. Battles and leaders of the Civil War : being for the most part contributions by Union and Confederate officers . ng the command withRear-Admiral John A. Dahlgren. [See p. 46.] Charleston was located in the Military Department of the South, compris-ing the narrow strip of sea-coast held by the Union forces in South Carolina,Georgia, and Florida. Upon relieving General David Hunter and assumingcommand of this department in June, I found our troops actually occupyingeleven positions on this stretch of coast, while a small blockading squadronheld a variable and more or less imperfect control of
. Battles and leaders of the Civil War : being for the most part contributions by Union and Confederate officers . ng the command withRear-Admiral John A. Dahlgren. [See p. 46.] Charleston was located in the Military Department of the South, compris-ing the narrow strip of sea-coast held by the Union forces in South Carolina,Georgia, and Florida. Upon relieving General David Hunter and assumingcommand of this department in June, I found our troops actually occupyingeleven positions on this stretch of coast, while a small blockading squadronheld a variable and more or less imperfect control of the principal inlets. Inthe neighborhood of Charleston we held nil the coast line south of MorrisIsland, while all the other islands around the harbor, and to the northward,were either controlled or occupied by the enemy. It was found, after abol-ishing some of these detached posts and reducing the force at others, that theaggregate means for carrying on the contemplated operations against Charles-ton comprised only about 10,000 effective volunteer infantry, 600 engineer 56 THE ARMY BEFORE CHARLESTON IN THE SIGHT ASSAULT ON BATTERY WAGNER, JULY 18, 1863. troops, and 350 artillerists. The ordnance on hand, deemed more or lesssuitable for our purpose, consisted of 200-pounder, 100-pounder, and 30-pounder Parrott rifles, and some 13-inch, 10-inch, and 8-inch mortars. Theprojectiles for the 200-pounders, however, weighed only 150 pounds, andthose for the 100-pounders only 80 pounds. With this feeble array ofguns—feeble because largely wanting in the strength required for throwing,with a breaching velocity, even the light projectiles provided for them—thegreat work of the siege was begun. During the operations fifty-one of theseParrott rifles were expended by bursting, most of them prematurely. Meanwhile between the middle of June and the 6th of July preparationsfor the descent upon Morris Island went quietly forward. It was deemednecessary that this attack should be a su
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