Road Trippin' to Laurel Hill Cemetery-- Part 2: Civil War

JOHN A. DAHLGREN  (1809-1870)--  Admiral and commander of South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.  Invented the Dahlgren gun.

PERCIVAL DRAYTON  (1812-1865)--  Union Navy officer.

CHARLES ELLET JR.  (1810-1862)--  U.S. engineer who designed the Wheeling Suspension Bridge and during the Civil War , as an Army colonel, created and commanded the United States Ram Fleet in the Mississippi River.

CHARLES RIVERS ELLET  (1843-1863)--  Charles Ellett Jr's son and colonel in Union Army who commanded ships in the Ram Fleet.

--Old B-Runner

USS Passaic-- Part 5: Took a Pounding at Charleston

In addition to the fortifications protecting Charleston Harbor, the channel had been heavily mined and filled with cables and obstructions to prevent passage of enemy ships.

In all, the Confederates had massed more than 300 guns.

It was into this inferno of fire that the Union fleet advanced to attack on April 7, 1863.  In the 45 minutes in which the action lasted, the Confederates fired 3,500 shots and shells and repelled the attack.

The ironclad USS Keokuk was sunk and all the others hit several times.  The object of the attack, Fort Sumter was only slightly damaged.

During the short battle, the Passaic had fired  thirteen shots and hit thirty-four times.  As a result, she was sent to New York for repairs and recommissioned  on July 19, 1863.  Lt. Commander Edward Simpson replaced Captain Drayton in command.

Arriving back in the blockade off Charleston, the Passaic took part in every engagement against the city and its defenses until the end of the war.

--Old B-Runner

The USS Passaic-- Part 3: Battling Fort McAllister

The Passaic was made the flagship of the small squadron and Captain Percival Drayton in charge of the operation against Fort McAllister.

Drayton was a member of an old and distinguished South Carolina family, but had chosen to remain in the U.S. Navy.  He had faced a brother, Confederate General Thomas F. Drayton earlier in the war at the Battle of Port Royal.

The Passaic led the small Union fleet into action and into position just 1,200 yards from the guns of the fort.  From 8:40 am to 3:30 pm, the Passaic fired 52 projectiles at the fort and was his 34 times.  In his report of the action,  Captain Downes of the monitor USS Nahant, said that all of the fort's guns were concentrated on the Passaic.

The attack was not successful in capturing the fort, but, the Passaic had proved beyond a doubt that monitors were capable of withstanding heavy fire which would have sunk any wooden ship.

--Old B-Runner

The USS Passaic-- Part 1: 'The Fightingest Ship in Mr. Lincoln's Navy'

From the Passaic County Historical Society "USS Passaic"  by Alfred P. Cappio.

The monitor USS Paissaic was commanded by Edward Simpson in the 1863 attack on Charleston and Fort Sumter.

The USS Passaic was named after the Passaic River in New Jersey.

"It is doubtful that any other ship in the Union Navy fought in more actions, fired more shells at enemy fortifications, or was hit more often by enemy fire than  the Passaic.  Truly this ship might well be called "The Fightingest Ship in Mr. Lincoln's Navy."

After the success of the USS Monitor, nine more monitors were ordered from John Ericsson at his Greenpoint (now Brooklyn) shipyard. The first to be completed was the USS Passaic, launched on August  30th and commissioned  at the New York Navy Yard on November 25, 1862.

Two days later, under the command of Captain Percival Drayton, she sailed to join the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron under  Admiral DuPont at Port Royal, South Carolina.

--Old B-Runner