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      eHistory  >  American Civil War  >  Battles  >  Charleston Harb... Search
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Charleston Harbor (1863)
 
War:   American Civil War
 
Also known as:   Fort Sumter
 
Date(s):   7 Apr 1863
 
Location:   Charleston County, South Carolina, US
 
Outcome:   Confederate victory
 
Description:   Rear Adm. S.F. Du Pont, USN
Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, CSA

9 ironclads dueled the defenses.

For all the firepower, losses were light: 22 Union and 14 Confederate men.

In April, Maj. Gen. David Hunter prepared his land forces on Folly, Cole's, and North Edisto Islands to cooperate with a naval bombardment of Fort Sumter. On April 7, the South Atlantic Squadron under Rear Admiral S.F. Du Pont bombarded Fort Sumter, having little impact on the Confederate defenses of Charleston Harbor. Although several of Hunter’s units had embarked on transports, the infantry were not landed, and the joint operation was abandoned. The ironclad warships Keokuk, Weehawken, Passaic, Montauk, Patapsco, New Ironsides, Catskill, Nantucket, and Nahant participated in the bombardment. Keokuk, struck more than 90 times by the accurate Confederate fire, sank the next day. One “torpedo” had blown up but not damaged Weehawken, and another failed to go off directly under Du Pont in the New Ironsides.


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Selected sources:
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