- Joined
- Dec 3, 2011
- Location
- Laurinburg NC
Good map! You can see why that was no easy place to take.
They are great aren't they, here are the rest at Civil War Trustthis map is a wonder for a brilliant battle stragetist
Thanks for the map- when the description of where the Housatonic was when it was sunk said in Charleston Harbour, my head gave me this image of a snug berth surrounded by other ships in calm water, with shore in proximity. Certainly inside the break water. I haven't been reading very well at ALL- it wasn't until seeing the map I understood how far out she was. The Hunley was pretty well PADDLED 4 MILES?? Can you imagine, doing the whole bicycling this for 4 MILES worth, in that little metal tube, inching your way through the water for that long? Unless all these men were in hyper-superb condition, how hard that would have been!
The Confederates used different modes of defense on the north and south sides. Sullivan's Island had batteries all along the seafront, but on Morris they only tried to hold the tip and had their main defenses further inland on James Island, where they had defeated the Union incursion at Secessionville in 1862. This was out of range of naval gunfire, although it did allow Union forces to land on Morris. The batteries appear to be sited on the available high, solid ground, able to cover the low-lying, marshy approaches.
After reading Charleston Blockade: The Journals of John B. Marchand, U.S. Navy, 1861-1862, it mystifies me why the Secessionville route wasn't tried again. It ought to have worked the first time, of course, but some truly inept Union generalship torpedoed the operation. They knocked enough times against the front door after that; why didn't they at least give the side door another try?
A strong position at Fort Johnson would basically have given the Union the control of the harbor.
The Hunley was pretty well PADDLED 4 MILES?? Can you imagine, doing the whole bicycling this for 4 MILES worth, in that little metal tube, inching your way through the water for that long? Unless all these men were in hyper-superb condition, how hard that would have been!