04737 - The "Marsh Battery" or "Swamp Angel" after the explosion, August 22, 1863, Morris Island (vicinity), South Carolina
“The gun itself had died like a soldier, face to the foe.” - Soldier, 11th Regiment Maine Volunteers
Between August 21 – 23, 1863, the “Swamp Angel” fired 36 shells over five miles into the heart of Charleston, S.C.
The “Swamp Angel” was an 8-inch 200-pdr Parrott rifle gun weighing 16,300-pounds.
At 10:00 p.m. on the night of the 23rd, the command to “Fire” was given. The seventeenth shell hurled towards the city.
During the attack six shells had exploded in the cannon.
Lt. Charles Sellmer, 11th Maine, knew the gun would soon burst.
He tied two lanyards together and positioned his men outside of the battery when firing.
On the thirty-six round the whole battery turned “into one sheet of flame.” The cannon had burst.
Sellmer and three men were injured. The last shell reached its target.
