Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1884-09-04
THE SWAMP ANGEL.
How 1t Was Put Into Position Before
CharIestOn-Its Opening Salute.


CharlestOn-Its Opening Salute
Brooklyn Union.
did you boys ever hear the story Of
how the Swamp Angle was put into posi-
ton before Charleston" asked a veteran
Of the engineers.
"I've read about it several times, said
one of the group.
"Well, I have never read an account OF
it yet that wasn't crooked" returned the
engineer. "I was there myself and know
the whole inside of the business, and I'll
tell you just how it was. General Gil
more was in command Of the engineers
at the siege Of Charleston. One day, in
the Midsummer of 1868, he sent Captain
Michel, now General at West Point, to
see whether there was any point on the
coast where guns could be placed to at
tack Charleston. Michel reported that
the coast was all swamp for three or four
miles Misunderstanding but mud, water
and slush forty or fifty feet deep. He
had gone half a mile or so IN a boat,
making very poor progress through the
bulrushes, and the stencil from the car
cases of animals thrown into the swamp
made him sick. Gilmore was in a bush
hut eating supper with Colonel NOV
General) Serrell when he got 4GichePs re-
port. He turned to Serre1 and asked
him whether he thought it possible to
get guns posted in the swamp. SerrelI
said he thought nothing was impossible;
he called Lieutenant Harold and sent
him to recOnOitre. Harold was gone
half the night, and came back very much
bedraggled and tired. He said it was
impossible to get the guns through and
impossible to mount them, even if they
could be got through. Using his utmost
efforts, he had only been able to get be-
tween two and three miles into the
swamp. Serren said it had got to be
done. Harold asked how he was going
to do it, and said it would require men
with legs forty feet long to get through
that swamp. Well, the project Of post
ing guns in the swamp got abroad in the
camp, and the soldiers made great run
about it. They said that Drs. Dalrymple
and Snow, two Of the medical officers on
General Gilmore's staff, were appointed
to splice the legs Of our men to get them
to the required length.
'sNext morning Colonel Serrell took
Lieutenant Edwards with him, and
started to look at the swamp himself
The got as long a plank as Nhere was In
the camp and Waded into the swamp,
each holding one end Of the plank. The
dav was fearfully hot, the work was
terrible getting through the rushes and
water plants and thick, Shiny slush, and
the smell Of the swamp was ElckenIng,
but they perseyered, working slowly out
until they came to a creek. Here they
were stopped for time, as it had a con-
siderable current and was deep, but after
a while they got the plank fitted so that
one held it while the other craWled over
and held 1t still In his turn. Then, with
infinite labor, they went on a mile fur
ther towards Charleston. Finally they
got
70 THE W4TER's EDGE,
Four and a half miles from Charleston.
Here the ground was more solid, There
were oyster shells and wrinkles and spiral
aureoles. They took a bearing to the
steeple Of st ALichael's Church in Charles
ton and another bearing to Fort MOultrie
and so located their own position IN the
swamp. Then they worked down the
edge Of the open water to Block Island,
and so returned, terribly played out and
dirty but full Of hope. Colonel SerreH
told General Gilmore that he thought it
possible to get guns into such position in
the swamp that they might lombard
Charleston, and that night submitted a
plan for establishing the Wished-for
battery. In this plan he estimated that
It would require 5000 days work TO put