort Ripley, or what is
known as the Middle Ground battery, the Federal flag was displayed over
the work. The party then pushed on to Castle Pinckney, when the same
ceremony of taking possession was observed, and then the boat was pulled
cautiously, but directly, toward the city. No hostile force was seen,
although a large number of negroes and some whites were congregated on
the docks, watching the approach of the “Yankee boat.” Colonel Bennett
immediately landed, and the United States flag was displayed again in
the city of Charleston, amid the cheers and cries of joy of the crowd
assembled about it. It was a perfect storm of applause and outbursts of
unfeigned joy and satisfaction.
Colonel Bennett, on landing, immediately demanded the surrender of the
city, which was formally yielded by the mayor, Charles Macbeth, who
asked protection for the firemen, who were being impressed by the
retreating rebels, who had fired the city in several places. Colonel
Bennett promptly promised the assistance of his troops, to save the city
from conflagration. His first step was to rescue the arsenal, which the
rebels had prepared for blowing up.
The firemen got out their apparatus, and devoted themselves to the
extinguishment of the fires now raging with violence at various points
in the city. They were aided by the Union troops, who now began to
arrive in numbers, and, after a long struggle, the flames were checked,
but not until many buildings had been destroyed. A large quantity of
cotton, probably two thousand bales, was destroyed, together with a
considerable amount of supplies.
The worst feature of the conflagration had, however, occurred in the
morning—being the blowing up of the Northeastern railroad depot. In this
building a quantity of cartridges and kegs of powder had been stored by
the rebels, and, as they had not time to remove it, they left it
unprotected. A number of men, women, and children had collected to watch
the burning of a quantity of cotton in the railroad yard, which the
rebels had fired, and, during the conflagration, a number of boys, while
running about the depot, had discovered the powder. Without realizing
the danger they incurred, they began to take up handfuls of loose powder
and cartridges, and bear them from the depot to the mass of burning
cotton, on which they flung them, enjoying the dangerous amusement of
watching the flashes of the powder and the strange effects on the
cotton, as it was blown hither and thither. A spark ignited the powder
in the train, there was a leaping, running line of fire along the
ground, and then an explosion that shook the city to its very
foundations. The building was, in a second, a whirling mass of ruins, in
a tremendous volume of flame and smoke. The cause of the terrific
explosion soon became known, and a rush was made for the scene of the
catastrophe. Such a sight is rarely witnessed. The building was in
ruins, and from the burning mass arose the agonizing cries of the
wounded, to whom little or no assistance could be rendered by the
paralyzed spectators. Over one hundred and fifty are said to have been
charred in that fiery furnace, and a hundred men were wounded more or
less by the explosion or were burned by the fire.
From the depot the fire spread rapidly, and, communicating with the
adjoining buildings, threatened destruction to that part of the town.
Four squares, embraced in the area bounded by Chapel, Alexander,
Charlotte, and Washington streets, were consumed before the
conflagration was subdued. Everything in the houses was destroyed with
them. Another fire on Meeting street, near the Court House, destroyed
five buildings. This was set on fire by the rebels, with a view of
burning Hibernian Hall and the Mills House. It did not succeed, although
it destroyed the five buildings alluded to. One or two other fires also
occurred, destroying several buildings each. A large number of smaller
conflagrations occurred, burning government storehouses, &c.
A large quantity of rebel property and material of war was captured at
Charleston. The city was immediately put under martial law, and, in a
very short time, under the energetic administration of General Gilmore,
was restored to order, and, to some extent, favored with the blessings
of peace. The poor people here were found to be in a very destitute and
mournful condition; but they were speedily relieved by the United States
authorities.
GENERAL SCHOFIELD’S MARCH TO GOLDSBORO’.
BATTLES OF KINSTON, N. C.
MARCH 7–10, 1865.
While General Sherman was marching from Fayetteville toward Goldsboro’,
General Schofield was approaching the same point, from the direction of
Newbern and Wilmington. The rebels, under Hoke, attempted to dispute his
passage, however, and made a stand near Kinston. Skirmishing began
between the armies on the 7th of March, which resulted in the rebels
being driven, by Colonel Classen’s command, to their intrenchments at
Jackson’s Mills, four miles east of Kinston. General Cox was in command
of the National forces, under supervision of General Schofield, whose
headquarters were at Newbern; but General Schofield was in the field in
person, during most of the time of these Kinston battles.
On the morning of the 8th, the enemy made a sudden charge upon the left
wing of the Union line, and captured the Fifteenth Connecticut and the
Twenty-seventh Massachusetts. The men, however, fought with great
bravery, and only yielded to overpowering numbers, when their ammunition
was exhausted. Lieutenant-Colonel Bartholomew and Major Osborne,
commanding the regiments above mentioned, were captured by the rebels.