Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-05-21
GII.I.M0RE'S SWAMP ANGEL
The GUN THAT POURED SCReEcH-
ING MISSILES INTO CHARLESTON.

|
The First Messenger from the Masbe,
Battery In the Marsh--Accur of thu
Gunners--Ineidents of the CaDDonading
A fuse Shell.
There are u good many people In Charles
ton. who had au Intimate but somewhat un
pleasant acquaintance with the Swamp
Angel One calm night in August, 1873, 9
| strange notse was heard in the Air IL was a
noise that some people had become familiar
with. hut one that to the women and chill
dren in Charleston was entirely unknown,
Some people compared 1t to the blast Of the
last trump others to the howl of the hyena,
and others to the concentrated noise of l0,-
0OO locomotives rushing through tunnel in
the air aud condensed into scream OF the
most narrowing intensity
| IL WIS the first Swamp Angel messenger
sent into Charleston by the late ten. Giu-
more The watchman at St. Michaefs
| steeple sounded the alarm, and the hrelnen
and other people hurried out in haste. The
| shell came from a masked battery, which
| Gen Gilmore had erected in the marsh at the
extreme south end of Morris Island, and on
the southern borders of the creek which sepa-
| rates Morris from Folly Island. In straight
city The battery had been constructed un-
der the greatest difficulties, and in what was
considered an impossible place. The idea Of
a gun throwing projectile a distance of five
miles had not at that time penetrated the
minds of the average public, and the arrival
of the first messenger from the Swamp Angel
was as unexpected as it was unpleasant.
The battery was the famous Swamp Angel
1t consisted of single s-inch Parrott rife
mounted in the marsh and surrounded by an
aarthwork of circular shape. 1t burst at
the thirty sixth round, and that was the end
Of the Swamp Angel proper After this the
commandment was directed from the bat
teres on Morris Island 1t is said that the
elevation of the guns was so great that they
could only be used to fire a half dozen times,
and as matter of fact the people who re-
manned here during the bombardment be-
came SO accustomed to the sound that they
could tell by the sound when a gun had
burst.
Gen. Gillmore's gunners soon attained
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 occurred. and the
lremen always promptly turned out, taking
the chances of the shells. A fire at night in
variably awoke the Swamp Angel to renewed
activity The shells were sent in generally
at an average rate of one every fifteen or
twenty minutes Occasionally when gun
would burst there would be a suspension of
operations at the Swamp Angel end of the
line, sometimes for several days. This in
variably followed fire in the city. The light
from the blaze would give the gunners at the
Swamp Angel good mark, and they would
fire more rapidly, which probably cost them
several guns, and then the people of Charles
ton would have a rest until the burst guns
were replaced
The accuracy which the Swamp Angel gun
ners attained was remarkable On one occa-
sion the buildings on Browns wharf were
fired during the day. The fire department
was promptly on the spot and set to work to
axtingIiish the flames The building was on
the water 'front.' and the dense columns of |
smoke offered a splendid target to Gen. Gill |
mores marksnen. There are perhaps a |
dozen men In Charleston today who will re- |
call the incident and who will testify to the |
fact that during the progress of that fire at |
least three shells were thrown into tho burn |
l. building. The accuracy with which the |
5n amp Angel guns were fired, in fact, gave |
color to the statement subsequently made that |
the gunners Intentionally refrained from Cir
ing at St Michaels steeple, which was never
nit during the entire two years of the bonn
1ardment
Percussion shells were used by the Swamp
Angel gunners for over year During this
lime the people of Charleston had abundant
lime to study the peculiarities of the percus-
;ion Parrott she'll The shell, of course,
,ould only be exploded when it came in CON
act with hard surface, and was, therefore,
,nly dangerous under these conditions. In
line cases out Of ten percussion shell that
truck wooden building simply buried
tself in the earth and remained there. The |
'nly danger to life or limb, therefore, was in
icing struck by the shell on its passage, and
most people soon learned to avoid this
In 1854 there was startling change In the
ondtion of things. BY this time those who
we're compelled to remain in the city had
ecome used to the Swamp Angel Up
o this time not more than two OF three
eople had been killed, Notwithstanding the
act that fully five Thousand had been almost
under fire, to say nothing of the
xposure of the fremen who, besides doing
Military duty at night along the water front,
'ere called upon frequently to subdue the | j
ames In the shelled district On the night
T Sept. Q, 1854, building was fred in the |
over wards The alarm was sounded, and i
, five minutes the engines were on their way g
, the scene of the confiagration.
The boom of the alarm bell and the bright i
lare of the fire invariably caused the
wamp Angels to wake up and redouble '
leir attentions to the doomed CITY," An a
1gine, the Phoenix, was on its way to the $
re. dragged by dozen or more men. In I
ayns street an obstacle was met mes =
niger from the Swamp Angel plunged into c.
le earth directly in front of the men, and 8
aking hole six feet wide and as many feet 7
eep. buried itself in the ground. A half do n
n men were precipitated into the exeaya- |
on, and the engine, "Old Betsey," followed U
lit The shell did not explode, however, :,
Id beyond several painful bruises nobody
as hurt g
While the men were getting the dust out Of =
eir eyes and trying to lift up ''Old Betsey"
10 'boom" which signif1ed the advent of an Il
her messenger from the Swamp Angel was
ard Then every one stood still and list a,
ed A few seconds after the boom came "
9 peculiar and excruciating whistle" st
hich marked the passage of the messenger I %
rough the air. The whistle was not famil- of
r, There was an indescribable something il
out it that made one shiver It was not at
g old familiar percussion shell scream. A ts
W moments later and the mystery was ex- ed
aimed . Just stS as every one was lying low 9s
,sIon very near followed by dozen baby
'eams and dozen sharp reports, while a r
sh of light Illuminated the scene Then it
IS realized that our friends, the enemy,
.nted blood 1t was fuse shell, something
lich no man could dodge. ,i
The advent OF the fuse shell led to the COM lat
tie evacuation of the lower part of Charles Ill
/, and from that time until the Union WI
ne in" that portion of the city was aban- GO GO
ned to the rabbits, the wild pigeons and M
bats. Work on the fortiication breast pe
RI NkaN kaI h..f.W za, -. FaT1r-