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II

# THE "SWAMP ANGEL."

DOYLESTOWN, Pa., February 21, 1881.

The "Swamp Angel" was a battery, mounting a two hundred-pounder Parrot gun, built during the siege of Charleston, S. C., out in the marsh between Morris and James Islands, one mile from the former. It was determined, early in the siege, to build a battery somewhere out in the marsh between these islands, in the hope that shells from it could be thrown into Charleston. It originated with Colonel Serrell, New York Volunteer Engineers. It was on the edge of a deep creek which made a good wet ditch, and a pole could be run down ten feet anywhere thereabouts before it touched bottom. The active part of the work was assigned to a lieutenant of engineers, who was told, when he questioned its feasibility, to draw for anything he needed; whereupon he made requisition for "one hundred men, sixteen feet tall, to wade through mud ten feet deep," and he enquired of the surgeon of his regiment whether he could splice these men if furnished him. This little bit of pleasure cost the lieutenant his arrest, but it did not last long. The battery was begun the 4th, and finished the 19th, of August, 1863, and was built of sand bags laid on a foundation of timber sunk several feet into the mud. The material of these bags, and the making, cost the government $5,000. It was the work of a single night, and its sight astounded the enemy the next morning. It could only be reached by the winding creeks which cut the marsh like a net-work, and all the material, and the great gun mounted in it, were floated out on a raft, under cover of night. The distance to Charleston, in a straight line, was eight thousand eight hundred yards, and the gun was fired at an elevation of thirty-five degrees. These shells, filled with pieces of port-fire, fell in the streets of Charleston, but the strain on the gun was so great that it burst at the thirty-fourth or thirty-fifth discharge. The name "Swamp Angel," was given it by Sergeant Felter, Company A, New York Volunteer Engineers. The command of the undersigned cut the timber for the battery on Folly Island.

W. W. H. DAVIS,
Late Colonel 104th Penna. Regiment, Commanding Brigade.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH,
MORRIS ISLAND, S. C., July 22, 1863. S.

Colonel:—I want you to cause to be cut and delivered on the beach at Light House Inlet, four hundred poles, eleven and a half feet long, and three to five inches diameter at the top. They can be in lengths of twenty-three feet (or part of them can) if more convenient. I want them as soon as possible, and a portion of them to-morrow by noon.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

(Signed)

Q. A. GILLMORE, Brigadier General Commanding.

Colonel Davis, Commanding Folly Island, S. C.