“These men were physically fit. These weren’t wimpy guys who got pushed to the front when they called for volunteers. These were eager participants,” said Mark Ragan, who has written two books about the Hunley and Civil War submarines.

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This summer’s dig was the second time that archaeologists have gone hunting for Confederate dead beneath the Citadel’s stadium. In 1993, the bodies of 13 Confederate sailors were recovered from beneath the stadium’s parking lot. This year archaeologists expanded their search from the parking lot to inside the actual stadium walls after uncovering documents indicating that “men of the torpedo boat” had been taken to the mariners’ cemetery.

“After we found the first one, we all gathered around in a circle and held hands and sang ‘Dixie,’” Burbage said. Some of the graves were found a few feet beneath a room where Citadel supporters enjoy lunch before games.

Besides the four Hunley crewmen, workers also found the remains of 22 other Confederate sailors and a three-year-old boy, believed to be a relative of one of the dead. All the remains will be reinterred at Magnolia Cemetery in ceremonies this fall and next spring.

The recovery of the Hunley’s first crew is related to the continuing effort to raise and restore what is widely recognized as the world’s first successful attack sub. A team of divers funded by best-selling author Clive Cussler discovered the 40-foot, cigar-shaped vessel in 1995 about four miles off nearby Sullivan’s Island.

The sinking of the Hunley in August 1863 did not end the circle of tragedy that surrounded the sub. With Hunley, its inventor, in command, it sank a second time that October in the Cooper River. All hands were lost, including Hunley. After this second disaster, Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard was reluctant to use the sub ever again. “I can have nothing more to do with that submarine boat,” he swore at the time. “It’s more dangerous to those who use it than the enemy.”

On the night of February 17, 1864, however, the hand-cranked Hunley made history when it rammed a 90-pound black-powder charge fitted on a 20-foot spar into the hull of the blockader U.S.S. Housatonic. The Federal ship sank in three minutes with a loss of five men. The Hunley, with her commander, Lieutenant George Dixon, and his supporting crew of eight, were also lost when the sub sank during its return trip.

Plans are in place to raise the sub as early as May 2000 and transport it to a warehouse on the former Charleston Navy Base for a 10-year restoration project. Federal, state, and private sources have committed more than $8 million to the effort. Inquiries and additional contributions can be made by contacting Friends of the Hunley at (843) 958-0610 or by visiting the group’s website at www.hunley.org.

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