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Story last updated at 6:56 a.m. Wednesday, April 14, 2004

First officer Ridgaway was an old salt at 30

BY BRIAN HICKS
Of The Post and Courier Staff

When Joseph Ridgaway took over as first officer of the H.L. Hunley in the winter of 1864, it was almost as if he'd trained for it his entire life.

He was an old salt at 30, a veteran before the mast who had already spent more than half his years on the water.

PROVIDED/FRIENDS OF THE HUNLEY

A facial reconstruction of Joseph Ridgaway

He was the son of a sailor, and he most likely carried this experience as an easy confidence onboard the Confederate submarine. His seamanship and calming influence on the crew was more than enough to make him seem a natural leader to Lt. George E. Dixon. Dixon quickly learned he could depend on Ridgaway.

"He was obviously a very important member of thecrew," says Maria Jacobsen, senior archaeologist on the Hunley project. "He had to synchronize the filling of the ballast tanks with Dixon. He had to operate the aft seacock and pump. He had to be mechanically inclined."

Ridgaway had to learn a new technology to operate the Hunley, but he had a decided advantage because he felt at home in the sub's natural environment.

He had grown up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the son of a sea captain who owned a small fleet of merchant sailing ships. Between the ships, the plantation and a few other business interests, the Ridgaways of Talbot County were a wealthy family. James and Elizabeth Ridgaway lived with their children on the banks of Chesapeake Bay and shopped across the water in Baltimore.

Joseph Ridgaway sailed his father's ships in the Bay and on the Atlantic. By age 16, in 1850, he had his Seaman's Protection Certificate, which marked him as an ocean-going merchant sailor, a document most mariners did not earn until their twenties.

When the Civil War began, Ridgaway decided to take a break from merchant sailing and join the Confederate States Navy. He had grown into a rugged young man, stout and, at 5' 10," tall for the times. He made a good sailor,

Evidence suggests the Ridgaway family was involved with the Confederacy from the early days of the conflict. A dispatch from the USS Daylight in August 1861 mentions the capture of a Baltimore-based schooner belonging in part to a "Mr. Ridgeway."

The ship was hauling goods up the Rappahannock River just off Chesapeake Bay, and the Union forces claimed that those supplies were meant for Southern forces in Virginia. The crew abandoned the ship rather than face capture.

When Dixon began his search for a submarine crew two years later, Joseph Ridgaway was a quartermaster on the CSS Indian Chief in Charleston Harbor. Given his experience, it's no surprise Dixon and William Alexander, then the Hunley's first officer, selected the Maryland sailor.

For three months, Ridgaway was a volunteer hand, using muscle to power the fish-boat. He took a seat at one of the duty stations in the middle of the sub, cranking a handle to drive the sub's propeller. It was fairly mindless work, and did not make good use of his skills. Still, Ridgaway was committed to the project, and likely took an interest in how the sub operated.

He didn't realize how quickly that knowledge would take on new importance. In early February 1864, the Confederate Army ordered Alexander back to Mobile, something about building new guns at Fort Morgan. Dixon needed a new first officer, and he turned to his Maryland man.

With his promotion, Ridgaway found he had more to do than turn a simple crank, although he still had to do that, too. Ridgaway was placed in charge of coordinating ballast tank operations with Dixon. He had to fill and empty the aft tank on Dixon's command to keep the sub on an even keel.

Ridgaway also may have monitored the fly-wheel connected to the sub's propeller shaft; no doubt he would have had to fix the chain on the wheel if it broke. He also was responsible for the aft hatch.

Even to a casual observer, Ridgaway stood out among the Hunley crew. He dressed nice, wearing stylish civilian shoes that were more comfortable than the brogans most of the rest wore. He carried a pipe and a slouch hat and, on the evening of Feb. 17, 1864, wore a fancy Confederate shell jacket onboard the sub.

More than a century later, what he wore around his neck would surprise archaeologists most. The man scientists believe to be Joseph Ridgaway was found wearing the identification tag of a Union soldier named Ezra Chamberlin.

How Ridgaway came to possess the dog tag of a Connecticut Yankee remains a mystery, but historians have found a link between the man and the crew. Chamberlin died in July 1863 during the battle of Morris Island, where members of the Indian Chief crew -- possibly even Ridgaway -- occasionally served picket duty. Also, while anyone could have picked up the medallion as a souvenir, J.F. Carlsen, the last man to join the Hunley crew, fought on Morris the day Chamberlin died. Carlsen may have found the tag and sold it to Ridgaway -- even lost it to him in a card game.

The possibility of Carlsen's connection to the identification tag led scientists to speculate he was the first officer, but that's unlikely. The man in the back of the sub was American born, and Ridgaway is one of only four documented Americans onboard. Process of elimination narrows the field. Dixon was identified by his position and belongings; James A. Wicks was much older. That leaves Frank Collins and Ridgaway. The man who died at the first officer's station matches Ridgaway's age (not to mention Ridgaway had far more maritime experience than Collins, making him a more likely candidate).

Ridgaway also had more in common with Dixon than any of the other crewmen. Both were from families of some means: they both showed signs of quality dental care and good health. Socioeconomic similarities must have cemented the connection between captain and first officer.

The relationships that Ridgaway built during his final years not only led him to the Hunley but also had a major impact on his family. After the war, a friend of Ridgaway's stationed on the Indian Chief felt compelled to collect the sailor's belongings for the family.

James Joyner carried his lost friend's last remaining mementoes to his family in Maryland. There, Joyner found he liked the rest of the Ridgaway family as much as he had Joseph, so he decided to settle in the area.

Ultimately, he married one of Ridgaway's sisters.

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