Like The Fires Of Hell

On April 7^th 1863 nine Union ironclads neared Fort Sumter to attack the Confederate held structure.

Nine Union ironclads, outfitted with the heaviest cannon to be used in naval warfare up to that time, steamed slowly into Charleston Harbor on April 7^th 1863.  They were moving in for an attack on Fort Sumter.  At about 3 pm the Fort under the command of Confederate Colonel Alfred Rhett opened up on the Union ships, in what one Union man said was like "the fires of hell were turned upon the Union fleet. The air seemed full of heavy shot, and as they flew they could be seen as plainly as a base-ball in one of our games."

The Confederate batteries in the Forts of Charleston Harbor fired off more than 2,200 rounds during the battle, while the Union ironclads only fired 139 shots.  The Union guns hit Fort Sumter 55 times during the fight, leaving the Fort pretty much intact.  The ironclads didn’t make out as well during the roughly hour long battle, one of the ships, the USS Keokuk received over 90 hits, and it was only with dedication and skill that her sailors and commander Alexander C Rhind, kept her afloat until the next morning.  Among the remaining ironclad there were disabled guns, and damaged smokestacks and turrets.  Union Rear Admiral Samuel Francis DuPont who led the fleet, withdrew ships and did not renew the fight.

The Union side reported 23 casualties, while the Confederates in the Forts had 14.  The Confederates were even able to salvage one of the Dahlgren guns from the wreck of the Keokuk, which would be mounted on the Fort. 

Impenetrability But No Corresponding Destructiveness

Rear Admiral Samuel F DuPont

The First Battle of Fort McAllister in Bryan County, Georgia was on March 3^rd 1863.

Union Rear Admiral Samuel F DuPont ordered four ironclads, the USS Montauk, Nahant, Passaic, and Patapsco to fire on the small three gun earthworks battery located within the Confederate defenses of Fort McAllister.  The goal of this firing was to test the ships guns and determine their effectiveness against an earthen shore battery.

Fort McAllister was ordered to be built on July 7^th 1861, using available materials, mostly sand and mud.  It was armed with one rifled 32 pounder a 42 pounder and an eight inch Columbiad.

On March 3^rd 1863 at about 8:30 in the morning, the four ironclads opened fire with an eight hour long bombardment.  The shelling did some damage to the battery, but did not destroy it.  Two Confederates in the Fort were slightly wounded. The ships held up well under the return fire from the fort, suffering only a few minor dents.  It also showed that the Fort wouldn't fall to a strictly naval attack, as most the damage was repaired by the next day.  DuPont, reported that, "Whatever degree of impenetrability the monitors might have, there was no corresponding quality of destructiveness against forts."

Fort McAllister would finally fall into Union hand on December 13^th 1864, when Union General William Tecumseh Sherman captured the Fort by land.