Combat· American Civil War
USS Dale skirmish at South Edisto
A brief brush with the enemy on the South Carolina coast during the post-Port Royal operations.
In mid-December 1861 the Marines of the sloop USS Dale, ranging the waters south of Charleston, tangled with Confederate troops in a short skirmish at the South Edisto River. It was one of the many small clashes that filled the blockading squadron's days in the weeks after the seizure of Port Royal, as the Union ships probed the rivers and sounds and the Confederates contested their landings where they could. The engagement was inconclusive and cost no casualties. Like the raids on Mosquito Creek and the other coastal points, the South Edisto skirmish was part of the constant low-level pressure the squadron kept up along the South Carolina shore, harassing the enemy and asserting Union control of the coastal waters without bringing on any major fight.
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Record no. 408