JANUARY 31ST
Rams CSS Chicora and CSS Palmetto State at Charleston, SC, attack Union blockading fleet on a foggy morning. The Palmetto State rammed the USS Mercedita and fired into her, causing the ship to surrender in a "sinking and perfectly defenseless condition."
The Chicora engaged and crippled the USS Keystone State suffering 20 killed and 20 wounded The USS Memphis took it under tow in a sinking condition. The USS Quaker City was damaged by a shell exploded in the engine room.
The USS Housatonic engaged the two rams before they withdrew.
Confederate General Beauregard claimed that the blockade had been broken.
US Major General Wright wrote Commander Pennock at Cairo request that an ironclad be stationed on the Cumberland River to keep that waterway open between its mouth and Nashville. The ironclad would be able to stand up against the field artillery that Confederates were forever putting along the banks.
A Confederate Success at Charleston. --Old B-Runner
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