Reportedly the oldest naval combat photos that can be definitively dated.
Taken from Fort Sumter by George Cook on 8 September 1863, it shows the 18-gunned steam-powered wooden-hulled broadside ironclad USS New Ironsides and two Ericsson-designed single turret monitors, USS Montauk, and USS Passaic, firing on Conferate-held Fort Moultrie in Charleston Harbor.
The photo is credited to George S. Cook and is attributed as “taken by a Confederate photographer.” (Source: Field, Ron. Silent Witness, 2017, page 264) in combat, firing on Fort Sumter. LOC LC-USZ62-49549
The photo shows tents and soldiers on the beach of Morris Island. In the distance, ironclads, including USS New Ironsides and five monitor-class warships are in action against Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie in Charleston harbor. (Source: 99 Historic Images of Civil War Charleston, ed. by Garry Adelman, John Richter, and Bob Zeller, Center for Civil War Photography, 2009, p. 18). LOC LC-DIG-cwpb-04748 (digital file from original neg.)
At this stage in Dupont’s efforts to reduce the rebel defenses at Charleston, Fort Wagner was bombarded daily until it was evacuated by the Confederates on 6 September when his ships then turned their attention to Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie, operating for the rest of the year against these fortifications which guarded the “Cradle of the Rebellion.”
The event was reported in The Illustrated London News, as “Iron clad frigate New Ironsides and two Ericsson batteries going into action at Charleston,” complete with a much more romantic depiction.
Hant-tinted copy of a line engraving by Smyth, depicting USS New Ironsides and two monitors in action at Charleston, South Carolina, circa 1863. Courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, D.C. U.S. NH 85573-KN