While on board the steamer CSS Resolute, Charles Lucian Jones (1835-1920), observed and reported on the Battle at Wassaw Sound (1863) between the steam ram CSS Atlanta, and two ironclad monitors, USS Weehawken and USS Nahant. The Battle at Wassaw Sound was a Civil War naval battle occuring in the early morning hours of June 17, 1863, between a Confederate steam ram, CSS Atlanta and two Union ironclad monitors, the USS Weehawken and USS Nahant. Both Union ships were stationed in Wassaw Sound, near the mouth of the Wilmington River, to block Confederate supply lines to Savannah. The CSS Atlanta , commanded by William A. Webb of the Confederate States Navy, attacked the ironclads before daylight. It was accompanied by two Confederate steamers, the CSS Isondiga and CSS Resolute. The CSS Atlanta was attempting to maneuver alongside the two ironclads, which were close to the shore of Wassaw Island, when she ran aground and tilted to the side, rendering her guns useless. The USS Weehawken, commanded by Captain John Rodgers, of the United States Navy, came alongside the disabled vessel and fired upon it. Webb and his crew surrenderedand all aboard were captured. The CSS Atlanta suffered one casualty and sixteen wounded. The battle lasted thirty-five minutes from start to finish. The CSS Atlanta was the first Confederate ironclad to surrender to the Union, but her escorts, the CSS Isondiga and CSS Resolute, quickly retreated back up the river to safety after the battle. The Union Navy repaired and commissioned the vessel as the USS Atlanta on February 2, 1864.