THE LAST OBSTRUCTIONS IN CHARLESTON HAR: BOR, 1863.
BY CAPT. JAMES. H. TOMB, JACKSONVILLE, FLA.
There were three lines of torpedoes between Fort Sumtet| and Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island, and also three ropes
the propeller of a steamer trying to pass through the obstruc-} tion. The first line of torpedoes was directly between Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie, leaving an open space between the} torpedoes and the fort in the channel for ships to pass through|| Just above the line of torpedoes in the channel were three large} boilers containing one thousand pounds of powder, with a wire leading to Sullivan's Island and attached to a battezy. These| three mines, if exploded at the right time, could have caused) more destruction then all the other torpedoes combined.
While this was a serious obstruction for any ship to pass, Dixon and I thought that had Admiral Farragut been in| command, in place of Admiral Dahlgren, he would have found) a way to enter the harbor, as Admiral Dahlgren was more in-} terested in protecting his ship from torpedo boat attack than in forcing an entrance to the harbor. Dixon, who was in command of the submarine Hunley, thought they might send upa floating mine on the last of the flood tide, so timed that it} would explode in the obstruction and in time open up a pas-| sage; but I thought the chances were against it, as Capt. W. M. Gray informed me there were more than three hundred torpe-| does in the harbor, and as had charge of that duty, was sat-} isfied no ship could pass the obstruction.
All tubes and copper torpedoes were made for the navy by/ Capt. F. D. Lee, C. S. A.., and he was also the first to make use| of the spar torpedo as used on the David, and had the Confederate Navy Department been as active and as confident in the] value and success of torpedo boats as was General Beauregard, Flag Office Tucker, Captin Lee, and Lieutenant) Glassel, there would have been a fleet of Davids in Charleston) Harbor in place of one. |
When Genera! Sherman took Savannah, there was nothing} in the way of guns or obstruction between Savannah and Au-/ gusta on the Savannah River except one 8-inch gun at Shell' Bluff.
Major General Jones, in command at Charleston, requested | of Flag Officer Tucker, C. S. N., that I be ordered to Augusta to take command of a party sent there to place torpedoes in| the Savannah river below Shell Bluff. On arriving at Augusta | the steamer Leesburg, in command of Captain Philpot, was placed at my order, and we had a number of batteaux built to | take the torpedoes from the ship, and, passing below Shell! Bluff inthe boats, we selected the best location to plant the tor- | pedoes. The torpedo was a keg holding from one hundred to. one hundred and fifty pounds of powder and three tubes containing fulminate, and would explode from percussion.
We selected points in the river best suited for obstructing | the channel between Hudson Ferry and Sister Ferry, and | formed two lines of torpedoes from the point in the river to | the bend, and atthe bend of the river the torpedoes were three hundred feet between the lines, so that if a steamer passed one line in between the bend of the river, she would be apt to strike the other line of torpedoes some three hundred feet
"
'farther up. We placed in all six double lines of torpedoes from three to six feet below the surface, and we felt satisfied no ship could pass through all of the obstructions. I reported to General Fry, C. S. A.., that I had accomplished the duty assigned me, when he informed me I was to report to Major General Young, C. S. A.., who was now in command, and I| did so. General Young gave me orders to return down the \river with my command and remove ail of the torpedoes, as |General Sherman was going to order all Confederates out of i)Savannah and send them up to Augusta by steamer. I (| suggested to him that it would be best to leave the torpedoes
|) we to bring them up above them and let our steamer bring }\\them to Augusta, but he would not do so, and my orders were to "proceed down the river without delay." General Fry,
{of doing this, and I made up my mind not to do it; but unless }/on the sick list and under the care of a doctor, I would have lito do so. I sent a telegram to the Navy Department, Rich}mond, Va.—as Charleston was evacuated—requesting orders | ito join Captain Coxsiter on the Guif Coast and bring in ordiwnance for General Gorgas, C. S. A.., as I had accomplished the {duty assigned me here. I then went to bed and sent for a doctor, who, after hearing what my duty had been and of my isleeping on the mud along the river, said it was a severe case iof malaria fever. The orderly from General Young reported I was very sick and under the care of a doctor. The next morning I received orders to proceed to the Gulf Coast, as 'requested, and left Augusta by the first train. I left twenty \dollars in Confederate currency for the doctor. General 'Sherman did not issuethat order. After reaching the. Gulf | Coast I was taken prisoner, sent to New York, and paroled. | While we were laying torpedoes down the river, we passed la camp fire on the banks of the river and found two Con!\:federate soldiers sound asleep by the fire. When they saw our jmmen, who had on blue uniforms—clothes taken from the Water \\Witch—they thought we were Yanks, and said they were "tired of the war" and "going home." We sent them to the (commanding officer at Shell Bluff, as they had leave for fortyjieight hours to visit home, and it was now three days past. |They belonged to the Wheeler Cavalry.
| A few days after this, as we were returning from the last) line of torpedoes and walking up along the bank of the river, vwe saw two canoes coming down the river with a Yank in each canoe. We hailed them and told them to land, and they jidid so. They were from Wisconsin and Michigan, fine lookJiing men, belonging to the cavalry, and had deserted from |\Sherman's army, then marching through South Carolina. I)imade them take everything off, but found only a pipe, a love letter, and seventeen dollars, in greensbacks. I decided it was best to parole them and let them continue on down the river to | Savannah, as two men more or less would not change the war, | and if they were put in prison it might be the end for them. | They signed the parole and I gave back the pipe, love letter,).and greenbacks and sent two of our men with them to the | canoes. When they came back each had a Yankee overcoat, | and said the men were so thankful for our treatment that they | gave them the overcoats. I did not ask about the money.
| The next day, in passing a field, we saw one of the Confed| erates we had sent to Shell Bluff asa prisoner. He was plow|) ing, and told me that the commander at Shell Bluff sent him |, along with some others under guard to Augusta, but, when a) short distance out from the Bluff, the guard and all deserted |,and went home. I found out from Mrs. Roberts, a good Confederate, that this man was a good neighbor, had been in the | army from the first year, and had not been home in all these
years. He heard they were suffering for food after Sherman passed through, and came home on a forty-eight hour leave. I felt he was deserving of any assistance from me, so! gave him a paper saying he had reported to me, and after five days he was to report for duty, as he couid put in his corn crop in that time. I thought it might help him in case of a trial. All they had was some sweet potatoes to live on.