The burial of the Hunley's last crew brings an end to the stirring saga of the Confederate mariners who completed the first successful submarine attack in military history, then failed to return from their desperate mission. Eulogized as heroes, the eight crew members completed Saturday what state Sen. Glenn McConnell, Hunley Commission chairman, described as "the final journey home." That homecoming, which attracted an estimated 20,000 from around the country and even abroad, would not have been possible without the extraordinary effort of an international team of experts, state officials and hundreds of private citizens.
The Hunley crew's journey was long, not in distance, but time. The men, volunteers for a mission of extreme danger, left from Breach Inlet and sunk the Union blockade ship Housatonic on Feb. 17, 1864. The Hunley and its crew disappeared that night and their fate remained shrouded in mystery for 131 years until a painstaking search resulted in its discovery. Five years later, the submarine was raised intact from the ocean's floor in a complex operation, and taken to a laboratory in North Charleston where the crew's remains were painstakingly removed from the sediment that filled the vessel.
The completion of the journey Saturday was described as "solemn and emotional and inspirational" by Warren Lasch, who as chairman of Friends of the Hunley was instrumental in gaining support for the submarine's restoration. He characterized the Hunley crewmen as symbols of "courage, bravery and commitment to duty" and noted their singular place in history, made possible in part by the Hunley's innovative technology. Mr. Lasch observed that the actual retrieval of the Hunley established "the new standard for shipwreck recovery," and that research into the vessel has resulted in important advances to naval archeology.
The thousands who attended the services for the Hunley crew and the events leading up to their burial in the preceding week were clearly appreciative of the bravery and sacrifice of the Hunley's last crew. That was evident in the reverent attention provided by Civil War re-enactors and retired U.S. Navy submariners who participated in ceremonies at White Point Garden Saturday morning. Thousands of re-enactors in gray and butternut then marched in the solemn funeral procession four miles to an already crowded Magnolia Cemetery, where the funeral service itself was conducted in an atmosphere as solemn as that of a Sunday morning church service.
In his eulogy, Sen. McConnell observed that no crew member was a Charlestonian or South Carolinian yet was willing to take the ultimate risk in an effort to save our beleaguered city and its residents from a long federal siege. "The story continues to echo down the corridors of time," Sen. McConnell said.
It has gained new resonance through the work of the Hunley Commission; Friends of the Hunley; project engineers, conservators, archeologists and researchers; members of the Legislature, Congress and Confederate heritage groups, all of whom have given selfless support to the Hunley project. The list, of course, begins with Clive Cussler, the author who launched the successful expedition for the submarine.
Through the ongoing work of those involved in the Hunley project, the story has become increasingly more detailed. There is a heightened appreciation, for example, of the technological ingenuity that produced the Hunley. A forensic genealogist successfully identified the individual crewmen, and their facial characteristics have been replicated. The Hunley story will continue to be enriched by ongoing study and the vessel's restoration. Eventually, the project will culminate in the construction of a major museum in North Charleston to house the submarine, and to relate the dramatic story of the Hunley and its courageous crew, now at rest in Magnolia.
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