SS Harvest Moon in civilian service prior to being purchased by the US Navy

On March 1st, 1865, USS Harvest Moon, a sidewheel steamer which had been purchased into US Navy service and was serving as the flagship of Admiral John Dahlgren, struck a torpedo in Winyah Bay near Georgetown, SC and quickly sank. The wreck of Harvest Moon remains in Winyah Bay and a small portion of the wreck is reported to be visible above the surface at low tide.

Overlooking the wreck site are two Columbiads, both cast by Tredegar in 1864, on display in the preserved remains of Battery White.

Battery White is now on the grounds of Belle Isle Yacht Club. It is accessible to the public, however, those wishing to visit must gain access as described on this website: https://www.belleislesc.com/visiting-battery-white

A guide to the site may be found here: https://www.belleislesc.com/s/BatteryWhiteMemorialTrail2.pdf

Visitors to the Georgetown, SC area can also see two of Battery White’s 24-pounders on display in Constitution Park downtown. (*These have been temporarily removed for utility work at the site at the time of my visit.)

I also highly recommend visiting the South Carolina Maritime Museum in Georgetown. The museum includes a large model of Harvest Moon as well as many other models and artifacts from ships with a connection to Georgetown. An article about USS Harvest Moon from the Maritime Museum can be found here: https://scmaritimemuseum.org/history-sunken-union-flagship-marks-150-years/

10-inch Columbiad, Number 2065, cast by Tredegar in 1864, on display at Battery White

Another 10-Inch Columbiad also cast by Tredegar in 1864 displayed in Battery White

A week before USS Harvest Moon sank, US Navy ships led by USS Mingoe fired on a Confederate fortification, Battery White, which had been constructed to guard Winyah Bay and Georgetown. Receiving no response from Battery White, a party was sent ashore and found the guns spiked and the fort abandoned.

Admiral Dahlgren went ashore to inspect the fort and made the following report to Gideon Wells:

Flagship Harvest Moon, Off Battery White, Winyah Bay, February 28th, 1865

Sir: Very soon after closing my dispatch (82), I had occasion to anchor near this place and went ashore to visit the work.

The accounts in the reports fail to convey a correct idea of its character. The site was admirably selected, not only command the channel, but the various roads to the town above.

The principal battery looks directly on the water, well planned and executed carefully, not only with reference to a cannonade by ships but also to an assault from the water.

The carriages were all new, and probably brought here recently, as many old carriages were piled away in the rear.

The water battery mounted twelve guns, two of which were X-inch columbiads, three rifled 32-pounders (banded), four 24-pounders, two rifled 12 pounders (banded), making eleven guns looking on the water. The ditch was flanked by a 6-pounder. The work had ample traverses and magazines. The approach to the right flank over the low beach was swept by one 24-pounder in a separate battery and by a 12-pounder also in a detached work. The rear of the position was defended by a formidable rampart and ditch, extending 300 yards and looking on the several roads leading to Georgetown. It was not entirely finished and had a 24-pounder mounted at each flank; intervening places were designed for field guns.

The ground occupied by these works might be 100 acres, beautifully wooded with live oak.

The huts for the men were numerous and well constructed, with ranges of nice stalls for horses.

If the works had been sufficiently manned, it would have required good troops to take the work.

As soon as a plan of the battery and the site can be prepared I will send a copy to the Department.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant.

John A. Dahlgren, Rear Admiral.

Report by Admiral J. A. Dahlgren to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles; February 28, 1865. In Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Government Printing Office, 1903, Series I - Volume 16. pp. 273–74.