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150 years ago today...August 20th, 1863...
Posted on 4/1/13 at 2:50 pm
Posted on 4/1/13 at 2:50 pm
Will update this post daily... go to last post for newest update...
1 April 1863
This was the second day of a voyage of Lieutenant Commander Gillis' and the USS Commodore Morris up the Ware River in Virginia. They had had a report that there was a large store of grain stashed at a particular plantation, and sure enough they found 22,000 bushels. This morning they were preparing to load it onto their ship when a party of Confederate cavalry swept down. The sailors formed up in ranks, the ship's guns fired, and the Navy beat the Cavalry decisively. More grain was hastily loaded, and the remainder was burned.
Preparations for the naval assault on Charleston moved into their final week. Rear Admiral Samuel F. DuPont sent the ironclads USS Passaic, Montauk, Patapsco, and Keokuk to the North Edisto River and gunboat Sebago to Calibogue Sound. To Commander John C. Beaumont, commanding the Sebago, the Admiral wrote that his objective was "...to cover the approaches to the west end of Hilton Head Island and prevent any descent upon it from boats with troops, etc., and to give notice by signal to the picket stations on shore, you will use your own discretion as to your position.'' DuPont assigned Captain Charles Steedman to protect the Army at Hilton Head Island while he himself led the offensive against Charleston. Next day, 2 April, DuPont left Port Royal for the North Edisto, flying his pennant in the USS James Adger.
The USS Tuscumbia, with Rear Admiral David D. Porter and Generals Hiram U. Grant and William T. Sherman on board, reconnoitered the Yazoo River to determine the practicability of landing a force at Haynes' Bluff. Grant believed that an attack "...would be attended with immense sacrifice of life, if not with defeat." This closed the last hope of turning Vicksburg's fortifications by the right, and gave added weight to the Grand Gulf operation below Vicksburg about which Grant and Porter had just exchanged letters. On 2 April, Secretary Welles wrote Porter a letter strongly urging the occupation of the Mississippi between Vicksburg and Port Hudson, which would be "...the severest blow that can be struck upon the enemy, [and] is worth all the risk encountered by Rear Admiral Farragut." Farragut with the National gunboats Hartford, Switzerland, and Albatross, engaged the rebel batteries at Grand Gulf, Mississippi, and succeeded in passing below them without material damage.
Captain John Singleton Mosby, of the 43rd Virginia cavalry & his men were returning from a raid on Dranesville. Mosby and seventy men from various partisan units stopped to spend the night in a barn at the Miskell farm near Broad Run of the Alexandria Turnpike. Federal authorities were tipped off to Mosby's movements, and at midnight the 1st Vermont under Capt. Henry Flint was dispatched from Difficult Run down the Alexandria Turnpike to ambush Mosby at Miskel Farm. Early the following morning before dawn, ranger Dick Moran set out for a friends who live off the Turnpike; while there, he sighted the 1st Vermont approaching.
Moran rushed back to Miskel Farm to rouse Mosby and his men just as the 1st Vermont arrived. The Federals surrounded the barn and then unleashed a saber charge. Mosby ordered his men to mount up and draw their pistols and led them in a counter-charge. Almost immediately, Flint was killed, along with a dozen of his men, by a barrage of bullets. With Flint's death, the Union flanks began to falter, and Mosby and twenty of his men smashed into it with a blood-curdling Yell. The Union flank collapsed, and Federals began to flee through the barnyard gate, with Bean, the acting commander, the first one through. The frantic retreat, coupled with the narrowness of the gate, caused a bottleneck in the Union retreat, and Mosby's men attacked the trapped Federals in merciless hand-to-hand combat. When the skirmish ended, 10 Federals were dead and 82 captured. Mosby suffered 1 mortally wounded and 3 wounded. Bean was discharged from the army for cowardice in fleeing the battle.
1 April 1863
This was the second day of a voyage of Lieutenant Commander Gillis' and the USS Commodore Morris up the Ware River in Virginia. They had had a report that there was a large store of grain stashed at a particular plantation, and sure enough they found 22,000 bushels. This morning they were preparing to load it onto their ship when a party of Confederate cavalry swept down. The sailors formed up in ranks, the ship's guns fired, and the Navy beat the Cavalry decisively. More grain was hastily loaded, and the remainder was burned.
Preparations for the naval assault on Charleston moved into their final week. Rear Admiral Samuel F. DuPont sent the ironclads USS Passaic, Montauk, Patapsco, and Keokuk to the North Edisto River and gunboat Sebago to Calibogue Sound. To Commander John C. Beaumont, commanding the Sebago, the Admiral wrote that his objective was "...to cover the approaches to the west end of Hilton Head Island and prevent any descent upon it from boats with troops, etc., and to give notice by signal to the picket stations on shore, you will use your own discretion as to your position.'' DuPont assigned Captain Charles Steedman to protect the Army at Hilton Head Island while he himself led the offensive against Charleston. Next day, 2 April, DuPont left Port Royal for the North Edisto, flying his pennant in the USS James Adger.
The USS Tuscumbia, with Rear Admiral David D. Porter and Generals Hiram U. Grant and William T. Sherman on board, reconnoitered the Yazoo River to determine the practicability of landing a force at Haynes' Bluff. Grant believed that an attack "...would be attended with immense sacrifice of life, if not with defeat." This closed the last hope of turning Vicksburg's fortifications by the right, and gave added weight to the Grand Gulf operation below Vicksburg about which Grant and Porter had just exchanged letters. On 2 April, Secretary Welles wrote Porter a letter strongly urging the occupation of the Mississippi between Vicksburg and Port Hudson, which would be "...the severest blow that can be struck upon the enemy, [and] is worth all the risk encountered by Rear Admiral Farragut." Farragut with the National gunboats Hartford, Switzerland, and Albatross, engaged the rebel batteries at Grand Gulf, Mississippi, and succeeded in passing below them without material damage.
Captain John Singleton Mosby, of the 43rd Virginia cavalry & his men were returning from a raid on Dranesville. Mosby and seventy men from various partisan units stopped to spend the night in a barn at the Miskell farm near Broad Run of the Alexandria Turnpike. Federal authorities were tipped off to Mosby's movements, and at midnight the 1st Vermont under Capt. Henry Flint was dispatched from Difficult Run down the Alexandria Turnpike to ambush Mosby at Miskel Farm. Early the following morning before dawn, ranger Dick Moran set out for a friends who live off the Turnpike; while there, he sighted the 1st Vermont approaching.
Moran rushed back to Miskel Farm to rouse Mosby and his men just as the 1st Vermont arrived. The Federals surrounded the barn and then unleashed a saber charge. Mosby ordered his men to mount up and draw their pistols and led them in a counter-charge. Almost immediately, Flint was killed, along with a dozen of his men, by a barrage of bullets. With Flint's death, the Union flanks began to falter, and Mosby and twenty of his men smashed into it with a blood-curdling Yell. The Union flank collapsed, and Federals began to flee through the barnyard gate, with Bean, the acting commander, the first one through. The frantic retreat, coupled with the narrowness of the gate, caused a bottleneck in the Union retreat, and Mosby's men attacked the trapped Federals in merciless hand-to-hand combat. When the skirmish ended, 10 Federals were dead and 82 captured. Mosby suffered 1 mortally wounded and 3 wounded. Bean was discharged from the army for cowardice in fleeing the battle.
This post was edited on 8/20/13 at 1:01 pm
4
Posted on 4/1/13 at 2:52 pm to dallasga6
I thought you were just going to update the original thread?
Posted on 4/1/13 at 3:16 pm to wadewilson
quote:Would that be best?? I'll do that starting tomorrow, less clutter...
I thought you were just going to update the original thread?
This post was edited on 4/1/13 at 3:17 pm
Posted on 4/1/13 at 3:26 pm to dallasga6
If this thread becomes as popular as I hope it will, it could be a problem to start a new one everyday.
I know you said you were a big history buff, but this seems like some work. Are you gonna try to update every day, or just slip back to once a week or so? I'll try to chime in every now and then and add a story.
I know you said you were a big history buff, but this seems like some work. Are you gonna try to update every day, or just slip back to once a week or so? I'll try to chime in every now and then and add a story.
Posted on 4/1/13 at 3:36 pm to dallasga6
I support this
Posted on 4/1/13 at 3:44 pm to wadewilson
Like I said yesterday, most of it isn't my content...
There's a poster on a UGA pay board that posts a update every day... I asked him & he told me it was ok to repost it here...
I think he might be a retired History Prof...I just clean it up a lil' sometimes...
The stuff about JS Mosby I added, He's just starting to make a name for himself in Va...
Will soon come to be known as the Gray Ghost... aka Mosby & his Rangers... he'll soon raid the Fairfax County Court House where he and his rangers capture a Union General, two captains and 30 enlisted men along with 58 horses... With not one shot being fired.
There's a poster on a UGA pay board that posts a update every day... I asked him & he told me it was ok to repost it here...
I think he might be a retired History Prof...I just clean it up a lil' sometimes...
The stuff about JS Mosby I added, He's just starting to make a name for himself in Va...
Will soon come to be known as the Gray Ghost... aka Mosby & his Rangers... he'll soon raid the Fairfax County Court House where he and his rangers capture a Union General, two captains and 30 enlisted men along with 58 horses... With not one shot being fired.
This post was edited on 4/1/13 at 4:06 pm
Posted on 4/1/13 at 3:57 pm to dallasga6
Keep this going. One of my Great-(#?)-grandfathers was a major Col. in Vicksburg.
Lets keep it in one thread though.
Heritage not hate.
Posted on 4/1/13 at 4:01 pm to wadewilson
quote:
I'll try to chime in every now and then and add a story.
Please do Wade...
Posted on 4/1/13 at 4:04 pm to Fishwater
quote:
Lets keep it in one thread though.
I'll keep everything in this thread... Everyone please chime in with any stories or neat facts you run across...
Posted on 4/1/13 at 4:09 pm to dallasga6
quote:
There's a poster on a UGA pay board that posts a update every day... I asked him & he told me it was ok to repost it here... I think he might be a retired History Prof...I just clean it up a lil' sometimes...
Awesome.
Posted on 4/1/13 at 5:09 pm to wadewilson
Dallas, I'll try to add some Louisiana-related history and other such stuff I come upon, I'd like to see some posters from other states add in as they can too. Do you want to re-use this thread or the first one?
Tell that guy on the other board we appreciate it, btw. After yesterday's cleansing, I was about to abandon the SECR. And thanks for the idea also, I think this can be a great thread.
One suggestion/request for people who contribute - this thread might be better if it was stories rather than random little suggestions. Just a thought. I think it will evolve nicely.
Tell that guy on the other board we appreciate it, btw. After yesterday's cleansing, I was about to abandon the SECR. And thanks for the idea also, I think this can be a great thread.
One suggestion/request for people who contribute - this thread might be better if it was stories rather than random little suggestions. Just a thought. I think it will evolve nicely.
Posted on 4/1/13 at 5:55 pm to wadewilson
Just go ahead & keep it here Wade... As far as I'm concerned contributions are welcome, just please keep them to historical events & facts...
Opinions, controversial subjects & conjecture should be discussed elsewhere. Hopefully this will be a "dang I didn't know that" or "that's cool" type of thread...
Opinions, controversial subjects & conjecture should be discussed elsewhere. Hopefully this will be a "dang I didn't know that" or "that's cool" type of thread...
Posted on 4/1/13 at 8:33 pm to dallasga6
Good deal, buddy. This is your thread, I'm just along for the ride. Hopefully I can carry my weight here.
Posted on 4/2/13 at 3:17 pm to dallasga6
2 April 1863
It would become famous as the "Richmond Bread Riot", but the actual causes of the outburst are unclear. People were not starving in the streets, but it was unquestionable that runaway inflation and a tightening Northern blockade was making living increasingly difficult, particularly for widows, orphans, and soldiers' wives. A crowd gathered around a wagon demanding bread. Things rapidly got out of hand and the crowd, by now a full-fledged mob, abandoned the now-empty wagon and began breaking shop windows and looting anything they could get their hands on. President Jefferson Davis was so alarmed that he came out into the street, climbed onto a wagon, and begged for order, even taking money out of his own pocket and throwing it to the crowd to show he was no better off than they were. Troops and police eventually broke up the mob without bloodshed or excessive arrests.
Assistant Secretary Gustavus Fox wrote Rear Admiral David Farragut that President Abraham Lincoln, with characteristic understanding of how to use naval strength, was..."rather disgusted with the flanking expeditions [at Yazoo Pass and Steele's Bayou], and predicted their failure from the first...he always observed that cutting the Rebels in two by our force in the river was of greater importance...Grant...has kept our Navy trailing through swamps to protect his soldiers when a force between Vicksburg and Port Hudson, the same length of time, would have been of greater injury to the enemy."
Lincoln informed Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles that Farragut's forces had to be strengthened. Welles accordingly wrote Rear Admiral Samuel DuPont to send all but two of his ironclads to New Orleans after the Charleston attack.
The submersible Alligator is lost at sea in a storm off of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The ironclad attack against Charleston will go on as planned and the obstructions that it was hoped the submarine would remove will become pivotal in the future attack.
Eight regiments of General Crufts's and Hazen's brigades, of General Palmer's division, made an effort to capture a Rebel brigade stationed at Woodbury, Tennessee... "Last night at ten o'clock the party, accompanied by a large body of Ohio cavalry, left Murfreesboro. General Hazen made a detour of fifteen miles, expecting to begin the attack at daylight this morning. Crufts's brigade went direct. During the night the Confederate pickets extended their lines, so that the advance began skirmishing before General Hazen had posted his troops, and in consequence the Southerners escaped, the Federal cavalry kept up a running fight for three miles, and captured thirty of the partisans, besides killing and wounding twelve of their number."
At daylight this morning, Admiral Farragut, with the Union squadron, left Grand Gulf, Mississippi, and proceeded to the mouth of Red River, destroying on the way a large number of Rebel skiffs and flatboats. He arrived at the Red River at sundown this evening.
Major W. C. Ransom, of the Sixth Kansas cavalry, destroyed the band of Confederate guerrillas under Colonel Hicks, in Jackson County, Missouri, killing seventeen and hanging two who were allegedly engaged in the taking of the steamer Sam Gaty... He also recovered a portion of the contraband captured from that steamer, besides taking twenty-one of the guerrillas' horses, and their camps, with all their equipage, ammunition and supplies.
As the Union gunboat St. Clair was passing Palmyra, twenty-four miles above Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland River, she was fired upon by a section of King's Confederate Missouri battery, belonging to the army under General Earl Van Dorn. The third shot struck the supply pipe of the steamer, disabling her and wounding two of her crew. She was then taken in tow by the steamer Luminous, and carried to Cairo, Illinois.
General Wright, in command of the Federal forces in California, issued a proclamation which concluded as follows: "Although the great mass of people on the Pacific coast are eminently patriotic and devoted to the Union, yet, fellow-citizens, we must not disguise the fact that we have traitors in our midst, who are doing all in their power to involve this country in the horrors of civil war; to such persons, I say, pause and reflect well before plunging into the yawning abyss of treason. An indignant people will rise in their majesty, and swift retributive justice will be their certain doom."
General Stanley, with two thousand cavalry, and an infantry brigade under Colonel Mathews, left Murfreesboro, on an expedition to capture Morgan's and Wharton's Confederate regiments of infantry and cavalry at Snow Hill, Tennessee. Beyond Auburn they drove in the Rebel pickets, the Seventh Pennsylvania cavalry turning the Confederate right while Minty's cavalry, with a battery under Captain Newell, moved up in front. The Southerners strategically retreated, but were again encountered at Smith's Ford and on Dry Fork, from both of which places they were driven with some loss. Finally they formed a third line on Snow Hill, when the Second and Fourth Ohio cavalry sent to their rear, succeeded in breaking their line and putting them to flight, with a loss of fifty killed and wounded, and sixty taken prisoners.
It would become famous as the "Richmond Bread Riot", but the actual causes of the outburst are unclear. People were not starving in the streets, but it was unquestionable that runaway inflation and a tightening Northern blockade was making living increasingly difficult, particularly for widows, orphans, and soldiers' wives. A crowd gathered around a wagon demanding bread. Things rapidly got out of hand and the crowd, by now a full-fledged mob, abandoned the now-empty wagon and began breaking shop windows and looting anything they could get their hands on. President Jefferson Davis was so alarmed that he came out into the street, climbed onto a wagon, and begged for order, even taking money out of his own pocket and throwing it to the crowd to show he was no better off than they were. Troops and police eventually broke up the mob without bloodshed or excessive arrests.
Assistant Secretary Gustavus Fox wrote Rear Admiral David Farragut that President Abraham Lincoln, with characteristic understanding of how to use naval strength, was..."rather disgusted with the flanking expeditions [at Yazoo Pass and Steele's Bayou], and predicted their failure from the first...he always observed that cutting the Rebels in two by our force in the river was of greater importance...Grant...has kept our Navy trailing through swamps to protect his soldiers when a force between Vicksburg and Port Hudson, the same length of time, would have been of greater injury to the enemy."
Lincoln informed Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles that Farragut's forces had to be strengthened. Welles accordingly wrote Rear Admiral Samuel DuPont to send all but two of his ironclads to New Orleans after the Charleston attack.
The submersible Alligator is lost at sea in a storm off of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The ironclad attack against Charleston will go on as planned and the obstructions that it was hoped the submarine would remove will become pivotal in the future attack.
Eight regiments of General Crufts's and Hazen's brigades, of General Palmer's division, made an effort to capture a Rebel brigade stationed at Woodbury, Tennessee... "Last night at ten o'clock the party, accompanied by a large body of Ohio cavalry, left Murfreesboro. General Hazen made a detour of fifteen miles, expecting to begin the attack at daylight this morning. Crufts's brigade went direct. During the night the Confederate pickets extended their lines, so that the advance began skirmishing before General Hazen had posted his troops, and in consequence the Southerners escaped, the Federal cavalry kept up a running fight for three miles, and captured thirty of the partisans, besides killing and wounding twelve of their number."
At daylight this morning, Admiral Farragut, with the Union squadron, left Grand Gulf, Mississippi, and proceeded to the mouth of Red River, destroying on the way a large number of Rebel skiffs and flatboats. He arrived at the Red River at sundown this evening.
Major W. C. Ransom, of the Sixth Kansas cavalry, destroyed the band of Confederate guerrillas under Colonel Hicks, in Jackson County, Missouri, killing seventeen and hanging two who were allegedly engaged in the taking of the steamer Sam Gaty... He also recovered a portion of the contraband captured from that steamer, besides taking twenty-one of the guerrillas' horses, and their camps, with all their equipage, ammunition and supplies.
As the Union gunboat St. Clair was passing Palmyra, twenty-four miles above Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland River, she was fired upon by a section of King's Confederate Missouri battery, belonging to the army under General Earl Van Dorn. The third shot struck the supply pipe of the steamer, disabling her and wounding two of her crew. She was then taken in tow by the steamer Luminous, and carried to Cairo, Illinois.
General Wright, in command of the Federal forces in California, issued a proclamation which concluded as follows: "Although the great mass of people on the Pacific coast are eminently patriotic and devoted to the Union, yet, fellow-citizens, we must not disguise the fact that we have traitors in our midst, who are doing all in their power to involve this country in the horrors of civil war; to such persons, I say, pause and reflect well before plunging into the yawning abyss of treason. An indignant people will rise in their majesty, and swift retributive justice will be their certain doom."
General Stanley, with two thousand cavalry, and an infantry brigade under Colonel Mathews, left Murfreesboro, on an expedition to capture Morgan's and Wharton's Confederate regiments of infantry and cavalry at Snow Hill, Tennessee. Beyond Auburn they drove in the Rebel pickets, the Seventh Pennsylvania cavalry turning the Confederate right while Minty's cavalry, with a battery under Captain Newell, moved up in front. The Southerners strategically retreated, but were again encountered at Smith's Ford and on Dry Fork, from both of which places they were driven with some loss. Finally they formed a third line on Snow Hill, when the Second and Fourth Ohio cavalry sent to their rear, succeeded in breaking their line and putting them to flight, with a loss of fifty killed and wounded, and sixty taken prisoners.
This post was edited on 4/4/13 at 3:02 pm
Posted on 4/3/13 at 3:55 pm to dallasga6
3 April 1863
One of President Jefferson Davis' most persistent problems was getting the governors of the "Sovereign States" of the Confederacy to cooperate with him--or even each other--even in the face of a common enemy. Today he had to write a letter to Governor Harris Flanagin of Arkansas who was complaining that too much assistance was going to the other side of the Mississippi River. "If we lose control of the Eastern side, the Western must almost inevitably fall into the power of the enemy," Davis wrote.
An armed boat expedition of sailors and Marines under Acting Lieutenant McCauley, USS Fort Henry, reconnoitered the Bayport, Florida, area. The boats stood in for Bayport on the evening of the 2nd, arriving off the city the next morning. The first launch, exhibiting the "sluggish" qualities that were to be trying throughout the reconnaissance, slowed the expedition's progress through the intricate channel. "This waste of time," McCauley reported, "gave the Rebels leisure to make all preparations for our reception." Two Confederate sloops and two small schooners ran into a bayou and grounded seeking to avoid destruction. Sloop Helen, carrying corn, was captured south of the harbor and destroyed. The Union boat crews engaged and forced the evacuation of a defending battery, and the Confederates burned a schooner with cargo of cotton. McCauley reported: "Having gained my object in her destruction and the clearing of the battery, the disabling of two of my guns, the unwieldiness of the first launch, which made it difficult to bring her gun to bear; the uncertainty of aim in the sea that was running, and consequent waste of ammunition, and the warnings of Mr. Ashley, the pilot, that if the ebb tide found us there we should be left aground, made me give up my design of trying to set the vessels in the bayou on fire by shelling." The boats withdrew out of range of a rifled gun which the Confederates brought up. In the next week the expedition examined the Chassahowitzka, Crystal, Homosassa, Withlacoochee, Waccassassa, and Suwannee Rivers, as small boats carried the message of sea power where deeper draft vessels could not pass.
An expedition under Lieutenant Commander Fitch, including the USS Lexington, Brilliant, Robb, Silver Lake, and Springfield, destroyed Palmyra, Tennessee, in retaliation for Confederate guerrillas firing on a Union convoy (2 April), crippling the USS St. Clair and damaging the Army transports Eclipse and Luminary.
The gunboat USS New London, Lieutenant Commander Abner Read, and the USS Cayuga, Lieutenant Commander David A. McDermut, captured the blockade running British steamer schooner Tampico off of Sabine Pass with a cargo of cotton.
Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles issued an order, naming such of the petty officers, seamen, and marines of the United States Navy, as were entitled to receive the Medal of Honor authorized by Congress, to be given to such as should most distinguish themselves by gallantry in action, and other seaman-like qualities, during the present war.
Phillip Huber and three others, having been arrested at Reading, Pennsylvania, on a charge of being connected with a treasonable organization known as "Knights of the Golden Circle," in other words Southern sympathizers in the Northern states, were taken to Philadelphia and placed in prison. Considerable excitement existed at Reading in regard to the affair.
Governor Milledge Luke Bonham, of South Carolina, sent a message to the Senate and House of Representatives of that State, informing them that the spirit of speculation had made such alarming strides in the State as to render their interposition necessary to arrest the evil. Large sums were invested in flour, corn, bacon, and other articles of prime necessity, to the monopoly almost of such articles in certain sections of the country; and that they were withheld from market, or were exported beyond the limits of the State, to the great enhancement of prices, and to the manifest injury of the consumer. He therefore recommended the passage of an act to arrest the purchase and monopoly of articles of prime necessity, even when it was not intended to export them beyond the limits of the State.
Captain J. J. Worthington, with two companies of the First regiment of loyal Arkansas cavalry, returned to Fayetteville, Arkansas, from a scouting expedition in Carroll County, in that State. He had four skirmishes with the Rebels, and succeeded in killing twenty-two and taking seven prisoners. Captains Smith and McFarland of the Rebels were killed, and Captain Walker was taken prisoner.
One of President Jefferson Davis' most persistent problems was getting the governors of the "Sovereign States" of the Confederacy to cooperate with him--or even each other--even in the face of a common enemy. Today he had to write a letter to Governor Harris Flanagin of Arkansas who was complaining that too much assistance was going to the other side of the Mississippi River. "If we lose control of the Eastern side, the Western must almost inevitably fall into the power of the enemy," Davis wrote.
An armed boat expedition of sailors and Marines under Acting Lieutenant McCauley, USS Fort Henry, reconnoitered the Bayport, Florida, area. The boats stood in for Bayport on the evening of the 2nd, arriving off the city the next morning. The first launch, exhibiting the "sluggish" qualities that were to be trying throughout the reconnaissance, slowed the expedition's progress through the intricate channel. "This waste of time," McCauley reported, "gave the Rebels leisure to make all preparations for our reception." Two Confederate sloops and two small schooners ran into a bayou and grounded seeking to avoid destruction. Sloop Helen, carrying corn, was captured south of the harbor and destroyed. The Union boat crews engaged and forced the evacuation of a defending battery, and the Confederates burned a schooner with cargo of cotton. McCauley reported: "Having gained my object in her destruction and the clearing of the battery, the disabling of two of my guns, the unwieldiness of the first launch, which made it difficult to bring her gun to bear; the uncertainty of aim in the sea that was running, and consequent waste of ammunition, and the warnings of Mr. Ashley, the pilot, that if the ebb tide found us there we should be left aground, made me give up my design of trying to set the vessels in the bayou on fire by shelling." The boats withdrew out of range of a rifled gun which the Confederates brought up. In the next week the expedition examined the Chassahowitzka, Crystal, Homosassa, Withlacoochee, Waccassassa, and Suwannee Rivers, as small boats carried the message of sea power where deeper draft vessels could not pass.
An expedition under Lieutenant Commander Fitch, including the USS Lexington, Brilliant, Robb, Silver Lake, and Springfield, destroyed Palmyra, Tennessee, in retaliation for Confederate guerrillas firing on a Union convoy (2 April), crippling the USS St. Clair and damaging the Army transports Eclipse and Luminary.
The gunboat USS New London, Lieutenant Commander Abner Read, and the USS Cayuga, Lieutenant Commander David A. McDermut, captured the blockade running British steamer schooner Tampico off of Sabine Pass with a cargo of cotton.
Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles issued an order, naming such of the petty officers, seamen, and marines of the United States Navy, as were entitled to receive the Medal of Honor authorized by Congress, to be given to such as should most distinguish themselves by gallantry in action, and other seaman-like qualities, during the present war.
Phillip Huber and three others, having been arrested at Reading, Pennsylvania, on a charge of being connected with a treasonable organization known as "Knights of the Golden Circle," in other words Southern sympathizers in the Northern states, were taken to Philadelphia and placed in prison. Considerable excitement existed at Reading in regard to the affair.
Governor Milledge Luke Bonham, of South Carolina, sent a message to the Senate and House of Representatives of that State, informing them that the spirit of speculation had made such alarming strides in the State as to render their interposition necessary to arrest the evil. Large sums were invested in flour, corn, bacon, and other articles of prime necessity, to the monopoly almost of such articles in certain sections of the country; and that they were withheld from market, or were exported beyond the limits of the State, to the great enhancement of prices, and to the manifest injury of the consumer. He therefore recommended the passage of an act to arrest the purchase and monopoly of articles of prime necessity, even when it was not intended to export them beyond the limits of the State.
Captain J. J. Worthington, with two companies of the First regiment of loyal Arkansas cavalry, returned to Fayetteville, Arkansas, from a scouting expedition in Carroll County, in that State. He had four skirmishes with the Rebels, and succeeded in killing twenty-two and taking seven prisoners. Captains Smith and McFarland of the Rebels were killed, and Captain Walker was taken prisoner.
This post was edited on 4/3/13 at 3:56 pm
Posted on 4/4/13 at 2:50 pm to dallasga6
April 4, 1863
Captain Raphael Semmes, commander of the CSS Alabama, who was possibly the premiere Confederate Naval Captain of the war, continues roaming the oceans of the world to gather supplies and harass Union boats. Today he captured a coal ship, the Louisa off the coast of Brazil. Instead of sinking it he took it with him in case he failed to rendezvous as planned with the bark Agrippina at Fernando de Noronha Island. Semmes' foresight again paid off, for the bark did not arrive at the island and he needed the coal. After coaling and provisioning from the Louisa Hatch, Semmes burned her on 17 April.
Rear Admiral Samuel F. DuPont issued his order of battle and plan of attack on Charleston...
"The Squadron will pass up the main ship channel without returning the fire of the batteries on Morris Island, unless signal should be made to commence action. The ships will open fire on Fort Sumter when within easy range, and will take up a position to the northward and westward of that fortification, engaging its left or northeast face at a distance of from 600 to 800 yards firing low and aiming at the center embrasure. The commanding officers will instruct their officers and men to carefully avoid wasting shot and will enjoin upon them the necessity of precision rather than rapidity of fire. Each ship will be prepared to render every assistance possible to vessels that may require it. The special code of signals prepared for the ironclad vessels will be used in action. After the reduction of Fort Sumter it is probable that the next point of attack will be the batteries on Morris Island. The order of battle will be the line ahead. . . A squadron of reserve's, of which Captain J. F. Green will be the senior officer, will be formed outside the bar and near the entrance buoy, consisting of the following vessels, Canandaigua, Housatonic, Huron, Unadilla, Wissahickon, and will be held in readiness to support the ironclads when they attack the batteries on Morris Island."
President Abraham Lincoln wrote regarding harbor defense: "I have a single idea of my own about harbor defenses. It is a steam-ram, built so as to sacrifice nearly all capacity for carrying to those of speed and strength. . . . her business would be to guard a particular harbor, as a bull-dog guards his master's door."
Today an attempt was made by the Federal forces at Washington, North Carolina, to capture the Confederate battery at Rodman's Point, overlooking the Pamlico River, across the river from Washington. A force of two hundred infantry, under the command of General Potter, embarked on board the gunboat Ceres, under Captain McDermot, but she got aground a short distance from the Rebel battery, when the troops were unable to land. The Southerners immediately opened fire upon her, killing and wounding five men, when the Union party was obliged to retire. The Union steamer Sylvan Shore, which also left Beaufort for Washington this morning, when sailing a few miles below the latter place was fired on by another Rebel battery, which compelled her to return to Beaufort, with several of her crew killed and wounded.
The Supreme Court of New York, at Rochester, decided that United States legal tender notes were constitutional as to debts contracted before the passage of the law making such notes a legal tender. All of the judges concurred in the decision.
Captain Raphael Semmes, commander of the CSS Alabama, who was possibly the premiere Confederate Naval Captain of the war, continues roaming the oceans of the world to gather supplies and harass Union boats. Today he captured a coal ship, the Louisa off the coast of Brazil. Instead of sinking it he took it with him in case he failed to rendezvous as planned with the bark Agrippina at Fernando de Noronha Island. Semmes' foresight again paid off, for the bark did not arrive at the island and he needed the coal. After coaling and provisioning from the Louisa Hatch, Semmes burned her on 17 April.
Rear Admiral Samuel F. DuPont issued his order of battle and plan of attack on Charleston...
"The Squadron will pass up the main ship channel without returning the fire of the batteries on Morris Island, unless signal should be made to commence action. The ships will open fire on Fort Sumter when within easy range, and will take up a position to the northward and westward of that fortification, engaging its left or northeast face at a distance of from 600 to 800 yards firing low and aiming at the center embrasure. The commanding officers will instruct their officers and men to carefully avoid wasting shot and will enjoin upon them the necessity of precision rather than rapidity of fire. Each ship will be prepared to render every assistance possible to vessels that may require it. The special code of signals prepared for the ironclad vessels will be used in action. After the reduction of Fort Sumter it is probable that the next point of attack will be the batteries on Morris Island. The order of battle will be the line ahead. . . A squadron of reserve's, of which Captain J. F. Green will be the senior officer, will be formed outside the bar and near the entrance buoy, consisting of the following vessels, Canandaigua, Housatonic, Huron, Unadilla, Wissahickon, and will be held in readiness to support the ironclads when they attack the batteries on Morris Island."
President Abraham Lincoln wrote regarding harbor defense: "I have a single idea of my own about harbor defenses. It is a steam-ram, built so as to sacrifice nearly all capacity for carrying to those of speed and strength. . . . her business would be to guard a particular harbor, as a bull-dog guards his master's door."
Today an attempt was made by the Federal forces at Washington, North Carolina, to capture the Confederate battery at Rodman's Point, overlooking the Pamlico River, across the river from Washington. A force of two hundred infantry, under the command of General Potter, embarked on board the gunboat Ceres, under Captain McDermot, but she got aground a short distance from the Rebel battery, when the troops were unable to land. The Southerners immediately opened fire upon her, killing and wounding five men, when the Union party was obliged to retire. The Union steamer Sylvan Shore, which also left Beaufort for Washington this morning, when sailing a few miles below the latter place was fired on by another Rebel battery, which compelled her to return to Beaufort, with several of her crew killed and wounded.
The Supreme Court of New York, at Rochester, decided that United States legal tender notes were constitutional as to debts contracted before the passage of the law making such notes a legal tender. All of the judges concurred in the decision.
This post was edited on 4/5/13 at 4:14 pm
Posted on 4/4/13 at 4:35 pm to dallasga6
I'm gonna catch up with this tonight, been kinda busy.
Posted on 4/5/13 at 4:12 pm to dallasga6
April 5, 1863
North Edisto was the starting point this morning for the naval attack on the Confederate stronghold of Charleston, South Carolina. With ironclads and enough steamers to take them in tow if knocked out of action, Rear Admiral Samuel F. DuPont departed for Charleston, arriving off that afternoon. The first target, by necessity, was Fort Sumter, which guarded the entrance to the channel. Rear Admiral DuPont led his fleet to the Stono sandbar, where the mines began. As a last step before the assault, preparations were made to buoy the Stono bar to fix a safe channel. DuPont detailed two of his gunboats to stand by and protect the buoys from being destroyed or moved. The USS Patapsco, Commander Ammen in charge, and the USS Catskill, under Commander George Rodgers, remained inside the bar to protect the markers.
Over eight thousand Federal troops left Newbern, North Carolina, by the way of the Neuse River, to reinforce General Foster, who was at Washington, North Carolina surrounded by the Confederates. Upon meeting a large force of the enemy, they hastily retreated to Newbern. Later in the day, the Union gunboats before Washington, shelled the Rebel batteries at Hill's Point for over two hours, but without being able to reduce them.
A large Union expedition, consisting of both infantry and cavalry, under the command of General Steele, met a small body of Confederates at a bridge over the Black Bayou, Mississippi, with whom they had a skirmish. The Rebels were driven back across the bayou, and they burned the bridge when returning to the other side. The Yankee troops eventually rebuilt the bridge, and then proceeded on the march toward Yazoo City.
North Edisto was the starting point this morning for the naval attack on the Confederate stronghold of Charleston, South Carolina. With ironclads and enough steamers to take them in tow if knocked out of action, Rear Admiral Samuel F. DuPont departed for Charleston, arriving off that afternoon. The first target, by necessity, was Fort Sumter, which guarded the entrance to the channel. Rear Admiral DuPont led his fleet to the Stono sandbar, where the mines began. As a last step before the assault, preparations were made to buoy the Stono bar to fix a safe channel. DuPont detailed two of his gunboats to stand by and protect the buoys from being destroyed or moved. The USS Patapsco, Commander Ammen in charge, and the USS Catskill, under Commander George Rodgers, remained inside the bar to protect the markers.
Over eight thousand Federal troops left Newbern, North Carolina, by the way of the Neuse River, to reinforce General Foster, who was at Washington, North Carolina surrounded by the Confederates. Upon meeting a large force of the enemy, they hastily retreated to Newbern. Later in the day, the Union gunboats before Washington, shelled the Rebel batteries at Hill's Point for over two hours, but without being able to reduce them.
A large Union expedition, consisting of both infantry and cavalry, under the command of General Steele, met a small body of Confederates at a bridge over the Black Bayou, Mississippi, with whom they had a skirmish. The Rebels were driven back across the bayou, and they burned the bridge when returning to the other side. The Yankee troops eventually rebuilt the bridge, and then proceeded on the march toward Yazoo City.
Posted on 4/6/13 at 1:32 pm to dallasga6
April 6, 1863
President Abraham Lincoln had an exceedingly hard time getting his generals to understand how he wanted them to fight the war. They were obsessed with capturing the enemy capital; Lincoln wanted them to fight the Confederate armies. He wrote today to Hooker, the current commander: "...our prime object is the enemies' army in front of us, and is not with, or about, Richmond."
Commander George Beale Balch, piloting the USS Pawnee, reported that the Stono Bar had been buoyed, preparatory to the assault on Charleston. Rear Admiral Samuel Francis DuPont crossed the bar, his flag in the USS New Ironsides, commanded by Captain Turner. Intending to attack Charleston that day, the Admiral took the other ironclads in with him: USS Passaic, Captain Drayton; Weehawken, Captain J. Rodgers; Montauk, Captain Worden; Patapsco, Commander Ammen; Catskill, Commander G. Rodgers; Nantucket, Commander Donald McNeill Fairfax; Nahant, Commander John Downes; and Keokuk, Commander Alexander C. Rhind. After reaching an anchorage inside the bar, DuPont reported,"...the weather became so hazy, preventing our seeing the ranges, that the pilots declined to go farther."
Captain William F. Lynch, CSN, wrote Senator George Davis of North Carolina from Wilmington regarding the status of ships being built in the waters of that state: "One ironclad, the North Carolina, building here, is very nearly ready for her crew. The other, the Raleigh, is now ready for her iron shield, and can in eight weeks be prepared for service, as far as the material is concerned. At Whitehall, upon the Neuse, we have a gunboat [Neuse] in nearly the same state of forwardness as the Raleigh; at Tarboro we have one with the frame up, the keel of one [Albemarle] is laid near Scotland Neck..."
Assistant Secretary Gustavus V. Fox wrote Commodore Rowan about a method of countering Confederate torpedoes at Mobile : "It strikes me that a small grapnel might be thrown several hundred yards ahead and hauled in so as to break the connections of their torpedoes. A small charge of powder, a wooden sabot, a grapnel and chain fast to a line, fired from a XV-inch gun, are all the elements. I advise you to prepare these arrangements, for you certainly will find torpedoes near Fort Morgan."
The USS Huntsville, commanded by Acting Lieutenant W. C. Rogers, captured the sloop Minnie off Charlotte Harbor, Florida, with a full cargo of cotton.
President Abraham Lincoln had an exceedingly hard time getting his generals to understand how he wanted them to fight the war. They were obsessed with capturing the enemy capital; Lincoln wanted them to fight the Confederate armies. He wrote today to Hooker, the current commander: "...our prime object is the enemies' army in front of us, and is not with, or about, Richmond."
Commander George Beale Balch, piloting the USS Pawnee, reported that the Stono Bar had been buoyed, preparatory to the assault on Charleston. Rear Admiral Samuel Francis DuPont crossed the bar, his flag in the USS New Ironsides, commanded by Captain Turner. Intending to attack Charleston that day, the Admiral took the other ironclads in with him: USS Passaic, Captain Drayton; Weehawken, Captain J. Rodgers; Montauk, Captain Worden; Patapsco, Commander Ammen; Catskill, Commander G. Rodgers; Nantucket, Commander Donald McNeill Fairfax; Nahant, Commander John Downes; and Keokuk, Commander Alexander C. Rhind. After reaching an anchorage inside the bar, DuPont reported,"...the weather became so hazy, preventing our seeing the ranges, that the pilots declined to go farther."
Captain William F. Lynch, CSN, wrote Senator George Davis of North Carolina from Wilmington regarding the status of ships being built in the waters of that state: "One ironclad, the North Carolina, building here, is very nearly ready for her crew. The other, the Raleigh, is now ready for her iron shield, and can in eight weeks be prepared for service, as far as the material is concerned. At Whitehall, upon the Neuse, we have a gunboat [Neuse] in nearly the same state of forwardness as the Raleigh; at Tarboro we have one with the frame up, the keel of one [Albemarle] is laid near Scotland Neck..."
Assistant Secretary Gustavus V. Fox wrote Commodore Rowan about a method of countering Confederate torpedoes at Mobile : "It strikes me that a small grapnel might be thrown several hundred yards ahead and hauled in so as to break the connections of their torpedoes. A small charge of powder, a wooden sabot, a grapnel and chain fast to a line, fired from a XV-inch gun, are all the elements. I advise you to prepare these arrangements, for you certainly will find torpedoes near Fort Morgan."
The USS Huntsville, commanded by Acting Lieutenant W. C. Rogers, captured the sloop Minnie off Charlotte Harbor, Florida, with a full cargo of cotton.
Posted on 4/6/13 at 2:53 pm to dallasga6
I have a MA in History (and Collaborative Education) . . . I know, right?
But, thanks for the read. If I see anything, and if you don't mind, may I add something here and there?
But, thanks for the read. If I see anything, and if you don't mind, may I add something here and there?
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