CSS Hunley Crew Found. . . Under Football Stadium
Not far from the Citadel football team’s locker rooms archaeologists are scheduled to start digging in late spring for graves belonging to the Confederate submarine Hunley’s original crew.
Beneath the concrete floor of Johnson-Hagood Stadium at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, scientists believe they have located the final resting place of five Hunley sailors lost in a freak accident during routine testing. They were the first of three crews—23 men total—who would die in the South’s push to launch submarine warfare.
“This is a big jump for us,” said state Senator Glenn McConnell, chairman of the South Carolina Hunley Commission. “If it’s what what we’re looking for, it completes another part of the missing puzzle.”
How the graves got there is more a story of forgotten Charleston history than disrespect for Confederate ancestors. It starts in August 1863, when the CSS Hunley was moved from Mobile, Alabama, to Charleston to try to break the Union blockade that was choking the city. The 40-foot sub, hand-cranked by a crew of nine, was moored to a pier near Fort Johnson in Charleston Harbor, when the wake of a passing ship sent a stream of seawater into the sub’s two open hatches. Only four crew members escaped.
Days later the bodies were recovered and taken to the city’s Potter’s Field on the Charleston peninsula neck. Over time, the cemetery became forgotten swampland and landfill. In 1948 The Citadel built its new 21,000-seat stadium on the site. But the first hints that Confederate graves were there would not come until the mid-1990s when Confederate re-enactor groups led a dig in the area and uncovered 13 graves belonging to Army soldiers.
The possible gravesites were detected in early March 1999 by researchers from the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology (SCIAA) using ground-penetrating radar. The reading shows the contours of a trench measuring 6 feet by 15 feet. SCIAA spokesman Jonathan Leader said the size and shape of the trench matches speculation that the soldiers and sailors would have been buried together. “We are talking a 4-5 people, single event,” he said. “They would have grouped them together, and that appears to be the case.”
But archaeologists will not know for sure until May, when they hope to do an excavation beneath the stadium. It would mean cutting through about five feet of concrete and earth underneath the Brigadier Club—a meeting room below the bleachers where Citadel alumni gather on game day.
If the site is the crew grave, the bodies will be exhumed, studied, and rein- terred in the city’s historic Magnolia Cemetery—where the bodies of the Hunley’s second ill-fated crew also are buried. The Hunley’s third and final crew sailed into history on the night of 17 February 1864, when it rammed a 90- pound black-powder charge into the hull of the USS Housatonic. She sank in five minutes, killing five officers and men. The Hunley and her crew of nine never returned.
The sub’s location remained a mystery until June 1995, when a dive team funded by best-selling author Clive Cussler found her buried beneath three feet of sand in 28 feet of water. Officials hope to raise and restore the sub in 2001 and put her on display in Charleston.
Schuyler Kropf
European Museums Spruce Up Exhibits
The only existing example of a 17th century Dutch East Indiaman, the Batavia, will receive brand-new rigging late in spring 1999. The ship, a replica vessel completed using contemporary building methods and materials, is located at the Batavia-werf (Batavia Yard) in Lelystad, the Netherlands, about 28 miles from Amsterdam. Rigged originally with plain hemp, as she would have been 300 years ago, she will be rerigged with synthetic LeoFlex—presumably making it unnecessary to buy new rigging in the future. Also at the museum, the construction of the 80-gun ship-of- the-line Zeven Provincien (Seven Provinces) continues going well. A replica of a famous ship that served the Dutch Republic from 1666 to 1694, the Zeven Provincien was Admiral Michiel De Ruyter’s flagship during the Second and Third Anglo-Dutch Wars (1665-1667 and 1672-1674). The museum hopes to finish the ship by 2005. For more information on these unique vessels, visit the Batavia-werfs website at www.home.wxs.nl/~bataviawerf.
On the other side of the Channel, the British National Maritime Museum in Greenwich will open 12 new galleries after a massive £20 million (about $32.4 million) refurbishment of one of the world’s largest maritime museums. The new galleries opened to the public on Easter, while Her Majesty The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh will open the exhibits officially. The new galleries will allow a larger portion of the museum’s extensive collections to be displayed. For more information about the National Maritime Museum, log on to its website at www.nmm.ac.uk.
Memorial Day Concert to Honor Navy Chaplain
This year’s National Memorial Day Concert in Washington, D.C., will include a segment on the World War II Battle of Okinawa and a special tribute to the lasting friendships forged during the Vietnam War. The 10th anniversary program, featuring the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Erich Kunzel, will be broadcast live on PBS from the West Lawn of the Capitol on Sunday, 30 May, at 2000 (ET). The story of Lieutenant Commander Joseph T. O’Callahan, the first Navy chaplain to receive the Medal of Honor, will be highlighted. When the USS Franklin (CV-13) was attacked off Okinawa in March 1945, O’Callahan helped man fire hoses, rescued trapped sailors, ministered to the wounded, and performed last rites without concern for his own safety. The concert, hosted by World War II veteran and actor Ossie Davis, also will include appearances by fellow actor and veteran Charles Duming, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Colin Powell.
Flag-Raising on Iwo Jima Commemorated
Dr. Felix DeWeldon visited the Marine Corps Historical Center on 16 February and delivered a lecture on his involvement in creating the Marine Corps War Memorial inspired by the famous Iwo Jima flag raising photograph taken by Joe Rosenthal. The 92-year-old sculptor spoke on his career and the elaborate processes for making the memorial that was dedicated at Arlington, Virginia, in 1954- The lecture served as a prelude to his speech before the National Park Service the following day.
The National Postal Museum unveiled the first in a series of new collectible posters on 23 February. The poster features the famous photograph of the Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima in February 1945 and the green three-cent stamp issued in July 1945. It commemorates the 54th anniversary of the pivotal battle. The poster kicks off the Postal Museum’s membership campaign theme, “History is a stamp in the making.”
Ann A. Ferrante
The Constellation Comes Home
The USS Constellation, a familiar landmark in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, will return to her downtown berth at noon on Friday, 2 July. The public is invited to attend the homecoming celebration and tour the vessel free of charge that day. She has been restored to her appearance as she was at the beginning of the Civil War in 1861. The Constellation’s return to the Inner Harbor will mark the start of a weekend of 4th of July activities in downtown Baltimore, including a grand flotilla to welcome the Constellation, a change-of-command ceremony, music in the Harborplace Amphitheatre, and fireworks. For more information, please call (800) 282-6632.
New Memorial Honors Medal of Honor Recipients
A new memorial in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, will be one of the only in the nation to honor every recipient of the Medal of Honor. The memorial will feature the names of the more than 3,000 people who have received the nation’s highest award for military valor, and will be dedicated Memorial Day weekend during a ceremony attended by one of the largest-ever gatherings of Medal of Honor recipients. Major construction began last January on the unique structure that will be composed of 27 curved walls of glass, each between 7 and 10 feet high, representing a specific U.S. conflict in which the Medal was awarded. The glass walls will display the names of each of those who has received the Medal of Honor, their branch of service, and the location of their heroic action. A novel feature will include a sound system that, each day at dusk, will play recorded stories of Medal winners or of the conflicts in which they fought. The memorial will be located on the north bank of the Central Canal in White River State Park, adjacent to Military Park. The dedication ceremony on 28 May will be attended by at least 98 of the 160 living Medal of Honor recipients.