290 



EXPEDITIONS. 



Sherman's) battery of six rifled cannon, and a 

 battalion of Serrell's volunteer engineers. 



The weather, which was unsettled when the 

 fleet left Hampton Roads, soon changed into a 

 storm of wind of great violence, which, in- 

 creasing on the 31st October, became on Fri- 

 day, Nov. 1, a hurricane from the southeast, 

 and scattered the ships so widely that, on 

 Saturday morning, but one of the whole fleet 

 was in sight from the deck of the Wabash. On 

 Sunday the wind had moderated, and the 

 steamers and ships began to reappear. The 

 Isaac Smith had been compelled to throw her 

 battery overboard to keep from foundering; 

 the Governor and the Peerless, two of the 

 transports, sank; but the soldiers and cre.ws 

 were saved except seven of the marines on the 

 Governor, who were drowned by their own 

 imprudence. On the morning of the 4th, Com. 

 Dupout anchored off the bar of Port Eoyal 

 harbor, with twenty-five of his vessels in com- 

 pany. The channel of the harbor was that day 

 found, sounded out, and buoyed under the direc- 

 tion of Commander Davis, the fleet captain. 

 The gunboats and lighter transports were, be- 

 fore dark of the same day, anchored inside of 

 the bar, in the secure roadstead, and Com. Tat- 

 nall's (Confederate) fleet chased under their 

 own batteries. The next day a reconnoissance 

 in force was made by the Ottawa, Seneca, Cur- 

 lew, and Isaac Smith, which drew the fire of 

 the Confederate forts, and showed which was 

 the strongest. On the 5th, the Wabash and 

 Susquehanna, and the large transports crossed 

 the bar, and the buoys which marked the shoal 

 lines were planted. A storm postponed the 

 attack until the 7th, when it was commenced 

 at about half-past nine o'clock A. M., and con- 

 tinued for four hours, closing with the complete 

 rout and flight of the Confederate force from 

 both forts. The Confederate fortifications were 

 Fort Walker, on Hilton's Head Island, at the 

 right of the channel a strong earthwork mount- 

 ing 23 guns, all of the heaviest calibre and most 

 approved pattern for sea-coast defence, some 

 of them rifled, and several imported from Eng- 

 land since the war commenced. A small out- 

 work, mounting a single rifled gun, had been 

 erected near the fort and beyond it on the sea 

 front. Fort Beauregard, at Bay Point, on Phil- 

 lips or Hunting Island, on the left bank of the 

 channel, 2} miles from Fort Walker, was also a 

 strong work, though not as formidable as Fort 

 Walker. It mounted 20 guns of the same gen- 

 eral character as those in the other fort, and was 

 supported by an outwork nearly a half rnile dis- 

 tant, mounting 5 guns. About 2 miles above the 

 forts, where the Port Royal or Beaufort River 

 .joins the Broad, Com. TatnalPs (Confederate) 

 fleet of six or seven gunboats was stationed. 



The circumstances thus detailed influenced 

 Com. Dupont in deciding upon his plan of 

 attack. He first stationed his transports at 

 anchor, beyond the range of the guns of the 

 forts ; then leading the way with the Wabash, 

 followed immediately by the Susquehanna, Mo- 



hican, Seminole, Pawnee, Unadilla, Ottawa, 

 Pembina, and Vaudalia towed by the Isaac 

 Smith, he passed up the centre of the channel, 

 delivering his fire at the forts on each side, 

 and, sailing in an ellipse, passed down within 

 600 yards of Fort Walker, firing slowly and de- 

 liberately, but never losing the range. Mean- 

 while the Bienville, Seneca, Curlew, Penguin, 

 and Augusta had passed up on the left side of 

 the channel, pouring their broadsides into Fort 

 Beauregard, and then taking a station where 

 they could cut oft" Tatnall's fleet from any par- 

 ticipation in the fight, and at the same time 

 maintain a destructive flanking fire upon the 

 weak left flank of Fort Walker. Three times 

 the line of vessels traversed their elliptical cir- 

 cuit, the 'last time aided by the fire of the Poca- 

 hontas, the R. B. Forbes, and the Mercury tug, 

 which came up about twelve o'clock M. At 

 the completion of the third circuit, the guns of 

 the forts were mostly disabled, and the garri- 

 sons, consisting in Fort Walker of two South 

 Carolina regiments, and in Fort Beauregard of 

 one, had fled in a terrible panic, leaving their 

 weapons, overcoats, and even their watches and 

 papers behind them. The Federal loss was : 

 killed, 8 ; wounded seriously, 6 ; wounded 

 slightly, 17. Total killed and wounded, 31. 

 Confederate loss not known, but considerably 

 larger than this. With these forts were captured 

 48 cannon, 43 of them of excellent quality, and 

 mostly of large calibre, and large quantities of 

 ammunitions and stores. On the 9th of Novem- 

 ber, the Seneca, Lieut. Ammen commanding, pro- 

 ceeded to Beaufort, and found the town in pos- 

 session of the negroes, the whites having fled. 

 The other islands were successively occupied, 

 and on the 25th Nov., Com. Dupont reported to 

 the Navy Department, that he had taken pos- 

 session of Tybee Island, commanding the en- 

 trance of the Savannah River. Meantime the 

 troops under Gen. Sherman, though debarred 

 by the circumstances from any active partici- 

 pation in the capture of the two forts, had not 

 been idle. Having landed on Hilton Head, they 

 occupied and strengthened the fortifications, 

 and made that point the base of further opera- 

 tions on Savannah, Charleston, and other places, 

 the record of which belongs to the year 1862. 



3. The Ship Island Expedition. Ship Island 

 is a small island, about 7 miles in length, and 

 from ^ to | of a mile wide, lying a little north of 

 the 30th parallel of north latitude and near the 

 89th meridian of west longitude. It is about 

 60 miles from New Orleans, and with Horn, 

 Pelet, Bois, and Dauphine Islands on the east 

 and Cat Island on the west, forms the southern 

 barrier of Mississippi Sound, a body of water 

 extending from Mobile Bay to Lake Borgne, in 

 Louisiana, and forming an interior communi- 

 cation between Mobile and New Orleans. This 

 sound is 10 or 12 miles wide, and opposite Ship 

 Island, which is south of the coast of Missis- 

 sippi, are the towns of Biloxi, Mississippi City, 

 and Pascagoula. The island itself is mostly a 

 bank of clear white sand, without trees or 



