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re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 9/8/14 at 8:28 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 9/8/14 at 8:28 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 9 September 1864
Officially, there had been a complete ban on all trading in commodities between the North and the South since very early in the War Between the States. In actual fact, like most embargoes, this ban succeeded only in artificially raising the price of commodities, particularly cotton. This resulted in profits so great that a clandestine exchange, particularly along the river systems of the Mississippi, was irresistible to many. The matter was becoming serious enough, both in terms of disrespect for the law and the lack of tariff revenue, to attract official attention. There was a meeting in Washington, DC, this afternoon between Union President Abraham Lincoln and his cabinet to discuss the complex issue of trading with the Confederates and drafting legalization of the enterprise so at least taxes could be collected. The administration was gradually allowing more commerce to take place.
Acting under orders from Rear Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, the 500-ton screw steamer USS Kanawha, under Lieutenant Commander Bushrod Bust Taylor, reinstituted the blockade of Brownsville, Texas. The blockade had been lifted in mid-February by Presidential proclamation, but on 15 August Secretary of State William Henry Seward had informed Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles that it should be re-enforced once more because of the withdrawal of Union troops stationed in the area. Three days later, Welles directed Farragut to resume the blockade "...as early as practicable".
On 3 September the Admiral reported to Welles that: "I am now increasing the blockading force off the coast of Texas, the recent operations here now enabling me to spare vessels for that purpose." Farragut relayed the Department's message to his senior subordinate on the Texas coast, Commander Melancthon Brooks Woolsey, who on 8 September replied: "The Kanawha sailed hence last night with orders to blockade the Brazos Santiago (one of the points of approach to Brownsville). She also bore orders to the Aroostook to blockade the Rio Grande...the blockade of those places will be resumed from tomorrow morning (9th)." At this point in the War, Union strength at sea was such that specific ports like Brownsville could be reclosed as necessary, while at the same time the iron ring of the entire coastal blockade tightened.
As the conflict drew into its final stage, Southern authorities turned increasingly to blockade runners manned and financed by the Navy. These allowed the Confederacy to employ some of its excellent officers at sea and insured that entire cargoes brought in would be of direct benefit to the government. This morning, Commander John Newland Maffitt, one of the Confederacy's most successful and experienced captains, was detached from command of the CSS Albemarle and ordered to Wilmington, North Carolina, to command the new blockade runner Owl.
Federal expeditions began from Mobile Bay, Alabama; Fort Pike, Louisiana; and various points in Arkansas.
Officially, there had been a complete ban on all trading in commodities between the North and the South since very early in the War Between the States. In actual fact, like most embargoes, this ban succeeded only in artificially raising the price of commodities, particularly cotton. This resulted in profits so great that a clandestine exchange, particularly along the river systems of the Mississippi, was irresistible to many. The matter was becoming serious enough, both in terms of disrespect for the law and the lack of tariff revenue, to attract official attention. There was a meeting in Washington, DC, this afternoon between Union President Abraham Lincoln and his cabinet to discuss the complex issue of trading with the Confederates and drafting legalization of the enterprise so at least taxes could be collected. The administration was gradually allowing more commerce to take place.
Acting under orders from Rear Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, the 500-ton screw steamer USS Kanawha, under Lieutenant Commander Bushrod Bust Taylor, reinstituted the blockade of Brownsville, Texas. The blockade had been lifted in mid-February by Presidential proclamation, but on 15 August Secretary of State William Henry Seward had informed Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles that it should be re-enforced once more because of the withdrawal of Union troops stationed in the area. Three days later, Welles directed Farragut to resume the blockade "...as early as practicable".
On 3 September the Admiral reported to Welles that: "I am now increasing the blockading force off the coast of Texas, the recent operations here now enabling me to spare vessels for that purpose." Farragut relayed the Department's message to his senior subordinate on the Texas coast, Commander Melancthon Brooks Woolsey, who on 8 September replied: "The Kanawha sailed hence last night with orders to blockade the Brazos Santiago (one of the points of approach to Brownsville). She also bore orders to the Aroostook to blockade the Rio Grande...the blockade of those places will be resumed from tomorrow morning (9th)." At this point in the War, Union strength at sea was such that specific ports like Brownsville could be reclosed as necessary, while at the same time the iron ring of the entire coastal blockade tightened.
As the conflict drew into its final stage, Southern authorities turned increasingly to blockade runners manned and financed by the Navy. These allowed the Confederacy to employ some of its excellent officers at sea and insured that entire cargoes brought in would be of direct benefit to the government. This morning, Commander John Newland Maffitt, one of the Confederacy's most successful and experienced captains, was detached from command of the CSS Albemarle and ordered to Wilmington, North Carolina, to command the new blockade runner Owl.
Federal expeditions began from Mobile Bay, Alabama; Fort Pike, Louisiana; and various points in Arkansas.
1
Posted on 9/9/14 at 8:22 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 10 September 1864
The Fawn was a relatively inoffensive little boat, engaged yesterday in the hauling of mail on the Albermarle and Chesapeake Canal. Today she did so no longer, because she had been seized and burned by a small force of Confederates. An extremely irate Lieutenant Commander Earl English, of the USS Wyalusing, landed in nearby Elizabeth City, North Carolina, determined to locate and punish whoever had committed this act. He went to far as to round up and detain 29 leading citizens of the town for interrogation and possible detention as hostages against repetition of such misdeeds. He was reluctantly persuaded to release them when they were able to convince him that the mail boat had in fact been burned by men from the CSS Albermarle and that no resident of the town had been involved or benefited by the act.
Second report: An expedition from USS Wyalusing, Lieutenant Commander Earl English, landed at Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River, North Carolina, and seized several of the leading citizens for interrogation regarding the burning of the mail steamer Fawn on the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal the night before. The naval landing party encountered little resistance at Elizabeth City, and succeeded in capturing 29 prisoners. English learned that the Fawn expedition had been led by members of CSS Albemarle's crew.
The USS Santiago de Cuba, Captain Oliver S. Glisson in charge, captured the blockade running steamer A. D. Vance at sea northeast of Wilmington with a cargo of cotton.
The USS Magnolia, under Acting Lieutenant William S. Cheesman, seized the steamer Matagorda at sea off Cape San Antonio, Cuba, with a cargo of cotton.
The Fawn was a relatively inoffensive little boat, engaged yesterday in the hauling of mail on the Albermarle and Chesapeake Canal. Today she did so no longer, because she had been seized and burned by a small force of Confederates. An extremely irate Lieutenant Commander Earl English, of the USS Wyalusing, landed in nearby Elizabeth City, North Carolina, determined to locate and punish whoever had committed this act. He went to far as to round up and detain 29 leading citizens of the town for interrogation and possible detention as hostages against repetition of such misdeeds. He was reluctantly persuaded to release them when they were able to convince him that the mail boat had in fact been burned by men from the CSS Albermarle and that no resident of the town had been involved or benefited by the act.
Second report: An expedition from USS Wyalusing, Lieutenant Commander Earl English, landed at Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River, North Carolina, and seized several of the leading citizens for interrogation regarding the burning of the mail steamer Fawn on the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal the night before. The naval landing party encountered little resistance at Elizabeth City, and succeeded in capturing 29 prisoners. English learned that the Fawn expedition had been led by members of CSS Albemarle's crew.
The USS Santiago de Cuba, Captain Oliver S. Glisson in charge, captured the blockade running steamer A. D. Vance at sea northeast of Wilmington with a cargo of cotton.
The USS Magnolia, under Acting Lieutenant William S. Cheesman, seized the steamer Matagorda at sea off Cape San Antonio, Cuba, with a cargo of cotton.
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