The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-08-11
SEA ISLAND LANDS.
ST. HELENA PARISH And ITS cITI
ZENS.

1T. HELENA PARISH IND ITS CIII-
=; zENS.
- .,s,-
A Few Chapters from Faithful Un'
J. published History OF the War Of Sc
:. cession.
CHAPTERI /.
On the 7th November, 1861, the Federal heet'
under Admiral Dupont, entered fort hoyal
Harbor, or Bay, In this State, in spite OF sucn
opposition as the two little sand batteries, one
on each side of the entrance, could offer. This
fleet was large in all respects, well appointed,
and filed with soldiers and marines. 1t was
the most efficient naval armament at that time
ia;at the disposal of the, United States Govern
ment.
: The bay, running northward from the bar,
toward the Town OF Beaufort, some twenty
miles above, is at Its narrowest place three
miles across, opposite which were these pat
terles. From thence, to distance OF at least
eight or ten miles beyond, the entrance Wldens
TO five or six miles, but presents straight
and beautiful sheet Of water of great depth,
and without single obstruction then or now.
The batteries were Of earth, thrown up in
hurry, and manned by inexperienced and un-
:practiced garrisons. It was the best resis-
|, ?; lance which the Confederate Government
could then present. It ought, at this point,
to have offered none. For many hours, how
ever, against this formidable fleet, these two
little sand forts held their own. Had the Con-
federate authorities not withheld from these
gallant men the means which were ire
,quently asked, to prepare themselves
points glorious dispatch to his chieftain at
Washington might have been pitched: to
another key. To those acquainted with the
localities, 1t was well known that fleet NOV
Ing with strong flood tide, under good
head Of steam, determined to pass, could re-
ceive no efectual check rom these; or even
much larger, batteries. Had Admiral Dupont,
with his knowledge of the bays, rivers and In.
lets-the accuracy Of whish BQutelle stood
ready to ov0uch-instead ofstopping to show bis
superior meansi and efficiency, oy sllenclng
these little forts passed rapidly up, in less than
placed his fleet beyond the very longest range
Of the guns of both batteries reversed, and
captured their garrisons; threatened Savannah
by the way of Catalogue Sound, and spared
hts n,er the ppns:c:csrv risk which they in
snIfsd nom tie continuous IRE Of these Datto-
Hes That he did not, would have cost MIN
h,s commissIon had he been OF the army OF
navu of.Napoleonl1. But he belonged to the
prest Yankee nation, It was enonsss MOI mat he
-Rai 6nehea away up to the Town Of Beau.
fbrt. and he was glorifed3 History has cone
him Justice, tor he was on the winning slde.
VIII history do equal justice 70 tne noD,e ina Iaea
and unfinchingly defed his power! NO!
For, they fought for the losing side-the nobler
-caIlse--but IL was lost. Such Is human JudS-
Inent and human justice.
- y ltthe time and before this battle, tne Iown OF
Beaufort was one OF the most desiraDie resi-, Ta.
fnfahitants, about twelve or fifteen hundred
whites. were as q whole extremely wen edu-
Gated, and many Of fthemmost honorabiy lden-
fifiad with the past glory Of the old State.
They were hospitable and unsuspicious, ana as
q society distinguished BY q very hign degree
ofreAnement and elegance, lnteuectuaiiE ana
morally. More than one hundred ana MY
wears back their ancestors had settled 1t, and
fhese their descendants had known no. otner
nlaoe than the little o,d Town Of Beaufort as
tfhelrIho In life, their final resting place ID
DEATH II was endeared to them by thou
Sand memories and traditions. With rev
exceptions they were, as had been tneir
forethers planters hving OF me @ peoaucspi1 tasti1y
located and handsome, some, OF them, expen-
! aiye and luxurious Onthe day Of the battle,
or the tay after, the Confederate authorlues
tcomfnandsd these people to abandon their
pleasant homes and fly to the main iand; u
was notiwith them matter OF oholce. Mnether Ia
the order was wise or not, they obeyed It, oe.
ccanse tliey were forced to obey. They left
J their veil stocked plantations, elegantly far-
nishe6 dwellings, ali their personal property,
.in. the care of their slaves, (untl then faith
ffM and sttached,) Intending to return Wnen
circumstances would permit ana epCTsss repCysess
Therefore. which speak Of abandoned LANDS,
can 6carcely have been intended to apply 70
these lands, unless those who prepared tnese
most -8trocious laws were In profound lgn0r-
ance of facts or profound hypocrites.,. Ihe
lands were. not -aoandoned; their owner owners
He'd as tHey we're na@es oFassso' assin'
Tor among them were the aged and
,inhrm: When, therefore, Dupont reach
ed the town not one white soul was to be
found In the limits of the whole parish except
an infrm cid Yankee, Thos Neaker, VINO mad
been there for more than thirty-dye years, o
descendant perhaps of the "MaynoWer
stock. This man.and the negroes of the towD,
and such other negroes as had abandoned
their plantation work to witness the spectacle,
constituted the whole ofthe population which,
on that occasion, assembled to honor the
successful chieitain. There was not rebel
within fifteen miles. But things were signify
changed. The port was thrown open to the
yessels of an nations. A customhouse was es-
tablished at Hilton Head, and a postof1ce, and
3 newspaper called the New South established
in the town. Then the '.loiP' citizens OF
,Mrtha's Vineyard, Cape Cod, Bosting and
Providence, descendants Of the glorious Puri-
tans-true and fegvent worshippers OF the al,
1ai1htu lollar-rushe in with their codnsh, and
onions and molasses, to trade with the hull
civilized negro, on the tdireSt and most non,
OrobIe terms. Cuffee, in the hands OF rea!
:. uDowneaster n From this until the end OF
: the war, Tcan only speak ofwhat have heard
as having transpired in this place. But have
,heard and know enough Of Yankee cupidlty to
believe that unless the generous friend VINO
had come all the way from New England for
no other purpose than to elevate the moral
and intellectual status Of the poor, doWn.trod.
den African, was allowed to fix the value OF
the article offered by Cufee, OF which OF
course he was the better Judge, as well as the
price of his own goods to be given IN exchange
for Cuffee's, there could be no bargain. This
was fundamental rule, Intended 10 insure
fair and honest dealing.
But the truth is, with the Yankee trader and
Dedd1er the determination and desolatlon'
Also entered The negroes took possession OF
and: occupied the finest houses In the town,
either for themselves or jointly, and on terms
of equality with the Yankee scalawag and his
family, or Che escaped convict from In Inc penl.
tentary Of Boston or New YORK. Tne most
costly furniture was recklessly destroyed, or
sold to the shopkeepers and shipped North,
where, even now, some Of 1t may be seen. IN
some instances the windows, doors, Wainscot-