Battery White was an

artillery battery In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to fac ...

constructed by the Confederates during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. Built in 1862–63 to defend

Winyah Bay The Winyaw were a Native American tribe living near Winyah Bay, Black River, and the lower course of the Pee Dee River in South Carolina. The Winyaw people disappeared as a distinct entity after 1720 and are thought to have merged with the Wacca ...

on the

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

coast, the battery was strongly situated and constructed; however, it was inadequately manned, and was captured without resistance during the final months of the war. The battery is listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. It is located on private land, but is open to the public.

Island fortifications

Even before the outbreak of the Civil War, the secessionist government of South Carolina was concerned with the possibility of attack by sea in Georgetown County. Shortly after the December 20, 1860, passage of the

Ordinance of Secession An Ordinance of Secession was the name given to multiple resolutions drafted and ratified in 1860 and 1861, at or near the beginning of the Civil War, by which each seceding Southern state or territory formally declared secession from the United ...

, an aide-de-camp to governor

Francis Pickens Francis Wilkinson Pickens (1805/1807January 25, 1869) was a political Democrat and Governor of South Carolina when that state became the first to secede from the United States. A cousin of US Senator John C. Calhoun, Pickens was born into the ...

urged

Lowcountry The Lowcountry (sometimes Low Country or just low country) is a geographic and cultural region along South Carolina's coast, including the Sea Islands. The region includes significant salt marshes and other coastal waterways, making it an import ...

planters to "aid in the erection of Batteries to protect and defend the entrance of Winyah Bay and the

Santee River } The Santee River is a river in South Carolina in the United States, and is long. The Santee and its tributaries provide the principal drainage for the coastal areas of southeastern South Carolina and navigation for the central coastal plain of ...

". The area offered a tempting target to

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

forces. Winyah Bay would furnish a sheltered anchorage large enough for the entire United States Navy of 1861. The city of Georgetown on the bay was the largest on the South Carolina coast north of Charleston. Georgetown County produced nearly half of the rice grown in the United States, amounting to some 54 million pounds () in 1860; Georgetown exported more rice than any other port in the world. This production and shipping could be disrupted by gunboats moving up the

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

, the

Pee Dee The Pee Dee is a region in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of South Carolina. It lies along the lower watershed of the Pee Dee River, which was named after the Pee Dee, a Native American tribe that historically inhabited the region. His ...

, the

Waccamaw The Waccamaw people were an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, who lived in villages along the Waccamaw and Pee Dee rivers in North and South Carolina in the 18th century.Lerch 328 Language Very little remains of the Waccamaw ...

, and the

Sampit Sampit is a city located in East Kotawaringin Regency, Central Kalimantan. Previously a timber port town, it has grown to be a medium-sized city with a population of 166,773 according to Statistics Indonesia in 2019, with the economy having since d ...

rivers, which flow into the bay; and the two distributary channels of the Santee River, whose mouths lie just below the bay. Curtailing rice production would not only damage the local economy, but would impair the Confederacy's ability to feed its armies. In May 1861, General P. G. T. Beauregard ordered the development of coastal defenses for South Carolina, including batteries situated on three islands flanking the mouth of Winyah Bay: North Island, South Island, and Cat Island. The Federal capture of Port Royal in November 1861 lent urgency to the construction and improvement of these works, which was done under Robert E. Lee, the newly appointed commander of the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and East Florida, with Colonel

Arthur Middleton Manigault Arthur Middleton Manigault (October 26, 1824 – August 17, 1886) was a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Early life and career Manigault was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1824. His parents wer ...

in charge of the district that included Georgetown and Horry counties. The island fortifications were never tested against a major Union attack. However, they served a useful purpose in dealing with grounded ships, both Confederate and Federal; in protecting the entrance to the bay; and in maintaining Confederate possession of the islands.

Withdrawal

Matters changed in early 1862. In March of that year, Lee was recalled to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

as military advisor to President

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...

. He was replaced by General

John C. Pemberton John Clifford Pemberton (August 10, 1814 – July 13, 1881) was a career United States Army officer who fought in the Seminole Wars and with distinction during the Mexican–American War. He resigned his commission to serve as a Confederate Stat ...

, who ordered the withdrawal of troops and artillery from the positions around Georgetown, apparently in order to concentrate his limited manpower on shorter defensive lines. Union naval forces were quick to take advantage of this new vulnerability. In May 1862, the gunboats and noted that the island forts were unoccupied. They landed troops to occupy North Island, which became the principal local Union base for much of the war; and they destroyed the fortifications on South and Cat Islands. They also sailed some up the Waccamaw River, where they raided a mill and carried off 80 slaves. Settled on North Island, these freed slaves formed the nucleus of a colony of "

contrabands Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") refers to any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It is used for goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes o ...

" that grew to more than a thousand before being removed to Port Royal for fear of Confederate raids leading to their recapture or massacre. The Federal forces made no attempt to seize territory up the rivers, and their expeditions were limited by the draft of their vessels. Nevertheless, they conducted a number of raids in which they damaged facilities, seized rice, and released slaves; and these raids severely disrupted the region's economy. Rice production in particular suffered, since it depended on a labor force of skilled slaves performing carefully timed tasks. Pemberton still refused to move artillery and men to the Georgetown area, maintaining that all of his resources were necessary for the protection of Charleston. However, his superiors ordered him to construct new fortifications at Winyah Bay. Since the Union now controlled the islands, it was necessary to find sites further up the bay. On August 3, 1862, Pemberton visited the area and selected Mayrant's Bluff and Frazier's Point as the sites for the new batteries.

Battery White

Later in August 1862, Pemberton was promoted to lieutenant general and sent to the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana, where he would eventually surrender

Vicksburg Vicksburg most commonly refers to: * Vicksburg, Mississippi, a city in western Mississippi, United States * The Vicksburg Campaign, an American Civil War campaign * The Siege of Vicksburg, an American Civil War battle Vicksburg is also the name of ...

. He was replaced in the Department of South Carolina and Georgia by Beauregard, who assumed command on September 24, 1862. The new commander supported the fortification of Winyah Bay: on October 8, 1862, he assured Governor Pickens that he had ordered the construction of a battery of five or six pieces of artillery at Mayrant's Bluff; on November 10, he wrote Colonel

James Chesnut, Jr. James Chesnut Jr. (January 18, 1815 – February 1, 1885) was an American lawyer and politician, and a Confederate functionary. Chesnut, a lawyer prominent in South Carolina state politics, served as a Democratic senator in 1858–60, where ...

that the battery was "armed and completed", and that he had sent a new regiment of the State Reserves to General James H. Trapier, in command of the Georgetown District. JHTrapierCSA

Trapier was less than pleased with the troops and artillery that he had been given. The new regiment, he noted, arrived at the battery without arms and ammunition; and as Reserves, would only be in service for 90 days, not enough time to make effective soldiers of them even had they been armed. He had also been given fairly light guns; what he wanted was

Columbiad The columbiad was a large-caliber, smoothbore, muzzle-loading cannon able to fire heavy projectiles at both high and low trajectory, trajectories. This feature enabled the columbiad to fire solid Round shot, shot or Shell (projectile), shell to ...

s, suitable for defending the battery and the bay against incursions by

ironclads An ironclad is a steam-propelled warship protected by iron or steel armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. Th ...

. Despite the paucity of men and weaponry, the new battery proved effective. On November 11, 1862, two Union gunboats entered Winyah Bay and began firing on the Mayrant's Bluff works. The Second South Carolina Artillery, which had set up nine guns in the fortification, responded; and within a few minutes, the Federal vessels were forced to retire. In February 1863, Trapier reported that the Mayrant's Bluff fortification, now named Battery White, was occupied by only 53 men and nine guns. Even this small force sufficed to stop Federal incursions up the rivers of Winyah Bay. However, rice production in the Georgetown area did not recover: the raids had destroyed too much of the physical plant, carried off too many of the slaves, and created too much uncertainty for planters to return to anything near full production. The battery continued to lose manpower, despite Trapier's ongoing calls for more troops and guns. In October 1864, a body of eleven deserters from the Confederate German Artillery reached the gunboat ; they reported that there was great discontent among the troops, and that many would desert were they not so strongly guarded. They also reported that there were ten guns at the battery; the captain of ''Potomska'' concluded that the bay was too well defended for him to render aid to prospective deserters.

Capture

In November 1864, Trapier was ordered to bring most of his forces to Mount Pleasant, just north of Charleston. Only a company of the German Artillery was left to defend the Georgetown district. By the end of January 1865, only a small crew commanded by a lieutenant remained at Battery White. In January and early February 1865, Union forces under General

William Tecumseh Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), achieving recognition for his com ...

moved northward from Georgia into South Carolina. On February 2 and 3, they defeated a Confederate force in the

Battle of Rivers' Bridge The Battle of Rivers' Bridge (also known as the Action at Rivers' Bridge) was a battle of the American Civil War fought on February 3, 1865. Order of battle Confederate Commander: Major General Lafayette McLaws * Harrison's Brigade: Colonel ...

, clearing their pathway into the state. After a feint at Charleston, they marched to Columbia, which they entered on February 17; on the same day, Charleston was evacuated, and on the 18th, it was surrendered. Battery White Columbiad 1

From Charleston, Union naval forces under Admiral John A. Dahlgren moved up the coast to Georgetown, which Dahlgren thought might be a useful point of communication with Sherman's land forces. On February 23, deserters told the captain of the gunboat that Battery White had been or would soon be evacuated. ''Mingoe'' fired four rounds into the battery. When no response was made, a party was sent ashore; they found the battery abandoned and its guns

spiked Spiked may refer to: * A drink to which alcohol, recreational drugs, or a date rape drug has been added ** Spiked seltzer, seltzer with alcohol **Mickey Finn (drugs) In slang, a Mickey Finn (or simply a Mickey) is a drink laced with an incapacitati ...

. The

sloop-of-war In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' enc ...

and the gunboat continued up the bay and landed a party of Marines to take possession of Georgetown; the intendant and wardens of the city formally surrendered it on February 25. Soon thereafter, Dahlgren inspected the battery, and was impressed. The fortification, he wrote, was well situated and designed, laid out to defend against both shipborne bombardment and attack by landing parties. Eleven guns bore on the channel: two Columbiads, three banded

rifled In firearms, rifling is machining helical grooves into the internal (bore) surface of a gun's barrel for the purpose of exerting torque and thus imparting a spin to a projectile around its longitudinal axis during shooting to stabilize the proj ...

32-pounders, four

smoothbore A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars. History Early firearms had smoothly bored barrels that fired projectiles without signi ...

24-pounders, and two banded rifled 12-pounders. A 6-pound smoothbore flanked the ditch. The rear was defended by a "formidable" rampart and ditch, with a 24-pound smoothbore at either end; in the fort were numerous traverses and magazines. The approach along the beach to the battery's right flank was covered by a 24-pound and a 12-pound smoothbore. "If the works had been sufficiently manned", wrote Dahlgren, "it would have required good troops to take the work."

Sinking of USS ''Harvest Moon''

By the fall of 1864, the Union fleet had effectively closed Winyah Bay to blockade runners. Accordingly, the Confederate command had elected to lay mines, at the time known as "torpedoes", in the bay. Eighteen mines had been constructed in Georgetown by Captain Thomas West Daggett and Stephen W. Rouquie and placed strategically in the bay. As early as January 1865, Union sympathizers in Georgetown had warned Dahlgren's forces about the existence of mines in the channel. While approaching Battery White, ''Mingoe'' had sent its boats out to sweep for such devices. However, their efforts may have been perfunctory: according to Dahlgren's report, "...so much has been said in ridicule of torpedoes that very little precautions are deemed necessary, and if resorted to are probably taken with less care than if due weight was attached to the existence of these mischievous things." Battery White monument

On the morning of March 1, 1865, Dahlgren's

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

, the side-wheel steamer , sailed from Georgetown toward Battery White, which Dahlgren intended to inspect. En route, the vessel struck one of Daggett and Rouquie's mines, which blew a large hole in it, killing one sailor; the boat quickly sank in two and a half

fathom A fathom is a unit of length in the imperial and the U.S. customary systems equal to , used especially for measuring the depth of water. The fathom is neither an International Standard (SI) unit, nor an internationally-accepted non-SI unit. Hi ...

s of water.

Battery White postbellum

For over a century after the Civil War, the grounds on which Battery White stood were part of the Belle Isle Plantation. During the late 19th century, extensive landscaping was undertaken on the plantation. The

United Daughters of the Confederacy The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, ...

erected a memorial stone on the site in 1929. In about 1946, the plantation gardens, including the battery, were opened to the public, and remained thus until 1974. In the 1970s, the plantation was developed as a condominium complex. Portions of the complex of fortifications were lost to construction. However, the owners elected to preserve Battery White itself. In 1977, a area encompassing the battery was nominated to the

. In 2008, the site was re-opened to the public. The battery's earthworks are for the most part well preserved. The powder magazines have deteriorated, owing to collapse of the earth mounds following decay of their wooden interior shoring. The two Columbiads have been re-mounted and once again point out over Winyah Bay. USS Harvest Moon 53685

Three of the battery's guns have been placed in Georgetown. A 24-pound gun has been mounted in front of the National Guard Armory, and two cannon are displayed in Constitution Park on the Georgetown waterfront. ''Harvest Moon'' was never salvaged, and has gradually sunk deeper into the mud of the bay. In the mid-1960s, the top deck lay under an estimated six feet () of mud. A Georgetown group attempted to salvage and restore the vessel as a tourist attraction, and in 1964 the U.S. Navy formally abandoned it, rendering it eligible for private salvage; but the attempt failed for lack of funds. As of 2011, the ship's boiler stack was still visible at low tide.

Notes

The ''Albatross'' is described as a "378-ton (burden) wooden screw gunboat" a
"USS ''Albatross'' (1861–1865)"
The ''Norwich'' is described as a "431-ton (burden) gunboat" a

Both websites a

both retrieved 2014-04-16. Charles Alston, aide-de-camp to Pickens; December 30, 1860. Quoted in George C. Rogers, Jr., ''The History of Georgetown County, South Carolina'', University of South Carolina Press, 1970; quote reproduced a
"Battery White Identified as a Strategic Location"Battery White website.
Retrieved 2011-09-15. P. G. T. Beauregard to Francis Pickens, October 8, 1862; quoted in Simmons, p. 107. P. G. T. Beauregard to James Chesnut, Jr., November 10, 1862; quoted in Alfred Roman, ''The military operations of General Beauregard in the war between the states, 1861 to 1865''
chapter 28
Retrieved 2011-09-16.

Drayton Hall website.
Retrieved 2011-09-17. "These Two Cannons"The Historical Marker Database.
Retrieved 2011-09-17. Power, J. Tracy, and Sherry Piland.
"National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form: Georgetown County Rice Culture, c. 1750 – c. 1910".South Carolina Department of Archives and History.
Retrieved 2011-09-15. Lewis, Catherine H.

''Independent Republic Quarterly'', vol. 27, no. 3 (Summer 1993), p. 19. Reproduced a

Retrieved 2011-09-17. Report by Admiral J. A. Dahlgren to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles; February 28, 1865. In
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion
'' Government Printing Office, 1903, pp. 273–74. Retrieved 2011-09-17. Report by Admiral J. A. Dahlgren to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles; February 28, 1865. In
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion
'' Government Printing Office, 1903, pp. 277–78. Retrieved 2011-09-17. Report by Admiral J. A. Dahlgren to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles; March 1, 1865. In
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion
'' Government Printing Office, 1903, pp. 282–83. Retrieved 2011-09-17. Obtained by entering "Battery White" in "Resource Name" search field a
NPS Focus.
Retrieved 2011-09-15. "History of Georgetown".

City of Georgetown website.
Retrieved 2011-09-15. Letter of surrender from R. O. Bush, intendant, and wardens of Georgetown, South Carolina; February 25, 1865. In
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion
'' Government Printing Office, 1903, p. 275. Retrieved 2011-09-17.
Retrieved 2011-09-15.
Retrieved 2011-09-15.
Retrieved 2011-09-15. "Location".

Battery White website.
Retrieved 2011-09-15. Report of Commander J. Blakeley Creighton, captain of USS ''Mingoe''; February 24, 1865. In
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion
'' Government Printing Office, 1903, p. 276. Retrieved 2011-09-17. The ''Mingoe'' is described as a "side-wheel steam gunboat" a

entry i

retrieved 2014-04-16. The ''Harvest Moon'' is described as a "SwStr" (side-wheel steamer) a

entry i

retrieved 2014-04-16. "1st Battalion 178th Field Artillery".The Historical Marker Database.
Retrieved 2011-09-17. The ''Pawnee'' is listed as "ScSlp" (screw sloop-of-war) a

the ''Nipsic'' is described as a "gunboat" a

Both entries i

a

both retrieved 2014-04-16. McNulty, Kappy, and Donald R. Sutherland.
"National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form: Battery White."South Carolina Department of Archives and History.
Retrieved 2011-09-15. "Battery White is now open to the public again".Battery White website.
Retrieved 2011-09-17. Cutler, Harry Gardner.
History of South Carolina
'' vol. 2, pp. 727–30. Retrieved 2011-09-16.

Retrieved 2011-09-16.

at Wayback Machine, 2012-02-06.
Retrieved 2011-09-15. Ballard, Michael B. ''Pemberton: The General who Lost Vicksburg''. University Press of Mississippi, 1991. pp. 98–99. Pemberton John C.
letter
to James Chesnut, Jr., July 26, 1862; retrieved 2011-09-16. Report of Lieutenant R. P. Swann, commander of the USS ''Potomska''; October 5, 1864. In
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion
'' Government Printing Office, 1903, pp. 7–8. Retrieved 2011-09-16. The ''Potomska'' is listed as a "ScGbt" (screw gunboat) a

entry i

retrieved 2014-04-16. "Sinking of the USS Harvest Moon", historical marker text reproduced a

Retrieved 2014-03-20.
Retrieved 2011-09-17.

South Carolina Department of Archives and History.
Retrieved 2011-09-15.

at Wayback Machine, 2011-11-30. Power, J. Tracy.

Retrieved 2011-09-17. Simmons (2009), p. 11. Simmons (2009), pp. 13–14. Simmons (2009), p. 18. Simmons (2009), pp. 19–20. Simmons (2009), pp. 19–25. Simmons (2009), pp. 46–47. Simmons (2009), pp. 54–60. Simmons (2009), p. 56. Simmons (2009), p. 60. Simmons (2009), pp. 103–04. Simmons (2009), pp. 105–06. Simmons (2009), pp. 109–110. Simmons (2009), p. 116. Simmons (2009), pp. 146–48. Simmons (2009), p. 148. Simmons (2009), pp. 150–51. Holtcamp, Amy.
"The Harvest Moon: Georgetown’s sunken treasure".

South Carolina: Made For Vacation.
Retrieved 2011-09-17. "Memorial stone at Battery White".Battery White website.
Retrieved 2011-09-17.

References

Simmons, Rick (2009). ''Defending South Carolina's Coast: The Civil War from Georgetown to Little River''. Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press.

External links

Battery White website
includes visitor information

at South Carolina Department of Archives and History: includes a number of photos {{National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Georgetown County, South Carolina Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Infrastructure completed in 1862 Forts in South Carolina American Civil War forts South Carolina in the American Civil War Buildings and structures in Georgetown County, South Carolina Tourist attractions in Georgetown County, South Carolina

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

1862 establishments in South Carolina Military units and formations established in 1862 American Civil War on the National Register of Historic Places