Lot
3091 
Confederacy, 1863, 10¢ greenish blue. Large margins, tied by manuscript cancel & matching Manchester, S.C./Nov. 23 manuscript postmark on cover addressed to "Augustine Smythe, C.S.S. Palmetto State, Charleston, S.C.", some over all staining & small sealed tear affecting postmark, F.-V.F., a rare cover addressed to a Confederate Ironclad. Scott No. 11c Estimate $500 - 750.
CSS Palmetto State, an ironclad ram, was built in Charleston in January 1862. Her armor was 4" thick on the shield, backed by 22" of wood, 2" of iron elsewhere.
Before dawn on January 31, 1863, Palmetto State and her sister ram CSS Chicora crept through thick haze to surprise the Union blockading force off Charleston. Taking full advantage of her low silhouette, the ironclad stole in under the guns of USS Mercedita, ramming as well as firing into her. Completely disabled, with no guns that would depress enough to fire at Palmetto State, the Union ship surrendered. The ram then turned her attention to USS Keystone State and put several shells into that blockader. Her steam chests punctured, Keystone State lost all power and had to be towed to safety. A long-range gun action between the Confederate rams and other Federal blockaders then took place, but little damage was inflicted by either side before Palmetto State and Chicora withdrew to safety within Charleston Harbor. The attack of the Confederate rams caused the temporary withdrawal of the blockaders from their inshore positions and led to the claim by the Confederate Government, unsuccessfully advanced, that the blockade of Charleston had been raised.
Palmetto State was burned by the Confederates upon the evacuation of Charleston on February 18, 1865.
Realized: $500