l that
were on board of her, were thrown overboard by the shock of the
striking and exploding of the torpedo against the bottom of the
iron-clad. The torpedo-boat was finally taken back into Charleston
harbor by the pilot and engineer, but Lieutenant Glassell was made
prisoner after having been in the water about an hour. A torpedo-boat
commanded by Lieutenant Dixon of the Confederate Army, and manned by
six volunteers from Tucker's squadron and one from the army, attacked
and sunk, on the night of February 17th, 1864, the United States
steamer _Housatonic_ lying in the North Channel. The torpedo-boat with
all on board went to the bottom, but most of the crew of the
_Housatonic_ were saved by taking refuge in the rigging, which was not
submerged when the vessel rested on the bottom.

The boat attack on Fort Sumter, made by the Federals on September 8th,
1863, was easily repulsed, and the Charleston squadron materially
aided in the repulse.

A battalion of sailors from the recruits on board the receiving-ship
_Indian Chief_, under the command of Lieutenant Commanding William
Galliard Dozier, was detached by Tucker to co-operate with the army on
James' Island in August, 1864. This battalion rendered good service,
and upon its return to the squadron was kept organized and ready to
respond whenever a call for assistance was made upon the Navy by the
Army.

Early in 1864 some changes were made in the commanding officers of the
squadron; Commander Isaac Newton Brown was ordered to the
_Charleston_, Commander Thomas T. Hunter to the _Chicora_, and
Lieutenant Commanding James Henry Rochelle to the _Palmetto State_. No
other changes were made in the commands of the squadron while it
existed.

The three iron-clads under Tucker's command at Charleston were all
slow vessels, with imperfect engines, which required frequent
repairing; for that day, and considering the paucity of naval
resources in the South, they were fairly officered, manned and armed.
All of them were clad with armor four inches thick, and they were all
of the type of the _Virginia_, or _Merrimac_, as that vessel is
frequently but erroneously called. The commander of the vessels were
all formerly officers of the United States Navy, who were citizens of
the Southern States and had resigned their commissions in the Federal
service when their States seceded from the Union. The lieutenants and
other officers were appointed from civil life, but they were competent