Christmas Day Attack!
25 DECEMBER 1863
CHRISTMAS DAY ATTACK!
Our first warship named MARBLEHEAD was one of 23 Unadilla-class wooden gunboats built in the first year of the Civil War. Looking outwardly like a two-masted sailing brig, a single stack amidships revealed her steam capability and the absence of sidewheels signaled her innovative screw propulsion. At 158 feet and drawing less than 10 feet, she was employed in river patrols along Confederate shores. The Stono River, just south of Charleston, coursed through enemy-held South Carolina and was still contested in late 1863. A Union attempt on Charleston via the Stono had been turned away at the battle of Secessionville in June 1862, and seven months later Rebel shore batteries had disabled and captured the gunboat USS ISAAC SMITH.
This Christmas Day MARBLEHEAD lay in the Stono channel above the town of Legaréville. At the 0620 crack of dawn hidden Rebel batteries opened fire from a distance of only 800 yards. As with ISAAC SMITH the year before, the Rebels concentrated on the hull and rigging. LCDR Richard W. Meade returned fire immediately despite mounting damage. One Confederate shot struck the gunboat’s waist three inches above the water line, tore away two berths on the starboard side, splintered five deck planks, then carried away two port berths as it exited. The maintopmast was shot away 15 feet below the cap. Flying debris struck down crewmen, but MARBLEHEAD held her position and fought on.
The mortar schooner C.P. WILLIAMS was 4 1/2 miles away, up the nearby Folly River, and upon hearing the cannon slipped her cable, hoisted sail, and fell down to a position above MARBLEHEAD. Likewise USS PAWNEE, from below, got underway and proceeded to the mouth of the Kiawah River, where she anchored in excellent position to enfilade the Confederates. It had taken less than 40 minutes for three Union gunboats to begin pummeling the Rebels from above, below, and directly abreast. This time the Union Navy would not be denied. At 0730 the enemy scurried from their breastworks in panic. Union Landsmen found two working VIII-inch seacoast howitzers, while the scattered knapsacks, personal gear, and 72 shovels indicated the haste with which the Rebels had taken flight. One artilleryman lay dying and six horses had been lost.
MARBLEHEAD had taken the brunt of the action, having been hit 20 times and cut-up heavily aloft. Captain of the Forecastle Robert Brown, and Ordinary Seamen Joseph Phillips and Lorenzo D. Snow had been killed and four were wounded. Meade commended BM William Farley, QM James Miller, Landsman Charles Moore (wounded), and contraband slave Robert Blake for their bravery in the battle–all four were recognized with the awarding of the Medal of Honor.
Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 30 DEC 22
CAPT James Bloom, Ret.
Department of the Navy, Naval History Division. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 4 “L-M”. Washington, DC: GPO, 1969, p. 229.
report of Asst. Surgeon B.H. Kidder of Marblehead. IN: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Vol 15, South Atlantic Blockading Squadron from October 1, 1863, to September 30, 1864. Washington, DC: GPO, 1902, p. 191.
report of LCDR R.W. Meade of Marblehead. IN: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Vol 15, South Atlantic Blockading Squadron from October 1, 1863, to September 30, 1864. Washington, DC: GPO, 1902, pp. 192-93.
report of CDR G.B. Balch of Pawnee. IN: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Vol 15, South Atlantic Blockading Squadron from October 1, 1863, to September 30, 1864. Washington, DC: GPO, 1902, pp. 188-90.
Silverstone, Paul H. Warships of the Civil War Navies. Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 1989, pp. 49-50, 52.
United States Congress. United States of America’s Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients and their Official Citations. Columbia Heights, MN: Highland House II, 1994, pp. 715, 767, 849, 851.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: The morale-busting potential of a successful holiday attack has frequently motivated our enemies. We pray that our shipmates currently deployed in combat zones be preserved this Christmas season.
CAPT Richard Worsam Meade II (1807-1870) was born in Cadiz, Spain, while his father served as US Naval agent to Spain. His younger brother was George Gordon Meade, a US Army general officer of the Civil War and the victor at Gettysburg. CAPT Meade’s son, Richard Worsam Meade III (1837-1897) also served in the Union Navy of the Civil War as a LT, rising eventually to the rank of RADM.
