any navy out there?

all right. anchor i bet you all think the army won the war, right? well, you're going to have to sit through one navy talk, but i'm sure you are. enjoy it. my friend. oh, now, chaplain, it's good to talk about charleston in 1863. and neal, first analyzes and researching naval operations. there are civil war. he was born and raised in new orleans and spent nine years as a u.s. navy surface warfare officer. so he knows wherever he speaks, both in active duty and in the reserves. neal is a graduate of the university of new orleans. the university of houston, and the university of louisiana.

monroe. he lives in the greater houston area, teaching both lone star college, north harris and coral. once you senior high school, he is the author of defending the arteries of rebellion confederate naval operations in the mississippi river valley, 1861 1865, and front like devils, the confederate gunboat mccrae and he's. he's going to talk about both the army and the navy operations in the great over the confederacy. the charleston where both services were together and separately. meyer later conquered the city and and he's got some very interesting things to say about that. so welcome, neal. gentlemen. all right, everybody, can you hear me? okay? okay, good. i can see the sun is out today,

and that's great, because my last talk last year, the power cut out in the middle of a thunderstorm. so i think we're in a better mood today weather wise, which is great. charleston in 1863. so thinking of 1863, charleston. the movie glory comes to mind in its climax. the 54th massachusetts infantry regiment charges battery. wagner, demonstrating the prowess of african-american soldiers pioneering expanded recruitment of black soldiers helping close the door of african enslavement. however, the story is more complex than one regiments attack. 1863 charleston was a cauldron testing military and naval cooperation and experimenting with new technologies and tactics. charleston and firebrands sparked secession and

hostilities commenced there in 1861. right. a united states flag over charleston would symbolize the eventual confederate defeat. militarily, charleston was a gateway to inland fronts. targeting confederate infrastructure. in 1862, dozens of blockade runners entered charleston, bringing 46,000 rifles, 3500 barrels of gunpowder, 11 field artillery batteries. one and a quarter million percussion caps and a quarter million prefab recruited cartridges, supplies to equip an entire field army halting these blockade runners was vital to the u.s. navy's wartime mission, keeping the port open was imperative to confederate sustainability. charleston's inviting harbor sits between the ashley and cooper rivers. three ship channels converged into one inlet. confederate defense is at island. sullivan's island and fort

rtifications protected the more inner harbor and city swamp inteays and islands swept charleston's periphery, providing alternate routes to the city. though the u.s. defeated secession vote iad these seem precarious. instead, 1863 saw a major thrust against charleston harbor's entrance, as charleston is geography made both sides reliant on interests service coordination. the side facilitating better cooperation between component commands would succeed. ultimately, both the united states and confederacy changed commanders hoping adjustments guaranteed victory for the confederacy. the biggest change occurred in fall 1862, when made when general john pemberton was reassigned from charleston to command vicksburg. replacing pemberton was general pierre gustav tuten beauregard,

fresh from his stinging relief command. armies in tennessee and mississippi, though he resente that demotion. beauregard turned as engineer's eye on charleston, as is department's linchpin, charston's naval squadron was led by captain duncan ingram, who joined the navy at age nine in 1812. in 1862, ingram's squadron centered on the iron clad shakara and palmetto state. smaller versions of the famed success virginia sporting a angled, iron plated case made armed with 4 to 6 guns each. the united states navy was building ironclad, improvising, improve wing on uss monitor design, and beauregard expected them to, quote, dash with as many iron clouds as they can command, say 15 or 20 past the batteries in ford's in september

1862. beauregard convened a council of his principal subordinates, captain ingram, and his principal subordinate commander john r tucker. these officers concluded heavy guns were required for an outer harbor perimeter defense, while ingram's iron clouds would serve, quote, as an important auxiliary, defending a of the harbor. the city's inner defenses would never stave of monitor air assaults. holding the maurice island salter sullivan's island line was critical. heavy artillery bolstered these fortificatio and reserves concentrated to shuttle by rail between charleston and savannah, georgia, to support ingram's ironclad wooden steamers were acquired. there was alreads.s. indian chief, the squadron's receiving and training ship. in january 1863, soldiers captured uss isaac smith, transferring it to the confederate navy as keystone to funnel enemy ships into killing

fields. confederate sewed layers of obstructions and underwater mines contemporarily called torpedoes. beauregard also supported constructing torpedo boat prototype ships, specifically the october 1862 proposal by army captain francis lee to build a torpedo room named torch. this small cigar shaped se-smersible based on the famed whinnying steamer was designed to plant explosive torpedoes on enemy hulls. beauregard sent lee to richmond for vernment sanctioned, even telling confederate and navy secretary steven mallo hdid not mind if the navy commandeered the project as, quote, all that i desired was to see it afloat and ready. a second win in cigar vessel named avenger, designed with an underwater cannon and torpedoes, was proposed by texas cartographer zephyr robert crews bar avengers design was approved

by south carolina's legislature in january 1863. but scarce resources canceled that project opposing charleston, where major general david hunter and rear admiral samuel francis, the point hunter, commanded u.s. forces in 1862. secession will campaign the south atlantic blockading squadron had been to ponce since late 1861, when the admiral captured port royal sound as a coaling and repair yard. he blockaded charleston and savannah and offered limited cooperation in the secession build campaign, just as beauregard and ingram predicted. dupont awaited a handful of monitors and the 3300 ton iron clad frigate uss new ironsides. recognizing this, ingram and beauregard prepared their own strike since their commissioning in fall 1862, shakara and palmetto stage crew obstinately trained first litent william h.

parker. palmetto state executive office believed his sailors uneasy. equaled their drill at both great guns and smallrms. was excellent, parker recalled. and their discipline perfect. these in clouds might mark a significant diplomat victory if th cld disperse the blockade. before dupont's iron cuds arrived. supporting ingraham's iron clad beregard detailed three steamers packed with soldiers trained in boarding operations on january 31st, in a bright moonlit night, shakarand palmetto state crossed the channel bar at daybreak. they closed the blockade and ingraham strike was opportune as the iron clad frigate new ironsides and several monitors had only just port royal. they were not yet a charleston ingraham's iron clad had the technological advantage. we went to quarters and the men stood silently at their guns.

palmetto state's lieutenant parker recalled. the port shoulders were closed. not a light could be seen from the outside. we steered directly for a uss mersa deeter. we struck him on the starboard quarter and dropping the forward port shutter, fired the bow gun. palmetto state shell, quote, pass through her condenser. the steam drum of her boiler and exploded, blowing a hole, killing the gunner, scolding a number of the men disabled mersa eda struck its colors and its executive officer boarded ingram's flagship and had the crew paroled. sister corps a target a u.s. keystone state striking hurt ten times and piercing her steam drum. she lowered her colors in surrender with one quarter of her crew killed and wounded, both iron ironclad sought other targets, hoping beauregard steamers would take their prizes into charleston, but no steamers crossed the bar and mercedes and

keystone state escaped the remaining blockade or spread. and ingraham's iron clouds returned to charleston unscathed. the two surrendered blockade ers lost 24 killed, 23 wounded, and about 100 sailors paroled as prisoners. ingram and beauregard proclaimed a formal breech in charleston's blockade with foreign consoles brought to the channel bar to personally observe the scattered warships. the blockade remained distant but never left visual sight of charleston. the blockade was dented, not broken. learning of the sortie. admiral dupont rushed the steam frigate while bosch monitor passaic, an ironclad frigate. new ironsides, the charleston. they were soon joined by seven more passaic class monitors, shifting the ironclad advantage to the united states. knowing us, iron clouds were amassing unconventional, experimentation expanded.

in february, beauregard ward's boarding parties were replaced with sailors trained in jamming monitor turrets and using what today be called molotov cocktails. they were also trained using rowboats fitted with spar torpedoes. captain francis lee successfully sank a test ship with a spar torpedo in march. everything was not smooth with charleston's command. however, though beauregard approved of torpedo experiments. captain ingram lacked faith in such, quote, new fangled notions. a richmond investigator concluded ingram should be replaced for over cautiousness. by april, he was relegated to command charleston's navy yard. only with now captain john tucker, assuming squadron command charleston's naval officers approved. tucker was, quote, energetic capable and ought to command visiting british officer arthur freemantle agreed believing

tucker a, quote, very good fellow and a perfect gentleman with captain tucker commanding the squadron ironclad. lieutenant alexander warley assumed command of shakara. cooperation between tucker and beauregard flourished and the captain fitted spar torpedoes to the ironclaw guards and all harbor steamers and larger rowboats. palmetto state's lieutenant william parker believed working with these torpedoes was, quote, no joke and about the most unpleasant duty i ever had to perform. dupont needed to vindicate his embarrassment at the confederate sortie, and the admiral believed an ironclad strike against fort sumter was warranted to remove channel. he requested the experimental submersible alligator, but that vessel sank in a storm en route to port royal. other methods were required.

by april, he amassed the ironclad frigate new ironsides, seven pacific class monitors and the experimental twin fixed rreted uss keokuk. dupont issued assault directives. the monitor weehawken would lead fitted with, quote bden raft on its bow to brush aside rope otionand receive the shock ofirstorpedo following column or the monitors. passaic montauk rhaps go new ironsides. then the monitors catskill, nantes rocket and the hand with polk trailing the laws were directed to quote fire on fort sumter, aiming at the center and brassiere. officers were directed that, quote, precision rather than rapidity of fire was crucial. at least three formerly enslaved men who escaped charleston, robert smalls, richard bell and gabriel pinckney piloted

monitors in five wooden war steamers assembled to support. and general david hunter marshaled 12,000 men trained in boat operation ins. should an amphibious assault develop confetti? it anticipated dupont attack by 76 cannon at fort sumter and morris and sullivan's islands were used in the engagement behind sumter or tuckers iron clods and rowboats armed with spar torpedoes can confederate naval officers even prepared to commandeer civilian steamers to carry more? if you require those warships, take them. captain tucker ordered. if dupont passed sumter, the confederate navy would meet him after a two hour delay because uss weehawken minesweeper device became entangled oldupt squadron weighed anchor a1: p.m. on april six, 1863. tucker's flotilla took station steaming, quote, slowly around

in a circle behind fort sumter while sumter garrison, quote, hosted the confed trade and palmetto flags. while a band played patriotic, ayres. at 3:10 p.m. gunners fired on weehawken as it approached fort sumter as obstructions. then on all nine u.s. iron gloves, a sailor remembered seeing bowie as, quote, floating about, which gave a suspicion of torpedoes. captain john rogers weehawken skipper observed obstruction so, thickly packed quote. they appeared almost to touch one another. one exploded near weehawken, which lifted the vessel a little damaging the mines weeping device. weehawken turned around the remaining iron clouds also eventually turned near the obstructions. after about 20 minutes under sumter, a u.s. pacific's captain drayton reported the turret jammed the 11 inch gun carriage disabled the side armor in one place and nearly knocked off uss

montauk. skippered by by john warden, uss monitor's captain in its contest was the ss virginia. also turned uss perhaps go founded on obstructions was struck 47 times and its turret jammed monitor's cskill. sail and hand collided wi uss new ironsides in the mayhem. the flagship left t column unknowingly anchoring on top of a torpedo which failed to detonate the uss in a hand closed fort sumter. but its turret jammed steering disablednd pilot and senior quartermaster killed. the final ship, uss keokuk, quote, was struc90 times. most of the shot piercing her. at 430, dupont signaled to withdraw. he intended to renew the assault come morning. his captains convinced him otherwise.

u.s. keokuk soon sank us as passaic limped to new york for repairs. david hunter's troops sat idle. the failure idled dupont. i attempted to take the bull by the horns, but he was too much for us, he wrote. hunter, while concluding charleston, quote, can not be taken by a purely naval assault. exacerbating the embarrassment within days, two blockade runners carrying thousand rifles eluded his monitors. when word reached washington navy secretary gideon welles was, quote, pained, grieved and distressed. confederates celebrated the boasted arms of the yankees as a defeat. dayers penned the blessing of god and the genius of beauregard. it has again baffled the malignant designs of our foes and the queen city stands untarnished in her glory.

life continued as normal for charleston's anglo elite, with weekly auctions of enslaved personnel and supplies smuggled through the blockade. admiral dupont kept his ships nearby for several days as he reassessed options. confetti crates determined to seize the initiative. on april 9th, general beauregard spoke with captain tucker about launching a torpedo boat attack within days, tucker assembled quote, skiff and canoes with a few serviceable cutters fitted with poles with 60 pounds torpedoes. the day before the counterattack, dupont withdrew his iron clouds. other counters quickly developed. one envisioned striking blockade with torpedo rowboats while chicory and palmetto state assaulted uss new ironsides. it was aborted on april 21st after checkers engines malfunctioned in may. checkers executive officer william parker brought six

torpedo rowboats to james island to strike iron clouds in the edisto river. parker's sailors rendezvous with supporting infantry and cavalry, losing surprise. a confederate deserter informed u.s. sailors the night before the assault, though. and losing surprise, parker abandoned the attack. astonishing soldiers witnessing their return as, quote, the grass being very high. the appearance was that of six boats manned and with colors flying, sailing over the land and some mysterious manner. on june 17th, the iron clad atlanta grounded and was captured by monitors as it attempted to shift through inland waters from savannah to strike the blockade. confederate ambitions to use aggressive action to keep dupont reacting. failed. meanwhile, confederate divers salvaged 211 inch guns from uss keokuk to wreck parts of the iron signal book were also

recovered. providing means the means to secure a significant intelligence coup. in march 1863, a u.s. army signal officer was captured. a confederate officer wearing a u.s. uniform was quartered with him, and he, using keokuk, recovered signal book. the intelligence officer convinced the prisoner. he was also a navy signalman in training the intelligence officer learne u.s. ph disk code procedures and confederates regularly regularly read signals encrypd ing that system for the rest of 1863, providing what beauregardhowritten memoir called, quote, an incalculable advantage. to b fair, u. val forces also captured a charleston blockade runner's codebook in 1860 to providing them signals used by blockade runners to enter the harbor. washington's politico and military leaders grew jaded. compounding troubles at least 17

blockade runners entered charleston, january and may 1863, carrying at least 16,000 rifles, five batteries of field artillery and 1100 barrels of gunpowder or weapons to arm an entire army corps. change was needed. general hunter and admiral dupont were relieved. in may, brigadier general quincy gilmore was tapped to replace hunter, despite hunter's entreaties directly to abraham lincoln. it was hoped gilmore's engineering pedigree and demotred ability commanding the april 1862 fort pulaski siege would bear fruit. navy secretary gideon well needed someone whoou work with army commanders. and his diary was telling, quote, farragut, if not employed elsewhere, would be the man and the cotrwould accept the change with favor. the agendtanding of d.d. porter would be deemed objectionable by many.

yet heasome good points for the duty. foote would be a good man for the place. the waldron earnestly wants th position and is the choice of the president. but there would be general discontent where he selected, having commanded ironclad doors at forts henry and donaldson, rear admiral andrew foote could cooperate with army commanders. wells had a free and full talk with foote before bringing in general gilmore to work out preliminaries. wells also appointed rear admiral john dahlgren as foote's deputy, the inventor of the dahlgren cannon. foote's friend of 20 years and president lincoln's favorite dahlgren was envisioned as ideal to command the monitor a flotilla. this triad had the right balance of technical prowess, siege, expertise and cooperative spirit. things immediately shifted, however, when admiral foote complained of headaches on june 2nd and quickly developed nephritis.

on june 25th, dahlgren officially became dupont's replacement. hours later, admiral foote died. what a loss to the country and mourned. lieutenant george belknap on uss new ironsides agreed, calling foote's death a, quote, national calamity. gilmore assumed command of what became the 10th corps on june 12th, and when dahlgren relieved dupont on july 4th, the two finalized plans by a personal conferen the aldrin's ironclad words would provide close support, ile lmore facilitated an amphibious landing on the island's northern tip of mor isla capture batteries. wagner and greg. with these secort sumter could be suppressed from land fortn. while the monitor is moved in to clear channel obstructions to capture charleston infmed of hunter's and dupont's relief, beauregard anticipated renewed campaigning. other fronts, however dre

histion. he wrote letters advising how to reconquer tennesd relieve vicksburg siege. vainly hoping to again command a field army instead. three of beauregard, two brigades, 7000 men were transferred to to help relieve the vicksburg siege and. one the north carolina, the morris island amphibious assault occurred seamlessly on july ten. boatsrom uss weehawken and uss new ironsides transferred generageorge strong's 2000 man brige and a battery of naval howitzers folly island. while for monitors provided a quote, extremely severe rain of shells against confedete beach defenses, lieutenant robert edwards of th48th new york remembered how during the boat landings, quote, many were spattered with water by shells drping near. by 9 a.m., gilre occupied most

of the island capturingeveral hundred confederates. skirmish was closed. morris island's northern end while admiral dahlgren shelled battery wagner until dusk. the day had been extremely hot, one sailor remembered, and the men were thoroughly worn out. the cooperative spirit showed cracks. the next morning when general gilmore assaulted battery wagner at daw theeventh connecticut seventies a pennsylvania and ninth main infantry regiments. confederates lost in e failed attack. gilme. saw 339. admiral dahlgren only learned of th attack when gall gilmore told him it failed. gilmore then began bombarding wagner dorrans iron clods provided daily support responding. beauregard and tucker organized five torpedo rowboat counterattacks to disrupt bombarding monitors. the weather prevented these from

succeeding when not sheltering in bomb proofs. wagner's garrison responded. on july 11th and 12th, uss nahant was struck with, quote, heavy iron shot plowing three deep valleys in her deck with another hit expose its boilers. everyone knew this bombardment preceded another assault on july 15th, confederate signal officers decoded intercepted messages from dahlgren asking at what time will you begin firing and when will the assault made? heavy rains prevented the positioning of shaw batteries postponing the attack to july 18. the confederates added a minefield to disrupt a charge. it was another opportunity to demonstrate u.s. cooperative capabilities. all through july 18th, field artillery and iron clouds bombarded wagner, uss new ironsides. lieutenant belknap observed how bursting shells, quote, threw up

clouds of sand the uss catskill was typical of the monitors that day, firing 124 heavy shells into wagner, while new ironside. fired 805 confederate counter battery fire, quote, concentrated upon the iron sides with furious force. sailors observed activity hinting an imminent assault uss in the hands of a hunter concluded quote something important was afoot as regiments of troops could be seen formed on and near the confederate defenders having intercepted messages from gilmore asking general strong about a supporting column and advising naval officers that, quote, an attack is ordered at dusk. these soldiers were brigadier general truman seymour's division. as twilight faded, they advanced the lead brigade of general george strong was led by con robert shaw's th massachusetts infantry regiment, followed the sixth connecticut 48th, new

york third, new hampshire, ninth maine and 76 pennsylvania. colonel putnam's four regen foowed. general thomas stevenson's brigade was in reserve. as strong brigade advanced naval gunfire ceased for fear of friendly fire. this caused the resulting columns dearly for if the attack proceeded during daylight, the monitors might have continued firing as strong's regiments advanced nearly atop wagner's parapet. instead, the confederates rushed from their bomb proof to blast the assaulting regiments. the leading 54th massachusetts suffered heaviest jets of flame darted forth from every corner. and embrace your private george stevens ralled. and even fort sumter poured solid shotgun shells on our heads. the 54th massach advced quote down into the moat and like demons ascended the parapet.

colonel shaw was killed as his men waited, quote, through a deadee monitor as, quote, the rapid flashes of musket tree could be seen. and some oratt of it came ovewater. we could do, admiral dahlgren la to fire might cut down our own men by hundreds for an hour. the 54th faced musket tree ermines and hand grenades opening the way for strong's other regiments. in the chaos general strong fell mortally woundedlong with the six. connecticut's colonel lyman chatfield, the 48th rk's colonel william bell, wounded colonel putnam's br closed. putnam was killed. division commander truman seymou wounded. after several hours, u.s. forces withdrew in front of the fort. the scene of carnage is indescribable. reported wagner's commander. the repulse was overwhelming.

all dahlgren sailors knew was firing, quote, gradually decreased and then died away. it was not until morning they definitively learned the assault failed. u.s. casualties were extreme, over 1500. the confederates lost perhaps 200. while this second aid battery wagnerism combined with actions at port hudson and milligan's band, proved african american could tenaciously fight. it showed uncoordinated frontal assaults on coastal fortifications. without naval support was folly. general beauregard was ecstatic. praise be to god. he penned to joseph johnston and braxton bragg after shelling battery wagner all day, the enemy attempted to storm, but was gallantly repulsed with great slaughter. a formal commenced. gilmore's engineering skills served him well developing trenches and parallels the enemy's heavy artillery and dog

runs. iron clouds kept a dose of tory fire as parall csed. wagner heavy guns also shifted to bombard fmter amidst this siege. news arrived, leaving dahlgren mu afflicted his son. ulric was wounde pencil. virginia. perhaps o'rourke's wounding affected dorgan'esen of mind for within days of receiving the news, the admiralr assaulting wagner without naval support, cg he was, quote grateful to cooperate. if gilmore would actually allow him to. gilmore' parallels morris island with mortars and recoil, volley guns adding to the siege. yesterday, i went up with the iron cand opened aeavy fire on fort wagner in order to prevent a sortie upon some new works, dahlgren wrote in a typical report on july 25th.

the firing of fort wagner was soon silenced and the garrison driven to shelter so that in the course of the morning our new batteries were partially armed. captain tucker squadron remained active. shakara and palmetto state alternated nights guarding against raids. sailors also manned craft shifting manpower or artillery and supplies into and out of sumter and wagner. beauregard appreciated the support writing quote sailors materi really strengthened our means of defense. at boer guards requests tucker increased torpedo and boat erations. in early august, lieutenant alexander worsley led sails and soldiers fr t 25th south carolina. on boat exploration, clearing u.s. troops from lighthouse crk. on august eighth, the blockade runner turned gunboats seize as juno caprea uss wabash picket boat. on august 16, a night of torpedo oaths was released down the ste river, destroying a small

boat from uss pawnee. another torpedo was released off morris island two days later. the recently completed torpedo boat torch launched an attack on august 21st against uss new ironsides. but the iron clad maneuvered out of the way. the case made it iron clad. charles dunn joined tucker squadron in september. one engineer believed it. quote, one of the most formidable iron in service. also was the submersible h.l. hunley, fresh from in mobile iron clad sailors drilled with it. though it would take months of practice, several disasters and three crew was before the submersible became operational. steam powered torpedo boats including 60 even ready to many monitors. sailors worried about the torpedoes and began quote sleeping on deck, spreading down their hammocks at night. a bath of their turrets despite

interdictions, gilmore's siege continued. the famed swamp angel targeted charleston itself, a naval battery and battalion of u.s. marines led by major jacob zeeland, joined the land operation. the u.s. squadron, however, suffered a serious loss in the form of three of admiral dahlgren chiefs of staff captain william taylor, first returning north from illness. the second commander, john rogers, was killed on august 17th when a fort wagneshell quote, struck bare un the top of the lot house of the catskill. smashing the iron plates down upon the head of those on duty. finally, lutenant commander oscar badger dorgan's ordinance officer and third acting chief of staff was wounded by a shell on september 1st. on august 21st, admiral attempted an iron clad assault against sumter, but abandoned it after uss passaic ran aground. regardless, the confederates

were ready. having decrypted another message about it, morris islands commander informed beauregard of the intercept, quote, we intend to whip the admiral by september. gilmore's parallels were 50 yards from wagner and the general planned another assault. this time, he sought dahlgren cooperation to have iron clouds provide shifting fire. the attack was scheduled for dawn of september 7th. it was apparent to the confederates an assault was brooding. beauregard ordered morris island evacuated. captain tucker facilitated the night evacuation chickerell palmetto state and charleston anchored near fort sumter. guns trained on gilmore's trenches. 40 boats manned by sailors evacuated wagner's garrison because gilmore's men were so close. heavy guns were left behind. an officer took 77 enslaved laborers and hastily dug rifle pits between wagner and battery. greg manning that position as greg evacuated at dawn.

wagner's commander boarded ksf charleston and fired a rocket to signal the operations completion. just then, dorgan's iron clad opened fire and gilmore's men charged a flanking forcof barges captured theast two confederate boats. the whole islanders ours. t the enemy of escaped us. gilmore signaled to dahlgren, who wanted to capitalize by demanding fort sumter surrender the 200 man. garrison rlied, quo. inform admiral dahlgren. he may have fort sumter when he can take and hold it. unwilling to let go more sweep the glory dulverton ordered a bombardment of the noble mass ruins to force sumner's capitulation. several monitors covered while uss weehawken sounded for a gap in the chael obstructions in the process. weehawken ran aground. confederate gunners targeted the iron clad. the next morning after tugs

tried refloating it. uss new ironsides and monitor's montauk and passaic covered weehawken until the iron clad refloated. during the next semi diurnal high tide. this incident may include the first naval combat photographs ever recorded. as a photographer on morris island captured an image supposedly dated september eight, 1863, of uss new ironsides and several monitor engaging confederate fortifications. a second image dated september eighth, taken inside fort sumter, shows uss new ironsides and two bombarding monitor's photograph effect technology advanced as other military technologies were impmented across charleston. phibious assault as.oned the iron clouds covered weehawken. the admiral called for 400 coander thomas stevens,rt sumter

skipper of the monitor partap sco, led assault force. stevens was apprehensive, but dahlgren didn't care. possession, the admiral told him. you will find nothing but a corporal's guard to oppose you. after morris island was evacuated, sumter commander major stephen elliott anticipo aided an assault and continuously kept one third of his garrison on alert short of boats. dahlgren signal general gilmore asking to borrow some army craft. gilmore was flabbergasted, waited for he was planning his own amphibious assault. elements of the seventh connecticut and 104th pennsylvania manned their own boats to land colonel thomas osborn's assault of the 24th massachusetts and 10th connecticut. gilmore proposed merging both attacks under current law. osborn dahlgren responded. i cannot consent to let the commander be other than a naval

officer. ultimately, all they agreed on was using the watchword detroit to prevent friendly fire. a distraught gilmore sent dahlgren one final message. we must trust to chance and hope for the best no matter who gets the fort. if we place our flag over it. unsurprised, teasingly seasick, or as quartermaster, intercepted and all the messages. both groups marshaled their assault boats. the tug dandelion towed dorgan's boats toward sumter at 10 p.m. once close, they released at 1 a.m. on september 9th, major elliott observed the navy's boats approaching as sumter garrison mustard dahlgren closed on uss philadelphia, and oe close, the admiral got into a rowboat and began heading for sumter himself. tt moment, sumter, quote, threw up a rocket and burned a red light. and almost immediately the batteries on sullivan's and

james island opened a heavy fire, ceased. chickerell, quote, had a good chance to work her guns on the landing party where u.s. coordination faltered. confederate cooperate and flourished. the attack was defeated in 30 minutes. elliott journal recorded the particul the enemy attempted to land. he was received by awetefire ofs and by hand grenades, which were ralizing.he him. fragments of the apartment were also thrown down upon him. only four boats landed, and once they wat, commander stevens withdrew the rest. colonel osborn had strict instctions that if the navy landed first, he was to abandon the army's attack to avoid friendly fire. thus, osborn reversed his boat just when they were most needed. dahlgren spent the rest of the night in his rowboat trying to coordinate the retreat and find

his flagship, which had left without him. u.s. casualties were approximately 115. most all prisoners, including the executive officer of uss wissahickon and lieutenant samuel preston dobbins, fourth acting chief of staff of the campaign, the confederate were unscathed. a sailor perfectly summarized the. lack of harmony seems to have characterized the efforts of the two branches of the service. a joint attack might have scored a brilliant success. word of the confederate victory quickly spread. georgia teenager leroy gresham pinned the news from glorious old sumter. is soul stirring. beauregard name is on every tongue. war department clerk john jones wrote from richmond. the repulsed amphibious assault ended active operations against charleston in 1863. the fort sumter bombardment continued, but gilmore suspended field operations and dahlgren

launched no more attacks. nonetheless, small scale activity continued. on november 16th, uss lehigh grounded and was fired 4 hours. on december sixth, uss weehawken foundered and sank with 31 sailors lost. five days later, fort sumter magazine exploded, killing 11 soldiers and wounding major stephen elliott, the man seven months later commanded the salient destroyed in the battle of the crater. regardless with morris island in u.s. hands, the number of blockade runners reachg charston dramatically. confederate soldiers maintained their pres in the 1864, adding more land mines to city ches confederates continued slashing at the blockade. in october 1863, the torpedo boat david successfull detonated a torpedo damaging uss new ironsides. ten days later, the submersible h.l.unley sank during test.

with the loss of its crew, the second such incident tt year in february 1864, a new crew of soldiers took suddenly on fateful voyage sinking uss, who sardonic but never returning. other torpedo boat attacks launched in 64. none succeeded as 1864 campaigns began, focus shifted from charleston. most of gilmore's joined the army or the james beauregard forces shifted to them, and the general waged a dogged of petersburg. charleston flew the confederate flag in the 1865, only surrendering. william t sherman's armies arrived by. land 1863. charleston proved a cauldron of technological tactical innovation. the january iron clad sortie was one of the few actions where multiple confederate iron clouds vanced together. april's fort sumter proved monitorsou withstand severe enemy fire while operating

together. uss weehawken minesweeper. the device was modified and used in other theaters, ground and underwater minefield denied u.s. maneuverability. torpedo boats were copied in north carolina and louisiana from within to generations of the submersibles, alligator and h.l. hunley submarines were a staple of naval warfare, breaking the u.s. cipher encryption proved decisive for beauregard, extensive photography was enhanced by photographs captured during fort sumter bombardment. technology is only as effective as those using it, though both sides needed cooperative commanders to accomplish missions, and both underwent command changes in pursuit. following the january ironclad, the more innovative captain john tucker replaced duncan ingram squadron command. tucker and beauregard understood charleston as geography and how to prioritize limited resources.

the two readily cooperated. beauregard supported torpedo boat implementation, and tucker provided ironclad fire support or small boats to reallocate troops and supplies. it was common to see sailors supporting ground operations or soldiers utilizing naval. this cooperation benefited both commanders. later in the war. beauregard worked wonders defending bermuda and petersburg, while tucker commanded sailors and ground formations at the battle of creek. for the united states, there was little tangible cooperation between general david hunter and rear admiral samuel francis. the. the april fort sumter assault was a purely naval one. even with hunter's troops available, both worried about ego and service branch prestige. and after april's to punt became paranoid about his reputation. both to go. new commanders were selected for skill sets and cooperative potential. quincy gilmore's engineering

experience fit the needs of siege warfare. andrew foote had experience working with soldiers and clouds. john dahlgren was the navy's ordnance expert. they met before assuming duties to campaign plans, unfortunately put to death, removed the officer, able to see all sides of an issue. the initial morris island landings demonstrated how the army and navy cooperate. but the failed battery wagner assault the next day suggested perhaps gilmore not always want that cooperation. if he had to share the glory. the initial wagner bombardment used the navy, but the july 18th assault was too late in the day for fire support from ships. and left. admiral dahlgren, smarting just as he learned of his son's wounding. the final assault against battery wagner that never seemed a more coordinated but confederate evacuation of morris island threw it into disarray. dahlgren wanted to capitalize by

assaulting fort sumter, but as quick action resulted in an iron clad grounding. by then, both commanders were so strained they planned independent assaults against sumter. neither was willing to allow the other to completely command results, whereas expected charleston was not the linchpin campaign of 1863, but was the only area where the confederacy sustained itself throughout the year without major loss. confetti rate successes here allowed the shifting of troops from beauregard, though those did not spark victories elsewhere. the united states close to charleston to blockade runners in 1863 and the experienced general gilmore's troops gained besieging battery. wagner in fort sumter helped against richmo and petersburg the next year. major jacobs dillon, who learned about large unit marine corps command at charleston, became commandant of the marine corps in 1864.

african troops in the campaign helped expand the recruitment of what became the united states colored troops. real cooperative spirit between u.s. military and naval forces on the coastline. however, was still a year away, even though general ulysses grant and admiral david porter cooperated in against vicksburg, it would not be until 1864 at mobile bay in 1865 against fort fisher. that sailors and soldiers truly to achieve larger objectives. and in both of those cases, it was the working relationships of the commanders that fostered results. though charleston was essentially closed to blockade runners in 1863, perhaps if the united states commanders cooperated as well as their confederate opponents, they could have achieved more against. the sessions birthplace that year.

good evening and welcome to this very special event here at the gerald r ford presidential museum. really proud to see all of you coming out to enjoy, i think, what's going be a very stimulating discussion about. our home, we don't know enough about. i'm