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re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 12/26/13 at 4:41 am to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 12/26/13 at 4:41 am to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 26 December 1863
The CSS Alabama, commanded by Captain Raphael Semmes of the Confederate States Navy, now less than a week arrived from the Indies to South Africa, managed to capture and destroy the American ships Sonora and Highlander, both in ballast, at anchor near the western entrance of the Straits of Malacca. Semmes wrote home that: "They were monster ships, both of them, being eleven or twelve hundred tons burden." One of the masters told the commerce raider: “Well, Captain Semmes, I have been expecting every day for the last three years to fall in with you, and here I am at last. . . The fact is, I have had constant visions of the Alabama, by night and by day; she has been chasing me in my sleep, and riding me like a nightmare, and now that it is all over, I feel quite relieved." The major financial impact of Semmes' efforts was on the rapidly rising insurance rates being charged to US flag shipping companies.
As the year drew to a close, it became evident that the much-hoped-for European aid, if not actual intervention, on behalf of the Confederacy would not be forthcoming. This was expressed by Henry Hotze, Confederate Commercial Agent in London, in a letter this date to Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin: "...it is absolutely hopeless to expect to receive any really serv-iceable vessels of war from the ports of either England or France, and...our expenditure should therefore be confined to more practicable objects and our naval staff be employed in eluding, since we can not break, the blockade."
The USS Reindeer, under Acting Lieutenant Henry A. Glassford, with the Army steamer Silver Lake No. 2 in company, reconnoitered the Cumberland River at the request of General Hiram U. Grant. The force moved from Nashville to Carthage without incident but was taken under fire five times on the 29th. The Confederates' positions, Glassford reported, "...availed them nothing, however, against the guns of this vessel and those of the Silver Lake No. 2; they were completely shelled out of them. The gunboats continued as far as Creelsboro, Kentucky, before the river gave unmistakable signs of a fall." The ships subsequently returned to Nashville.
General Thomas Lafayette Rosser returned to Orange Court House, Virginia, having completed an entire circuit of the Federal army, starting from Fredericksburg and entering the valley at Conrad's Store. He burnt the bridge over Pope's Head Run, near Sangster's Station, just out from Alexandria, capturing and dispersing the troops left as a guard. Owing to the high water and bad weather, he was prevented from doing more damage. Brigadier General David Gregg's Yankee cavalry pursued, but could not overtake him. General Rosser was forced to swim Bull Run. His loss was very slight. The enemy, while in pursuit, destroyed two tanneries and a lot of leather at Sperryville, Rappahannock County; also, two tanneries, a flour-mill and some government workshops at Luray, in Page County. They also committed many other excesses, including the taking away of negroes, and shot a Confederate soldier named Smedley, at Washington, in Rappahannock County, after he had surrendered.
The CSS Alabama, commanded by Captain Raphael Semmes of the Confederate States Navy, now less than a week arrived from the Indies to South Africa, managed to capture and destroy the American ships Sonora and Highlander, both in ballast, at anchor near the western entrance of the Straits of Malacca. Semmes wrote home that: "They were monster ships, both of them, being eleven or twelve hundred tons burden." One of the masters told the commerce raider: “Well, Captain Semmes, I have been expecting every day for the last three years to fall in with you, and here I am at last. . . The fact is, I have had constant visions of the Alabama, by night and by day; she has been chasing me in my sleep, and riding me like a nightmare, and now that it is all over, I feel quite relieved." The major financial impact of Semmes' efforts was on the rapidly rising insurance rates being charged to US flag shipping companies.
As the year drew to a close, it became evident that the much-hoped-for European aid, if not actual intervention, on behalf of the Confederacy would not be forthcoming. This was expressed by Henry Hotze, Confederate Commercial Agent in London, in a letter this date to Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin: "...it is absolutely hopeless to expect to receive any really serv-iceable vessels of war from the ports of either England or France, and...our expenditure should therefore be confined to more practicable objects and our naval staff be employed in eluding, since we can not break, the blockade."
The USS Reindeer, under Acting Lieutenant Henry A. Glassford, with the Army steamer Silver Lake No. 2 in company, reconnoitered the Cumberland River at the request of General Hiram U. Grant. The force moved from Nashville to Carthage without incident but was taken under fire five times on the 29th. The Confederates' positions, Glassford reported, "...availed them nothing, however, against the guns of this vessel and those of the Silver Lake No. 2; they were completely shelled out of them. The gunboats continued as far as Creelsboro, Kentucky, before the river gave unmistakable signs of a fall." The ships subsequently returned to Nashville.
General Thomas Lafayette Rosser returned to Orange Court House, Virginia, having completed an entire circuit of the Federal army, starting from Fredericksburg and entering the valley at Conrad's Store. He burnt the bridge over Pope's Head Run, near Sangster's Station, just out from Alexandria, capturing and dispersing the troops left as a guard. Owing to the high water and bad weather, he was prevented from doing more damage. Brigadier General David Gregg's Yankee cavalry pursued, but could not overtake him. General Rosser was forced to swim Bull Run. His loss was very slight. The enemy, while in pursuit, destroyed two tanneries and a lot of leather at Sperryville, Rappahannock County; also, two tanneries, a flour-mill and some government workshops at Luray, in Page County. They also committed many other excesses, including the taking away of negroes, and shot a Confederate soldier named Smedley, at Washington, in Rappahannock County, after he had surrendered.
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Posted on 12/26/13 at 7:31 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 27 December 1863
President Abraham Lincoln, in company with Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, went for a visit on this day to the prisoner of war camp at Point Lookout, Maryland. Elsewhere, skirmishes took place at Somerville, New Castle, and Mossy Creek, Tennessee, possibly in celebration of General Joseph E. Johnston assuming command of the Confederate Department of Tennessee.
General James B. McPherson, from his headquarters, Seventeenth Army Corps, at Vicksburg, Mississippi, issued the following circular:
The following named persons: Miss Kate Barnett, Miss Ella Barrett, Miss Laura Latham, Miss Ellen Martin, and Mrs. Moore, having acted disrespectfully towards the President and Government of the United States, and having insulted officers, soldiers, and loyal citizens of the United States who had assembled at the Episcopal church in Vicksburg, on Christmas Day, for divine service, by abruptly leaving said church at that point in the service where the President of the United States and all others in authority are prayed for, are hereby banished, and will leave the Federal lines within forty-eight hours, under penalty of imprisonment.
Hereafter all persons, male or female, who by word or deed or by implication, do insult or show disrespect to the President, the Government, or the flag of the United States, or to any officer or soldier of the United States upon matters of a national character, shall be fined, banished, or imprisoned, according to the grossness of the offense.
President Abraham Lincoln, in company with Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, went for a visit on this day to the prisoner of war camp at Point Lookout, Maryland. Elsewhere, skirmishes took place at Somerville, New Castle, and Mossy Creek, Tennessee, possibly in celebration of General Joseph E. Johnston assuming command of the Confederate Department of Tennessee.
General James B. McPherson, from his headquarters, Seventeenth Army Corps, at Vicksburg, Mississippi, issued the following circular:
The following named persons: Miss Kate Barnett, Miss Ella Barrett, Miss Laura Latham, Miss Ellen Martin, and Mrs. Moore, having acted disrespectfully towards the President and Government of the United States, and having insulted officers, soldiers, and loyal citizens of the United States who had assembled at the Episcopal church in Vicksburg, on Christmas Day, for divine service, by abruptly leaving said church at that point in the service where the President of the United States and all others in authority are prayed for, are hereby banished, and will leave the Federal lines within forty-eight hours, under penalty of imprisonment.
Hereafter all persons, male or female, who by word or deed or by implication, do insult or show disrespect to the President, the Government, or the flag of the United States, or to any officer or soldier of the United States upon matters of a national character, shall be fined, banished, or imprisoned, according to the grossness of the offense.
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