Ceremony and Plaque in downtown Georgetown, SC the 3rd oldest city in South Carolina
Kids were down for the weekend. Their first weekend at the beach house in Pawleys Island. This morning we were up bright and early to take in the unveiling and dedication service of a new historic marker commemorating the sinking of the USS Harvest Moon, one of the Union Navy's blockade ships and flagship of Rear Adm. J. A. Dahlgren. Adm. Dahlgren was best known for his contributions to naval ordnance and the "Dahlgren Guns" or cannons used in naval warfare. He was also remembered as the "father of naval ordnance".
The USS Harvest Moon was constructed in 1862 completed as a merchant ship, but sold to the Union Navy & commissioned Feb. 12, 1864. She had a very short service as she was hit with a Confederate mine/torpedo on March 1, 1865 and sank in 5-minutes taking one Union sailor as a casualty. At low tide today once can see the smokestack of the Harvest Moon in Winyah Bay. Attempts by archaeological divers in 1963 were made in an attempt to bring up the ship, but funding dwindled.
The keg torpedo that sunk the Harvest Moon was fashioned by Capt. T. W. Daggett (CSA). Noteworthy was the fact that Rear Adm. Dahlgren's son Eurlic (a Colonel in the Union Army) was the leader of a failed attempt in 1864 to raid Richmond, VA, free Union prisoners, burn Richmond and assassinate Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet. The letters/orders found by a Southern school boy on the dead Eurlic Dahlgren were know as the Dahlgren affair/or Dahlgren Letters and became a major source of embarrassment to the Union (as it was linked back to the White House and Abe Lincoln).
The ceremony today was witnessed by some 50 to 60 folks from both the UDC and SCVs and friends/tourists/visitors, and attended by the mayor of Georgetown. It commemorated the loss of life, the ship and Capt. Daggett for the South.
US Navy Divers in 1963 marking the resting place of the USS Harvest Moon.
The smokestack is visible today at low tide.
This was the first dedication service and unveiling of a historical marker I had ever attended. Kids were fascinated with the history. The service ended with members of the SCV firing off muskets, mortars and a cannon.
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