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re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 12/4/13 at 8:57 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 12/4/13 at 8:57 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 5 December 1863
It was a day of considerable activity for this late in the year, but each individual action was small and more or less incidental to armies being on the move. In Tennessee, it was the Corps of James Longstreet marching away from Knoxville and toward planned winter quarters in Greeneville, Tennessee. This led to skirmishes around the Clinch River, particularly at Walker's Ford. Other unpleasantness occurred at Raccoon Ford, Virginia, and Crab Gap, Tennessee. Far to the east, another misfortune befell the U.S. Navy at Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina. A party sent ashore in a small boat from the USS Perry was set upon and captured. An almost identical incident had befallen a party from the USS T. A. Ward a few days earlier.
A boat crew under Acting Ensign William B. Arrants from the USS Perry was captured while reconnoitering Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina , to determine if a ship being outfitted there as a blockade runner could be destroyed. Noting that a boat crew from T.A. Ward had been captured in the same area 2 months before, Rear Admiral Dahlgren wrote: "These blunders are very annoying, and yet I do not like to discourage enterprise and dash on the part of our officers and men. Better to suffer from the excess than the deficiencies of these qualities."
Major General R. C. Schenck relinquished the command of the Middle Department, and was succeeded by Brigadier General Henry Hayes Lockwood.
Stephen D. Lee, Major General in the Confederate service, sent the following report from his headquarters, at Holly Springs, Mississippi, to General Joseph E. Johnston: "Chased enemy's cavalry, eight hundred strong, from Ripley into Pocahontas, on the first. The enemy concentrated at Pocahontas, and evacuated Salisbury on the second. Two miles of railroad destroyed at Salisbury. Forrest passed safely over. Routed and drove across into Wolf River, at Moscow, two regiments of the enemy's cavalry, killing, wounding, and drowning about one hundred and seventy-five, capturing forty prisoners, and forty horses, and killing about one hundred horses."
A body of Confederate cavalry, with a few pieces of artillery, crossed the Rapidan River, and made a demonstration in front of the Federal lines. After a brief skirmish, it was discovered that the Rebels wished to reestablish signal stations on three peaks overlooking that section of country occupied by the Union army. This was successfully accomplished, and quiet restored.
A train, on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, was attacked by a party of partisan guerrillas, at a point two miles east of Bealeton Station.
Georgetown, South Carolina, was destroyed by fire this night.
It was a day of considerable activity for this late in the year, but each individual action was small and more or less incidental to armies being on the move. In Tennessee, it was the Corps of James Longstreet marching away from Knoxville and toward planned winter quarters in Greeneville, Tennessee. This led to skirmishes around the Clinch River, particularly at Walker's Ford. Other unpleasantness occurred at Raccoon Ford, Virginia, and Crab Gap, Tennessee. Far to the east, another misfortune befell the U.S. Navy at Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina. A party sent ashore in a small boat from the USS Perry was set upon and captured. An almost identical incident had befallen a party from the USS T. A. Ward a few days earlier.
A boat crew under Acting Ensign William B. Arrants from the USS Perry was captured while reconnoitering Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina , to determine if a ship being outfitted there as a blockade runner could be destroyed. Noting that a boat crew from T.A. Ward had been captured in the same area 2 months before, Rear Admiral Dahlgren wrote: "These blunders are very annoying, and yet I do not like to discourage enterprise and dash on the part of our officers and men. Better to suffer from the excess than the deficiencies of these qualities."
Major General R. C. Schenck relinquished the command of the Middle Department, and was succeeded by Brigadier General Henry Hayes Lockwood.
Stephen D. Lee, Major General in the Confederate service, sent the following report from his headquarters, at Holly Springs, Mississippi, to General Joseph E. Johnston: "Chased enemy's cavalry, eight hundred strong, from Ripley into Pocahontas, on the first. The enemy concentrated at Pocahontas, and evacuated Salisbury on the second. Two miles of railroad destroyed at Salisbury. Forrest passed safely over. Routed and drove across into Wolf River, at Moscow, two regiments of the enemy's cavalry, killing, wounding, and drowning about one hundred and seventy-five, capturing forty prisoners, and forty horses, and killing about one hundred horses."
A body of Confederate cavalry, with a few pieces of artillery, crossed the Rapidan River, and made a demonstration in front of the Federal lines. After a brief skirmish, it was discovered that the Rebels wished to reestablish signal stations on three peaks overlooking that section of country occupied by the Union army. This was successfully accomplished, and quiet restored.
A train, on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, was attacked by a party of partisan guerrillas, at a point two miles east of Bealeton Station.
Georgetown, South Carolina, was destroyed by fire this night.
This post was edited on 12/5/13 at 4:43 am
1
Posted on 12/5/13 at 8:40 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 6 December 1863
Like many horrific accidents, the tragedy of the USS Weehawken today resulted from a number of causes taken together, none of which by themselves would necessarily have been fatal. The ship, under command of Commander Jesse M. Duncan, was patrolling Charleston Harbor. First, the ship was heavily overloaded with extra ammunition, the weight of which caused the vessel to ride unusually low in the water. Secondly, an inlet called a hawse pipe, along with a watertight hatch next to it, were left open when by usual practice they should have been dogged shut. Finally, a combination of a wind and a strong ebb tide cause a wave to wash up over the bow of the ship. Water poured into the open pipe and hatch, and the ship sank almost instantly. Some two dozen officers and men were drowned.
Another report: The United States monitor Weehawken, Commander Jesse Duncan, was sunk off Morris Island, South Carolina, on December 6, 1863. The loss was attributed to improper stowage of ammunition combined with rough seas. Four officers and twenty men drowned. Contemporary accounts tell of the last moments of her "terror stricken crew" and the "vain shrieks" of the firemen manning the pumps, and of "men in irons" that went down with her. The "paymaster's funds and the papers of the ship (went down) with her." The Weehawken was a "Passaic Class" monitor with a single revolving turret. The vessel measured 844 tons, 200' in length, 46' in breath, 12'6? in depth, and 10'6? draft. The gunboat had two Ericsson vibrating engines, and two Martin boilers. The Weehawken was armed with one 15-inch Dahlgren smoothbore and one 11-inch Dahlgren smooth-bore. The vessel had a complement of seventy-five men. The slow moving gunboat was rated at only five knots. The Weehawken was built by contract with Zeno Secor & Company of New York at the yard of Joseph Coldwell at Jersey City, New Jersey, at a total cost of $465,110.73, and was launched on November 5, 1863. At least one hundred and thirty tons of iron was removed from the wreck of the Weehawken by Professor Maillefert's salvage company in 1873.
The USS Violet, Acting Ensign Thomas Stothard, and the USS Aries, Acting Lieutenant Devens, sighted the blockade running British steamer Ceres aground and burning at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, North Carolina. During the night, Ceres floated free and, the flames having been extinguished, was seized by Violet.
Major General William T. Sherman and staff; accompanied by Brigadier General James Harrison Wilson, arrived at General Ambrose E. Burnside's headquarters, at Knoxville, Tennessee, at noon today.
A successful reconnaissance was made to Madison Court House, Virginia, by four squadrons of the First New York Dragoons, under Major Scott, demonstrating that no Rebel force existed in that quarter. At James City, a few Confederates, who retreated on the approach of the large Federal force, were seen. On Thoroughfare Mountain, the Southern signal-station was found in the possession of some thirty Confederate cavalry, who slipped away upon sighting the Yankees. They were pursued some distance by Scott's men, but without capture. It was found to be a good position for its past uses, as well as in turn to be used against them, as from it the position of nearly the whole Rebel army can be seen. The destruction was made as complete as possible.
The merchant steamer Chesapeake, commanded by Captain Willets, was seized by a party of partisan Rebels, who had taken passage in her, while on her way from New York to Portand, Maine. The pirates assaulted the crew, killed the engineer, and wounded two other officers, and, after landing the passengers at Partridge Island, successfully escaped with the vessel.
Like many horrific accidents, the tragedy of the USS Weehawken today resulted from a number of causes taken together, none of which by themselves would necessarily have been fatal. The ship, under command of Commander Jesse M. Duncan, was patrolling Charleston Harbor. First, the ship was heavily overloaded with extra ammunition, the weight of which caused the vessel to ride unusually low in the water. Secondly, an inlet called a hawse pipe, along with a watertight hatch next to it, were left open when by usual practice they should have been dogged shut. Finally, a combination of a wind and a strong ebb tide cause a wave to wash up over the bow of the ship. Water poured into the open pipe and hatch, and the ship sank almost instantly. Some two dozen officers and men were drowned.
Another report: The United States monitor Weehawken, Commander Jesse Duncan, was sunk off Morris Island, South Carolina, on December 6, 1863. The loss was attributed to improper stowage of ammunition combined with rough seas. Four officers and twenty men drowned. Contemporary accounts tell of the last moments of her "terror stricken crew" and the "vain shrieks" of the firemen manning the pumps, and of "men in irons" that went down with her. The "paymaster's funds and the papers of the ship (went down) with her." The Weehawken was a "Passaic Class" monitor with a single revolving turret. The vessel measured 844 tons, 200' in length, 46' in breath, 12'6? in depth, and 10'6? draft. The gunboat had two Ericsson vibrating engines, and two Martin boilers. The Weehawken was armed with one 15-inch Dahlgren smoothbore and one 11-inch Dahlgren smooth-bore. The vessel had a complement of seventy-five men. The slow moving gunboat was rated at only five knots. The Weehawken was built by contract with Zeno Secor & Company of New York at the yard of Joseph Coldwell at Jersey City, New Jersey, at a total cost of $465,110.73, and was launched on November 5, 1863. At least one hundred and thirty tons of iron was removed from the wreck of the Weehawken by Professor Maillefert's salvage company in 1873.
The USS Violet, Acting Ensign Thomas Stothard, and the USS Aries, Acting Lieutenant Devens, sighted the blockade running British steamer Ceres aground and burning at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, North Carolina. During the night, Ceres floated free and, the flames having been extinguished, was seized by Violet.
Major General William T. Sherman and staff; accompanied by Brigadier General James Harrison Wilson, arrived at General Ambrose E. Burnside's headquarters, at Knoxville, Tennessee, at noon today.
A successful reconnaissance was made to Madison Court House, Virginia, by four squadrons of the First New York Dragoons, under Major Scott, demonstrating that no Rebel force existed in that quarter. At James City, a few Confederates, who retreated on the approach of the large Federal force, were seen. On Thoroughfare Mountain, the Southern signal-station was found in the possession of some thirty Confederate cavalry, who slipped away upon sighting the Yankees. They were pursued some distance by Scott's men, but without capture. It was found to be a good position for its past uses, as well as in turn to be used against them, as from it the position of nearly the whole Rebel army can be seen. The destruction was made as complete as possible.
The merchant steamer Chesapeake, commanded by Captain Willets, was seized by a party of partisan Rebels, who had taken passage in her, while on her way from New York to Portand, Maine. The pirates assaulted the crew, killed the engineer, and wounded two other officers, and, after landing the passengers at Partridge Island, successfully escaped with the vessel.
This post was edited on 12/6/13 at 4:54 am
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