Port Royal, SC 1861-1865
From The Civil War Album.
Lincoln’s new Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, recognized from the moment took his office that the Union would need to blockade the South to win the war. Welles also realized that he would need another coaling port somewhere in the south to make the blockade effective. The Union already had two critical ports at the start of the war, Fort Monroe in Virginia and Key West Florida, but that left a large hole in between that the Southerners could drive a supply fleet through. With the Union loss at the First Battle of Bull Run or Manasas, as the Southerners call it, the rest of the cabinet caught up with Welles and lauched Operation Anaconda, the strangulation of the Southern economy.
Port Royal sits halfway between Charleston and Savannah on Hilton’s Head. It’s a large harbor capable of handing many ships at a time, with plenty of land for a large supply, distribution and repair center for refitting the Union fleet. It position near two of the South’s most important port cities made it the perfect site for a new Union base of operations against Southern shipping.
Southern military leaders were not blind to the Port Royals usefulness and built two forts at the mouth of the harbor, Fort Walker on Hilton’s Head and Fort Beauregard across the channel at Bay Point on Philips Island. Fort Walker, the larger of the two forts mounted twenty three guns while Fort Beauregard had sixteen, but the neither fort held guns large enough to span the three mile wide channel. In fact, ships in the middle of the harbor were out of range of both sets of guns, and had plenty of room to maneuver.
The Confederate Navy was also represented at Port Royal, and consisted of six small gunboats mounting one gun each. It is difficult to imagine what anyone thought that this small flotilla might contribute to a fight, but they were there none the less.
The Battle of Port Royal
November 7, 1861
Sectary Welles quietly assembled an armada of 14 warships, 26 supply ships and 25 troop transports carrying 12,000 infantry. Earlier in the war Gen. Benjamin Butler had launched a secret operation into North Carolina attended with a whole retinue of reporters filing dispatches all along the way. Needed less to say, the Confederates, who read the Northern papers, were not surprised in the least and drove off Butler’s force. Welles had no intension of make the same mistake as Butler. Preparations for the attack on Port Royal were made under tight security, troop’s were frequently embarked and disembarked from various ships to confuse Confederate spies while the force was being gathered. No one was told where they were going until they got there so no loose lips could sink ships or tip off the Confederacy. In a place and at a time when there were no secrets, Welles kept his plans very quiet indeed.
After leaving Fort Monroe, on November 1st the fleet was hit by a hurricane off Cape Hatteras that sank or severely damaged nearly a dozen ships. On the same day word of the attack was leaked by the Secretary of War Benjamin that was quickly made public spoiling Welles plans for a surprise attack. Welles was faced with a dilemma, to call off the attack or risk a debacle, that so shortly after Bull Run, would cause an uproar and ruin his carrier. Resolved that the conditions requiring the need for the new port had not changed, Welles ordered the attack to proceed despite the setbacks.
Cape Hatteras in the morning.
From November 2 through the 4th the scattered ships of Welles fleet reassembled of the Port Royal Sound, and on November 7th launched their attack.
Welles' commander on the scene was Flag Officer Samuel F. Du Pont. It was Du Pont’s plan to hit so hard with his first blow that the Confederates would not be able to recover regardless of what they did or didn’t know; a kind of Civil War shock and awe campaign. Du Pont left nothing to chance, so his attack plan included a second flotilla of light gunboats to take on the minisucle Confederate Navy in the sound. After sinking or chasing off the Rebel boats they were to join the attack against the forts adding their firepower on another front.
With his flagship Wabash in the lead De Pont steamed into the sound attacking first Fort Walker then swinging around and hitting Fort Beauregard as they steamed back out. For four hours Du Pont pounded the two forts, the Confederates scored a couple hits but failed inflict any serious damage on the Union fleet.
Fort Walker from The Civil War Album.
The Confederates had mounted their guns along the top of the forts walls to increase their range, instead of placing down firing through gun ports, which left the guns and the gunners exposed to Union fire. The small increase in range did not add enough range to compensate for Unions larger guns. Further, the Union fleet was made up of steam powered ships, so they did not have to stop to fire. They also did not have to tack or depend upon the wind for propulsion so they could move through their firing runs freely, zigging and zagging at will. The Confederates were completely overmatched, their gunners were poorly trained firing fewer, smaller guns with inferior powder. The Union sailors on the other hand were professionals well drilled in loading, aiming and firing their cannon quickly and accurately. By early afternoon the Confederates began abandoning their positions in a great hurry. They were in such a hurry they didn’t even spike their guns or blow the magazines before they left.
At 3 pm the Wabash dispatched its first boat that planted the Union Flag over Fort Walker. By 4 pm the naval battle was over and the Union gunners secured their guns and went bellow for diner. Meanwhile 500 or more boats were launched to carry the 12,000 infantrymen ashore. All landings were completed without oppositions.
The Confederates did not surrender, they left. This might seem like a small difference, but it meant that a large Confederate force was still in the field nearby. The Union infantry spent the next several days occupying the town of Port Royal and Beaufort, and all of the costal islands between Savannah and Charleston. After the battle many Union officers in the Eastern Theater discounted the importance of the victory at Port Royal, some questions whether it was a battle at all, there weren't enough casualties.
Strange as it might seem, or maybe not, the North didn’t quite seem to know what to do with their victory. Here was a situation, amphibious warfare, where the Union had a clear superiority over the South, the Confederates had nothing that could match the Union fleet and sailors. The port did useful service for the Federal Navy and several other combined sea operations were carried out but the real possibilities of combined operations were never fully realized. Both Charleston and Savannah sat there only about thirty miles away waiting for Sherman to take them in 1864. The attention of the nation was riveted on Virginia and that’s where the countries resources would be spent, but Port Royal did invaluable service throught the war.
Fort Sherman, built by the Union to defend the port against Southern attack.
From The Civil War Album.
Nothing much remains of the Civil War forts and facilities unless there are some more ruins on the Marine Corp base. When I asked about Civil War sites at the local Visitors Center, the staff express suprize and said they hadn't been aware that the had even been any Civil War activity in the Sound. The Civil War Album has photos of what works remain.
Views of Port Royal
Driven from their forts on the bay the Confederate's took to the swamps to prevent the Union from moving in land against other targets. In a sense the Confederates showed how little they understood the Union plans for Anaconda and the degree to which the Union Navy would be able to impact the Southern economy. Port Royal was not to be a fort like Monroe, the jumping off point for inland invasions, it was a coaling station and repair yard. Once the base was active there was no chance that the Confederates would ever get anywhere near it.
The shore line.
Moving inland.
The tidelands, a natural barrier to land attack.
The Swamps
Union troops followed the Confederates into the swamps to hunt down and destroy them but the job proved to be too difficult. The Union was concerned about a large armed force on the edge of their base.
There are a lot of reasons not to want to blunder around here too much. Keep me out. Oh wait, I guess not.
A difficult place to mount any sort of operation, but a great place to hide and spring an ambush against someone who tries. The very thing that made the swamp a good place to hide out also protected the base any serious attack.
Next: North Carolina and the South Side