Lesson 267: A Lamb Amoung the Lambs

Army of Tennessee Chaplain David Chaltas

A LAMB AMONG THE LIONS

This following story is one of inspiration and is dedicated to the ‘Unknown Child of the Confederacy’ buried in the Magnolia Cemetery beside those brave Confederate Naval compatriots who served during the War Between the States. To me the saga embodies the forgotten lost lambs of war and the sacrifices left unsung. 

She was a child of destiny; her past unknown but to God and her future uncertain.  The sailors found this frightened child walking along the shoreline of Fort Moultrie, South Carolina.  After being reassured that she had nothing to fear, the girl slowly approached the group of sailors. 

She spoke Gullah, the language of the islands, but there was not a sign of a ship wreck or another person within the area.  It was the general consensus that the child had been dropped off by somebody fleeing the blockade by the federal ships in the harbor.  Whatever her history, it now belonged to the past and would remain a mystery.  The sailors knew of an old woman who came for the islands.  She spoke Gullah, so they decided to have her talk to the child.  The old woman was summoned and after attempting to talk to the child, she simply shook her head and stated that the young one came from the sea and one day she would be returned to her home.  The sailors looked at each other and shook their heads at the old woman’s gibberish.  They tried to give her a few coins for her time but the old sage refused to accept anything.  She just pointed towards the sea and walked away. 

It seemed that the child’s hearing was severely impaired but she had learned to compensate by watching the lips of others.  She also had learned to communicate eloquently with her smile.   Her hair fell to her shoulders in beautiful curls and her eyes were a serene green.  Her complexion was that of bronze and her innocence danced in her spirit.  She was a frail child of approximately four years of age and she captured the hearts of the small Confederate sailors stationed within Charleston’s harbor.  Many sailors and their wives tried to communicate with her about her past but she didn’t seem to understand.  She would just smile and point out to sea between Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie.  She seemed to love the sea and would go to it whenever she was afforded the opportunity to do so.  It was as if the bay called her name, a name that no one knew.  So the sailors decided to name her from whence she came.  They simply called her Moultrie. 

All the sailors and their lives adored ‘their little Moultrie’.  The crew of the CSS David instantly took her under their wing and afforded her safety.   The David boat was named after David Ebaugh, its creator.   The purpose of the forty foot long boat was to ride low in the water undetected by the enemy and place a torpedo against a ship blockading the harbor.  The ship was shaped like a cigar. 

Moultrie became their child and their mascot.   She became their life preserver.  The captain’s wife took care of her and supervised her when the crew was away.  Moultrie would play with the other children around the battery and run up and down the streets along Rainbow Row.  She was the belle of the battery. 

Every time a crew went out to sea, little Moultrie would be there to bid them farewell with her smile.  They would gently rub their fingers through her hair for good luck.  On October 5, 1863, the crew of the David almost was lost after setting the torpedo off beside an Ironsides.    The crew claimed it was the result of their good luck charm.  Other missions proved to be partly successful but the harbor was filled with Federal ships.  The David attacked the Memphis and Wabash in 1864, returning home safely.  Again the credit was giving to their little green eyed Gullah Girl called Moultrie. 

The news of the war was not good, as Charleston withstood the fury of the fire from those would be invaders.  She stood proudly in defiance, as she was shelled and blockaded from needed supplies.  Yet she would not yield.  Moultrie had become a symbol of Charleston’s resolve and was quite well known, especially amongst the small naval fleet standing in harm’s way of the much larger armada. 

One dark night in March of 1865, the weather was warm and the ocean wind was quite refreshing, with the promise of spring riding upon its wings.  The bombardment had slowed and there was a lull in the air.  The children were allowed to go play around the boundary.  The smaller children were being supervised by the older ones and the artillery kept a watchful eye on all.  The captain’s wife was guarded but knew that the children had to have some sense of safety and be able to play as normally as possible.   The guards kept a close eye upon those enjoying the peaceful night air.  All seemed right with the world, except for those ships in the distance.

The first shell fell upon the city around 8:30 that night, followed by a series of explosions.  The artillery immediately returned fire and for about thirty minutes, it seemed continuous.  The children panicked and ran for the safety of their homes.  All of the older children made it to shelter and when the adults started counting heads, they noted that all but one was accounted for.  The captain’s wife frantically organized a search party, as word spread of the lost lamb.  The night yielded no secrets as Little Moultrie was nowhere to be found. 

The morning light found several of the sailors combing the battery while others searched the harbor shore.  It seemed that all of Charleston was out looking.  A shout by a sailor alerted the searchers that their quest had ended.  There at the water’s edge, little Moultrie lay, as if asleep, in the arms of the old Gullah speaking woman they had summoned when they first found the child. 

“She belonged to the sea and is now home,” The old woman stated in broken English. 

Little Moultrie's features were unharmed except for a piece of metal that had lodged in her side.  It did not appear to have been a mortal wound.  Yet here she was, no more to brighten rainbow row with her smile.  No one knew why she had run to the sea.

The old Gullah speaking woman cleaned the child and prepared her for the funeral.  Everybody agreed that this child, whose origin was known only to God, would be buried with full military honors in the Magnolia Cemetery.  The caisson was prepared and on that given day, hundreds lined behind their little lamb as she was escorted through the battery, along the bay, in front of Rainbow Row and downtown to the cemetery.  There, beside fallen lions this little lamb was lowered.  She became the lamb among the lions. 

That night, the old woman placed a flower she had taken from Magnolia cemetery on a small raft made of palm.  She placed it at the water’s edge next to where she had found the child.  She watched it disappear in the horizon and beamed with an all knowing smile. 

The Bible is quite clear about God’s love for His children.  Jesus loved the little children and they were precious in his sight.  Surely the children of war have a special place in God’s heart and He protects them, affording them the shelter of the innocent, when they enter the gates of the Kingdom.  Children bring us such delight, as little Moultrie demonstrates.  We must treasure the moments, as we never know when the cherubs, the one best prepared, may be taken to God’s flower garden. 

There shall come a day when the lion will lay down beside the lamb.  Peace will rein and God will shower His loved ones with His devotion.  Isaiah 11:6 tells us this:  “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.”  That promise is from God and is of the new world.  Our shepherd will calm the storms and feed His flock.  Isaiah 40:11 says that, “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.” 

Matthew 18: 2-6 tells us that Christ called to Him a child and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”  He also stated that we “Do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10).

Let us resolve to become as little Moultrie, and walk as a lamb among the lions.  I remain a sheep within the shepherd’s flock, the old general