Alfred Roman, The military operations of General Beauregard in the war between the states, 1861 to 1865

[471] was sitting on the berme of the western face, was wounded by a brick knocked from the parapet and falling upon his head.

At Moultrie one man was killed by the falling of the flag-staff when shot away.

At Battery Wagner an ammunition-chest, in the angle of the parapet and traverse, in the chamber of the 32-pounder, exploded from the blast of the gun, killing three men, mortally wounding one, slightly wounding Lieutenant Steadman, in charge of the gun, and three men; blew them about twenty feet, cracked the traverses, threw the shot from the pile of balls in every direction, and slightly damaged the chassis.

I arrived at Fort Sumter about two o'clock at night, after the engagement, and found Mr. E. J. White, of the Engineer Department, busily engaged building in the casemates, first and second tiers, behind the damaged walls, with sand-bags. Several of them were completed and considerably strengthened. This work was continued all night and the next day by the garrison and the fifty negroes who had been employed at the fort, and remained during the engagement. On the following morning the fleet lay inside the bar, in the same line of battle in which they approached—the first one about two miles and a half from Sumter, and one and a half miles from Morris Island. Men were visible all day on the turret of one, hammering, evidently repairing her plating. Wind-sails were set, indicating that their quarters, even at this season of the year, were uncomfortable and badly ventilated. About noon one of the turrets went south, probably to Port Royal, for repairs or for the security of that place against our ironclads from Savannah.

The Ironsides has kept up a full head of steam since the engagement, as can be seen by her constantly blowing off. Three holes are distinctly seen in her stern, two just above the water-line.

The ‘devil’ floated ashore on Morris Island; the cables by which it was attached to the turret's bow were cut away. It is probable that the ‘devil,’ becoming unmanageable, was the cause of the turret retiring early from the action—it being a massive structure, consisting of two layers of white-pine timbers, eighteen inches square, strongly bolted together; a re-entering angle twenty feet deep, to receive the bow of the vessel, fifty feet long, twenty-seven feet wide; a layer of bevelled timbers on the front forming a bow, seven heavy iron plates, through which passed chains directly down and over the sides, through hawser-pipes; to these were attached grappling-irons with double prongs, suspended underneath, at the sides and bow; in the countersinks of the plates were loose iron rollers, apparently to facilitate the drawing of the chains through the holes over them, when the grapplings took hold, to drag up to the ‘devil’ whatever he may catch with his hooks.

The colors of the six turrets remaining on the 8th are as follows: First turret, lead-color; stack, lead-color; top of stack, red with black ring. Second turret and stack, black. Third turret, black; stack, white; top, green. Fourth turret, black; stack, black; top stack (1-3), lead-color. Fifth turret and stack, lead-color. Sixth turret and stack, black.

The hull of the turret in running trim stands about two feet above waterlevel,