“S” is for Swamp Angel

“S” is for Swamp Angel. “Swamp Angel” was the nickname given to a 16,500-pound rifled Parrott cannon with an eight- inch bore that briefly shelled the city of Charleston in August 1863. The massive gun was positioned near Morris Island in a sandbagged earthwork known as the Marsh Battery. The battery was completed by mid-August 1863, and by August 21^st the Swamp Angel was mounted and ready to fire incendiary shells 7,900 yards into Charleston. The shelling began on the morning of August 22^nd and continued until daylight the next day. It then resumed on the evening of August 23^rd, when the Swamp Angel exploded while firing its thirty-sixth round. Though only a few people were killed injured by the Swamp Angel’s shelling, it did force the civilian evacuation of Charleston South of Broad Street.