Naval Battles

The Port Royal Expedition

After the capture of Fort Hatteras, two squadrons were organized to guard the Atlantic coast. The Northern squadron was assigned to the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina, while the jurisdiction of the Southern squadron extended from South Carolina to the Capes of Florida. Flag-officer S. F. Du Pont was the first commander of the South Atlantic squadron, being succeeded by Dahlgren July 6,1863. Du Pont opened his command with the important victory of Port Royal, which placed the squadron in possession of one of the best and most commodious harbors on the Atlantic coast. Du Pont was a man of fine presence and exceptional ability as a naval officer, and early surrounded himself with a corps of officers of high professional attainments, of whom Captain Boutelle, first assistant of the U. S. coast survey, was a bright example. The long Page 115 stretch of coast line over which the Southern squadron held watch, abounded in a vast network of lagoons and inlets extending from Charleston to Fernandina. To maintain an efficient blockade over these many openings was a work of great difficulty at best, and was practically impossible while the Union force possessed no good harbor to serve as a base for its fleet. The capture of Hatteras inlet was an important aid in the work of the blockade, as it secured an entrance to the sounds for vessels of light draught, but provided the Union fleet with no harbor which would serve as a convenient depot for operations along the vast expanse of coast to the south. A convenient naval station was imperatively needed where large vessels could find a safe anchorage, provision themselves, take on coal, make necessary repairs and generally refit. The long run around Cape Hatteras to Hampton Roads in order to coal, "lessened the effectiveness of the blockade by the absence of a large number of vessels going and coming, and when they arrived out, much of the coal taken in was already exhausted." Coaling at sea was at best a slow and difficult operation, rendered almost impossible by the frequent prevalence of rough water. The navy department had several harbors in mind such as Bull's bay, Brunswick, Fernandina and Port Royal, and finally concurred in Du Pont's opinion that Port Royal was best suited to its purpose. It had ample water for the largest vessels, and its convenient situation about midway between Charleston and Savannah had led to its fortification by the Confederates very early in the war, as they appreciated its importance. "The bar that guarded it lay well out at sea and had an ample depth of water over it. The channel between Hilton Head on the south and Bay point on the north was a mile wide. Although the land hereabouts is generally low, the trees are tall and a small grove of trees towering above all the others like a high-crowned hat, marked the entrance to the harbor unmistakably, so that Page 116 even a stranger could easily work his way in unless a gale prevailed."

In October, 1861, the government prepared for the expedition to take possession of Port Royal by gathering together a great fleet of warships and transports at Hampton Roads. The steam frigate Wabash was relieved from blockading duty and sent to New York, where it was fitted to serve as Du Pont's flagship. The vessel was commanded by Captain C. R. Rodgers, and on the 10th Du Pont hoisted his flag on the Wabash. As the preparations were on an extensive scale, they were not completed until near the end of the month. Every effort had been made to keep the expedition a secret, but the enemy learned of the movement and with characteristic energy prepared for it by mounting all the heavy guns available, with a suitable force to man them. When the fleet finally assembled at Hampton Roads, it numbered 50 sail, exclusive of 25 coal schooners, which sailed on October 28, the day before the warships and transports started. Besides the Wabash, the squadron under Du Pont's command included the Susquehanna, the gunboats Mohican, Seminole, Pawnee, Unadilla, Ottawa, Pembina, Isaac Smith, Bienville, Seneca, Curlew, Penguin, Augusta, R. B. Forbes and Pocahontas, the sailing frigate Vandalia, and the little steam-cutter Vixen. There were also some 30 odd steam transports which carried a force of 12,000 soldiers, under General Thomas W. Sherman, detailed to cooperate with the squadron. The regular warships carried an armament of 125 guns, "of which 7 were n-inch Dahlgrens, and 79 were 8-inch or better—most of them being 9-inch." Each of the 6 converted merchantmen was armed with from 2 to 8 rifled 32-pounders, except the Isaac Smith, which carried a rifled 30-pounder. The fleet as it steamed slowly out of the Chesapeake October 29 presented a formidable appearance, and was the greatest war fleet ever assembled by the United States. It sailed under sealed orders as to Page 117 destination, only to be opened in case the vessels became separated. The weather was unsettled when the fleet left Hampton Roads and soon changed into a storm of great violence, which increased on October 31, became a hurricane on Friday, November 1, and scattered the ships so widely that on Saturday morning, but one of the whole fleet was in sight from the deck of the Wabash. Says Spears: "That was a night never to be forgotten by any landsman afloat in the fleet. As the seas rose the foam and spoondrift turned into tossing, phosphorescent flames that swept across the black water, adding terrors by their weird light to the fears already excited by the laboring of the ships. The warships were well found and able, but a sorrier fleet of transports was never sent to sea, for it was composed in great part of inland water steamers, lighters and ferryboats, and here they were trying to live in a Hatteras hurricane." On Sunday the wind moderated and the several units of the squadron began to reappear. The converted merchantman Isaac Smith would have foundered in the heavy gale, had not the broadside guns been thrown overboard. The Governor a side-wheeler, with 700 marines on board, was lost, though all but 7 of the men were rescued through the exertions of the sail frigate Sabine, Captain Cadwalader Ringgold, aided by the Isaac Smith, Lieutenant-Com. Nicholson. The transport Peerless, laden with stores and with a crew of 26 men, was also lost, but her people were taken off by the Mohican, Captain S. W. Godon. The squadron was joined off Charleston by the Susquehanna, taken from the blockaders, and on the 4th the flag-ship, with 25 vessels in company, anchored off the bar of Port Royal harbor, where they were eventually joined by all the vessels that had survived the gale. The channel of the harbor was that day found, sounded out and buoyed under the direction of Captain Davis, the fleet captain, ably assisted by Mr. Boutelle, the assistant of the coast survey. Before evening all the vessels Page 118 of the fleet whose draught did not exceed 18 feet were anchored inside the bar in the secure roadstead, and the little fleet of the enemy, commanded by Com. Tatnall was chased under their own batteries. The remaining vessels of the Union fleet were taken within the bar on the next high tide. On the 5th, a reconnoissance in force was made by the Ottawa, Seneca, Curlew and Isaac Smith, which drew the fire of the batteries on Hilton Head and Bay point sufficiently to show that the fortifications were works of strength and scientifically constructed.

The Confederate fortifications were two in number—Fort Walker on Hilton Head at the right of the channel, and Fort Beauregard at Bay point, on the left. Scharf in describing these forts says: "They were exceedingly well-built earthworks and were rather heavily armed, Fort Walker mounting 23 guns and Fort Beauregard 18, a total of 41, but 22 of these were only 32-pounders or lighter pieces, so that there were in fact but 19 guns fit to cope with the at least 100 heavy rifles and shell-guns of the Federal ships. General Thomas F. Drayton was in command of both posts, with his headquarters at Hilton Head, and Colonel R. M. Dunovant had immediate command at Fort Beauregard. The defenses were garrisoned by about 2,000 men, but this force was very deficient in trained artillerists, and a small supply of shot and shell forbade much practice with the larger guns."

The Confederate authority Maffitt says, "the construction of these works had been reprehensibly procrastinated until the ninth hour, when, in haste and confusion, raw troops, strangers to any ordnance above a 12-pound field piece, were hurried into the imperfectly constructed earthworks to battle without drill or target practice against a masterly array of force. The excuse offered by the commanding general for neglecting to exercise and familiarize his artillerists with target-drill was Page 119 the scarcity of ammunition. The commodore replied: 'Half the allowance spent in practice will more likely insure good results for the balance in fighting.'"

The fleet under Tatnall consisted of the flag-ship, an old St. John's steamer, mounting one 32-pound gun forward and one 18-pound gun aft; "then came two ancient, used-up tug-boats, each mounting a 32-pound gun; the next, a rotten North river cattle-boat, mounting one 18-pound gun; a dwarfish tug-boat from the James river, slightly armed, bringing up the rear."

The Federal attack was delayed until the 7th by boisterous weather. The morning of that day opened calm and beautiful, with "not a ripple upon the broad expanse of water," as the Confederate commander said in his report, "to disturb the accuracy of fire from the broad decks of that magnificent armada about advancing, in battle array to vomit forth its iron hail, with all the spiteful energy of long-suppressed rage and conscious strength." At the time of the attack the small fleet of the enemy was stationed about 2 miles above the forts, where the Port Royal or Beaufort river joins the Broad. Du Pont in deciding upon his plan of attack divided his force into two squadrons, after first stationing the transports at anchor, beyond the range of the guns of the forts. The larger squadron led by the Wabash, followed immediately by the Susquehanna, Mohican, Seminole, Pawnee, Unadilla, Ottawa, Pembina and Vandalia towed by the Isaac Smith, passed up the center of the channel, delivering its fire at the forts on either side, and by sailing in an ellipse passed down within 600 yards of Fort Walker, firing slowly and deliberately, but never losing the range. The smaller squadron, consisting of the Bienville, Seneca, Curlew, Penguin and Augusta, all converted merchantmen except the Seneca, had meanwhile passed up on the left side of the channel, poured their broadsides into Fort Beauregard, then took a station where they could cut off Tatnall's Page 120 fleet from any participation in the fight, and at the same time maintain a destructive flanking fire upon the forts from the rear. This enfilading fire proved very annoying, as the forts had been planned to face the open sea and roadstead and little had been done to protect their landward faces. Three times the larger line of vessels traversed its elliptical circuit, the last time aided by the fire of the Pocahontas, the R. B. Forbes and the tug Mercury, which had been delayed at sea by the gale, and only came up at noon. The Pocahontas was commanded by Captain Percival Drayton, a brother of General Thomas Drayton, the Confederate commander. At the completion of the third circuit, the guns of the forts were mostly disabled and the enemy ceased to reply. In speaking of the terrific fire to which the forts were subjected by the grim procession moving along their front and the flanking column anchored in their rear, General Drayton says in his report: "Besides this moving battery, the fort (Walker) was enfiladed by the gunboats anchored to the north off the mouth of Fish Hall creek, and another on an edge of the shoal to the south. This enfilading fire on so still a sea annoyed and damaged us excessively, particularly as we had no gun on either flank of the bastion to reply with, for the 32-pounder on the right flank was shattered by a round shot, and on the north flank, for want of a carriage, no gun was mounted. After the fourth fire, the 10-inch columbiad bounded over the hurter and became useless. The 24-pounder rifle was choked while ramming down a shell, and lay idle during nearly the whole engagement." At 12:30 General Drayton left Fort Walker with a member of his staff to muster together his infantry and reserves, leaving Colonel Heyward in command, with directions to hold out as long as any effective fire could be maintained. His report concludes: "Two o'clock had now arrived" (the report of Du Pont states that the Ottawa and Pembina signaled that the works at Hilton Head had been Page 121 abandoned, at 1:15 p. m.), "when I noticed our men coming out of the fort, which they had bravely defended for four and a half hours against fearful odds, and then only retiring when all but 3 of the guns on the water front had been disabled, and only 500 pounds of powder (remained) in the magazine; commencing the action with 220 men inside the fort, afterward increased to 255, by the accession of Read's battery. These heroic men retired slowly and sadly from their well-fought guns, which to have defended longer would have exhibited the energy of despair rather than the manly pluck of the soldier." As soon as Du Pont learned that the enemy had fled from Fort Walker, he sent Commander John Rodgers on shore with a flag of truce, and at 2:30 this officer hoisted the Union flag over the deserted fort, while tremendous cheers arose from every vessel in the fleet.

The main attack was upon the Hilton Head fort, although Fort Beauregard had received the fire of the larger squadron at long range as it wheeled into the ellipse, and it had also been enfiladed by the gunboats within the harbor. When it was learned there that Fort Walker had been abandoned, Fort Beauregard was also hastily deserted. When at sunset vessels were sent by Du Pont to ascertain the condition of affairs there they found the flag down, and the following morning Captain Ammen of the Seneca landed with a party of men and hoisted the flag of the Union on the flag-staff of the little frame building used as headquarters by the enemy. A hasty examination of the house disclosed the fact that everything had been removed. Ammen then examined the earthworks, magazines and the encampment of the troops some half a mile distant. The tents were found still standing, filled with many personal effects and small arms, showing evidence of hasty retreat. He then reports the following treacherous incident: "Returning to the vicinity of the earthworks, where our flag had been hoisted Page 122 an hour before, a dull explosion was heard, a cloud of smoke went up, and when it passed away there was no vestige of the small frame house upon which our flag had been hoisted. A sailor walking near had fallen into the snare by his foot striking a wire fastened to a peg, through which a 'spur tube' had exploded a quantity of powder placed under the floor of the house. The sailor was knocked down and stunned for a few minutes."

The Federal loss during the engagement was 8 killed, 6 seriously and 17 slightly wounded. The Confederate loss as reported by General Drayton was 10 killed and 20 wounded in Fort Walker; 1 killed, 15 wounded and 4 missing in Colonel De Saussure's regiment, and 13 wounded in Fort Beauregard.

This was purely a naval victory, as the troops under General Sherman had no occasion to take part in the fight. Their mission was to hold the works after their capture, and the day following the battle the troops were debarked from the transports and began the erection of a large intrenched camp on Hilton Head. Hilton Head island is bordered on the north by Skull creek, "a fair waterway of from two and one half to four fathoms." Tatnall's steamers made their escape by way of this creek, after embarking all of General Drayton's command. With the forts were captured 48 cannon, 43 of them of excellent quality and some of large caliber, together with large quantities of ammunition and stores. Most of the navy vessels were soon after sent on blockade duty elsewhere, a few of the smaller gunboats remaining to complete a thorough examination of the harbors and internal waters in the vicinity of Port Royal. Before the close of the year 1862 careful reconnoissances were made of Tybee island, Warsaw and Ossabaw sounds, St. Helena sound, North Edisto inlet, and all the many sounds, bays and inlets which indent the coast of South Carolina and Georgia, together with the bewildering network of creeks and rivers Page 123 which give access to the interior. Says Porter: "Before they had been three months on the southern coast every sound and inlet was as familiar to our officers as to the southern pilots." Time and infinite patience and energy were required to gain a thorough knowledge of the topography and hydrography of the intricate waters, but the task was admirably accomplished, thereby paving the way for future operations of the army and navy. Wherever the gunboats could readily penetrate, abandoned and dismantled works of the enemy in all stages of completion were found, save only the strong works defending the important ports of Charleston and Savannah, which remained intact. Everywhere on the islands and for miles in the interior of the mainland could be seen from the decks of the exploring vessels, burning cotton-houses, outbuildings and negro quarters, and the scenes of desolation often baffled description. The region was thus laid waste by the Southern soldiers and thousands were driven from their homes, in the effort to prevent the acquisition of plunder by the Federals. The inhabitants were in a continual state of terror, inspired by the bombardment of the forts at Port Royal, and the subsequent appearance of Federal gunboats in the numerous inland waters, which had never before known the presence of a war vessel. On the occasion of the second visit of Commander Drayton in the Pawnee, accompanied by the Unadilla, Isaac Smith and Vixen, to the waters of St. Helena sound, he penetrated the Ashepoo river as far as Mosquito creek, where the inland waterway to Charleston began, and also landed on Hutchinson's island. "Two days earlier the negro houses, overseer's house and outbuildings had been burned by the enemy. An attempt had been made at the same time to drive off the negroes, many of whom had escaped into the woods, and he was told that many of their number had been shot in attempting to escape. The scene was one of complete desolation. The smoking Page 124 ruins and cowering figures which surrounded them, who still instinctively clung to their hearthstones, although there was no longer shelter for them, presented a most melancholy sight, the impression of which was made even stronger by the piteous wailing of the poor creatures, a large portion of whom consisted of the old and decrepit." Later on when several hundred slaves had been allowed to come on board the Federal war ships, they were sent on shore and permitted to establish themselves in a wooded spot near the earthworks on the southern end of Edisto island. The Penguin, Lieutenant-Corn. Budd, was called in to patrol the harbor and protect the blacks. "This colony maintained itself for months, eventually reaching more than 1,000 in number, although those that desired were taken to Port Royal by the gunboats when going. Corn that had been housed, sweet potatoes that had been buried, and an occasional supply of beef from cattle that they would look up on the island, were quite sufficient to supply their simple wants throughout the winter, while the branches of trees and palmetto leaves placed over poles served them for shelter in true Arcadian simplicity."

While the navy was engaged in this work of reconnoissance, Sherman's army had not been idle, but had completed a strong system of defenses on Hilton Head island, which rendered it secure from any attack by the enemy. The island was henceforth an important base in the subsequent operations against Savannah, Charleston, and along the southern coast generally. The army also occupied Beaufort and the whole of the island of Port Royal on which it is situated; established a post on Tybee island commanding the entrance to the Savannah river, and established itself at various other points in the neighboring islands. Thus early in the war the Union secured a permanent foothold in the very hotbed of the secession movement. The ease with which the war vessels had captured the Page 125 comparatively strong fortifications at Port Royal was a revelation in naval warfare and gave assurance that even "wooden ships Could bid defiance to well-constructed earthworks and solid masonry," when propelled by steam. Like the capture of Fort Hatteras, the victory at Port Royal put renewed strength into Union hearts, depressed by the succession of Southern victories during the early months of the war.