CHAPTER VIII
THE CAPTURE OF PORT ROYAL

A FLEET OF SEVENTEEN SHIPS, CARRYING 155 GUNS, SENT TO TAKE A HARBOR THAT WOULD MAKE A CONVENIENT NAVAL STATION FOR THE ATLANTIC BLOCKADERS—THERE WERE TWO “EXCEEDINGLY WELL-BUILT EARTHWORKS” “RATHER HEAVILY ARMED” DEFENDING THE CHANNEL, BUT ONE PART OF THE SQUADRON ATTACKED THEM IN FRONT, ANOTHER ENFILADED THEM, AND IN LESS THAN FIVE HOURS THE CONFEDERATES FLED FOR LIFE—A HEAVY GALE WEATHERED WITH SMALL LOSS—INTERESTING INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE.

Within a month after the chief Confederate ports on the Atlantic coast had been blockaded, the imperative need of a nearby naval station, where ships could lie in a harbor and make repairs and take on coal, was manifest. To run away north from Charleston and Savannah to Hampton Roads, every time coal was needed, was something that could not be tolerated. For, as the reader will remember, the majority of the steamers of those days could carry no more coal than would last them for a week or ten days under steam. And what was worse, the machinery was always going wrong, even though steam-pressures were so low that steam-chests were known to burst inward on the creation of a sudden vacuum. The capture of Hatteras Inlet, in a small measure supplied this want. Vessels drawing no more than thirteen feet of water could make a harbor there in any but the worst weather. But because the majority of the blockading ships drew much more than this, the government was compelled to provide a deeper port. Fortunately, “a harbor sufficient to contain the largest fleet in the world” lay right where it was needed. It was a little-known harbor, in those days, even among shipping merchants, for no great town overlooked its waters, and it was visited only by coasters. It lay within the State of South Carolina, about one-third of the distance from Savannah harbor to Charleston, and it was called very properly Port Royal. Although neglected entirely by commerce, it was really the best harbor on the Southern coast. The bar that guarded it lay well out at sea and had an ample depth of water over it. The channel between Hilton Head on the south and Bay Point on the north was a mile wide. Although “the land hereabouts is generally low, the trees are high,” and “a small grove of trees, which tower above all the other trees like a high-crowned hat,” marked the entrance to the harbor unmistakably, so that even a stranger could easily work his way in unless a gale prevailed.

S. F. Dupont.

From a photograph.

Accordingly, the government decided to take possession of Port Royal, and in October, 1861, began to gather a fleet of warships and transports at Hampton Roads for that purpose. On October 10th Flag Officer Samuel Francis Dupont hoisted his flag on the steam frigate Wabash, of which Capt. C. R. P. Rodgers was commander. The squadron under him included the Susquehanna, Capt. J. L. Lardner; Mohican, Capt. S. W. Godon; Seminole, Capt. John P. Gillis; Pocahontas, Capt. Percival Drayton; Pawnee, Capt. R. W. Wyman; Unadilla, Capt. N. Collins; Ottawa, Capt. T. H. Stevens; Pembina, Capt. J. P. Bankhead; Seneca, Capt. Daniel Ammen, and the Vandalia, Capt. F. L. Haggerty. All of these were regular warships, and the Vandalia was the only sailing ship in the squadron. In addition to these, there were six merchant steamers that had been purchased and armed for use as warships. The warships proper carried 125 guns, all told, of which seven were eleven-inch Dahlgrens, and seventy-nine were eight-inch or better—most of them being nine-inch. The converted merchantmen carried from two to eight thirty-two-pounders each, save one, the Isaac Smith, which carried a rifled thirty-pounder. A force of soldiers, 12,000 strong, under Gen. Thomas W. Sherman, was detailed to coöperate with the squadron, and transports were provided to carry them, while coal-laden schooners were gathered in order to keep the steamers in fuel.

C. R. P. Rodgers.

From a photograph.