THE OCCUPATION OF CHARLESTON, S. C.
February 18, 1865.
General Sherman’s advance, as has already been noted, isolated Charleston, and caused its evacuation by General Hardee. The rebels abandoned the city on the night of the 17th of February, and the National forces occupied it next day. General Foster, suffering from wounds and ill health, had, meantime, been relieved by General Gilmore, and it was by the forces of this officer and of Admiral Dahlgren, that the far-famed cradle of the rebellion was finally occupied.
The following was General Gilmore’s dispatch, announcing the capture of the city:
“General—The city of Charleston and all its defences came into our possession this morning, with about two hundred pieces of good artillery and a supply of fine ammunition.
“The enemy commenced evacuating all the works last night, and Mayor Macbeth surrendered the city to General Schemmelfinnig at nine o’clock this morning, at which time it was occupied by our forces.
“The cotton warehouses, arsenals, quartermaster’s stores, railroad bridges and two iron clads were burned by the enemy. Some vessels in the ship yard were also burned.
“Nearly all the inhabitants remaining behind belong to the poorer class.
The rebel movement of evacuation commenced on the night of Friday, the 17th, the garrison of Sullivan’s Island and Point Pleasant quietly withdrawing and retreating over the road by Christ’s Church, just in time to escape Potter’s advance cutting them off. The troops in the city moved out on the northeastern railroad, as did the garrison on James Island, which was finally evacuated on Saturday morning.
Shortly after daylight on Saturday, it was discovered that there were no troops in and about Sumter, or Moultrie, or in the works on James Island. Lieutenant-Colonel Bennett, of the Twenty-first United States colored troops, commanding Morris Island, immediately dispatched Major Hennessy, of the Fifty-second Pennsylvania volunteers, to Fort Sumter, in a small boat, to ascertain whether the fort was evacuated. Major Hennessy proceeded to Sumter, and soon waved the Stars and Stripes over the battered battlements of the work, from which they had been torn down in April, 1861. The sight of the old flag on Sumter was an assurance that the enemy had evacuated all their works, and it was hailed by every demonstration of joy on ship and shore. Another boat, in charge of Lieutenant Hackett, of the Third Rhode Island artillery, was immediately sent to Fort Moultrie to take possession of that work, and raise again the National colors upon its parapet. The navy, anxious to share in the honors of the day, also launched a boat, and strove to gain the beach of Sullivan’s Island before the army, and an exciting race ensued between the boats of the different branches of the service.
The army boat, under Lieutenant Hackett, reached the shore in advance. As she touched, the officer and crew sprang off on the beach, through the surf, and rushed for the goal. The parapet was soon gained, and the flag given to the breeze, amid the cheers of the soldiers and sailors, who had come up a moment or two behind him. The guns were all spiked, and the carriages somewhat damaged. A large quantity of munitions was found in the magazines, which the enemy had not time to destroy.
When the flag floated over Moultrie, Lieutenant-Colonel Bennett, Major Hennessy, and Lieutenant Burr, of the Fifty-second Pennsylvania, started for the city, giving orders to have troops follow. They pulled up the bay, while the rebel iron-clads and vessels were in flames and the city itself was burning at various points. Reaching Fort Ripley, or what is known as the Middle Ground battery, the Federal flag was displayed over the work. The party then pushed on to Castle Pinckney, when the same ceremony of taking possession was observed, and then the boat was pulled cautiously, but directly, toward the city. No hostile force was seen, although a large number of negroes and some whites were congregated on the docks, watching the approach of the “Yankee boat.” Colonel Bennett immediately landed, and the United States flag was displayed again in the city of Charleston, amid the cheers and cries of joy of the crowd assembled about it. It was a perfect storm of applause and outbursts of unfeigned joy and satisfaction.
Colonel Bennett, on landing, immediately demanded the surrender of the city, which was formally yielded by the mayor, Charles Macbeth, who asked protection for the firemen, who were being impressed by the retreating rebels, who had fired the city in several places. Colonel Bennett promptly promised the assistance of his troops, to save the city from conflagration. His first step was to rescue the arsenal, which the rebels had prepared for blowing up.
The firemen got out their apparatus, and devoted themselves to the extinguishment of the fires now raging with violence at various points in the city. They were aided by the Union troops, who now began to arrive in numbers, and, after a long struggle, the flames were checked, but not until many buildings had been destroyed. A large quantity of cotton, probably two thousand bales, was destroyed, together with a considerable amount of supplies.
The worst feature of the conflagration had, however, occurred in the morning—being the blowing up of the Northeastern railroad depot. In this building a quantity of cartridges and kegs of powder had been stored by the rebels, and, as they had not time to remove it, they left it unprotected. A number of men, women, and children had collected to watch the burning of a quantity of cotton in the railroad yard, which the rebels had fired, and, during the conflagration, a number of boys, while running about the depot, had discovered the powder. Without realizing the danger they incurred, they began to take up handfuls of loose powder and cartridges, and bear them from the depot to the mass of burning cotton, on which they flung them, enjoying the dangerous amusement of watching the flashes of the powder and the strange effects on the cotton, as it was blown hither and thither. A spark ignited the powder in the train, there was a leaping, running line of fire along the ground, and then an explosion that shook the city to its very foundations. The building was, in a second, a whirling mass of ruins, in a tremendous volume of flame and smoke. The cause of the terrific explosion soon became known, and a rush was made for the scene of the catastrophe. Such a sight is rarely witnessed. The building was in ruins, and from the burning mass arose the agonizing cries of the wounded, to whom little or no assistance could be rendered by the paralyzed spectators. Over one hundred and fifty are said to have been charred in that fiery furnace, and a hundred men were wounded more or less by the explosion or were burned by the fire.
From the depot the fire spread rapidly, and, communicating with the adjoining buildings, threatened destruction to that part of the town. Four squares, embraced in the area bounded by Chapel, Alexander, Charlotte, and Washington streets, were consumed before the conflagration was subdued. Everything in the houses was destroyed with them. Another fire on Meeting street, near the Court House, destroyed five buildings. This was set on fire by the rebels, with a view of burning Hibernian Hall and the Mills House. It did not succeed, although it destroyed the five buildings alluded to. One or two other fires also occurred, destroying several buildings each. A large number of smaller conflagrations occurred, burning government storehouses, &c.
A large quantity of rebel property and material of war was captured at Charleston. The city was immediately put under martial law, and, in a very short time, under the energetic administration of General Gilmore, was restored to order, and, to some extent, favored with the blessings of peace. The poor people here were found to be in a very destitute and mournful condition; but they were speedily relieved by the United States authorities.