thedrifter
03-14-06, 05:50 AM
Bass received Congressional Medal for heroics in the Battle of Fort Fisher
By EDWIN VOGT Little Falls City Historian (Sat., March 11)
LITTLE FALLS Having experienced amphibious landing tactics while serving with the Marines at Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station at Oahu, Hawaii, I can appreciate and fully understand the operations at the Battle of Fort Fisher. This was the first account of employing elements of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps units in the Civil War.
My training was confined to the island of Kauai and I still recall the day I disembarked from an LST ship inside an amphibian tractor, a vehicle that operates on land and water and is commonly referred to by leather-necks as “Iron Coffins.” We headed to the beach, ten on a line, in waves of eight, and there dropped the ramp to allow a rifle team of eight Marines to scramble ashore with weapons at the ready.
But David Bass did not have the cover of 50 caliber machine guns or rocket launchers. Nor did he sit tight inside an armor-clad tractor. He was on a special mission, rowed ashore by sailors who were experiencing for the first time a role normally reserved for the infantry.
Before the federal forces could shut down the major port at Wilmington, NC, it was vital that Fort Fisher, an earthwork bastion, be totally destroyed. An earlier attempt was made on Christmas Day but the Union commander, General Benjamin Butler, lost his nerve and returned to Hampton Road, Va. When Grant heard of the failure to strike boldly at the enemy and Butler’s hasty retreat he fired the commander and replaced him with General Alfred H. Terry, a former division commander.
Fort Fisher was located at the end of a long peninsula and was a massive earthwork that stretched 682 yards across the neck of land and another 1,898 yards down the beach. Forty-four heavy cannons protected the approaches to the Cape Fear River and for its defense, 125 cannons would prevent any striking force from invading the fort. An armed force of 1,500 soldiers had their guns ready to defend any intrusion from the enemy.
Admiral David D. Porter’s plan for a second assault on the fort came on January 13, 1865, with a flotilla of 44 ships. After commencing fire on Fisher’s walls, General Terry’s men went ashore to establish a beachhead. Included in the landing party was one division of black troops who would be engaged in building a strong line of works in the event of an attack from the rear. After an advance was made from this first assault, two thousand sailors and Marines would storm the fort from the ocean side. Among this number was David Bass, a seaman aboard the U.S.S. Minnesota and a resident of Little Falls. All in all, 10,000 Union attackers would be involved in the two-day encounter.
General Whiting, the rebel commander, had premonitions of defeat and even told the fort’s defender, Colonel Lamb, that he had come to share his fate. The shelling was severe, pounding away for the entire day and night. Parapets were struck so repeatedly that it was impossible to find a lull in the battle to repair them. The dead lay everywhere, bodies blown away from the heavy shelling that shook the earth. Whiting had tried to get reinforcements but was unable to complete his mission. Fighting was difficult, even at night, with shrapnel flying in all directions. Finally at 2:30 p.m. on January 15, 1865, the ship-bourne guns fell silent. The Union troops were able to progress from one gun replacement to another in vicious hand-to-hand fighting. Sensing that all was hopeless, Colonel Lamb tried to get his wounded soldiers back into the fray. And though defeat was strong in the air, the rebels would not falter an inch but made such advances that did, from time to time, actually repulse their invaders. Yet it was futile, for they were outnumbered and could no longer halt the Union forces that were striking from every side.
It was then that seaman Bass found himself in a fierce situation after ascending a sand hill and was affecting to enter a breach in the palisades while facing enemy fire which killed and wounded many officers and men. Men all about him were seized with panic and began to retreat. But Bass was undeterred and continued to advance and was able to bring out the wounded, with their arms and colors. For such bravery and disregard for his own life, he was awarded the nation’s highest military honor, the Congressional Medal, in July of 1865. And from this time to the present, he is only one of five recipients from Herkimer County to be so honored. His grave is situated just north of the city of Little Falls in the Rural Grove or Wilcox Cemetery. He remained always a humble person. Even his obituary contains no account of his recommendation or heroics.
Ellie
By EDWIN VOGT Little Falls City Historian (Sat., March 11)
LITTLE FALLS Having experienced amphibious landing tactics while serving with the Marines at Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station at Oahu, Hawaii, I can appreciate and fully understand the operations at the Battle of Fort Fisher. This was the first account of employing elements of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps units in the Civil War.
My training was confined to the island of Kauai and I still recall the day I disembarked from an LST ship inside an amphibian tractor, a vehicle that operates on land and water and is commonly referred to by leather-necks as “Iron Coffins.” We headed to the beach, ten on a line, in waves of eight, and there dropped the ramp to allow a rifle team of eight Marines to scramble ashore with weapons at the ready.
But David Bass did not have the cover of 50 caliber machine guns or rocket launchers. Nor did he sit tight inside an armor-clad tractor. He was on a special mission, rowed ashore by sailors who were experiencing for the first time a role normally reserved for the infantry.
Before the federal forces could shut down the major port at Wilmington, NC, it was vital that Fort Fisher, an earthwork bastion, be totally destroyed. An earlier attempt was made on Christmas Day but the Union commander, General Benjamin Butler, lost his nerve and returned to Hampton Road, Va. When Grant heard of the failure to strike boldly at the enemy and Butler’s hasty retreat he fired the commander and replaced him with General Alfred H. Terry, a former division commander.
Fort Fisher was located at the end of a long peninsula and was a massive earthwork that stretched 682 yards across the neck of land and another 1,898 yards down the beach. Forty-four heavy cannons protected the approaches to the Cape Fear River and for its defense, 125 cannons would prevent any striking force from invading the fort. An armed force of 1,500 soldiers had their guns ready to defend any intrusion from the enemy.
Admiral David D. Porter’s plan for a second assault on the fort came on January 13, 1865, with a flotilla of 44 ships. After commencing fire on Fisher’s walls, General Terry’s men went ashore to establish a beachhead. Included in the landing party was one division of black troops who would be engaged in building a strong line of works in the event of an attack from the rear. After an advance was made from this first assault, two thousand sailors and Marines would storm the fort from the ocean side. Among this number was David Bass, a seaman aboard the U.S.S. Minnesota and a resident of Little Falls. All in all, 10,000 Union attackers would be involved in the two-day encounter.
General Whiting, the rebel commander, had premonitions of defeat and even told the fort’s defender, Colonel Lamb, that he had come to share his fate. The shelling was severe, pounding away for the entire day and night. Parapets were struck so repeatedly that it was impossible to find a lull in the battle to repair them. The dead lay everywhere, bodies blown away from the heavy shelling that shook the earth. Whiting had tried to get reinforcements but was unable to complete his mission. Fighting was difficult, even at night, with shrapnel flying in all directions. Finally at 2:30 p.m. on January 15, 1865, the ship-bourne guns fell silent. The Union troops were able to progress from one gun replacement to another in vicious hand-to-hand fighting. Sensing that all was hopeless, Colonel Lamb tried to get his wounded soldiers back into the fray. And though defeat was strong in the air, the rebels would not falter an inch but made such advances that did, from time to time, actually repulse their invaders. Yet it was futile, for they were outnumbered and could no longer halt the Union forces that were striking from every side.
It was then that seaman Bass found himself in a fierce situation after ascending a sand hill and was affecting to enter a breach in the palisades while facing enemy fire which killed and wounded many officers and men. Men all about him were seized with panic and began to retreat. But Bass was undeterred and continued to advance and was able to bring out the wounded, with their arms and colors. For such bravery and disregard for his own life, he was awarded the nation’s highest military honor, the Congressional Medal, in July of 1865. And from this time to the present, he is only one of five recipients from Herkimer County to be so honored. His grave is situated just north of the city of Little Falls in the Rural Grove or Wilcox Cemetery. He remained always a humble person. Even his obituary contains no account of his recommendation or heroics.
Ellie