Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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WAR SI in I [irdmeut oi ( -liai i >;u-ti< Umc-r m the \ .. : : h i -.L lightly upon the 1 i ; . features <'f the >; _ ' !' Char! -ton. The entrance is i'orjM.'*! ,>y .' ! orris i sland on t he h i . r - cub. vi'i r '. !i -iui's Island to t!..' right <>r :ovtti. These islands aie mere -and :t:*iC\. ' either side, arid ixten-Iiu? hnrb lie other i.-iarei.s and :\!Ots. with great marshes -mtching between them, threaded i ; '. p, nar I row <:r. - '. ?. Tho union force* had secured aboea :!irec-i'ourths <>t .Morris i-land ?'irr:;!i th" 4 m-oe*sful assault of Gen. \. ' . (ri1, with the 10th army :orps .1, i ? Iront of them, sip tob ci tier Gregg, tho l.'unfcu v-->. f :; . and foothold on the island , i-nect city, and any bombard ;r. >.:: .!: city must be over their ' / e xr. . ? 'e'.it.? ori . "mated the idea of placing \ ry further up the harbor t<? the .the marsh, which would be r,Lie ' reach the city without fail. '"Cfu engineer corps did their work, slbs taarsh battery was constructed, i\\tc battery was placed in the- hands '."the command, and the bombard-j ;21 cut began. Lsittery Kirby," the only scacoast \ rT,'<irtar battery, was in position on the : icLremo left Hank of the Union bat-j ( erics and about 4,550 yards from I T{r7ort Sumte?. It had been successful jet. r*rst in reaching the fort with its -7':v:.-, assisted by a favoring wind, ; using two pounds more powder j ?Sian its usual charge, but the wind Worked about dead ahead, and in tjroased to a galo, and Kirby became ?'ient, the men spectators. At this moment, while watching -" .he clfect of the lire from the other 'batteries on Fort Sumter, (Jen. John VW. Turner, chief of artillery, 10th army corps, gave the order to the commander of Battery Kirby, Lieut. Charles Sellmer, 11th Maine volun teers, to take charge of the marsh battery, and prepare it to open tiro on Charleston at 10 that night, and to ;&:eep the order a secret. The marsh battery was located be tween our Battery Kirby and tho ?Southern batteries on James Island, flwid about -8,000 yards in lino from Charleston's great landmark, tho steeple of-old St. Michael's Church, * -?.$ in the heart of tho city. On tho fnornins of tho 21st of August Gen. "GHlhuoro had demanded of Gen. eau regard, commanding the Confed erate, fore cb at the city, the surrender of Fort Wagner*, lying in front of the "^.Jaiou forces on Morris Islaud, assur ing him unless it was done he would Lombard the city. Tho threat was Tceceived with ridicule by tho Confed erate commander who replied that *3illmore'is nearest batteries wcro ""eight miles from the city " "Our "Swamp Angel," as .the sol diers had gayly christened it, was bidden away in tho tall marsh grass "like a bird's nest among the reeds. r?Mic officer must visit it at once, sf *tcc receiving his command, to prepare *"f?r ?die night. His path to the bat tery was over a plank walk of a half ejiile, a single plank resting above the seaud and grass on frail trestles. As &e essayed his narrow plank he realiz *$ how disagreeably he towered above Cfte grass tops, and just thon bang! n?reut the guns of Confederate Fort ""Simpkins, about 1,000 yards away '?eem his elevatad walk in life. Whiz! (passed the shot aoross his flank, al most fifteen >?ds behind him. He "i?toofi ?tili and watohed. Another fgan flash and another shot hurtled -<aorfHs his frail roost above the mud vantl' vwater about fifteen yards ahead vb? f-hicn. Having thus misled the *Si*rp- shooters as to the average pra ipess 6f oneman along ja plank he Traaehed the -battery and shelter in /gorni jordsr. . The mw??a :i>a?bery was a horseshoe ' Aad ~tA direction -seemed rather to bo Sir use towards Gregg aad Wagner Kk s.a against the oity. It had no em brasure; had onb been cut in the line s-^bf. the direction of the battery the --^uo' could liave been used on Sumter, <2regg and the'SuSHvau's Island bat teries, Isaving Wagner to the right madii Fscft"Johnson to the left of its ?j$.ie o'f fire. JTo train the gun on Charleston it "saras n^nessary to traverse the muzsle trjro far to the left that the right rear ?8&d of the chassis .almost touched the gparapet. It oonld go over no further, '"ffke parapet was constructed of sand ?&sgs, brought hither by boat, and ?slosely scrtened by marsh grass being Ctcik in With the bags, muking it al ysaeet indistinguishable from the sur rounding forts, as it hid in the midst vsC rTie shining, ever-phifting stretohes 'dS. mud, water and vraving yollow fgrocn marsh grass. ' Tfte marsh battery was constructed f?Vtt. Waddle 7th New Hampshire 'ORIES. los ton .1 described by n Phi?a lelph.a Tiii.es. i \ i>!ttnt< i r-. under (.'??1. Sorrill, 1st New \ ork volunteers, engineer coi I--. AI tti'' battery an iui'itntry picket watched with uthusia-m the ap proach !' their commander atom* hi plank. They were in char..I- the "Swamj Angel. ' There it frowned on it carriage and eha-sis, waiting in stem silence I t its work. The Swamp Angel'* life was --hurt, but gloriou-. "Two nights and out," and now the marsh grass ha waved over the low parapet of the little l.at t< ry for thirty \ -ars. The Swamp Angel was a 200 pound I'arrol rifle, liring a projectile weigh ing from l?" to 200 pounds, according as it was either short or long shell ??r solid shot. Some of the shells were filled with incendiary composition and other- with Greek lire and powder enough to lire the composition. The gun was of ca??( ir< u reinforced at the scat of the charge, by a wrought iron .picket shrunk on. ft was of s inch calibie, rilled with il groves and used a charge of l''> pounds of powder, but on tili occasion 20 pounds were used, in order to reach Charleston. ' Trie gun weighed about ll?,I100 pounds. The carriage and chassis, which were of wrought, iron, bolted together, weighed about 10,0110 pounds. The length of the bore was 10!' inches. I St. Michael'.-? steeple, in Charles ton, could not be seen from the bat tery, nor were there any other guides to indicate in what direction the city lay, consequently the gun could not be aimed as in the usual manner. All the material for the battery had to be brought from the ordinance depot on the upper end of Morris Island, in boats, when the tide served The tide being unfavorable, it was nearly 1 in the morning, instead of 10 p. m., before tho delayed boats could ap proach the battery. Tho cartridges, woolen bags, containing 20 pouuds of powder each, were carried on the shoulders of the men over the plank walk. While returning from the battery the commander of the Swauip Angel had taken the bearing of St. Michael's steeple from a suitable point with a pocket compass; thus was the gun turned on tho city. This is the only instanco on record where a gun was aimed at an invisible object, over four miles away, by a com pass. -It was not tho intention to destroy St. Michael's, as many supposed, but simply by it to get tho bearings of the city. At half-past 1 on the morning of the 22nd of August the first shell was on its way. No report of the ex plosion of the shell could, of course, be heard at the battery, but after the second shot tiro bells were heard and a faint reflection of fire in the direction of the city was seen over the woods on James Island. All tho eueaiy's batteries wore Bi lent, with the exception of a few ten inoh mortars in Fort Johnson, which tried bard to return the compliment, but tho firing was bad. Sotm pipcr3 stated that "the shells from the Swauip Angel were seen to riso to the htjavensV' oto, but this is an error; our shells could not be seen ; they were percussion shells and their fuses gave no light. Tho shells seen by the watchers on the sand hills, near the Union eimp, were those of the Confederate Fort Johnson mor tars, firing at tho "Swamp Angel." Sixteen shells were fired into Char leston by the Swamp Angel that night?twelvoof them filled with an incendiary fluid of Mr. Parrot's own invention and of his own construc tion. Four were filled with Greek fire. f The epaulment and gun platform of the mar?h .battory were made upon separate foundations in the mud. They were therefore independent of eaoh other. This peouliar construc tion and the high angle of the eleva tion under whioh the gun was fired made the platform very unstable; at eaoh discharge the whole struoture rooked like a cradle. What a cra dle! At the sixteenth disoharge the gun had moved nearly a yard from the epaulment. and it became necessity to oease firing lest the gun should bb precipitated off into the marsh. The following morning the ohief engineer inspected the damage and re* ported that two days' time would be I required to repair the damage done to the gun. A steamer aame from the oity under a flag of truce that morn ing, having foreign consols, etc., on board, protesting against the bom bardment of Charleston. Gen, Gill moro gave them until 10 o'clock of the following night, 23d of August, the time required by tho engineer to repair the battery, assuring them the ! firing would boresumod .at that hour unless Iiis demand !ur the surrender -.I I .at Wagner was complied with. At noon of the iV.d the ofli < r in command of the battery, wit!-, a de tachment six wen, started for the battery i" prepare the bhells, etc . timing their passage of the plank fialk between 1? m, and 1 o'clock p. m. Since early dawn the batteries ou .lame? Island had kept up a steady bombardment of the Swamp Angel, intending to make it "hot for any one to stay there, and also prevent any one from going there. Ah the firing was well chosen, and the men were hardly there and under cover when every gun and mortar that bore upon it opened viciously, keeping it up without intermission till sunset. At this hour Lieut. K?ster, llili Main- volunteers, had been instruct ed to march the remainder of the men required?ten?to the battery. This party, too, succeeded in slipping into the battery safely, hut from that time till next morning the Swamp Angel , was kept under steady firo. Kverything being ready in the bat tery, the men waited for the stipulat ed hour named by <ieu. Gillmore to the Charlcstonians before commencing operations. For nearly four hours this little band, far out in the marsh, sal around th'e gun, on loaded shells or on the gun carriage, under lire, watching the eflect of each shot or shell, particularly that of the mortar shells. From the fire of the guns the men were comparatively safe, being fairly covered by the parapet, but. not from that of the mortars. Their shells would descend high in the air, appar ently poise there a moment, and then come down with ever-increasing speed, the fuse glimmering threateningly in the moonlight, seemingly coming straigh.t for each watcher. Fortunately the fuses burned slow, or were cut too long. Not a single mortar shell exploded in the air, but in the soft mud about the battery. Most of these shells struck in the rear of the battery, where it was per fectly open aud exposed, where they penetrated well into the mud, no mat ter how close to the battery they sank. A sudden "spit!" with some flying mud, were the only results. But when they exploded just at the sur face they sent tremendous Bhowers of mud into the battery, a baptism gladly accepted by the detachment iu preference to a sterner visita tion. Ten o'clock approached, and the moon sank in the west. The Swamp Angel was loaded and elevated, tho primer in the vent, the lanyard taut. Slowly tho hands of tho watch indi cated the last seoond of grace for Char leston, and the low.command, "Fire!" sent tho seventeenth shell toward the devoted city. The enemy's batteries, as if enrag ed at their inability to stop the bom bardment, redoubled their nre. Not an instant, seemingly, but some fiery messenger was on its way, bent on de stroying the Swamp Angel, but they all fell short or went over. The Swamp Angel was shrouded in com plete darkness, lighted up only mom entarily by tha discharge of the gun or the explosion of a shell in the vi cinity, while a low word of command, a hissing shot or exploding shell alone interrupted the deep silence in the battery. Sir of the shells filled with Gre-:k fi/e exploded in the gun, scattering tbe tubles containing the composition into tho marsh. No trace of the terri ble effect promised was perceived. Not one in a dozen tubes took fire and those that did ignite did not burn as fiercely as had been anticipated. After the sixth shot from the Swamp Angel the gunner oall out, "I can't get the priming wire down, sir." Examination revealed that the gun had moved in its jaoket.. In pushing the priming wire into the vent through the jaoket its course was obstructed in the diroot)on of the muzzle. The jaoket had slipped for ward about one-tenths of an inch, half covoting the vent, still leaving a space for oommunioating fire to the chargo, but preventing the wire en tering beyond the vent. The gun was injured beyond re demption. All that remained was to get all the servioe oat qf it that could be got as long as it held togeth er. Proper precautions were at once taken to aooomplish this without in jury to the detachment. The men were ordered to go outside tho battery at the word "Ready." No. 4, who fired the gun. was given two lanyards splioed together, ao that ho too, might get outsido the parapet. Then the firing was returned. At the thirty-sixth round, the twentieth of that night, the officer juried by the gunan instant, watch in hand, intending to get the time by tbe flash of the gun, and gave the com mand, ,,Fire." Heaven and earth seemed a sheet of flame. The commanding officer found himself half stunned out in. tho marsh, threo or four yards from thVgun,. cap gontj car bleeding, eyebrows, hair, mustache singed, and, 'extraordinary to say, his huntiug case watch in his pocket properly closed, and, stranger still, a subsequent exauiination show ed that he must have hud the back of th>- watch open, instead <<f the face, lor it was blown full of powder, while it- lace was intact. He always be lieved lie shut that watch, and re placed it in his pocket while being huiled out into the marsh. The breeeb in the rear of the vent of the Swamp Angel had been blown clear out of the jacket through the chassis and scaffolding into the niud. The gun itself did, indeed, die like a soldier. It jumped forward upon the parapet clean out of ioe carriage and nearly in the Hatne position as when ready to he lind, boldly upright, and the shot went smoothly on its flight to the city, as if disaster had not sped it on it- course. The bat teries on James Island made a target ?d theguu for the next few days, ev idently still fearing it, for its attitude was a menace. When the explosion occurred in the battery there were two officers and sixteen men present, yet only two meu beside the commander were in jured. Ooe was wounded across the hands by a flying holt bend and another struck across the thighs by the flight of a piece of timber, which had been used to block up the chassis, l.-pon a call for volunteers to go for a boat .Sergt. Payne and a private offer ed their services. These men had to walk the plank in the dark to get the hoat and bring it to the battery. Their progress was necessarily slow. It took them an hour and a half to return to the battery with the boat. A great part of the time they were under fire, l?oth men were mentioned for medals from Oen. Gillmore for their bravery and they deserved them. After tho arrival of the boat the whole party embarked under a lively salute from their friends on the Con federate side, leaving tho faithful gun in the care of the picket guard, which had taken post curing the firing upon a platform made for that purpose a few hundred yards in the rear of the battery. The embarkation with the wounded meu of the detachment was the most trying part of the whole affair. The landing place, only a temporary plat form, was located directly in front of the battery, about forty yards from it. It was much cut up by the shots and exposed to the full force of the fire of all the guns and mortars. However, tbe party reached camp before daylight without accident. It was almost miraculous that not a man snould have been hit during this tremendous bombardment from at least a dozen guns and mortars, from two ten-inch Columbians and four ten-inoh mortars at Fort Jackson, and at least six field pieces in Fort Simp kins, between the Swamp Angel and Fort Johnson in the woods. Tbe field pieces were paid little attention to, no matter what projectiles they used. They often struck the parapet, but their shots were too light to do much damage. The Columbians commanded more respect. A lookout was station ed to observe those Columbians. At his half jocular warning, "Spitfire!" when he saw the flash the men would abandon their work and shelter under the parapet until the fragments pass ed over and then quietly resume their duty. The mortar shells were sent with too long a fuse and passed over before bursting. On the other hand, had the Confed erate Columbians been served with solid shot, shell with concussion, or .with a long-time fuse, they would have demolished the Swamp Angel. The effect of the two nights' work of that stern S tramp Angol upon the city of Charleston was small, as to aetual damage, but the moral influence waa tremendous. Vacant houses, empty streets and pavements over* grown with grass were silent witness es to this fact when later the Union troops entered the oity. Ono shell atrnek in Broad street, one near the old Pottoffioe, whioh caught instantly; one fell near the Market, one set 3re to an orphan asy lum. The rest of tho shells struok further uptown. The above is actual data collected from eyewitness es. Great alarm and confusion ensued from the explosion of the first shell; the streets were thronged .with refu gees, and by daylight the next morn ing the plank road was a wild spec tacle of flight for miles. No one in Charleston- on those two nights will forget the Swamp Angel* ? Politios if nuking others believe what you don't believe yourself,"jfljj ? There ia no use getting mad just beoause a girl thinks too much of your happiness to marry you. jHf ? The way to make a woman think yon love her is. to get mad about a r;own ahe wears beoause she thicks other men wilt admire it. $ ? A girl is awful smart when she goes to church to be able all at the same time to make her mother be* lieve ?sho is reading ' the service and some man that ahe is looking at him. LOADED UP IN VAIN. _ A Speech That Sumner Didn't Get an Opportunity to Deliver. It \v;h a function of the judiciary committee of the senate, of which Senat'?:- Trurnbull was the chair man, to attend to the furnishing of the "M senate chamber with busts of eminent judges who had sat on the supreme bench. In the dis charge of this ollicc Senator Trum bull offered a resolution in the sen ate that a bust of the late Chief Justice Tancy should bo placed there along with the busts of his predecessors. Immediately Mr. Sum ncr warmly objected to this meas ure on the ground that Taney's d? cision made in the I.) red Scott case ?a decision generally obnoxious to people hostile to slavery?was too idfonsivo and infamous to render it fit to grant this honor to its author. Trurnbull in telling this story smiled ns he said that it had seemed to him that even if Tancy might have fallen into a legal error or been ex tremely blameworthy it might still be natural to want to see how he looked! The fire of Mr. Stunner's protest, however, led to u postponement of the resolution. Trurnbull observed that Stunner speedily went to work to limit up in the Congressional li brary and to bring from its shelves hook after hook on the lives and misconduct of iniquitous judges in the past and to deposit them in a huge pile by his desk in the senate chamber, his intention being to draw from these some illustrations of detestable judicial decisions, the authors of which might be seen in the pillory and classed with the judge who presided in the Bred Scott rase. After waiting for the objectionable resolution to be called tij) for action Mr. Sumner, who had taken time enough to compose an elaborate philippic, inquired of Trurnbull when the resolution would be called up anew. To this question an evasive reply was made then and perhaps more than once. The upshot of the incident was that no opportunity was given to deliver the harangue which Mr. Sumner had been laboriously getting ready to fortify from the contents of the pile of books at the side of his" desk. After the gun had been loaded with so much painstaking no chance was afforded to discharge it.?Dr. George P. Fisher in Scribner's. Stevenson and Carlyle. liobert Louis Stevenson used to tell this story of his early days: He was entering in an absentminded way the famous secondhand book shop of James Stillie when he ???i into a fuming old gentleman who was leaving the establishment. The latter ejaculated in an a:;gry tone, "Man, can you not look wf">re you are going!" Stevenson >rologized for his awkwardness ani was then confronted by Mr. Stillie, who ^yas also excited." The bookseller ex claimed: "The creature has been trying to make out that an old book I sold him is spurious!. He may be able to write, but he knows nothing about black letter books. He's the most disagreeable customer that ever entered my shop!" "Who is he ?" asked Stevenson. "Oh, that's the great Mr. Thomas Carlyle," was the answer. Work of Merit. One day a traveler came to a well, where he dismounted, fastened his animal to a pin and satisfied his thirst. As he returned to his ani mal it occurred to him that it would be a "savab" (work of merit) to leave the pin behind for other trav elers who might wish-to tether their beasts. The next to arrive was a man on foot, who, being very thirst}' and in a hurry,, fell over the pin. This man threw the pin down the well, so ns to prevent any one else from having a. similar accident. A learned man in the district was ask ed which of the two did the "savab." He answered, "Both, for their inten tions were equally good!" ? "Five Years In a Persian Town." A Pavan ent of Whalebone. ? curious memento of the whal ing industry of Monterey, in Mexico, remains in the pavement leading up from'the street to the west door o2 the church of San Carlos de Bor romeo. This is one of the churches founded by the Spanish missionary fathers and is still in excellent re pair. The round, mushroom-like ob jects in the pavement are the verte-, brae of ihe great mammals. The pavement is in good condition and seems to wear well. A Nice Little .Mleolon For Pa. "Pa, what's an iconoclast?" "One who smashes idols." 'Tmone." "Pshaw! No you're not iou don't understand what I mearj* "Yes, I do. I just busted that little idol ma paid $160 for and had so much trouble smuggling through the custom house. You veil her, will you? I've got to go out and sco a boy^-^-Chxcsgo Becord-Her ald. . ; ' g - , ... ? Young man. don't get discour aged if your best girl treats you like a dog. Perhaps'she likes dogs. -? A man sets' as proud over hold? ing the last trump as if he had invent* ed cards. , > . ?-,I*ikeisome people, the peacock, beo?us?'ofjts tail, seems to be proud of its following. ? When^ a woman is in mourning she has no fear of her attire being much talked about. ; I, _J, rover He that lives upon hope will fast? But he that lives on Uneeda Biscuit will feast Cane Mills Evaporators, i Our Mills are built on correct mechanical principles and embody all of the best features, of proven worth, entering into Cane Mill construction. The working of each Mill has been thoroughly tested, j and each one is warranted to give satisfactory service. We have a new extra strong Galvanized Evaporator?the best one ever brought to this market.. 1 V I 1 : Which should -not. be overlooked on 1 THE McCOKMICK MOWER Is that the cutter-baV is fitted with very long wearing plates, insuring easy running and smooth cutting. The bar itself I is made of heavy cold rolled st?el? with a thick rib extending the entire length of the bar. This con struction re e u Its'! n a ^cutter - bar which is unsurpassed in SULLIVAN strength, rig idity and dur ability. Other important pbints are ful ly explained in the McCor mick book, ] "It Takes tffiL Palm,** B?p- 3 plied free to those interest- % ed in harvest!ng macmtt?sf KW Sttferty-, -, { f.i.-cit,?7iI,.-y i l..?i-.,-<--.?rl,life, < ->