By: SCHUYLER KROPF The Post and Courier Even
Originally Published on: 03/26/00         Page: 1

Even the horses didn't seem to mind the heat.

More than 2,500 people packed into Magnolia Cemetery on Saturday to bury five Civil War sailors almost lost to history.

The men - all Irish immigrants - were members of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley's first crew. They were remembered as pioneers who died for a cause they believed in and a technology yet to be realized.

"They came to America, a land of hope and opportunity for so many Irishmen," said Randy Burbage, of the state Hunley Commission, who led the dig to find the Hunley's first lost crew.

"A small craft appeared at the docks. It was like no vessel they had ever seen," Burbage said. "They stepped forth and did their duty and volunteered to serve aboard the damp, claustrophobic vessel."

Some 400 re-enactors attended the funeral and march through the city of Charleston, as the five flag-draped coffins were pulled by horse-drawn carriages. People came from as far away as Virginia and Texas to pay tribute to their ancestors.

Tourists got just as much out of the performance.

"The spirit of the Southern people is just amazing to me," said Carol Louttit, of Rhode Island, who was making her first trip to Charleston and watched the procession at The Battery. She was dumbstruck at how exactly the re-enactors played their roles. "It's wonderful to see them take their heritage so seriously," she added.

The bones of the five members of the sub's first crew were recovered last summer during a dig beneath The Citadel's football stadium. The men died during a freak accident in August 1863 when the wake of a passing ship flooded the sub's open hatches. When the sailors were recovered 10 days later, they were taken to an area on Charleston's outskirts and quietly buried in a mariner's cemetery. Decades later the graves accidentally were covered over and forgotten during construction of the stadium in 1948.

Saturday was the crew's first official ceremonial interment.

After a 4 1/2-mile march through the city, the five sets of skeletal remains were buried together in Magnolia Cemetery's Hunley Plot, where Horace Hunley, the sub's chief benefactor, is buried. He, too, was killed during a test mission in October 1863.

Historians have identified the men as Frank Doyle, John Kelly, Michael Cane, Nicholas Davis and Absolum Williams, who joined the Confederate cause after landing as sailors in America in New Orleans. Tests indicate one of the crew was a 13-year-old boy.

"Being Irish, they enjoyed a good fight," joked June Murray Wells, national president of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Another speaker suggested they were transportation pioneers, like the Wright Brothers or the Mercury astronauts.

For the most part the march through the city was without incident. But some Market vendors held anti-Confederate flag signs along the parade route.

"Like it or not, it's a symbol of hatred because of the KKK," said vendor Gail Walden.

Before the march, the Rev. Bobby Eubanks of Summerville spoke against "political correctness" tainting the marchers' efforts.

The coffins carrying the crew's bones were draped by the second national flag of the Confederacy, which has the battle emblem placed in an all-white field.

Several modern-day submarine veterans also attended the funeral. Hans Vlam, who served aboard the USS Guardfish from 1964-78 said he felt a kinship with the Hunley men.

"They got down the hatch, then closed the hatch," he said. "They didn't know what was going to happen."

As the re-enactors entered the cemetery, they turned swords and rifles in a reverse carry, as a show of respect. A young woman also played "Dixie" on the violin.

One speaker said it was important to keep pursuing the past, no matter what meaning it has today.

"We stand here in the realization that our history could be lost forever," said Dr. Jonathan Leader, deputy state archaeologist, who called for preservation of history "in all its forms."

The participants drew the attention of state Sen. Robert Ford, D-Charleston, one of the few African-Americans who attended the service.

"I'm a history buff so it's very educational," he said. "All this is very, very enlightening."

Two Hunley crews were lost during testing mission around Charleston Harbor. But the third crew sailed into history on the night of Feb. 17, 1864, when it sub rammed a 100-pound charge of black powder into the Union blockade ship Housatonic off Sullivan's Island.

The Hunley never returned and was not seen again until May 1995 when it was discovered by a dive team funded by best-selling author Clive Cussler in 28 feet of water about 4 miles off shore. Plans are to raise the sub in late June or early July of this year and put it on display in Charleston.

Contact Schuyler Kropf at 937-5551. 

By: SCHUYLER KROPF The Post and Courier
Originally Published on: 03/23/00     Page: 1

The funeral for five members of the Confederate submarine Hunley's first crew is Saturday, and hundreds of Civil War re- enactors are expected to escort the procession through the streets of Charleston.

The march will start at 10:45 a.m. at The Battery.

"For years, we didn't know what happened to the first crew," said Randy Burbage of the Confederate Heritage Trust.

"Now that we do, we're able to put them at rest in a place of honor and dignity with Horace Hunley and the second crew," he said. "It's like the fullfilment of a life-long dream."

The procession will carry the skeletal remains on horse-drawn, flag-draped carriages to Magnolia Cemetery for a 12:30 p.m. burial ceremony in the Hunley Plot.

No parking restrictions are in place along the parade route, but northbound traffic on East Bay Street and Morrison Drive will be interrupted when the procession passes through.

The five sets of remains were uncovered during a dig at The Citadel's football stadium where a Civil War cemetery was covered over during construction. The men drowned in the fall of 1863 when the wake of a passing ship rushed through the Hunley's open hatches near its mooring on James Island. The remains will be buried next to Horace Hunley, one of the sub's principal designers. He and eight others died inside the sub a few weeks later during a second testing mishap.

Saturday's procession will follow the same route as last year's burial march when about two-dozen sets of Confederate remains were put to rest.

The procession will go from The Battery, down East Bay Street to Morrison Drive and into the cemetery. It should take about one hour to walk the 4.5 mile route. Some re-enactors will be wearing their best dress uniforms. There also will be a 21-cannon salute.

On Friday night, the remains will lie in-state at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion at Cannon and Ashley streets downtown. A Requiem Eucharist service will be held at 7 p.m.

Re-enactors from South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Mississippi and North Carolina are expected to attend Saturday's main event, Burbage said.

The victims are all believed to be Irish immigrants who joined the Confederate cause in New Orleans. They joined the Hunley project after being stationed in Charleston. A forensics examination on one set of bones shows one of the five Hunley sailors was a 13-year-old boy.

WANT TO GO?

What: Funeral procession and burial of five Confederate submarine Hunley crewmen.

When: Saturday at The Battery. March begins about 10:45 a.m., after a brief ceremony. March to Magnolia Cemetery should take about one hour. Burial scheduled for 12:30 p.m.

Who: Civil War re-enactors will escort horse-drawn funeral carriages.

Where: March route is down East Bay Street to Morrison Drive and into Magnolia Cemetery.

Parking: Limited spaces outside the cemetery. Some distance walking may be required.

Church Service: On Friday, the skeletal remains will lie in-state at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion at Cannon and Ashley streets downtown. A Requiem Eucharist service will be held at 7 p.m.

By: SCHUYLER KROPF The Post and Courier One of
Originally Published on: 03/19/00         Page: 1

One of America's pioneers in submarine warfare may have been an Irish immigrant boy of 13.

Scientists studying the skeletal remains of five supposed Confederate submarine Hunley crewmen say it appears one of the sailors was a 13-year-old boy. According to a preliminary forensics report, this sailor never achieved physical maturity.

The most telling clues are: The sailor's teeth hadn't moved into their adult position at the time of death, and his arm and leg bones never developed to adult size.

The discovery could be a major part of the Hunley story, fitting in with the theory that the Confederacy's dwindling manpower led to younger men filling military ranks.

"It's intriguing; it's a puzzle; and it is something we definitely will continue to keep working on," said Dr. Jonathan Leader, deputy state archaeologist.

Hunley experts believe the boy drowned along with four other sub crewmen in a freak accident when the wake of a passing ship flooded through open hatches at its mooring. That was in the fall of 1863, near Fort Johnson on James Island.

All the victims in that sinking were believed to be Irish immigrant sailors who joined the Confederate Navy in New Orleans. They were stationed on board ironclads defending Charleston Harbor but apparently volunteered for the risky Hunley duty.

Investigators believe the youth probably was 13 years old, but he might have been a little older.

The ages of the rest of the suspected crewmen are estimated as much older: 19 and above, possibly as old as 25, Leader said.

It would not have been a rarity to draft young boys into the Confederate cause since Southern losses were mounting, and Charleston was under a savage naval siege in the last half of 1863 when the Hunley arrived here.

"Younger individuals on navy ships was not uncommon. This is late in the war ... there were oldsters and youngsters," Leader said.

Also, the sub's tiny space for the eight men needed to crank the propeller shaft would have made smaller crewmen preferable.

"We are talking about an experimental craft and people willing to sit in cramped spaces," Leader said.

The report comes as the Hunley Commission is scheduled to reinter the remains Saturday in the Hunley plot at Charleston's Magnolia Cemetery. The event will feature a funeral procession from the Battery beginning at 10 a.m.

Officials believe all evidence gathered so far points to the five skeletons being of the Hunley men.

"Based upon all available data and the fact that these bodies were in over-sized coffins and dismembered, the Hunley Commission is persuaded that these, in fact, are the five members of the first crew," the forensics report says.

Their bodies were discovered during a dig launched last summer beneath The Citadel's football stadium. The site had been a mariner's cemetery during the Civil War but was covered over and mostly forgotten during construction in 1948.

The graves apparently were left behind because of a clerical error: Charleston City Council gave the builders permission to move the graves, but only the cemetery's tombstones were moved.

Some of the bodies found during the dig were dismembered, and showed hack and cut marks. Historians believe that after the sinking, 10 days passed before the bodies could be recovered. They had become bloated and had to be hacked by saw and hatchet so they could be removed through the sub's tiny hatches.

The teen-ager's skeleton showed cuts on bones.

All the remains were of European ancestry. One set of bones was too badly decomposed to identify age or other characteristics.

Their identities are believed to be: Frank Doyle, John Kelly, Michael Cane, Nicholas Davis and Absolum Williams, although officials don't know which is which because all were found without grave markers.

Two Hunley crews were lost during testing missions around Charleston Harbor, but the third crew sailed into history on the night of Feb. 17, 1864, when the sub rammed a 100-pound charge of black powder into the Union blockade ship Housatonic off Sullivan's Island. The Housatonic sank in less than five minutes.

The Hunley was not seen again until May 1995 when it was discovered by a dive team funded by best-selling author Clive Cussler.

Plans are to raise the sub in late June or early July and put it on display in Charleston.

The forensics team doubts much more can be learned from the remains. "The bodies are in such a bad state of preservation that it would be difficult for even the Smithsonian to be able to provide any additional material on their detail," the report said. 

By: SCHUYLER KROPF The Post and Courier
Originally Published on: 01/06/00          Page: 01

Archaeologists think they may have found the fifth and final missing member of the Confederate submarine Hunley's first crew.

Digging beneath the parking lot of The Citadel football stadium Wednesday, officials reopened a grave they visited seven years ago. At the time, they thought it was empty.

This time they dug 7 inches deeper. Pay dirt.

What they found fit the pattern: an oversized, carpenter-crafted coffin with an adult sailor inside.

But the skeleton inside was badly decomposed, and there were no immediate signs of the skeletal dismemberment like that found on four Hunley crewmen recovered last summer.

"Unfortunately, he is all but dissolved," said Jonathan Leader of the S.C. Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology.

The rib cage is gone, as well as the jaw bone. His legs are intact, but there is no pelvis. His arms are by his side.

But officials are optimistic he is one of five Hunley crewmen buried on the site in 1863 after the Hunley sank in a freak accident during testing in Charleston Harbor. Water rushed through an open hatch, drowning five men trapped inside.

The coffin found Wednesday appears to be oblong and overly wide, at 39 inches across. Historians believe the victims needed overly large coffins to contain their bloated bodies. More than 10 days passed before the sub was recovered from the harbor bottom.

"That's a much larger coffin than you would expect to find," Leader said.

Some of the bodies also had to be cut up so they could be removed through the Hunley's tiny hatches.

It was difficult to detect bone scarring on the skeleton found Wednesday but state Hunley Commission Chairman Glenn McConnell said chances are the search is over.

"The outline of this would indicate the odds are this is the last Hunley grave," he said.

Proof-positive that this is a Hunley crewman probably won't come until lab tests are done. The teeth are the most important element because forensics can determine everything from age to ethnicity to diet. Officials hope to re-inter all five sets of remains at Magnolia Cemetery in a special ceremony on March 25.

Randy Burbage, one of the diggers Wednesday and a member of the Confederate Heritage Trust, said it was almost a blessing the body was missed during the 1993 dig because it led to the investigation to find Hunley crewmen buried under and around the stadium.

During the war, the site was home to the city's mariner's cemetery. But it was mistakenly covered over and forgotten when 21,000-seat Johnson Hagood football stadium was built in 1948.

City Council originally gave the builders permission to move the graves, but because of a clerical error, only the cemetery's tombstones were removed. So far, the remains of 41 sailors and one child have been recovered from the site.

The diggers kept their work low-key when they started at 10 a.m. Wednesday. But, using a backhoe, they made their discovery within hours. The grave is outside the stadium, 12 to 15 feet away from where the four others believed to be Hunley crewmen were found inside Johnson Hagood Stadium. In those graves, found in June and July, two coffins were placed in each pit, stacked on top of each other.

The five victims are believed to be Irish immigrant sailors who joined the Confederate Navy in New Orleans when the war started. They volunteered for Hunley duty from ships bottled up in Charleston Harbor by the Union blockade.

Their identities are: Frank Doyle, John Kelly, Michael Cane, Nicholas Davis and Absolum Williams. The remains were fully recovered on Wednesday, although the skull was still covered with mud. The pit was filled in late Wednesday night.

Two Hunley crews were lost during testing accidents around Charleston Harbor, but the third crew sailed into history on the night of Feb. 17, 1864, when the Hunley rammed a 100-pound charge of black powder into the Union blockade ship Housatonic. The Housatonic sank in less than five minutes.

But the Hunley never returned.

The sub was finally found off Sullivan's Island in 1995 by a dive team funded by best-selling author Clive Cussler. Plans are to raise it this summer and put it on display in Charleston.

ED:Schuyler Kropf reports on S.C. government and politics. Contact him at 937-5551 or skropf@postandcourier.com.

This article was written by Schuyler Kropf originally published in Civil War Times Illustrated December 1999. 

http://militaryhistory.about.com/library/prm/blhunleyfound1.htm?terms=hunley