630 



NAVY, TJ. S., OPERATIONS OF. 



2. South Atlantic Squadron. The beginning 

 of the year found Com. Dupont's squadron ac- 

 tively employed in examining the waters and 

 islands on the South Carolina and Georgia 

 coasts, preparatory to their military occupation. 

 On the first of January a combined attack was 

 made by land and water upon a Confederate 

 post at Port Royal ferry, S. C., the naval for- 

 ces, consisting of 3 gunboats, 2 tugs, and 4 

 armed boats from the Wabash, being under the 

 direction of Commander C. R. P. Rodgers. 

 (See ARMY OPERATIONS.) 



On January 27 a fleet of two gunboats, 4 

 armed steamers, and 2 armed launches under 

 Fleet Captain C. H. Davis, accompanied by 

 2,400 men on transports commanded by Brig.- 

 Gen. "Wright, made a reconnoissance of Little 

 Tybee river and the adjacent waters, with a 

 view of preparing for the cutting off communi- 

 cation between Fort Pulaski and Savannah and 

 the ultimate capture of the fort. While on this 

 duty they were attacked by 5 Confederate ves- 

 sels under Commodore Tatnall, which they re- 

 pulsed after a half hour's fight, two of the 

 enemy being driven back to Savannah, and the 

 others running under the guns of the fort. 



An expedition under Flag-Officer Dupont 

 and Brig.-Gen. Wright, designed for the reoc- 

 cupation of the principal points on the E. coast 

 of Florida, sailed from Port Royal on the 28th 

 of February, and captured Fort Clinch, St. 

 Mary's, and Fernandina, March 2 and 3 ; Bruns- 

 wick, Ga., March 7 ; Jacksonville, Fla., and 

 St. Augustine, March 12, meeting with no re- 

 sistance at any of these points. (See ARMY 

 OPERATIONS.) 



The capture of Fort Pulaski, in which the, 

 naval forces participated, being a purely mili- 

 tary operation, has been described elsewhere. 



On April 29 Lieutenant Rhind, with the 

 steamer E. B. Hale, captured and destroyed a 

 battery near the junction of the Dawho, Pow 

 Pow, and South Edisto rivers. 



On May 13 the Confederate steam tug 

 Planter, an armed despatch and transportation 

 steamer attached to the engineer department 

 at Charleston under Brig.-Gen. Ripley, was 

 brought out by her pilot, Robert Small, a very 

 intelligent slave, and surrendered to the block- 

 ading squadron. She had on board 8 men, 5 

 women, and 3 children, all negroes, and was 

 armed with a 32-pounder pivot gun, and a 24- 

 pounder howitzer, besides which she had 4 

 large guns, one of them belonging to Fort 

 Sumter, which she was to have transported 

 that morning to the new fort on the middle 

 ground. At 4 o'clock in the morning, while 

 the captain was on shore, she left her wharf 

 with Palmetto and Confederate flags flying, 

 passed the forts, saluting as usual by blowing 

 her steam whistle, and after getting out of 

 reach of the last gun, hauled down the Confed- 

 erate flags and hoisted a white one. The 

 steamer, from her excellent machinery and 

 light draught, proved a valuable acquisition to 

 the blockaders. 



On the 19th, Flag-Officer Dupont, having 

 been led to believe, chiefly by the information 

 given by Robert Small, that the Confederates 

 were erecting batteries on Stono Inlet, caused 

 a reconnoissance to be made which established 

 the truth of the report. The inlet was imme- 

 diately occupied by the gunboats and an im- 

 portant base thus secured for future operations 

 against Charleston. 



The military forces sent to occupy Jackson- ' 

 ville, Fla., after its capture in March were af- 

 terward withdrawn, and a battery was planted 

 by the Confederates on St. John's river, some 

 distance below the town, which caused consid- 

 erable annoyance to the gunboats employed on 

 the inside blockade of the river. Commander 

 Steedman and Gen. Brannan accordingly moved 

 on the 30th of September with a joint naval 

 and land force, silenced and occupied the bat- 

 tery, capturing 9 guns, and afterward ascend- 

 ed the river as far as Lake Beresford, a dis- 

 tance of 230 miles, and captured a transport 

 steamer. 



The same officers had charge of a joint expe- 

 dition, October 21-23, to destroy the railroad 

 bridges near Pocotaligo, S. C. (See ARMY 

 OPERATIONS.) 



3. Gulf Squadron and Eastern Gulf Squad- 

 ron. In the early part of January, Flag-Officer 

 McKeon sent the steamer Hatteras, Command- 

 er Emmons, to Cedar Keys, where about the 

 10th she captured or destroyed a quantity of 

 artillery and military stores, and several schoon- 

 ers, the place being an important depot of the 

 enemy. 



In the latter part of March Commander 

 Stellwagen of the Mercedita arrived off Appa- 

 lachicola with that vessel and the Sagamore, 

 and organized a boat expedition, the immediate 

 object of which was the capture of a number 

 of vessels understood to be at or above that 

 city. The place, however, had already been 

 evacuated by the Confederate troops, and the 

 expedition met with no resistance. The in- 

 habitants received the sailors favorably and 

 raised the United States flag. Several vessels 

 were brought out and others were destroyed. 



On the night of April 6th a boat expedition 

 from the bark Pursuit, under Acting Master 

 Elnathan Lewis, surprised and captured at St. 

 Andrew's the Confederate steamer Florida, of 

 500 tons, with 200 bales of cotton on board, 

 and brought her safely out. 



On the 4th of October a boat expedition from 

 the steamer Somerset proceeded to the main 

 land near Cedar Keys for the purpose of de- 

 stroying some salt works, but was fired upon 

 from a house on which a white flag was flying, 

 and compelled to return without thoroughly 

 accomplishing their purpose. On the 6th a 

 stronger force, consisting of 4 boats from the 

 Somerset and 4 from the gunboat Tahoma, 

 landed at the same place, completing the de- 

 struction and dispersing a small guerilla force. 



4. Western Gulf Squadron. Captain D. G. 

 Farragut sailed from Hampton Roads in the 



