Simmon's Bluff SC003

supportedunresolved Parker says no more than twenty minutes passed between the alarm and the first shot, asks for a signal system, notes that the steamer's masthead lookout directed her fire, and says he could only conjecture whether any force landed. Rhind learned the Confederate dispositions from papers captured in the camp.

Contemporary statements of warning and knowledge by the two commanders. No original reconnaissance, order or message chain was inspected to establish contemporary knowledge. Surprise in a summary does not independently establish what each commander knew.

supportedunresolved Parker says the rifle pits were incomplete and that his guns were in the road and wagons parked before he reached camp; Rhind says he had built musket-proof bulwarks on the Planter for the expedition and that the Confederates removed their baggage before he landed.

Preparation and field works described in the two reports; no supply return inspected.

supportedunresolved Rhind says he advanced slowly without firing to draw the Confederate artillery down to the river; Parker says he kept his guns under cover anticipating a landing, and planned a front-and-flank attack had a landing been made. NPS says the Federals were mounting an amphibious expedition to cut the Charleston & Savannah Railroad and abandoned the raid.

Stated intentions from the two reports; the railroad aim is NPS's framing and is not stated in the inspected reports.

supportedpost_outcome The frozen and live results read Union victory. Rhind says a short engagement drove off the Confederates and their camp was captured and destroyed; Parker says the riflemen retreated when enfiladed, that some men landed from the Planter, he thought, and burned the infantry tents, and that the boats then went off.

Retain the original result and engagement interval; later movements and campaign contribution are different measures. No new probabilities or individual causal credit.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen casualty text reads None (0); the live field reads zero. Rhind reports no loss and very trifling damage; Parker reports no casualties but says his men heard cries after several shots.

Original casualty returns were not inspected; preserve totals, categories, cutoffs and differences. No canonical reconciliation or casualty-based opening count; related actions must not be added without resolving population overlap. Parker's report that his men heard cries after several shots implies Union losses that Rhind's 'without loss' denies; neither is a casualty return.

supportedunresolved Rhind took the Crusader and Planter up the river and himself landed with Captain Bennett's company to burn the camp. Parker, commanding the post, placed the riflemen and battery; McCullough arrived during the action and was ordered forward with four companies. The frozen commanders are Lieutenant A. C. Rhind (US) and Colonel James McCullough (CS).

Command roles from the two reports; neither listed commander receives automatic sole credit. The post commander in the Confederate report is Parker, not the listed McCullough.

unknownunresolved

No inspected return establishes matched personnel at a common opening boundary. The frozen side-specific numerical strength bounds are blank (missing_numeric_strength). No figure in this pass is adopted as a simultaneous opening force.

supportedunresolved The frozen force field reads Regiments; the live field reads zero. Rhind says the Planter carried 4 officers and 70 men of the Fifty-fifth Pennsylvania with the Crusader in support, and that papers found in the camp showed the force at the point to be the Marion Artillery and two companies of the Sixteenth South Carolina, the regiment being 2 miles back. Parker says he put the companies of Captains McJunkin and Barnett into the rifle pits and that McCullough, who had arrived, was to advance with four companies.

Unit identifications and a Union landing-party count; no Confederate strength figure. None is adopted as a matched opening strength. The live zero is not measured absence.

supportedunresolved Parker says the road through the corn was too miry for his guns after recent rains, and that reaching the bluff would have exposed his battery to both ships for 400 or 500 yards; Rhind says the Crusader passed the bluff at half pistol-shot and drew musketry from rifle pits and houses.

Ground described by the two opposing commanders; no map verification.