Nov. 27, 1864: A Coal Torpedo Destroys Butler's Headquarters-- Part 2

As Admiral Porter later described the incident:  "We had left Bermuda Hundred five or six miles behind us when suddenly an explosion forward startled us, and in a moment large volumes of smoke poured out of the out of the engine-room."

The admiral went on to marvel at the ingenuity which nearly cost him his wife:  "In devices for blowing up vessels the Confederates were far ahead of us, putting Yankee ingenuity to shame."

This device was suspected of being the cause of several unexplained explosions during the war.

--Old B-Runner