Johns Island, S.C., in the Civil War: Another Battle There Called Battle of Bloody Bridge-- Part 3

From Wikipedia

The Battle of Bloody Bridge, also known as Burden's Causeway, tool place on Johns Island in July 1864.  The site of the battle is located off today's River Road, just north of the Charleston Executive Airport.

On July 2, 1864, Brigadier General John Hatch's federal troops landed at the Legareville section of Johns Island.  He wanted to cross Johns island, then cross the Stono River and then lay siege on James Island.

Union troops met with Confederates where the creek turns into swamp.  Around 2,000 South Carolina troops held off a U.S. force numbering around 8,000.

After three days of action, the Federals left the island.

--Old B-Runner

Legareville in the Civil War and Johns Island-- Part 2

In August 1864, , Major John Jenkins, commander of Confederate forces on Johns Island, decided to burn the village to prevent further plunder and use by Union forces.

He reported to higher authorities that when he announced he was going to do this, the Stono Scouts, a military group made up of property owners of Legareville, announced that they would help.  This, Johns Islanders destroyed their own summer homes to prevent their use by Union forces.

JOHNS ISLAND

Legaraeville is on Johns Island, the largest island in the State of South Carolina.  It is the fourth largest island on the U.S. east coast, surpassed in size only by Long Island, Mount Desert Island and Martha's Vineyard.

It is 84 square miles.

The Stono Slave Rebellion took place on Johns Island in 1739 and during the American Revolution, British forces occupied it on their way to capturing Charleston.

--Old B-R'er

Where Is Legareville? It's History and the Civil War-- Part 1

From Johns Island Conservancy  "Legareville"

Since I have been writing about this place and that battle so much this month, here is a little background.

The town is at the confluence of the Stono and Kiawah rivers in South Carolina, near Charleston.  It was a summer resort for plantation owners on Johns Island. and had two dozen  dwellings and two churches.  

At the beginning of the Civil War, the village was evacuated by order of Robert E. Lee, commander of the Department of South Carolina at the time.  The Union navy stationed gunboats off the village throughout the war, including the USS Marblehead , which, as you know, was surprise attacked by Confederate forces on Christmas Day, 1863.

Subsequently, Union forces landed at various times to dismantle the houses of Legareville to use for their camp at Folly Island.

--Old B-Runner

The Battle of Legareville-- Part 5: Aftermath

Union casualties were  3 killed and 4 wounded, compared to Confederate 3 killed and 8 wounded.  

After the battle, Col. Powhatan R. Page blamed poor artillery  for the inconclusive  battle.  Delaware Kemper defended his men by the fact that  the range did not allow  their fire to accurately disable the USS Marblehead.

In his report, General P.G.T. Beauregard took both accounts in and reported that the failure to destroy or drive away the Marblehead was  "due to the inefficiency of the artillery through bad ammunition, fuzes, and primers, and bad service of the guns.  The eight-inch howitzers, objected to by Lieutenant-Colonel Kemper, were intended to kill the enemy."

Unknown to the Confederates, however, their artillerists did fire with some degree of accuracy.  The Marblehead sustained some thirty hits.  Lt. Cmdr. Richard Meade wrote, "We have one 30-pounder shell that was lodged in steerage and did not explode...."  Steerage here meaning apparatus that allows for the steering of a ship, a rather important component of a ship's operation.  In addition, he noted two other unexploded shells lodged elsewhere in his ship.

Overall, he reported extensive, but largely superficial damage to his ship.

Eventually, Farley, Miller, Blake and Moore (who was not in Meade's recommendations) received Medals of Honor.

More Than  You Ever Thought You'd Know About This Little Battle.  --Old B-Runner

Battle of Legareville-- Part 4: A Confederate Withdrawal

After the attack on the USS Marblehead, other Confederate cannons opened fire on Union forces in Legareville.  The Confederates had an advantage at this time, their commander refused to advance his troops until the Marblehead was disabled.

Instead, he tried to get the small force to surrender.  But, by this time, the other two Union ships in the area, the USS Pawnee and USS C.P. Williams, were moving into action.  By 6:35, the C.P. Williams was enfilading the Confederate positions.  And when the Pawnee joined the fray, the Confederates  stopped firing as the tide had shifted.

Colonel Powhatan Robertson Page soon ordered the withdrawal of Confederate forces.  Two eight-inch howitzers were left on the scene of the battle.  A planned attempt to retake the guns failed under fire from the C.P. Williams.

--Old B-Runner

So Glad to Be Back

You may have noticed that this blog, along with five other of my blogs, was not posted this past week.  The reason why was that I couldn't get to them.

The last post here was January 18 and I was unable to get back to it until today.

I did manage to accomplish a fair number of things around the house that needed to be done (plus took down the outside Christmas decorations in between ice chopping on the driveway) during the forced layoff as it were.  

I spend way too much time researching and two-fingered typing these posts.  One blog is enough for most people, but, unfortunately, not for me as I have EIGHT of them.

But, I sure do enjoy the researching.

Oh well, glad to be back.  Even with 4-8 inches of snow on the way.

Back To Shoveling That Driveway.  --Old B-Shoveler

Battle of Legareville-- Part 3: A Surprise Attack

At around 6 am on Christmas Day, Confederate batteries opened fire on the USS Marblehead, but their fire was ineffective.  Upon the first shots, Union Lieutenant  Commander Richard Meade bolted from his quarters wearing just his night clothes and ordered his men to return fire. With steam up in just one of his ship's boilers, the Marblehead lifted its anchor and maneuvered downstream, all the while returning fire.

Despite the Confederate accuracy and casualties among gun crews, Boatswain's Mate  William Farley, captain of the XI inch pivot gun, got off the Union response.  Meade's servant, escaped slave Robert Blake brought his commander's uniform and even helped man one of the guns after a crew member was shot down.

One crew member, Charles Moore was wounded and bleeding profusely, but refused to leave his post and continued at his gun.  Quartermaster  James Miler then stepped up to the foredeck and cast the lead to find the depth and enabled the ship to escape the Confederate trap.

Acting ensign George Winslow also helped to rally the crew to their guns.

--Old B-R'er

Is This a Cannon?-- Part 3: Fort Caswell

J.D. Shadduck of Oak Island, N.C., said he was fishing at  Caswell Beach Sunday when he spotted the object.  "It was my first time there fishing.  The tide was low, so that's how I saw it," he said.  "It looks like a cannon to me."

Fort Caswell is in Brunswick County and was built on the eastern tip of Oak Island between 1826 and 1838, according to NCpedia.  However, it was not fully armed until the Civil War when it became one of the main Confederate defenses on the Care Fear River guarding Wilmington.

The U.S. Army took control of it until after World War I, when it was sold.

Since 1949, it has been owned by the Baptist  State Convention of NC and serves "as a facility for programs and ministries of the Convention, according to the Fort Caswell website.  The fort, however, is not open to the general public.

--Old B-Runner

Is This a Cannon?-- Part 2: It Might be a Pipe?

"There has been a lot of chatter the last couple days about what this may be.  Someone posted about finding a cannon on our beach.  And many believe it does look like a cannon, which alerted the Underwater Archaeology Branch," the program said.

"Archaeologists and other history experts have been to the site and/or seen photographs, trying to determine  exactly what it is, cannon or pipe."

The cylinder is iron and measures ten inches around and  six feet long.  The gap inside is 8 inches in diameter.

Many think its a cannon, but others say it is a pipe.  It looks like a cannon to me.  What do you think it is?

--Old B-R'er

Is This a Cannon? This Was Found Washed Up by North Carolina's Fort Caswell

From the Jan.14, 2021, Raleigh (NC) News & Observer "Is this a cannon?  Object found at historic fort in North Carolina being investigated" by Mark Price.

Something resembling a cannon was found in the sand on the beach in front of historic Fort Caswell on the North Carolina coast.

The Fort Caswell  Environmental  Stewardship Program posted a photo on their FaceBook page but did not divulge its exact location of Oak Island.

The N.C. Underwater Archaeology Branch got involved and what did they find out?

A picture of it is to the right of this.

Take a Guess.  --OldWhatIsIt?

The Battle of Legareville-- Part 2: The Union Navy at the Battle

The USS Marblehead was under the command of  Lieutenant Commander Richard Worsam Meade, the nephew of Major General George Gordon Meade of Gettysburg fame.

The Marblehead mounted an 11-inch Dahlgren gun, two 24-pound smoothbore guns and one 20-pounder rifle.  Further down the Stono River, which ran along Johns Island past Legareville and into the Atlantic Ocean, two other gunboats were posted at the inlet.

They were the USS Pawnee, commanded by George Balch and had the firepower of  eight IX-inch Dahlgren guns, one 100-pounder Parrott rifle, one 50-pounder  Dahlgren rifle and two 12-pounder boat howitzers.  The other ship was the USS C.P. Williams, a mortar schooner that mounted a couple   8-inch mortars under the command of Acting Master F.N. Freeman.

--Old B-Runner

The Battle of Legareville-- Part 1: Supposed to Be a Surprise Attack

From Wikipedia.

This was the battle where Robert Blake received his Medal of Honor along with three other of his shipmates.  I'd never heard of it before, so you-know-what I had to do.

It was fought on December 25, 1863, when Confederate forces tried to surprise Union forces near Legareville, South Carolina, on Johns Island on the Stono River.  The attack failed and Union forces remained and the USS Marblehead was not destroyed, captured or driven away.

According to Confederate forces, they had erected five artillery positions to surprise the Federals.  The artillery batteries were under the command of Lt. Col. Delaware B. Kemper.  There were also several companies of Confederate infantry  in the area.

A small force of some 200 Union soldiers from the division of Brigadier General George Henry Gordon were in the vicinity of Legareville and had the support of one Union vessel, the USS Marblehead.

--Old B-Runner

USS Marblehead-- Part 4: Actions on the Stono River and Four Medals of Honor.

Back on the Stono River with the USS Pawnee by November, the Marblehead provided cover as U.S. Army troops sank piles as obstructions in the river above Legareville, South Carolina, on November 24.  

The next month, on Christmas Day, Confederate batteries, in an attempt to chase the Marblehead and Pawnee away, opened fire.  The Marblehead suffered some twenty hits but was able to capture two of the enemy's eight-inch  seacoast howitzers

Four of her sailors were awarded the Medal of Honor for action in the last action on the Stono River.  They were contraband Robert  Blake, Boatswain's Mate William Farley, Quartermaster  James Miller and Landsman Charles Moore.

On June 2, 1964, the Marblehead became a practice ship for midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy located in Newport, Rhode Island.  After just a month, she resumed her blockading duties for five months before returning to the Academy as a practice ship.

After this, she  went to the Washington Navy Yard where the Marblehead was decommissioned  19 September  1866.  Recommissioned  the following month, she was assigned to the North Atlantic Squadron where she operated in the Caribbean for the next two years.

On 18 August 1868, the Marblehead went to New York Navy Yard, was decommissioned  4 September and sold  30 September.

--Old B-Runner

USS Marblehead-- Part 3: Action in the Stono River and Bombardment of Charleston Defenses

The Marblehead survived its battle with the horse cavalry artillery and was then transferred to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.  Primarily she patrolled the coast looking for blockade runners, but in early February 1863, she reconnoitered the Wilmington River  with the monitor USS Passaic trying to locate the ironclad CSS Atlanta (ex-blockade-runner Fingal).

Later in the month, on the 23rd, she took possession of  the prize Glide and her cargo of cotton which had been captured by  the Coast Guard schooners Caswell and Arago at the entrance to Tybee Creek in Georgia.  The Glide had been in route to Nassau.

During her coastal patrols, the Marblehead on occasion engaged in operations on the Stono River, South Carolina,  in support of Union forces on James Island by Charleston.  On 16 July 1863, during an assault by Confederate forces on that position, she came under fire by Confederate artillery at Grimball's Landing.

Forced further downriver, she still provided fire support and prevented Confederate reinforcements from reaching  the main body of their attack force.

Afterwards, the Marblehead joined with the rest of the Union fleet outside of Charleston Harbor in bombarding the forts there before  heading north for repairs.

--Old B-Runner

USS Marblehead-- Part 2: A Fight With JEB Stuart's Horse Artillery

The USS Marblehead was built by George W. Jackman, Jr. of Newburyport, Massachusetts.  She was launched October  16, 1861, and commissioned March 8, 1863.  (A little longer than 90-days.)  Lieutenant Commander  Somerville  Nicholson was her first commander.

First assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, the Marblehead took part in operations along the York and Pamunkey rivers in Virginia.  On May 1, 1862, she participated in the shelling of Confederate positions at Yorktown, Virginia, supporting McClellan's Peninsula Campaign against Richmond.

In an unusual engagement, the Marblehead found itself engaged with Confederate cavalry.  The ship was docked in the Pamunkey River and Confederate cavalry commander J.E.B. Stuart ordered a detachment of his ships to attack it.  Crew members on the ship spotted the effort and a brisk fire opened.

Confederate cavalry artillery commander Major John Pelham unlimbered his guns and opened fire.  The ship got underway, causing a running battle, literally.  Pelham's guns would fire, limber up, dash to a new spot, unlimber and open fire again.  This continued until such time as the Marblehead passed out of range.

--Old B-R'er

USS Marblehead-- Part 1: Robert Blake's Ship Was a 'Ninety-Day Gunboat'

I have been writing about Medal of Honor recipient Robert Blake, a former slave, contraband and then Union Navy seaman.  He was on the USS Marblehead when his deeds warranted the honor.  His captain was Lt. Cmdr. Richard Worsam Meade III at that time.

From Wikipedia.

The USS Marblehead was a  Unadilla-class  gunboat built for the U.S. Navy during the Civil War.  The Unadilla-class are often called "Ninety-Day Gunboats" for the speed with which they were built.  There were 23 of them built and they participated in most coastal operations during the war, capturing at least 146 blockade runners.  An effective cost outlay for the Union.

Stats:

691 tons

158 feet long, 28-foot beam

9.6 feet draft

screw steamship with sails

10 knot speed

114 crew

Armament:

One 11-inch Dahlgren smoothbore

 two 24-pdr. smoothbore

two  20-pdr. Parrott rifle

--Old B-Runner

Honor Accorded to Robert Blake Who Received Medal of Honor-- Part 2

Robert Blake was awarded the medal of Honor four months later.  Probably at the recommendation of the Marblehead's commander, Richard Worsam Meade.

The South Carolina DMV is dedicating six field offices over the next two weeks to honor South Carolinian Medal of Honor winners like Blake.  Doing so enables people of the state to learn about relatively unknown heroes.

In 2019, another DMV office in the state was named after Kyle Carpenter who, while in Afghanistan, took the full blast of a hand grenade  to save a fellow Marine.  He survived.  The DMV office in Batesburg-Leesville was named ofr him.

Unfortunately, after a quick search I was unable to find the names of other DMVs named after Medal of Honor winner.  But, this is a fantastic thing South Carolina is doing to honor and recognize its own heroes.  

--Old B-Runner

An Honor Accorded to Black Medal of Honor Recipient Robert Blake-- Part 1

From the November 20, 2013,  Orangeburg (S.C.) Times & Democrat "Ex-slave, Medal of Honor Recipient, remembered  with naming of DMV" by Richard Walker.

When a Confederate shell during the Civil War hit his ship, Robert Blake helped man a gun and return fire even though he didn't have to do so.

The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) dedicated its Orangeburg field office to this South Carolinian.  Blake was the first Black to be recognized with the Medal of Honor (out of just 26) and receive it during the war.  William Carney of the 54th Massachusetts received his at the attack on Fort Wagner in South Carolina on July 18, 1863, but didn't get his medal until the 1890s.

I have already covered Mr. Blake's previous life which led him to be in the Navy in the last four posts (December 2020).

On Christmas Day, 1863, Blake's ship, the USS Marblehead and the USS Pawnee came under attack by a hidden Confederate battery on John's Island in the Stono River.  A shell exploded on the Marblehead's deck bear where Blake was, knocking him to the deck and killing a nearby powder boy.

Without a supply of gunpowder, one of the ship's five guns would be out of action.  Without orders, Blake jumped into action and began retrieving powder from the ship's magazine over and over.

The Marblehead sustained twenty hits in the action, but silenced the battery.

--Old B-Runner