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11 “happy hearts and happy homes are now no More” The Battle for Port royal While the Fingal awaited her turn at the coaling wharf in st. George’s, captain Du Pont’s scattered fleet began to regroup off the carolina coast. The weather subsided and one by one the ships topped the horizon, altered course, and joined in the flagship’s wake. When the c.s.s. Savannah arrived in Port royal sound, the ocean beyond the bar was covered with ships. The sound had been robert Gibbes’s childhood playground. and it was the entryway to his Beaufort home. now the enemy was at the very gates. Dr. robert recorded in his diary: “We are resolved to defend our homes and firesides to the last extremity.” for robert Gibbes, that oft-mouthed vow was real. The invader was literally at his doorstep. Du Pont sent the coast survey steamer Vixen and four gunboats to find and mark the channel.1 unaware of the loss of all the army’s ordnance, he still expected to bring his big ships in, pound the confederate earthworks, and leave it to Thomas sherman’s troops to storm ashore and secure the victory. By 3:00 p.m. the Vixen had done her work, and all those vessels drawing less than eighteen feet of water (most of the fleet) had crossed the bar and were anchored inside, just five miles from hilton head and confederate fort Walker. The yankees threw out a picket line, the Ottawa, Seneca, Pembina, and Penguin, to guard against any surprise by Tattnall’s flotilla.2 for the little savannah squadron, the yankees had come at just the wrong time. The Huntress was under repair at Willink’s yard, and Tattnall had sent the Savannah back to the city for coal and more ammunition. so Tattnall had little more than half his strength—three tugboats—to contend with Du Pont’s fleet. even so, he would not disappoint the enemy, or his men. flying his broad pen- 80 / chapter 11 nant from Paul Jones’s Resolute, he signaled his flotilla to prepare for battle. “he is determined to show fight first even if we all perish,” said Gibbes. at four thirty the three tugs, carrying all of six small guns, stood out to give battle. as they passed the forts the garrisons cheered. But to the confederate tars, the union war fleet looked awesome.3 The trio steamed out into the sound, and as the november sun was sinking, opened fire at long range. The federal gunboats stood in to meet them, returning fire. Their shell flew long, and their solid shot fell short. The rebels’ gunnery was no better. for forty or fifty minutes the two sides banged away in the fading light, the yankees’ big Dahlgren shell ripping the air, working closer and closer to the little tugs. finally, they began to get the range. Tattnall kept an eye on the larger union warships as they stood in from the mouth of the sound. and as they came into range and rounded to bring their great broadsides to bear, he commented to Paul Jones that the adage applied: discretion was the better part of valor. i expect, he said, that we’d best retire and, like Dickens’s Wilkins Micawber, “wait for something to turn up.”4 The commodore’s laconic withdrawal soon found a sense of urgency: the gunboats had been steadily moving in. now, their closing speed seemed to increase, and shells were bursting disagreeably close. rebel engineers made steam and the chase was on. They outran the yankees—barely—and the guns of fort Beauregard warned the federals off. Tattnall was satisfied. he’d gotten his green tars and young officers a taste of action. They needed to get used to the ferocity of incoming shell. and they needed to get competent serving their guns in the heat of battle. it looked like they’d be severely tested soon.5 The area commander was Brigadier General Thomas f. Drayton, whose headquarters were at Beaufort. The Draytons had been around charleston for generations . Their home, Drayton hall, was one of the finest in the area. allegiance to the confederacy was natural to Thomas Drayton. But his brother Percival was a sailor. and like Tennesseean David farragut and the Maryland rodgers clan, he had remained with the union. Percival Drayton commanded one of Du Pont’s steam sloops, the Pocahontas. she had suffered in the storm...

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