JULY 2-9, 1864: Single-turreted monitors USS Lehigh and Montauk and other ships of the South Atlantic Blockading squadron supported an Army demonstration up the Stono River, SC. Hearing that Confederate forces were about to move against the blockaders off Charleston. Rear Admiral Dahlgren and Major General Foster planned a diversionary expedition up the Stono River, intending to cut the important Charleston-Savannah railroad.
Union ships shelled Confederate works on both sides of the river with telling effect in support of Army units ashore.
Brigadier General Schimmelfennig, commander of the troops, reported top Dahlgren on 6 July: "I take pleasure in informing you of the excellent practice by your gunboats and monitors on Stono River yesterday. They drove the enemy out of his rifle pits and prevented him from erecting an earthwork which he had commenced.
"As I shall probably have to occupy that line again before long, this fire of your monitors will undoubtedly save many lives on our side, for which I desire to express to them my thanks."
Dahlgren's ships later successfully covered the Army's withdrawal from the Stono River.
--Old B-Runner
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