The Day the Johnboat Went up the Mountain: Stories from My Twenty Years in South Carolina Maritime Archaeology

The Upside-Down Wreck

79 The Upside-Down Wreck Divers, anglers, boaters, canoers, kayakers, and persons who just like to explore their local rivers, bays, and creeks stumble onto all sorts of maritime relics. These “explorers” are having eureka moments over dugout canoes, barges, ferry vessels, old rice field gates, and, now and then, the odd shipwreck. Often (although not often enough) they contact us to report their finds. Following up on these reports is one our most enjoyable and rewarding duties. We get to meet fantastic South Carolinians who are interested in the history of their state. We get to evaluate and record another piece of our maritime past. We get to escape from our offices, at least temporarily. Moreover we get to go diving, which is why we were on the Pee Dee River near Cheraw in 1990—to see the submerged remains of a vessel reported to us by a local sport diver. It was a warm June day, and the river levels were down—perfect diving conditions. Our target was a small wooden vessel resting on the bottom of the Pee Dee just downriver from Laney Landing, Cheraw’s public boat landing. The SCIAA archaeologists surfaced from their first dive on the wreck, let their regulators drop out of their mouths, and immediately began talking. “Remarkable wreck,” said one. “Never saw anything like it,” said another. “Certainly is unique,” agreed the third. When archaeologists get excited they tend toward simple declarative sentences. Miller Ingram, the local sport diver, followed their conversation with interest. He must have wondered what type of wreck he had found. In what way could it be remarkable? Did someone actually say “unique”? Miller S. Ingram Jr. is a prominent attorney in Cheraw, the county seat for Chesterfield County and a rustic, yet vibrant, town in the South Carolina sandhills. He has a penchant for the rich history of the area. He is also an avid scuba diver with several advanced certifications. For 80 The Day the Johnboat Went up the Mountain Miller the three go hand in hand. His law practice allows him the time (and funds) to dive in the waters of the nearby Pee Dee River. And in these waters much of the history of the region can be traced. Cheraw, some 165 river miles above Georgetown, sits at the historic head of steamboat navigation for the Pee Dee River, one of the most extensive river systems in South Carolina. Shelves of shale extend across the river just above Cheraw, making passage difficult, if not impossible, for all but the smallest vessels. As a result Cheraw became the center of trade for the area. Riverboats of all sorts, from pole boats to barges to steamboats, have been bringing goods to and from the area since the middle of the 1700s. At Laney Landing one can still see the remains of the tramway that brought these goods up the hill from the landing to be loaded into wagons and carts. Miller became a certified scuba diver in 1986. He followed up his basic training with advanced courses with the intent of diving in the Pee Dee River. In May 1987 he applied for and received a South Carolina hobby diver license, allowing him to collect artifacts and fossils from state waters, and before long was reporting finds from the bottom of the Pee Dee River. His first discoveries consisted of ceramics and bottles, but he soon began finding numerous Civil War military artifacts, including several artillery projectiles. This is understandable, considering what happened on March 6, 1865. Three days earlier Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee fought a running battle with Union forces under Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman as the Confederates crossed the Pee Dee River at Cheraw. Sherman’s army of 60,000 men, 4,500 vehicles, and 30,000 horses, having just devastated Columbia, was headed to Fayetteville, North Carolina. Hardee’s Confederate army of 11,000 had abandoned Charleston and was marching to join Confederate forces gathering in North Carolina to stop Sherman. Hardee arrived in Cheraw ahead of Sherman and set up defenses to slow Sherman’s advance. Seeing the hopelessness of his position, Hardee made plans to withdraw. With the Union forces hot on their heels, the Confederates managed to flee across the river, burning the bridge behind them. The shooting continued as the Confederate forces fired on the Union forces, who were trying unsuccessfully to extinguish the flames. A lively cross...