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44 augusta January–March 1865 The Macon, three years abuilding and less than a year in service, was rotten; so rotten that sailors could pull chunks of wood from her planks—even her timbers— with their bare hands. so rotten that the action of her engines had hogged her nearly eighteen inches. and she arrived at augusta crippled. above shell Bluff she hit something and bent one of her propeller shafts. With her six guns she should have been a formidable presence on the upper savannah. But in hunter’s opinion she was useless: a simple grounding would crush her rotting hull. and given the rapidity with which the river rose and fell, getting aground was inevitable. The Sampson, with two guns, was in good shape. her hull was coppered, and both frame and planking were strong. she was “a useful vessel and well worth saving for future uses,” hunter said. But with her vertical engine unprotected above the water line, she was too vulnerable—even against field pieces—to rely on in combat. and the topography of the augusta area gave all the advantage to the enemy. The riverbanks were so high that field artillery could deliver a plunging fire into the gunboats, while it would be impossible (except at highest water) for the boats to return fire. at least hunter had plenty of men—though he was still short officers. and he was losing a good one, J. Thomas scharf. The midshipman had orders to return to richmond. he had to ask hunter to order Paymaster Marshall sothoron to issue him three months’ back pay: he couldn’t get to richmond without it.1 There were no officers currently available anywhere to bolster hunter’s squadron. When seacoast pilots austin and hernandez arrived from charleston, he made them watch officers.2 While the squadron was at savannah, naval storekeeper Godfrey had been able to keep the men well dressed and well shod. he and assistant Paymaster charles 404 / chapter 44 Keim were with hunter at augusta. But he had neither office nor supplies, and hunter told richmond that his formerly well-dressed sailors were beginning to look threadbare. he wrote chief Paymaster James a. semple that many of his men were “barefoot and unclad,” and asked semple to have the army order augusta’s quartermaster to furnish shoes and clothing. semple replied that hunter should place requisitions with Godfrey’s supplier, navy agent William f. howell. But that was the root of the problem: howell’s larder was bare. With no help from either richmond or the army, hunter sent Godfrey to nelson Tift at albany. communications and transportation were being restored through Macon, and the resourceful Tift might come up with some shoes and clothing. But the effort just cost hunter Godfrey’s services. richmond ordered Godfrey to stay in albany and develop a naval store there. Brent asked hunter to send Paymaster Keim to charleston. Dewitt seymour had left the payrolls and allowance books for not only the Savannah but also the Water Witch and Firefly. They had all been blown up in the Savannah. Brent needed someone to reconstruct all three ships’ accounts, and he’d had all he could take of seymour.3 hunter had W. W. J. Kelly and assistant Paymaster sothoron, so he let Keim go. he wrote smith lee that he had no funds at augusta and needed Paymaster semple to send money from richmond to pay his officers and crew.4 Pilot James fleetwood reappeared. he had never made it through sherman’s army to the Savannah and thus missed the destruction of the ironclad and her crew’s retreat to charleston. hunter had reported him missing and suspected him of desertion , but he was back, along with another Savannah pilot, James ferguson.5 But other pilots were deserting. The Macon’s John russell disappeared, along with the Sampson’s pilots G. J. clark and Billy Bugg, and clark’s son, charlie, a first-class boy. clark and his son had gotten liberty and gone ashore the night before . at midnight executive officer Julian fairfax reported that Pilot clark was not back to stand his watch. a search revealed that his blankets and personal effects were gone, “and subsequent inquiries produced evidence that he left the boat with the intention of going to savannah, and his son is doubtless with him.” Bugg was one of the better savannah river pilots, and his services were vital on the upper river. he...

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