Richland beacon., 1888-06-09
GILLMORE,S SWAMP ANGEL.
The Deadly Gun That Poured
Missiles Int Charlcst on.

From the Charleston S. CO Newsl
There are a good many people IN
Charleston who had an intimate but
somewhat unpleasant acquaintance with
the Swamp Angel. o..
One calm night in August, 1863,
strange noise was heard i'll the air. IL
was noise that some people had be-
come familiar with, but one that to tho
women and children i'll Charleston was
entirely unknown. Some people COM
pared it to the blast of the last trump,
others to the howl of the hyena, and 9th
ers to the concentrated noise OF 10000
locomotives rushing through tunnel in
the air and condensed into scream OF
the most narrowing intensity.
1t was the first Swamp Angel messcf
ger sent into Charleston by the late Gen.
Gilmore. The Waterman at st. MI
chaers steeple sounded the alarm and
the firemen and other people hurried
out in haste.
The shell came from a masked battery
which Gen. Gilmore had erected In the
marsh ut the extreme south end OF Nor
ris Island, and on the southern borders
of the creek which separates Morris from
Folly Island. In straight line 1t was
over five miles from the city. The bat
terry had been constructed under the
greatest difficulties and in what was con-
sidered an impossible place. The idea
of gun throwing projectile q distance
of five miles had not at that time pene-
trated the minds of the average public.
and the arrival of the first messenger
from the Swamp Angel was as unexpect-
ed as it was unpleasant.
The battery was the famous Swamp
Angel. 1t consisted of a single 8-inch
| Parrot Rifle mounted in the marsh and
surrounded by an earthwork of circular
| shape. 1t burst at the thirty sixth round
and that was the end OF the Swamp
Angel proper. After this the lombard
ment was directed from the batteries on
Morris Island. 1t is said that the eleva-
ton of the guns was so great that they
could only be used to fire half q dozen
/ times, and as matter of fact the people
who remained here during the lombard
ment became so accustomed to the sound
that they could tell by the sound when
gun had burst.
As maybe readily imagined STAN
pede followed the first nights lombard
ment. Dozens of trains were sent out
of town the next morning carrying thous-
ands of women and children.
Gen. Gillmore's gunners soon attained
a wonderful accuracy in firing their guns.
1t was said that the Swamp Angel shells
were loaded with "Greek Fire, but this
was never verified. Fires frequently &C.
CURED, and the firemen always prompt
ly turned out, taking the chances
of the shells. A fire at night invariably
awoke the Swamp Angel to renewed act
ivity. The shells were sent in generally
at an average rate of one every fifteen or
twenty minutes. Occasionally, when a
gun would burst, there would be sus-
pension of operations at the Swamp
Angel end of the line, sometimes for
several days.
This invariably followed fire in the
city. The light from the blaze would
give the gunners at the Swamp Angel q
good mark, and they would fire more
rapidly, which probably cost them several
guns. and then the people of Charleston
would have rest until the burst guns
were replaced.
The accuracy which the Swamp Angel
gunners attained was remarkable. On
one occasion the buildings on Browns
Wharf were fired during the day. The
Fire Department was promptly on the
spot, and set to work to extinguish thr
flames. The building was on the water
front and the dense columns of smoke
offered splendid target to Gen. Gill
more's marksmen. There are perhaps q
dozen men in Charleston to- day who will
testify to the fact that during the por-
gress of the fire at least three shells were
thrown into the burning building.
On another occasion, while fire was
in progress Mt the corner of Market
street and East Bay, shell was actually
thrown into the air vessel of the Phoenix
Fire Companys engine. At the time
there were probably twenty men at the
breaks (thc engine being an old fash
toned double decker and but one man,
a cOlored runner" was injured.
The accuracy with which the Swamp
Angel guns were fired, i'll fact, gave color
to the statement subsequently made that
the gunners Intentionally RETAINED from
firing at st. Michael's steeple. which
was never hit during the entire two