This day in Charleston
2 entries · 1862
Lieutenant Gillis of the USS E. B. Hale reported his vessel’s part in the attack on the Confederate battery on the morning of the 16th: at half past three in the morning he got under way with the Ellen and proceeded up Light-House Creek. The navy could reach Secessionville by water, and the army still had to cross the neck on foot.
Official Records of the Navies, Series I, Vol. 12
Writing from the Stono three days after Secessionville, Commander Drayton put the Federal loss at seven hundred and called it “a mad undertaking to risk that murderous fire behind breastworks.” The navy’s judgment on the army’s day was harsh and correct, and it was shared by most of the men who had made the charge.
Official Records of the Navies, Series I, Vol. 13
Entries are dated from the War of the Rebellion official records, the naval official records and contemporary Charleston sources. Browse the whole year.