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re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 10/5/13 at 6:34 am to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 10/5/13 at 6:34 am to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 5 October 1863
The blockade was strangling the Confederacy, and nowhere was worse than Charleston Harbor. Almost any plan or device that promised even a hope of breaking the blockade would be tried, and one of the odder vessels of the War sailed today. Not exactly a submarine, but very low in the water rode the CSS David. She had a 10 foot spar on her bow, to which was attached a 60-pound bomb. Sailing in the evening twilight she headed for the USS New Ironsides, getting very close before being spotted. She rammed, the bomb exploded, and a huge column of water jumped out of the harbor, falling directly back down on the David, extinguishing her boiler and nearly swamping the boat. The captain and most of the crew, assuming the ship was doomed, leaped overboard and were picked up by Union ships. The engineer, named Tomb, stayed aboard because he could not swim. In all the excitement he got the boiler relighted and sailed the David back to safety. The New Ironsides was damaged badly enough to have to leave the blockade for repairs.''
Another report:
The CSS David, commanded by Lieutenant Glassell, exploded a torpedo against the USS New Ironsides, under Captain Rowan, in Charleston Harbor but did not destroy the heavy warship. Mounting a torpedo containing some 60 pounds of powder on a 10-foot spar fixed to her bow, the 50-foot David stood out from Charleston early in the evening. Riding low in the water, the torpedo boat made her way down the main ship channel and was close aboard her quarry before being sighted and hailed. Almost at once a tremendous volley of small arms fire was centered on her as she steamed at full speed toward the New Ironsides, plunging the torpedo against the Union ship's starboard quarter and "...shaking the vessel and throwing up an immense column of water." As the water fell, it put out the fires in the David's boilers and nearly swamped her; the torpedo boat came to rest alongside New Ironsides. Believing the torpedo boat doomed, Lieutenant Glassell and Seaman James Sullivan abandoned ship and were subsequently picked up by the blockading fleet. However, Engineer Tomb at length succeeded in relighting the David's fires and, with pilot Walker Cannon, who had remained on board because he could not swim, took her back to Charleston. Though the David did not succeed in sinking the New Ironsides, the explosion was a "severe blow" which eventually forced the Union ship to leave the blockade for repairs. "It seems to me," Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren wrote, noting the tactical implications of the attack, "that nothing could have been more successful as a first effort, and it will place the torpedo among certain offensive means." Writing of the attack's "unsurpassed daring," Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory noted: "The annals of naval warfare record few enterprises which exhibit more strikingly than this of Lieutenant Glassell the highest qualities of a sea officer." The near success of the David's torpedo attack on the New Ironsides prompted Dahlgren to emphasize further the need for developing defensive measures against them. "How far the enemy may seem encouraged," he wrote Welles , "I do not know, but I think it will be well to be prepared against a considerable issue of these small craft. It is certainly the best form of the torpedo which has come to my notice, and a large quantity of powder may as well be exploded as 60 pounds. . . .The vessels themselves should be protected by outriggers, and the harbor itself well strewn with a similar class of craft. . . . The subject merits serious attention, for it will receive a greater development." He added to Assistant Secretary Fox: "By all means let us have a quantity of these torpedoes, and thus turn them against the enemy. We," Dahlgren said, paying tribute to the industrial strength that weighed so heavily in the Union 's favor, "can make them faster than they can."
The British blockade runner Concordia was destroyed by her crew at Calcasieu Pass, Louisiana, to prevent her capture by boats from the USS Granite City, under Acting Master Lamson.
Great excitement prevailed at Nashville, Tennessee, in consequence of the rebel General Nathan Bedford Forrest, with a force of over three thousand mounted men, having made a descent upon the railroad between that place and Bridgeport. Skirmishing occurred in the neighborhood of Murfreesboro, a railroad bridge at a point south of that place being destroyed by the Confederates.
A band of partisan guerrillas, under Chief White, of Loudon County, Virginia, made a raid into Langley, six miles above Georgetown, D. C., driving in the pickets, without any casualty.
Colonel Cloud, in a message to General Blunt, dated at Fort Smith, Arkansas, said he had just returned from a raid in the Arkansas Valley. Near Dardanelles he was joined by three hundred “mounted Feds,” as the Union Arkansians are called, and with them and his own force routed the a party of Rebels.. They fled in confusion leaving tents, cooking utensils, wheat, flour, salt, sugar, and two hundred head of beef cattle behind. They reported as they ran that “Old Blunt, with his whole army, was after them.” Several hundred Union men offered their services as a home guard regiment. Colonel Cloud authorized them to enroll and offer their services to the Military Governor, when appointed. He left garrisons there and at Clarksville.
The batteries on Lookout Mountain, and at points all along the Confederate lines, opened fire upon Chattanooga. The Unionists under General William Rosecrans, replied from their works on Moccasin Point, the Star Fort, and other works. The Tennessee River rose rapidly during the day.
A party of Captain Bean's cavalry on a scouting expedition near Harper's Ferry, Virginia, encountered a number of Confederate cavalry belonging to the command of Colonel Imboden. A skirmish ensued, when the Union forces were repulsed, with a loss of one killed, three wounded, and ten captured. Two of the Federals cut their way out and returned to camp, although severely wounded.
Chat
The blockade was strangling the Confederacy, and nowhere was worse than Charleston Harbor. Almost any plan or device that promised even a hope of breaking the blockade would be tried, and one of the odder vessels of the War sailed today. Not exactly a submarine, but very low in the water rode the CSS David. She had a 10 foot spar on her bow, to which was attached a 60-pound bomb. Sailing in the evening twilight she headed for the USS New Ironsides, getting very close before being spotted. She rammed, the bomb exploded, and a huge column of water jumped out of the harbor, falling directly back down on the David, extinguishing her boiler and nearly swamping the boat. The captain and most of the crew, assuming the ship was doomed, leaped overboard and were picked up by Union ships. The engineer, named Tomb, stayed aboard because he could not swim. In all the excitement he got the boiler relighted and sailed the David back to safety. The New Ironsides was damaged badly enough to have to leave the blockade for repairs.''
Another report:
The CSS David, commanded by Lieutenant Glassell, exploded a torpedo against the USS New Ironsides, under Captain Rowan, in Charleston Harbor but did not destroy the heavy warship. Mounting a torpedo containing some 60 pounds of powder on a 10-foot spar fixed to her bow, the 50-foot David stood out from Charleston early in the evening. Riding low in the water, the torpedo boat made her way down the main ship channel and was close aboard her quarry before being sighted and hailed. Almost at once a tremendous volley of small arms fire was centered on her as she steamed at full speed toward the New Ironsides, plunging the torpedo against the Union ship's starboard quarter and "...shaking the vessel and throwing up an immense column of water." As the water fell, it put out the fires in the David's boilers and nearly swamped her; the torpedo boat came to rest alongside New Ironsides. Believing the torpedo boat doomed, Lieutenant Glassell and Seaman James Sullivan abandoned ship and were subsequently picked up by the blockading fleet. However, Engineer Tomb at length succeeded in relighting the David's fires and, with pilot Walker Cannon, who had remained on board because he could not swim, took her back to Charleston. Though the David did not succeed in sinking the New Ironsides, the explosion was a "severe blow" which eventually forced the Union ship to leave the blockade for repairs. "It seems to me," Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren wrote, noting the tactical implications of the attack, "that nothing could have been more successful as a first effort, and it will place the torpedo among certain offensive means." Writing of the attack's "unsurpassed daring," Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory noted: "The annals of naval warfare record few enterprises which exhibit more strikingly than this of Lieutenant Glassell the highest qualities of a sea officer." The near success of the David's torpedo attack on the New Ironsides prompted Dahlgren to emphasize further the need for developing defensive measures against them. "How far the enemy may seem encouraged," he wrote Welles , "I do not know, but I think it will be well to be prepared against a considerable issue of these small craft. It is certainly the best form of the torpedo which has come to my notice, and a large quantity of powder may as well be exploded as 60 pounds. . . .The vessels themselves should be protected by outriggers, and the harbor itself well strewn with a similar class of craft. . . . The subject merits serious attention, for it will receive a greater development." He added to Assistant Secretary Fox: "By all means let us have a quantity of these torpedoes, and thus turn them against the enemy. We," Dahlgren said, paying tribute to the industrial strength that weighed so heavily in the Union 's favor, "can make them faster than they can."
The British blockade runner Concordia was destroyed by her crew at Calcasieu Pass, Louisiana, to prevent her capture by boats from the USS Granite City, under Acting Master Lamson.
Great excitement prevailed at Nashville, Tennessee, in consequence of the rebel General Nathan Bedford Forrest, with a force of over three thousand mounted men, having made a descent upon the railroad between that place and Bridgeport. Skirmishing occurred in the neighborhood of Murfreesboro, a railroad bridge at a point south of that place being destroyed by the Confederates.
A band of partisan guerrillas, under Chief White, of Loudon County, Virginia, made a raid into Langley, six miles above Georgetown, D. C., driving in the pickets, without any casualty.
Colonel Cloud, in a message to General Blunt, dated at Fort Smith, Arkansas, said he had just returned from a raid in the Arkansas Valley. Near Dardanelles he was joined by three hundred “mounted Feds,” as the Union Arkansians are called, and with them and his own force routed the a party of Rebels.. They fled in confusion leaving tents, cooking utensils, wheat, flour, salt, sugar, and two hundred head of beef cattle behind. They reported as they ran that “Old Blunt, with his whole army, was after them.” Several hundred Union men offered their services as a home guard regiment. Colonel Cloud authorized them to enroll and offer their services to the Military Governor, when appointed. He left garrisons there and at Clarksville.
The batteries on Lookout Mountain, and at points all along the Confederate lines, opened fire upon Chattanooga. The Unionists under General William Rosecrans, replied from their works on Moccasin Point, the Star Fort, and other works. The Tennessee River rose rapidly during the day.
A party of Captain Bean's cavalry on a scouting expedition near Harper's Ferry, Virginia, encountered a number of Confederate cavalry belonging to the command of Colonel Imboden. A skirmish ensued, when the Union forces were repulsed, with a loss of one killed, three wounded, and ten captured. Two of the Federals cut their way out and returned to camp, although severely wounded.
Chat
1
Posted on 10/6/13 at 6:04 am to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday, 6 October 1863
The USS Cayuga, on blockade duty off the Calcasieu River in Louisiana had a busy day today. First prey was the steamer Pushmataha. When Lt. Commander Dana ordered her to heave to, she attempted to flee instead, and Dana chased her until she ran up on shore. The crew fled after setting her afire. When a party from Cayuga went aboard they put out the fire and started inspecting the cargo, which consisted of rum, red wine and gunpowder. A keg of the latter turned out to have a burning fuse set in it, which Ordinary Seaman Thomas Morton yanked out and threw overboard, along with the keg. After relieving the Pushmataha of the liquid part of her cargo the rest of the powder was used to blow the ship up. Another catch, a schooner, was also chased ashore but her crew succeeded in destroying her before the Dana’s men could capture her.
The USS Beauregard, under Acting Master Burgess, captured the sloop Last Trial at Key West, Florida, with a cargo of salt.
The USS Virginia, Lieutenant C. H. Brown in charhe, seized the British blockade runner Jenny off the coast of Texas a with cargo of cotton.
General Blunt and his escort were attacked at Baxter's Springs, near Fort Scott, Missouri, and nearly all of them were left dead upon the field.
General Mitchell, with a body of Federal troops, overtook a small group of partisan Rebels below Shelbyville, Tennessee, and attacked them with great spirit, putting them to a complete rout. They did not stop for their wounded, and left over one hundred dead upon the field.
An attempt was made yesterday to blow up the United States iron-plated frigate Ironsides in Charleston Harbor, by means of a torpedo. The instrument of destruction was suspended from the bow of a small cigar-shaped steamer, the CSS David, which was driven against the Ironsides at full speed. A tremendous explosion followed, which blew a hole in the Ironsides. Lieutenant William T. Glassell, the commander of the Confederate steamer, was taken prisoner, having been thrown overboard by the force of the explosion. On board the Ironsides, Ensign Charles Howard was wounded by a musket-shot fired by Glassett, as his steamer was approaching the frigate, and died this morning.
Chat
The USS Cayuga, on blockade duty off the Calcasieu River in Louisiana had a busy day today. First prey was the steamer Pushmataha. When Lt. Commander Dana ordered her to heave to, she attempted to flee instead, and Dana chased her until she ran up on shore. The crew fled after setting her afire. When a party from Cayuga went aboard they put out the fire and started inspecting the cargo, which consisted of rum, red wine and gunpowder. A keg of the latter turned out to have a burning fuse set in it, which Ordinary Seaman Thomas Morton yanked out and threw overboard, along with the keg. After relieving the Pushmataha of the liquid part of her cargo the rest of the powder was used to blow the ship up. Another catch, a schooner, was also chased ashore but her crew succeeded in destroying her before the Dana’s men could capture her.
The USS Beauregard, under Acting Master Burgess, captured the sloop Last Trial at Key West, Florida, with a cargo of salt.
The USS Virginia, Lieutenant C. H. Brown in charhe, seized the British blockade runner Jenny off the coast of Texas a with cargo of cotton.
General Blunt and his escort were attacked at Baxter's Springs, near Fort Scott, Missouri, and nearly all of them were left dead upon the field.
General Mitchell, with a body of Federal troops, overtook a small group of partisan Rebels below Shelbyville, Tennessee, and attacked them with great spirit, putting them to a complete rout. They did not stop for their wounded, and left over one hundred dead upon the field.
An attempt was made yesterday to blow up the United States iron-plated frigate Ironsides in Charleston Harbor, by means of a torpedo. The instrument of destruction was suspended from the bow of a small cigar-shaped steamer, the CSS David, which was driven against the Ironsides at full speed. A tremendous explosion followed, which blew a hole in the Ironsides. Lieutenant William T. Glassell, the commander of the Confederate steamer, was taken prisoner, having been thrown overboard by the force of the explosion. On board the Ironsides, Ensign Charles Howard was wounded by a musket-shot fired by Glassett, as his steamer was approaching the frigate, and died this morning.
Chat
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