Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-09-21
GILLMORE's SWAMP ANGEL

There are q good many people In Charleston
who had an intimate but somewhat unplsasaut
| acquaintance with the Swamp Angel.
One calm night In August, 1863. q strange
noise was heard In the air. It was q noise that
| some people had become familiar with. but one
that to the women and children in Charleston
was entirely unknown. Some people compared
1t to the blast Of the last trump. Others 70 the
howl OF the hyena and others to the conoen-
trated noise Of 10000 locomotives rushing
through tunnel In the air and condensed
into scream Of the most narrowing in
tensity.
1t was the first Swamp Angel messenger
sent into Charleston by the late Gen. Gilmore.
The Waterman at St. Michaers steeple sounded
the alarm and the fremen and other people
hurried out In haste
The shell came from masked battery which
Gen. Gilmore had erected in the marsh Mt the
extreme south end of Morris Island and on the
southern borders of the creek which separates
Morris and Folly Island. In a straight line II
was over i've miles distant from the CITY, The
battery had been constructed under the vreatest
dlfhculties and In what was considered an i'm
possible place. The idea Of a gun throwing
projectile distance Of five miles had not at that
time penetrated the minds Of the average pub
lie, and the arrival Of the first messenger from
the swamp Angel was as unexpected as il was
unpleasant
The battery was the famous Swamp Angel.
1t consisted OF a single eight-inch PARROT rife
mounted in the marsh and surrounded by an
earthwork OF circular shape. It 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 elevation Of the guns
was so great that they could only be used to fire
half dozen times, and a matter Of fact the
rNno IN h. t,o1l - l.
ment became so accustomed to the sound that
they could tell by the sound when gun had
burst
As may be readily imagined a stampede fol-
lowed the first nights bombardment. Dozens
OF trains were sent out of town the next morn
ing carrying thousands of women and children
Gen Gillmore's gunners soon attained q won
derful accuracy in firing their guns. It was
said that the Swamp Angel shells were loaded
with Greek fire." but this was never verified.
Fires frequently occurred, and the fremen
always promptly turned out, taking the chances
OF the shells. fire at night invariably awoke
the Swamp Angel to renewed activity. The
shells were sent in generally at an average rate
OF one every fifteen or twenty minutes. Occa-
sionally when gun would burst there would be
suspension 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 gun
ners at the Swamp Angel q good mark and
they would fire more rapidly, which probably
cost them several guns, end then the people Of
Charleston would have q 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 fred
during the day. The fire department. was
promptly on the spot and set to work to ex-
tinguish the flames. The building was on the
water front and the dense columns Of smoke
offered a splendid target to Gen. Gillmore's
marksmen. There are perhaps a dozen men in
Charleston today who will recall the incident
and who will testify to the fact that during the
progress Of that fire at least three shells were
thrown into the burning building.
On another occasion, while q fire was in
progress at the corner OF Market street and
East bay, shell was actually thrown into the
air vessel Of the Phoenix Fire Company's en-
CINE At the time there were probably twenty
men at the brakes (the engine being an old
fashioned double,,decker), and but one man, q
colored "runner," was injured.
The accuracy with which the Swamp Angel
guns were fired, in fact, gave color to the state
ment subsequently made that the guuners in
tentionally refrained from firing at St. Michaels
steeple, which was never hit during the entire
two years Of the bombardment.
Percussion shells were used by the Swamp
Angel gunners for over o year. During this
time the people Of Charleston had abundant
time to study the peculiarities Of the percus-
sion PARROT shell. The shell, of course, could
only be exploded when it came in contact with
hard surface, and Was. therefore, only dan
gerous under these conditions. In nine cases
out Of ten o percussion shell that struck q
wooden building simply buried itself in the
earth and remained there. The only danger to
life or limb, therefore, was in being struck by
the shell on its passage, and most people soon
learned to avoid this. So in time a good many
families moved back into the "shell district"
as 1t was called, and occupied tho wooden
houses.
In 1864 there was . startling change In the
condition of things. By this time those who
were compelled to remain In the city had be-
come used to the Swamp Angel Up to this
time not more than two or three people had
been killed, notwithstanding the fact that fully
five thousand had been almost constantly under
fire, to say nothing of the exposure Of the fire.
men, who, besides doing military duty at night
along the water front, weae called upon fire.
Quently to subdue the flames in the shelled dis
trict. On the night Of September e. 1864, q
building was fired in the lower wards. The
alarm was sounded and in five minutes the en-
gines were on their way to the scene Of the con-
fagration.
The boom Of the alarm bell and the bright
glare Of the fire invariably caused the Swamp
Angels to wake up and redouble their attentions
to the doomed CITY," An engine, the Phoenix,
was on its way to the fire, dragged by dozen
or more men. In Hayne street an obstacle was
met. A messenger from the Swamp Angel
plunged into the earth directly in front of the
men, and making Q hole six feet wide and as
many feet deep, buried itself in the ground. A
half dozen men were precipitated into the ex-
cavation, and the engine, "Old Betsey," fol-
lowed suit. The shell did not explode, how
ever, and beyond several painful bruises nobody
| was hurt.
While the men were getting the dust out Of
their eyes and trying to lift up "Old Betsey''
the ''boom' which signifed the advent Of an
other messenger from the Swamp Angel was
heard. Then every one stood still and listened
A few seconds after the boom came the peculiar
and excruciating whistle which married the
passage Of the messenger through the air. The
whistle was not familiar. There was an indie
scribable something about 1t that made one
| SILVER. II was not the old familiar percussion
shell scream. few moments later and the
mystery was explained. Just as every ono was
"lying low" awaiting the crash, there was an
other explosion very near, followed by Q dozen
baby screams and dozen sharp reports, while
fash of Light Illuminated the scene. Then il
was realized that our friends, the enemy,
| wanted blood It was . fuse shell, something
which no man could dodge.
Charleston had become reconciled to the per-
cussion shell because the percussion shell could
be lodged, and was comparatively harmless to
life SO long one kept clear of brick buildings
but the fuse shell was another thing. Il multi
piled the danger hundred fold. The writer
saw one explode in the air about ave hundred
| feet high in King, between George and Liberty
streets, on the morning of September Is, 1854
Two fragments reached the pevemenf FLAG