On the 8th, the fight with the ironclads was renewed, and one shell did fatal work in Fort Moultrie, disabling an 8-inch columbiad, exploding a magazine, and killing 16 and wounding 12 men of Capt. R. Press Smith's company of the First regulars. Besides these casualties from the explosion there were others, including Capt. G. A. Wardlow and Lieut. D. B. De Saussure, wounded.
About 1 o'clock on the morning of the 9th, an attempt was made by the Federals to land a force at the foot of the ruins of Sumter and carry the position by storm. Major Elliott waited until the thirty or forty barges of the enemy were within a few yards of the southern and eastern faces, when he greeted them with a rattling fire of musketry, while hand-grenades and fragments of the ruins were thrown over on the advancing foe, completely demoralizing him. At the same time the gunboat Chicora, Fort Moultrie, the Sullivan's island batteries and Fort Johnson, warned by signal, swept the skirts of the ruins and the water round about with a fire that nothing could survive. Elliott captured 5 boats, 5 stand of colors, 12 officers and 109 men. Among the colors captured was a worn garrison flag, which, it was believed, was the flag lowered in 1861 by Maj. Robert Anderson, and hoped to be hoisted again by this storming party.
On the night of August 20th, Capt. J. Carlin, commanding a torpedo ram, with a guard on board under Lieut. E. S. Fickling, made an attempt to explode a torpedo against the New Ironsides. As he ranged up alongside, Carlin was hailed, and to the demand for the name of his craft, he replied, "The steamer Live Yankee." The ironclad was swinging to the ebb, so that it was impossible to do the work undertaken, and Carlin's only hope was of escape. In this he was successful, although the Ironsides was soon sweeping the horizon with her guns. On October 5th, another attempt was made to blow up the Ironsides, by Lieut. W. T. Glassell, C. S. N., First Assistant Engineer J. H. Tombs, Walker Cannon, pilot, and James Sullivan, fireman, on board the propeller David, a small submerged steamer. The boat approached the ironclad at 9 p. m. at full speed, and when hailed, Glassell answered with a shot from a double-barreled gun. The boat struck fairly under the starboard quarter, and the torpedo was exploded about 6½ feet below the surface, but it proved to be of too light a charge (70 pounds) to injure the heavy plates of the enemy. The David was riddled by the fire of small-arms from the Ironsides, and almost swamped by the great column of water thrown up by the explosion. Although the little craft escaped sinking, the fires were put out and the iron ballast thrown among the machinery, so that it would not work when the engine was reversed. In this critical situation, and believing the boat to be sinking, Glassell and Sullivan jumped overboard, and swimming in the direction of the enemy's vessels were made prisoners. The pilot stuck to the boat, and Tombs, after being thrown overboard, swam back to it when he saw that their cries of surrender were not heeded. The two coolly got up steam under a continuous fire and managed to make their way back up the channel, escaping two 11-inch shot sent after them, passing through the Federal fleet and within three feet of one of the monitors. Though unsuccessful, this was justly considered one of the most daring exploits of the war, and inspired Beauregard to ask for the purchase of swift torpedo boats from English builders.
On November 15th, Maj. John Jenkins, Third South Carolina cavalry, reported that the enemy had reoccupied Seabrook island (John's island) in large force. On the following day there was a considerable action between the Federal monitors and the Sullivan's island batteries, Capt. Jacob Valentine commanding at Fort Moultrie, Capt. C. H. Rivers at Battery Rutledge, and Maj. W. S. Basinger at Battery Marion.
During October the Federals were busy making Batteries Wagner and Gregg formidable against the Confederate defenses, without much molestation in their work, while they maintained the bombardment of the ruins of Fort Sumter. The reports of Major Elliott show that 625 shots were fired at Sumter on the 27th, with particular attention to the gorge wall, and on the 29th, 1,039 shots. Their effect was to cut away all the arches on the sea face, and to make that and the gorge easy of access. It was evident that the enemy was preparing for another assault from boats. As many shots of all calibers struck the fort on the next day, and this destructive torrent of rifled shot and shell and mortar shells, from the batteries and the monitors, continued for several days. The casualties in the fort were comparatively few, the main loss being the burying of twelve members of the Washington light infantry, Twenty-fifth regiment, and one man of the Twelfth Georgia battalion. While they were in position for mounting the parapet in case of assault, a Parrott shot struck an iron girder of the sea wall, and the roof fell in, crushing them.
On November 1st, the southwest angle was the main object of the bombardment. The flagstaff was twice shot away, and replaced by brave men of the Georgia battalion, who were finally compelled to substitute their own flag for the riddled garrison flag. On the 4th, Major Elliott remarked, regarding the rifled shells: "The practice with these projectiles is very beautiful, the adjustment of the time fuses being so perfect that the occupants of the gorge wall are secure from the effects of the explosion, which rarely fails to occur during the passage of the shell over the parade." On the 6th the flagstaff was again shot away, and replaced by Sergeant Currie and Corporal Montgomery of the Twenty-fifth South Carolina. On the 12th, again, some of the Georgians had the honor of replacing the flag under fire. Hardly a day passed without some one being killed and several more or less seriously wounded. During the week ending November 16th, over 3,000 shots were fired at Sumter, and on the night of the 19th a second attempt was made to land a force from barges and storm the ruins, but Elliott and his men were on guard, and their musketry fire prevented the barges from reaching the island. On the 24th, Capt. F. H. Harleston, having gone down the slope of the sea face to inspect the obstructions against storming parties, was mortally wounded by a Parrott shell.
On November 28th Elliott reported:
Private James Tupper, shot marker, Charleston battalion, seeing yesterday morning that the flag had been shot down, walked along the whole extent of the gorge wall, on the parapet, and endeavored to raise it. Finding that the staff was too short, he procured an additional piece of spar, and with the assistance of C. B. Foster and Corps. W. C. Buckheister and A. J. Bluett, succeeded in splicing and planting the staff, under a very heavy fire directed at them. One shot struck the flag from their hands. It was a most distinguished display of gallantry.
About this time the continuous pounding of the ruins by the enemy's projectiles had produced a steep slope on the exterior of the fort, with very insecure footing, and Colonel Elliott, after an examination, had no serious fears of an assault. On the 11th, the most fatal calamity in the history of the fort occurred—the explosion of the southwest magazine—a danger of which the heroic defenders had been in constant dread. The occupants of the adjoining rooms were killed or badly burned, and the flames, which instantly caught, spread with fierceness, filling the casemates with stifling smoke. As soon as the enemy observed the fire, he opened upon the fort with rifled shells and mortars. Colonel Elliott was slightly wounded, Capt. Edward D. Frost and 10 others were killed, and 40 sustained more or less serious injuries. Capt. John Johnson, Lieut. L. A. Harper and Capt. M. H. Sellers were distinguished for bravery and coolness amid the excitement and danger. The fire was not entirely extinguished until a week later.
