Monday, 21 December 1863

Warfare in wintertime was relatively rare, due in large part to the ease with which inclement weather could make movement of large forces impossible. Common sense on the other hand required continual patrols around the areas where the forces were encamped, lest a combination of good weather, good luck and ignorance of military custom cause somebody to sneak up on one another. When patrols from one side ran into parties from the other, hostilities might be undertaken, but were regarded as of little account. Most such activities appeared to be going on in Tennessee, where encounters are recorded as happening in and around Cleveland and Charleston, as the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad bridge was here vitally connecting Knoxville and Chattanooga, as well as skirmishing near Fayette, Mississippi.

Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren wrote Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles that, after 10 days of "wretched" weather at Charleston, a quantity of obstructions had been washed down from the upper harbor by the "...wind, rain, and a heavy sea." The Admiral added: "The quantity was very considerable, and besides those made of rope, which were well known to us, there were others of heavy timber, banded together and connected by railroad iron, with very stout links at each end...This is another instance of the secrecy with which the Rebels create defenses; for although some of the deserters have occupied positions more or less confidential, not one of them has even hinted at obstructions of this kind, while, on the other hand, the correspondents of our own papers keep the Rebels pretty well posted in our affairs."

Admiral Franklin Buchanan wrote Commander Catesby ap Roger Jones at the Confederate Naval Gun Foundry and Ordnance Works in Selma, Alabama: "Have you received any orders from Brooke about the guns for the Tennessee? She is all ready for officers, men, and guns, and has been so reported to the Department many weeks since, but none have I received."

The bark Tuscaloosa--formerly the Conrad, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania--captured by the CSS Alabama, was seized at St. Simon's Bay, Cape of Good Hope, by British officers, upon an alleged violation of British laws.