The tale of the Immortal 600

There were a lot of interesting things I ran across while researching Galvanized that either didn’t get much coverage in the book, had to be cut or edited, or just simply weren’t relevant.

The story of the Immortal 600 got brief mention in Chapter 13 “Statues of Limitation” because there is a statue in Washington, N.C. honoring the group.

It’s a story I don’t think many people have heard that involves both the Union and Confederate armies using human shields. I didn’t realize until recently that one of the participants in the episode was connected to the raid on Rocky Mount, which is covered extensively in my book.

Bombing of Charleston

In the summer of 1863, Union Maj. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore sent word to his CSA counterpart, General P.G.T. Beauregard (who started the war by shelling Fort Sumter in Charleston’s harbor) that the city was a military target and would be shelled. Charleston had an arsenal and its docks received smuggled goods that came from blockade runners.

Gillmore gave Beauregard less than 48 hours to get the civilians out of town, which caused a protest from the Confederate general. Many of the rich were able to flee, but the poor were forced to stay. One of the main guns fired from the Union position — a huge 8-inch Parrot — on Morris Island was nicknamed the “Swamp Angel” (pictured above). The shelling lasted 567 days, devastating homes, property, streets, and livestock.

In April of 1864, Beauregard was transferred to North Carolina and Maj. Gen. Samuel Jones was sent to Charleston. Jones had argued with superiors and refused orders one too many times and this was yet another transfer to distance him from the CSA main leadership.

The next month, Maj. Gen. John G. Foster replaced Gillmore. Foster had been at Fort Sumter when it was shelled and surrendered. He then commanded troops that landed at Manteo and ravaged eastern North Carolina. It was raiding parties that he sent that burned parts of Rocky Mount and Greenville, including Rocky Mount Mills. He wanted nothing more than to capture or level Charleston.

Both generals were West Point graduates.

Human Shields

Jones requested that 50 Union POWs be sent to him — five were generals — and then housed them in the areas being shelled. He informed Foster.

Foster was furious. He immediately placed 50 Confederate prisoners in front of his guns on Morris Island. He sent an angry message to Jones, explaining that Charleston was producing means to fight the Union army and his goal was to:

“destroy these means of continuing the war is therefore our object and duty. You seek to defeat this effort, not by honorable means, but by placing unarmed and helpless prisoners under our fire.”

A series of messages followed, and eventually a prisoner exchange was considered. However, Gen. U.S. Grant had put a stop to those, but Lincoln wanted to make an exception.

That got complicated as Gen. William Sherman was rolling through Georgia, and the Confederates started sending prisoners from Andersonville to Charleston. Foster heard of the movement and thought that Jones was increasing his human shield. Outraged, he requested 600 prisoners from Ft. Delaware. The prisoners were packed into the hold of the ship with little clothing and water.

When they arrived, some had died, so there were fewer than 600. They were placed in an open stockade in the line of Confederate fire. They had poor tents, no blankets, little food and were exposed to biting insects and blistering heat in addition to the shelling. Several of them died. About 18 rounds landed among the tents, but amazingly, they were all duds.

Jones threatened to station Union prisoners on the ramparts of Fort Sumter, but never followed through. He did eventually move them out of Charleston.

In October, after 45 days, the Confederate prisoners were transferred to Fort Pulaski, Georgia. The winter was brutal, and 13 died of disease. The remainder were sent back to Fort Delaware until months after the war ended. Another 25 died there.

The Confederates who endured this episode became known as the Immortal 600 and became revered across the South. It’s a shameful episode that showed the desperation of the times. Jones did use prisoners as human shields first, but the Union was also bombarding an area with civilians, yet another moral entanglement of the Civil War.

Sources:

Galvanized, Michael Brantley

“Immortal 600: Prisoners Under Fire at Charleston Harbor During the American Civil War,” Historynet

“The Immortal 600,” National Park Service

American Battlefield Trust, Fort Pulaski (photos)