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. joy 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 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 harriand coral. once you seniohigh school, he ishe author of defending the arteri of rebellion confederate naval operations in the mississippi river valley, 1861 1865, and front like devils, e confederate gunboat

mccrae and he's. he's going to lk about both the army and the navy erations in the great over e confederacy. the charleston where both services were together and separately. meyer later conquered the city and and he's got some very interestinthings 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 grea 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 infany

regiment charges battery. wagner, demonstrating the prowess of african-american soldiers pioneing 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 tconfederate sustainability. charleston's viting harbor sits between thean cooper rivers. three ship cnnels converged into one inlet. conf defense is at mris island. sullivan's island a fort sumter guarded these wle more fortifications protected the inner andity swamp inlets, waterways and islands swept charlestonpephery, providg alternateoutes to th though the defeated cevote in 1862 mad these seem precarious. instead, 186saw 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 conferacy. the biggest change occurredn fall 1862, when made when genel john pemberton was reassigned from charleston to command vicksburg. replacing pemberton was general pierre gustav tuten beauregard, fresfrom his stinging relief command. ares in tennsee and miissippi, though he resented that demotion. beaure turned aengineer's eye on charleston, as is department's linchpin, charlesto's naval squadron was led by captain duncanngram, who joined the navy at age nine

in 1812. in 1862, ingram's squadron centered on e iron clad shakara and palmetto state. smaller versions of the famed success virginia sporting a angled, on plated case made armed with 4 to 6 guns each. the united stas navy was building ironclad, improvising, improve wing on uss monitor design, and beauregard expected them to, qte, dash with as many iron clouds as they can commd, 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 princil subordinate commander john r tucker. these officers concluded heavy guns were required for an outer rbor perimeter defense, while ingra's iron clouds would serve, quote, as an impo auxiliary, defending all parts of the harbor. the cit'uld nevestave off, monitor air

holding the mrice iand salter sullivan's island line was critical. heavy artille bolstered these fortifications a reserves concentratedo shtle by rail between charleston and savaah, georgia, to support ingram's ironclad wooden steamers were acquir. there was already s.s. indian chief, the squadron's receivin and tining ship. in january 1863, soldis capturedss isaac smith, tranerring it to the confederate navy as keystone to funnel enemy ships io killing fields. confederate sewed layers of obstructions and underwater mines contemporarily cled 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 semi-submersible based on the

famed whinnyinstmer was designed to plant explosive torpedoes on enemy hulls. beauregard sent lee to richmond for government sanctioned, even telling nferate and navy secretary steven mallory he did 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 propos 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 dad hunter and rear admiral samuel francis, the point hunter, commanded u.s. fces 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 cmissioning in fall 1862, shakara and palmetto stage crew obstinately trained first lieutenant william h. parker. palmetto state executive officer. believed his slors uneasy. equaled thr drill at both great guns and small arms. was excellent, parker recalle and their discipline perfect. these iron clouds might mark a siificant diplomat victory if they could disperse the blocka. before dupont's ironlouds arrived. supporting ingraham's iron clad

beauregard detailed three steamers pked with soldiers trained in boarding operations on january 31st, in a bright moonlit night, shakara and palmetto state crossed the channel bar at dbreak. 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 r 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 boded ingram's flagship and had th 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 crewilled and wounded, both ironronclad 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. ingr and beauregard proclaimed a formal breech in charleston's blockade with foreign consoles brought to the channel bar to

personally observe the scattered warshi. 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, experimentationxpanded. 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 smootwith charleston's command.

however, though beauregard approvedf torpedo experiments. captaiingram lacked faith in such, quote, new fangled noons. a richmond investigator concluded ingram should be replac 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 gtleman withaptain 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 alligatorbut that vessel sank in a storm en route to port royal. other methods were required. by apr, he amassed the ironclad frigate new ironsides, seven pacific class monitors the expemental twin fixed dunt issued assault. directives. the monitor ken would lead fitted with, quote, a big wooden raft on its bowo brush aside rope obstructions and receive the shock of the first torpedo

follcolu or the monitors. passaic montauk and perhaps go onsis. the monitors catskill, nantes rocket and th with polk trailing the iron claws 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 lea three formerly enslad men who escaped charleston, robert smalls, richard bell and gabrl pinckney piloted monitors in five wooden war steamers assembled tsupport. and general david hunter marshaled 12,000 men trained in boat operaon ins. should an amphibious assault develop confetti? it anticiped dupont attk by 76 cannon at fort sumter and morris and sullivan's isnds were used in the engagement behind sumter or tuckers iron

ods 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 devic became entangled old dupont squadron weighed anchor at 1:15 p.m. on april six, 1863. tucker's flil took station steaming,uo, slowly around in a circle behind fort sumter while mter garrison, quote, hosted the confed trade and palmetto fla. while a band played patriotic, ayres. 3:10 p.m. gunners fired on weehawken as it approached fort sumter as obstructions. then on all nine u.s. iron glov, a sailor remembered seei bowie as, quote, floating abou which gave a suspicion of

torpedoes. captain john rogers weehawken skipper observed obstrucon 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. ter about 20 minutes under mter, a u.s. pacific's captai drayton reported the turret jammed the 11 inch gun carriage disabled the side armor in one place and near knocked off uss montauk. skipped by by john warden, uss monitor's captain in its contest was the ss virginia. al turned usserhaps go founded on obstructions was ruck 47 times and its turret jammed monitor's catskill. sail and hand collided with uss new ironsid in the mayhem.

the flagship left the column unknowingl anchong on top of a torpedo which failed to detonate the uss in a hand closed forsumter. but its turret jammed steeri disabled and pilot and senior quartermaster killed. the final ship, uss keokuk, quote, was struck 90 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 thembarrassment within days, two blocke runners carrying thousand rifs eluded his monitors. when word reached washingt navy secretary gideon well 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 againaffled 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 smuggle 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 cutte fitted with poles with 60 pounds torpedoes. the day before the coterattack, dupont withdrew his iron cloud 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 inrmed 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 aggressi action to keep dupont reacting. failed. meanwhile, confederate divers salvaged 211 inch ns from uss keokuk to wreck partof the iron signal book were also recovered. providing means the means to secure a significant intelligence cp. in march 1863, a u.s. army signal officer was captured. a conferate officer wearing a s. uniform was quartered with him, and he, using keokuk, recovered signal book. e intelligence officer convinced the prisoner. he was ao a navy signalman in training the ielligence

officer learned u.s. cipherisk code procedures and confederates regularly regularly re snals encrypted using that system for the rest of 1863, proving what beauregard ghostwritten memoir called, quote, an incalculable advantage. to be fair, u.s. naval forces also captured a charleston blockade rner's codebook in 1860o 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 npowder or weapons to arm an entire army corps. change was needed. general hunter and admiral dupontere relieved. inay, brigadier general quincy gilmore s tapped treace

hunter, despite hunter's entreaties directly to abraham lincoln. was hoped gilmore's engineering pedigree and demonstrated ability commanding the april 1862 fort pulaski siege would bear fruit. navy secretary gideon wells needed someone who could work with armyomnders. and his diary was telling, quote, farragut, if not employed elwhe, would be the man and the country would acce the change with favor. the age and standing of d.d. porter would be deemed objeioble by many. yet he has some good points for the duty. foote would be a good man for the place. the waldron earnestly wants the position and is the choice of e 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, e 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 25, 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 the0th corps on june 12th, and when dahlgren relieved dupont on july 4th, the two

nalized plans by a personal conferences. the aldrin's ironclad words d provide close support, while gilmorfacilitated an amphibious landing on the la's northern tip of morri island to capture bat. wagner andreg. with these secured fort sumter could be ssed om ld fortification. while the monitor is moved clear channel obstructions t capture charle informed of hunte's and 's relief, beauregard aated renewed campaigning. other fronts, hower, also drew his attention. he wrote letters advising how to reconquer tennessee and relieve vicksburg siege. vain hoping to again command a field army instead. three of beauregard, two brigades, 7000 men were transferred to to help relieve e vicksburg siege and. one the north carolina, the

morris island amphibious assault occuedeamlessly on july ten. boats from uss weehawken anuss new ironsidesransferred general george strong's 2000 man brigade and a battery of naval howitzers foy island. while for monitors provided a, quote, extremely severe ra of shel against confederate beach defenses, lieutenant robe edwards of the 48th new york rembered how durin the boat landings, que, many were sptered with water by shells dropping near. by 9 a.m., gilmore occupied most of the island capturing several 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 dawn with the seventh connecticut seventies annex

pennsylvania and ninth infantry reg. confederates lost 13 men in the failed attack. gilmore. saw 339. admihlgr only learned of the attack when gall gilmore him it failed. githen began bombarding fort 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, que, heavy iron shot plowing three deep valleys in her deck with another hit expose s boilers. everyo knew this bombardment preceded anoer 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, concenated upon the iron sides with furious force. sailor 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 columand advising naval officers that, quote, an attack is ordered at dusk. these soldiers were brigadier general truman seymour's division. twilight faded, they advanced the leadride of genel george strong was led by colonel robert shaw's 54th massachusetts infantry regiment, followed by the sixth connecticut 48th, new york third, new hampshire, ninth maine and 76 pennsylvania. colonel putnam's four regiments followed. general tmas stenn's brigade was in rerve. 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 he continued firing as strong's regiments advanced nearly atop wagner's parapet. instead, the cfederates rushed fr their bomb proof to blast the assaulting regiments. the leading 54th massachusetts suffered heaviest jets of flame darted forth from every corner. anembrace your private george stevens recalled. and ev fort sumter poud solid shotellsn our heads. the 54th massachusetts advanced like demons ascended the and parapet. colonel shaw was kild as h men waited, qte, through a deadly fire on the monitor as, quote, the rapid flaf musket tree could be seen. and some of the rattlef it came over the water. we could do, admiral dah lamented to fire might cut down our own men by hundreds for an hour. the th facedusket tree artillery mines anhand

grenades opening the way for strong's othement in the chaos. general strong fell mortal wounded along with the six. conne'colonel lyman chatfield, the 48th w york's colonel wilam bell, colonel putna's brigade closed. putnam was kled. diomnd truman seymour 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 dahlgrenailors knew was firing, quote, graduly 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 navasupport was folly. general beauregard was ecstatic. praise be to god. he penned to joseph johnston and braxton bragg after shellin battery wagner all day, the enemy attempted to storm, but was gallantly repulsed with great slaughter. a formal commenced. gilmore's engineering skil served him well developing trenches andarallels the enemy's heavy artillery and dog runs. iron clouds keptose of tory fire as parallels closed. wagner heavy guns ft to bombard fort sumter amidst ge news arrived, leaving dahlgren. much afflicted his s. ulric was wound in pencil. rhs o'rourk's wounding affected dorgan's presence of

mi for within days of ceg the news, the admiral chastised his gilme for assaultingwitht naval support, claiming he was,uote, grateful to cperate. if gilmore would actually allow him to. gilmore's parallels morris island with mortars and recoil, volley guns adding to the siege. ye i went up with the iron clouds and opened a heavy fire on fort wagner in order to ent 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 ithe course of the morning our new tteries were partially armed. captain tucker squadron reined active. shakara and palmetto state alternated nights guarding against raids. saors 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 strengthen our means of defense. at boer guards requests tucker increased torpedo and boat operations. in early august, lieutent alexander worsley led sailors and soldiers from the 25th south carolina. on boat exploration, clearg u.s. troops from lighthouse creek. on august eighth, the blockade nn turnedunboats seize as juno captured a uss wabash picket boat. august 16, a night of torpedo oaths was releas dn the stone 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 eir 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 serus loss in the form of three of admiral dahlgren chiefs of staff captain williamaylor, first returning rthrolness.

the second commaerjohn rogers, was killed oaugust 17th when a fort wagner shell quote, struck barely upon the top of the pilot house of the catskill. smashing the iroplates dn upon the head of those on duty. finally, lieutenant commander oscar badger dorgan's ordinance officer and third acng chief of staff was wounded by a shell on september 1st. on august 21st, admiral attempted an iron clad assau against sumter, but abandod 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 yas 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 septemr 7th. it was apparent to the

confederates an assault was brooding. beauregard ordered morris island evacuated. captain tucker facilitad the night evacuation chicrell palmetto state andharleston anchored near fort sumter. guns trained on gilmore's trenches. boats manned by sailors evacuated wagn's garrison because gilme's men were so close. hey guns were left behind. an officer took 77 enslaved laborers andastily dug rifle pits between wagner and battery. greganning that position as greg evacuated at dawn. wagner's commander boarded ksf charlest and fir a rocket to signal the operations completion. st then, dorgan's iron clad opened fire and gilmo'men charged a flanking force of barges captured the last two confederate boats. the whol islanders ours. but the enemy of escaped us. gilme signad to dahlgren,

who wanted to capitalize by demanding fort sumter surrender the 200 man. garris replied, quote. inform admiral dahlgren. heay have fort sumter when he can take and hold it. unwilling to let go more sweep the glory dulverton ordered a boardment of the noble mass ruins to fce sumner's capitulation. several monitors covered while uss weehawk sounded for a gap inhe channel obstructions in the process. weehawken ran aground. confederate gunners targeted the ironlad. the next morning after tugs tried refloating it. uss new ironsides and monitor's montauk and passaic covered weehawken until the iron clad reflted. during the next semi diurnal high tide. this incident may include the firsnaval combat photographs ever recorded. as a photographer onorris island captured an image suppedly 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 bombding monitor's photograph eect technology vanced as other military technologies were implemented across charleston. r inext envisioned amphibious assault as. e iron ccoved weehawken. the admilled for 400 volunteestri fort sumter commander thomas stevens, skipper monor partap sco, led thessault force. stevens waspprehensive, but hlgr didn't care. u have oy to go and take posssion, 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 antico aided an assault and continuously kept one third of his garron oalert short of

boats. dahlgren signal general gilmore asking to borrow some army craft. gilmore was flabbergasted, waited for he s pnning 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 massachusett and 10th connecticut. gilmore proposed merging bo 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 watchwordetroit to prevent friendly fire. a distraught gilmore sent dahlgren one fin message. we must trust to chance and hope for the best no matter who gets thfort. if we place our flag over it. unsurprised, teasingly seasick, or as quartermaster, interceed 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 approhing as sumter garrison mustard dahren closed on uss philadelphia, and once close, the admiral got into a rowboat and began heinfor sumter himself. at that moment, sumte 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. t journal recorded the particulars. the enemy attempd to he w received by a well-directed fire of muets and by hnades, which were

very effective in the moralizing. him. fragmentof tme were also thrown down upon him. onbos landed, and once they were defeated, commander stevs withdrew the rest colonel osborn had strict instructions that ifhe 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. s. casualties were approximately 115. most all prisoners, including the executive officer of uss wissahickon and lieutenant samuel preston dobbinsfourth acting chief of staff of the campaign, the confederate were unscathed. a sailor perfectly summarized the. lack of harmony seemso have

characterized the efforts of the two branches of the service. a joint attack might have scored a brilliant success. word of the conferate victory quickly spread. georgia enager 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 contued, but gilmore suspended field operations and dahlgren launched no more attacks. nonetheless, small scale activity continued. on november 16th, uss lehigh grounded and was fed 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 reaching charleston dramatically. confere soldiers mntained their presence in the 1864, adoreand mines to city approaches. confederates continued slash at the blockade. in october 1863, the torpedo boat david successfully detonatea torpedo damaging uss new ironsides. ten days later, the submersible h.l. hunley sank during test. with the loss of its cw, the second such incident that year in february 18, a new crew of ldiers took suddenly on fatefuvoyage sinking uss, who sardonic butever returning. other torpedo boat attacks launched in 64. none succeeded as 1864 campaigns began, focus shifted from charleston. most of gilmore'joined the

army or the james beauregard forces shift 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 t f actions where muiple confederate iron clouds advanced together. apr's fort sumter proved monitors could withstand severe enemy fire while operating gether. uss weehawken minesweeper. the device was modified and used in other theaters, ground and underwater minefield denied u. maneuverility. torpedo boats were copied in north carolina a louisia from within to generations of the submersibles, alligator and h.l. hunley smarines were a staple of naval warfare, breaking the u.s. cipher

encrtion proved decisive for beauregard, extensive photography was enhanced by photographs captured during fort sumter bombardment. technologys only as effective as those using it, though both sides needed cooperative commanders to accomplish missio, and both underwent commanchanges 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 ates, there was lile tangible cooperion 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 e navy's ordnance expert. they met before assuming duties to campaign pns, 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 learneof 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. gner in fort sumter helped against richmond and petersburg thnext 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 lored troops. real cooperative spirit between u.s. military andaval 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 esseially 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 herat 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