. The battles of the war for the union. The story of the great Civil War, from the election of Abraham Lincoln to the surrender at Appomatox, Impartially told . Charlestonhad been watched by a large fleet of ironclads; butthese had been scattered one dark night towards theend of January, 1863, by a bold attack conducted byCaptain command of two rams which hadbeen built and equipped on the spot. One of theUnion ironclads had been compelled to surrender andthe Confederates claimed that they had raised theblockade. Such was the state of affairs when a freshexpedition was directed agai
. The battles of the war for the union. The story of the great Civil War, from the election of Abraham Lincoln to the surrender at Appomatox, Impartially told . Charlestonhad been watched by a large fleet of ironclads; butthese had been scattered one dark night towards theend of January, 1863, by a bold attack conducted byCaptain command of two rams which hadbeen built and equipped on the spot. One of theUnion ironclads had been compelled to surrender andthe Confederates claimed that they had raised theblockade. Such was the state of affairs when a freshexpedition was directed against the city under the com-mand of Admiral Dupont. In the course of March, the greater part of the fleetwas transferred from Port Royal to a point about mid- EXPEDITION AGAINST CHARLESTON. 237 way between that locality and Charleston Harbor, andabout 100 vessels were collected at the mouth of theNorth Edisto River. The fleet sailed for CharlestonBar on April 6. The bar was crossed by the ironcladsin the course of the day; and a position was taken upin the main channel along the coast of Morris the 7th, a line of battle was formed, in which the. SOUTH CAROLINA FLAG. ironclads were to take the principal part. The woodenvessels remained outside the bar. Attached to the lead-ing ironclad, the Weehawken, was a raft, designed to ex-plode torpedoes and remove obstructions. The attacking force was allowed to pass the outeruatteries; but as the Weehazvken was about to enter theinner harbor, a gun was fired from Fort Moultrie, fol- 238 THE BATTLES FOR THE UNION. lowed by all the batteries on Sullivans Island and Mor-ris Island, and by those of Fort Sumter. On reachingthe entrance of the channel between Sumter and Sulli-vans Island, the leading ship got entangled in a hawserstretched across the waterway, to which were sus-pended nets and various contrivances for preventing theaction of the screws. The ironclads opened fire on theforts; but a good deal of confusion ensued in the
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