Henry Benjamin Noisette

When Henry Benjamin Noisette escaped slavery and volunteered to serve in the United States Navy in 1862 he became not only a veteran of the Civil War, he became an American hero.

The men and women of African descent who volunteered for the Union where not fighting and dying for Country. They fought for a more noble cause than flag or country, they fought for Freedom. But what made them heroes is that it was not their own freedom that they were fighting for but the freedom of 5 million men women and children who were living and dying as slaves in this United States of America. And what truer definition of a hero can you have than a person who would lay down his or her life for another.

What did Henry experience during his service in the Navy?

The words on his service record do not tell you much at all. Entered service on May 6 1862 at Port Royall South Carolina, served aboard the Huron, discharged on June 1863 as a 1st class Boy on the USS Princeton at the Philadelphia Navy Yard with a life long disability..

From the mission and records of his ship and a few things that Henry remembered some insight his time in the Navy.

The North knew that the South would exploit its agricultural wealth to import war material from England and France and they were determined to prevent this, but lacked the ships to do it. After the attack on Fort Sumter in 1861 the Navy began building ships to enforce a blockade of the South's ports. The Huron, was one of 23 hastily built ships called 90 day wonders. They were 158 feet long wooden ships, powered by coal fired steam engines and sails. A top speed of only 10 knots meant she would have difficult keeping up with larger ships. What she did have was a relative shallow draft which meant that the ship could get into the inlets and rivers of the Southern Coasts; but it also meant that it was very cramped below decks for her crew of 80 men and officers. The Huron had only one really big gun and 3 smaller pieces The 11-inch smoothbore Dahlgren gun was its main armament - It could fire a 135 pound shell over 2 miles. An example of the Dahlgren gun can be found on the Charleston battery.

While Henry's ship was being built in Boston, another event was happening that would bring Henry to the war. After months of planning, on November 5, 1861 US Forces launched a successful attack at Port Royal sixty miles south of Charleston. This deep water port provided the Navy with a base of operations to support the blockade of Charleston and Savannah. After its capture, over 10,000 slaves on the neighboring sea islands were liberated, some of whom would go on to serve in the 1st SC Infantry, the first African-American regiment of the Civil War.

The Huron was commissioned in February of 1862 and began its first cruise to join the blockade fleet off of Charleston. The beginning did not portend well as she ran aground on February 12 and fouled her propeller with the anchor chain. She arrived in Port Royal under tow.

After operations off of St. Augustine and Jacksonville in March she was placed on blockade duty at Charleston. The first of May Admiral Du Pont reported that her equipment was out of order and would require at least 12 days to repair. The Huron was in Port Royall when on May 13, Robert Smalls sailed the Planter past the guns of Fort Sumter and turned her over to the blockade ship Onward. There is a good chance that Henry knew of, or met, Robert in Port Royal when Henry boarded his ship

In joining the US Navy, Henry would encounter none of the prejudice to black men enlisting that prevented service in the Army until after the Emancipation Proclamation. African-American sailors had served with distinction in the Navy during the Revolutionary war and the War of 1812. The Secretary of the Navy endorsed enlistment of former slaves in 1861. Henry joined almost 19,000 black men and 11 women who served in the Union Navy during the Civil War, seven of whom would earn the nation highest honor. Of the 19,000, 800 were killed, wounded or captured in battle and 1000 died of disease

The skipper of the Huron was Lieutenant John Downes. Son of a Navy Commodore, he was a stickler for order and disciple and he made a distinct impression on Henry Noisette. No sooner had Henry joined the crew, than the Huron was ordered on one of the most dangerous missions that could have been conceived of for a lightly armed gun boat.

A less than 5 miles from Charleston is a tidal river called the Stono. It had proved to be a weakness for Charleston in the Revolutionary war and South Carolinians were determined that the Stono not become one in the Civil War. They had initially set up a fort at Coles Island at the mouth of the river in a place that was very hard to resupply. Charleston's commander, General John C. Pemberton, because of its exposed position had ordered the fort abandoned and sent the Confederate steamer Planter to remove the fort's guns. Robert Smalls, pilot of the Planter, got a good look at the defenses along the river and told the Navy that they could take control of the river.

The only problem was that the big ships could not get through the shallow entrance. Even though they were not designed for gun battles with forts, the Navy turned to the gun boats and on May 24 the Huron was ordered to the Stono.

On the way Lt. Downes captured the blockade runner Cambria and brought her into Port Royal on the 26thof May.

On May 28 the Huron slipped into the Stono with three other gun boats. The next day they anchored above Grimball's plantation at New Town Creek. There they come under fire from Fort Pemberton with its two 10 inch Columbiads and 19 other guns. Henry remembered this gun battle 40 years later. They were sitting ducks. The river at that point is hardly half a mile across - easily within range of Confederate artillery which could ambush from the woods along the river. Just 7 months later The Isaac Smith, a much more powerful ship than the Huron was captured near the same spot.

They fortunately escaped such a fate and, on June 10, they provided fire support of General Wright's camp on James Island. During the June 16 Battle of Secessionville the gunboats continued to provide supporting fire.

After a brief time back on blockade, The Huron headed into Port Royal for repairs, where she received yet another order for a hazardous mission of heading up a shallow river to test the Confederate Defenses. This time they were ordered to the Ogeechee river south of Savannah Georgia. On July 29 they were part of a probe against Fort McAllister. In a 1½ hour exchange of fire, the gunboats were massively outgunned by McAllister's 24 guns, including 3 powerful 10-inch Columbiads

The Navy found out all they needed to know about Fort McAlister and Henry Noisette found himself in another battle he would never forget. There was no place on that small ship that could not feel the blast of the 11-inch gun firing. The gun boats were not armour plated. A ten inch shell could easily go clean through their hulls, sending deadly splinters everywhere and, if even a shell fragment hit the boilers, escaping steam could scald the crew below decks.

Fortunately their good luck held out and soon the unscathed Huron returned to blockade duty off of Charleston where on August 4 they captured the schooner Agullia running out of the port.

The routine of night after night of constant vigilance began wearing on Lt. Downes and his crew. On September 11, 1862 - Downes wrote to Commander Wise asking for a big rifle to make "somebody else as miserable" as he was on blockade duty.

What he didn't realize is that at sea he was far better off than cruising the coastal rivers where a danger far greater than the Confederates lurked.

Ordered back into the rivers in late September 26, the Huron was on station in the North Edisto, about 35 miles south of Charleston, when their luck ran out. First one, then another, and within a week, 20 officers and men of the Huron were sick with Ship fever or Yellow Jack, named after the flag they were forced to fly when the fever was aboard the ship. During the war, disease was a much great killer than cannons or bullets. As Union Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox acknowledged in a letter to the flag officer of the South Atlantic blockading squadron, "death in its most appalling form surround[s] you."

In an almost unprecedented move, on October 7 - the Huron was relieved of duty in the North Edisto and dispatched to Boston because of "unsanitary conditions." Somehow they managed to reach Boston in 5 days where the ship opened up to expose it to the cold and "frosted." The thinking of the day was that frost would stop the fever.

Lt. Downes left the Huron in Boston to join his new assignment on the iron clad Nahant. On October 30 with Lt George A. Stevens in command the Huron was cleared to Port Royal from the Boston Navy Yard. Convoying supply ships to Hampton Roads and New Berne on the way back, she arrived at Port Royal on Nov. 19 and by the first of December was back on blockade duty off of Charleston.

On Feb 2 1863 the Huron is ordered back into the Stono on reconnaissance and she reported on February 11 that she was holding the river. The Navy was preparing for a major attack on Charleston at that time. The Huron returned to blockade duty until March 18 when she was sent to Port Royal. At this point Henry Noisette is transferred to the receiving ship "USS Princeton" in the Philadelphia Navy Yard -- no doubt because he was too sick for sea duty. He would spend time in the Marine Hospital there suffering from rheumatism for which there was no cure. Obviously incapable of continuing in service - Henry was discharged from the Navy in June of 1863 at the rank of 1st Class Boy.. He would return to Charleston after the war and work as a carpenter. Rheumatism would recur later in life and leave him unable to work. He drew a small pension for his disability which was connected to his service in the Navy. Despite his health issues he made a home and raised a family here in Charleston. His residence was at 6 Ogier Street. He died on October 3, 1911 at the age of 70 and is buried in the Friendly Charitable Cemetery near the intersection of Oceanic and Mechanic streets.

Sources:
Official Records of the War of Rebellion
Pension and Service Records - No. 12402
City of Charleston Death Certificate