Battle at Charleston Harbor, The

DESCRIPTION: "On the seventh day of April, in 1863, The South Atlantic Squadron, with colors waving free," attacks Charleston. Admiral Dupont urges them on, and the monitors fight hard, but the defenses are stout and the Keokuk is sunk
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1863 (broadside)
KEYWORDS: battle ship navy Civilwar
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Apr 7, 1863 - Naval battle of Charleston, in which Union monitors attempt to enter the harbor. Heavy fire damages all the ironclads and force them to retreat; the Keokuk is sunk. The song probably under-reports the scale of hte Union defeat
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cohen-AmericanFolkSongsARegionalEncyclopedia1, pp. 299-300, "The Battle at Charleston Harbor" (1 text)
Roud #V31424
NOTES [93 words]: Charleston, where the Civil War began, had great symbolic value; the Union really wanted to get it back, and kept trying to recover it -- without much luck. This song describes the most serious naval attempt, which was a disaster. The Union ironclad fleet included the New Ironsides and a number of monitors, which didn't have the maneuverability to deal with the conditions; they were severely mauled without doing much damage to the defenses. For the story of how the Union developed these vessels, see the notes to "The Cumberland Crew" [Laws A18]. - RBW
Last updated in version 5.0
File: CAFS1299

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