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Posted on 1/2/14 at 9:19 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 3 January 1864
U.S. Major General Stephen Hurlbut was commander of Union forces in Memphis, Tennessee, but that was far from his only area of interest or responsibility. He had a source of information deep within Confederate lines, who reported to him from Mobile, Alabama. This morning, the news was not good. As Hurlbut explained to Union Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, “The 'Tennessee' at Mobile will be ready for sea in 20 days. She is a dangerous craft, Buchanan thinks more so than the 'Merrimack'...” Hurlbut was not exaggerating, either. The Tennessee was the largest ironclad ever built by the Confederacy, 209 feet long and 48 feet in the beam. The “Buchanan” mentioned in the telegram was the ship’s designer, Confederate Admiral Franklin Buchanan, who had apparently never heard the saying that “...loose lips sink ships.”
The USS Fahkee, with Rear Admiral Samuel P. Lee in charge, sighted the steamer Bendigo aground at Lockwoods Folly Inlet, North Carolina. Three boat crews were sent to investigate. After it was discovered that the blockade runner had been partially burned to prevent capture and that there was seven feet of water in the hold, Lee ordered the Bendigo destroyed by combined gunfire from the USS Fort Jackson, Iron Age, Montgomery, Daylight, and Fahkee.
Official Report as follows: Admiral Lee, in the United States gunboat Fah Kee, entered Lockwood's Folly Inlet, about ten miles to the south of Wilmington, North Carolina, hoisted out his boats, and examined the blockade-running steamer Bendigo, which was run ashore by the captain a week previous, to prevent her being captured by the blockaders. While making these examinations, the enemy's sharpshooters appeared and opened fire upon the boats' crews, which was returned by the Fah Kee's guns, when a Rebel battery opened fire and the boats returned to the ship. The Fah Kee continued her fire until the Bendigo was well-riddled, but her battery was light, and in consequence of her draft of water and the shoals inside, had to be at long-range, and consequently not as destructive as was desired. Night coming on, the Admiral returned to the fleet.
A force of Rebels, under General Sam Jones, made a descent upon a body of Union troops stationed near Jonesville, Virginia, belonging to an Illinois regiment, commanded by Major Beers, and eighteen men of Neill's Ohio battery. A desperate resistance was made, continuing from seven A. M. to three P. M., when the Federals surrendered. They lost four killed and twelve wounded.
The British ship Silvanus, while attempting to run the blockade at Doboy Sound, Georgia, was chased ashore by the Federal gunboat Huron.
Twenty shells loaded with Greek fire, were thrown into the city of Charleston, South Carolina, causing a considerable conflagration.
U.S. Major General Stephen Hurlbut was commander of Union forces in Memphis, Tennessee, but that was far from his only area of interest or responsibility. He had a source of information deep within Confederate lines, who reported to him from Mobile, Alabama. This morning, the news was not good. As Hurlbut explained to Union Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, “The 'Tennessee' at Mobile will be ready for sea in 20 days. She is a dangerous craft, Buchanan thinks more so than the 'Merrimack'...” Hurlbut was not exaggerating, either. The Tennessee was the largest ironclad ever built by the Confederacy, 209 feet long and 48 feet in the beam. The “Buchanan” mentioned in the telegram was the ship’s designer, Confederate Admiral Franklin Buchanan, who had apparently never heard the saying that “...loose lips sink ships.”
The USS Fahkee, with Rear Admiral Samuel P. Lee in charge, sighted the steamer Bendigo aground at Lockwoods Folly Inlet, North Carolina. Three boat crews were sent to investigate. After it was discovered that the blockade runner had been partially burned to prevent capture and that there was seven feet of water in the hold, Lee ordered the Bendigo destroyed by combined gunfire from the USS Fort Jackson, Iron Age, Montgomery, Daylight, and Fahkee.
Official Report as follows: Admiral Lee, in the United States gunboat Fah Kee, entered Lockwood's Folly Inlet, about ten miles to the south of Wilmington, North Carolina, hoisted out his boats, and examined the blockade-running steamer Bendigo, which was run ashore by the captain a week previous, to prevent her being captured by the blockaders. While making these examinations, the enemy's sharpshooters appeared and opened fire upon the boats' crews, which was returned by the Fah Kee's guns, when a Rebel battery opened fire and the boats returned to the ship. The Fah Kee continued her fire until the Bendigo was well-riddled, but her battery was light, and in consequence of her draft of water and the shoals inside, had to be at long-range, and consequently not as destructive as was desired. Night coming on, the Admiral returned to the fleet.
A force of Rebels, under General Sam Jones, made a descent upon a body of Union troops stationed near Jonesville, Virginia, belonging to an Illinois regiment, commanded by Major Beers, and eighteen men of Neill's Ohio battery. A desperate resistance was made, continuing from seven A. M. to three P. M., when the Federals surrendered. They lost four killed and twelve wounded.
The British ship Silvanus, while attempting to run the blockade at Doboy Sound, Georgia, was chased ashore by the Federal gunboat Huron.
Twenty shells loaded with Greek fire, were thrown into the city of Charleston, South Carolina, causing a considerable conflagration.
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