CHAP. LVIII.] END OF LEE'S SORTIE. 479 tions of the states had escaped to their homes without leave. Brave as they were, the Confederate troops had failed The end of Lee's to break through the investing line. Their sortie had culminated at Antietam. Win sortie. ter found them on the southern side of the Rappahannock. SECTION XII. . THE BLOCKADE, AND OPERATIONS CONNECTED WITH IT. CHAPTER LIX. NAVAL OPERATIONS CONNECTED WITH THE BLOCKADE. On the establishment of the blockade, it was found necessary to have a Southern naval station for the supply and repair of the ships. Port Royal, in South Carolina, was therefore seized for that purpose. From Port Royal an expedition was sent out, which reduced Fort Pulaski and completed the blockade of Georgia. Another expedition, which was also successful, was dispatched to the coast of Florida. From Fortress Monroe expeditions were sent to the North Carolina coast. One, under Butler, occupied Hatteras; another, under Burnside, occupied Roanoke Island and places in its vicinity. The Confederate government commissioned privateers. VERY soon after the inauguration of Lincoln the proclamation of a blockade of the Southern ports was issued (p. 27). In the opinion of foreign nations this blockade was effectually maintained. On its part, the Confederacy resorted to the authorization of privateers. Some of these sailed from American, some from English ports. A consideration of this portion of the naval transacClassification of tions is therefore, perhaps, best conducted naval affairs. by grouping the various events under two heads: 1st, those in relation to the blockade; 2d, those in relation to privateers. Respecting the former, it is expedient not to relate them in their strict order of occurrence, but rather, viewing them in the aggregate, to give CHAP. LIX.] A SOUTHERN NAVAL STATION NECESSARY. 481 precedence to the more important facts, arranging the others so that their mutual connection may be perceived. The privateering operations may be more appropriately considered in the next volume. Necessity of a station. THE HARBOR OF PORT ROYAL. The blockade once established, it was found necessary, for its effective maintenance, to have a large Southern raval naval station at some point near the centre of the line. For the first time in history, a great fleet of steam-ships had been employed for blockading purposes, and, to enable it to keep the sea without long voyages for supplies and repairs, docks and machine shops near at hand were required. All kinds of stores were demanded-munitions of war, powder, shot, shell, provisions, medicines, coal, fresh meats, ice, fresh water. Supply-ships, in a continuous line, were passing from II.-H H point to point. Their task would be rendered less onerous by the establishment of a central dépôt. The seizure of Hatteras, which, as we shall presently see, had been made, did not meet these requisitions. It merely shut a gate to exclude the blockade adventurer, but was not the acquisition of a commodious harbor. Expedition to It was therefore determined, in the autumn of 1861, to occupy Port Royal, in South Carolina-a harbor situated between Charleston and Savannah, and the best upon the Southern Atlantic coast. The fleet assigned for this purpose was the most powerful that had yet been fitted out in America; it consisted of the frigate Wabash, 14 gun-boats, 34 steamers, and 26 sailing vessels. It was under the command of Commodore Dupont, and carried more than 15,000 troops, under Major General Thomas W. Sherman. Soon after leaving Hamp ton Roads it encountered a violent storm, by which the ships were dispersed and several of the transports lost. On the morning of November 4th, however, Dupont reached his destination, with difficulty getting his flag-ship, the Wabash, over the bar; but he was soon after joined by his fleet. On Hilton Head there was a strong earthwork, Fort Walker, mounting 23 guns, with an outwork on the sea-front having a rifled gun. The plan of Fort Walker was such that its principal guns were mounted on two water-faces so nearly in line as to admit of an enfilading fire from a certain point; the flanks were much weaker. On the opposite side of the channel, on Phillip's Island, at a distance of 24 miles, was another earthwork, Fort Beauregard, mounting 20 guns, several of them heavy rifles. It had an outwork mounting five. Two miles above, at the junction of Beaufort and Broad Rivers, the Confederate Commodore Tattnall had a fleet of five or six gun-boats. The works were manned by about 1700 South Carolina troops. Defenses of on the forts. CAPTURE OF THE PORT ROYAL FORTS. "It was determined to direct the weight of the attack Dupont's attack first upon Fort Walker, and then turn to Fort Beauregard. The plan was for the fleet to pass up midway between the forts and engage both at long range, and, when the line reached a point 24 miles north of the forts, to turn to the south round by the west, and come into close action with Fort Walker, attacking on the weakest flank, while at the same time the shot would enfilade the two water-faces." The ships were to pass the forts at a distance of 800 yards when moving southward; but, when they made the second circuit, they were to come nearer, sighting their guns for 550 yards, so that the gunners in the fort had not only to fire at a moving object, but the ships were some 300 yards nearer than when they passed at first. Of course the range would be lost, and but little damage inflicted. Each vessel, as it came down, was to send enfilading shot from its pivot-guns, and then give the whole |