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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC03836.59 |
| From Archive Folder | Correspondence of 90 letters and documents with 3 maps on the blockade of Port Royal, South Carolina |
| Title | Lewis H West to R. West describing in detail an unsuccessful torpedo attach by CSS David on USS New Ironsides |
| Date | 8 October 1863 |
| Author | West, Lewis H. (b. 1829) |
| Recipient | West, R |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Says he sailed on the USS "Paul Jones" and arrived in Charleston 4 days later. Was then sent to the USS "New Ironsides" for duty. Was about to be reassigned to a monitor when an unexpected torpedo attack from the torpedo boat CSS "David" wounded an officer on the ship. He describes the attack in detail. West spoke to a captured seamen, probably James Sullivan, from the "David" who said "she was a small steamer on the same principle as Winan's cigar ship, with an outrigger to her bows carrying the torpedo. She was so constructed as to be almost entirely under water, excepting a very low smokestack." The torpedo's explosion shot water up into the "David" and put out the engine's fire. Several members of the crew swam away from the stalled ship as it was raked with small arms fire. Says he will be kept on the "New Ironsides" to replace the injured officer. |
| Subjects | Civil War Military History Navy Union Forces Union Soldier's Letter Soldier's Letter Ironclad Confederate States of America Injury or Wound Weaponry Prisoner of War |
| People | West, Lewis H. (b. 1829) West, R. (fl. 1860-1865) |
| Place written | Aboard USS "New Ironsides" off Morris Island, South Carolina |
| Theme | The American Civil War; Naval & Maritime |
| Sub-collection | Papers and Images of the American Civil War |
| Additional Information | On the night of 5 October 1863, David, commanded by Lieutenant William T. Glassell, CSN, slipped down Charleston Harbor to attack the casemated ironclad steamer USS New Ironsides. The torpedo boat approached undetected until she was within 50 yards of the blockader. Hailed by the watch on board New Ironsides, Glassell replied with a blast from a shotgun and David plunged ahead to strike. Her spar torpedo detonated under the starboard quarter of the ironclad, throwing high a column of water which rained back upon the Confederate vessel and put out her boiler fires. Her engine dead, David hung under the quarter of New Ironsides while small arms fire from the Federal ship spattered the water around the torpedo boat. Believing that their vessel was sinking, Glassell and two others abandoned her; the pilot, Walker Cannon, who could not swim, remained on board. A short time later, Assistant Engineer J. H. Tomb swam back to the craft and climbed on board. Rebuilding the fires, Tomb succeeded in getting David's engine working again, and with Cannon at the wheel, the torpedo boat steamed up the channel to safety. Glassell and Seaman James Sullivan, David's fireman, were captured. New Ironsides, though not sunk, was seriously damaged by the explosion. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |
| Civil War: Recipient Relationship | Mother |
| Civil War: Theater of War | Lower Seaboard Theater and Gulf Approach |
| Civil War: Unit | USS "New Ironsides" |