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re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 1/8/14 at 5:03 am to Litigator
Posted on 1/8/14 at 5:03 am to Litigator
Thanks Litigator, great LINK. Shared that for my post on the DawgChat with credit to you. Hard to believe with all this "Climate Change" the Feds are taxing us on that the weather is almost identical to what it was exactly 150 years ago, huh?
1
Posted on 1/8/14 at 9:01 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 9 January 1864
There was little hostile action on any front today (with the exception of a very tiny skirmish at the equally tiny Terman’s Ferry, Kentucky) but the rumors were vast and numerous. They were also mostly naval: in Washington, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles received a disturbing telegram from Admiral C.H. Bell in California. According to Bell, he had himself just received word that the Confederates were constructing a large new raider in an unexpected place, Vancouver, British Columbia. Welles’ agents had largely blocked Southern attempts to get ships in Europe, but had overlooked the Canadian option. In Richmond, Jefferson Davis was sending notice to commanders in Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia that Admiral David G. Farragut was preparing to attack Mobile.
Reflecting the increased Union concern over Confederate torpedoes, President Abraham Lincoln granted an interview to one Captain Lavender, a New England mariner, to discuss a device for discovering and removing underwater obstructions. Though many ideas for rendering Confederate torpedoes ineffective were advanced, none solved the problem, and torpedoes sank an increasing number of Union ships.
Mr. James O. Putnam, U.S. Consul at Le Havre , France, notified Captain John Winslow of the USS Kearsarge "...that it was the purpose of the commanders of the Georgia, the Florida, and Rappahannock, to rendezvous at some convenient and opportune point, for the purpose of attacking the Kearsarge after she has left Brest." This attack never took place; six months later it was Kearsarge which met another Confederate raider, Alabama, off Cherbourg.
Rear Admiral Charles H. Bell, commanding the Pacific Squadron, advised Secretary Welles of the report that a Confederate privateer was outfitting at Victoria, Vancouver Island: "I would also respectfully suggest the expediency of having at all times a small steamer, under the direction of the [Mare Island] navy yard, ready to be dispatched at a few hours' notice whenever a similar occasion arises. The want of a vessel so prepared may be of incalculable injury to the mercantile interests of our western coast.
Today the noted guerrilla McCown and three of his men were captured by the Forrester New York cavalry regiment, reconnoitering in the direction of Sperryville, Virginia.
A fight took place in Mobile Bay, between the Confederates in Fort Morgan and the Federal gunboats stationed on the blockade. On the discovery, this morning, of a steamer ashore under the guns of the Fort, all the gunboats of the fleet got under way; and, while some repaired to the flagship for instructions, the Octorara steamed in and opened fire on the Rebel craft, which speedily drew a reply from the Fort. The rest of the fleet soon steamed in and took up their positions, when the fire became quite spirited. The Southern steamer was struck several times, and abandoned; but she lay so near the Fort, it was impossible to get her out. Finding the efforts to set her on fire were fruitless, the fleet withdrew, after firing two hours.
A squad of Confederate cavalry entered Cleveland, Tennessee, and conscripted every man able to perform service.
There was little hostile action on any front today (with the exception of a very tiny skirmish at the equally tiny Terman’s Ferry, Kentucky) but the rumors were vast and numerous. They were also mostly naval: in Washington, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles received a disturbing telegram from Admiral C.H. Bell in California. According to Bell, he had himself just received word that the Confederates were constructing a large new raider in an unexpected place, Vancouver, British Columbia. Welles’ agents had largely blocked Southern attempts to get ships in Europe, but had overlooked the Canadian option. In Richmond, Jefferson Davis was sending notice to commanders in Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia that Admiral David G. Farragut was preparing to attack Mobile.
Reflecting the increased Union concern over Confederate torpedoes, President Abraham Lincoln granted an interview to one Captain Lavender, a New England mariner, to discuss a device for discovering and removing underwater obstructions. Though many ideas for rendering Confederate torpedoes ineffective were advanced, none solved the problem, and torpedoes sank an increasing number of Union ships.
Mr. James O. Putnam, U.S. Consul at Le Havre , France, notified Captain John Winslow of the USS Kearsarge "...that it was the purpose of the commanders of the Georgia, the Florida, and Rappahannock, to rendezvous at some convenient and opportune point, for the purpose of attacking the Kearsarge after she has left Brest." This attack never took place; six months later it was Kearsarge which met another Confederate raider, Alabama, off Cherbourg.
Rear Admiral Charles H. Bell, commanding the Pacific Squadron, advised Secretary Welles of the report that a Confederate privateer was outfitting at Victoria, Vancouver Island: "I would also respectfully suggest the expediency of having at all times a small steamer, under the direction of the [Mare Island] navy yard, ready to be dispatched at a few hours' notice whenever a similar occasion arises. The want of a vessel so prepared may be of incalculable injury to the mercantile interests of our western coast.
Today the noted guerrilla McCown and three of his men were captured by the Forrester New York cavalry regiment, reconnoitering in the direction of Sperryville, Virginia.
A fight took place in Mobile Bay, between the Confederates in Fort Morgan and the Federal gunboats stationed on the blockade. On the discovery, this morning, of a steamer ashore under the guns of the Fort, all the gunboats of the fleet got under way; and, while some repaired to the flagship for instructions, the Octorara steamed in and opened fire on the Rebel craft, which speedily drew a reply from the Fort. The rest of the fleet soon steamed in and took up their positions, when the fire became quite spirited. The Southern steamer was struck several times, and abandoned; but she lay so near the Fort, it was impossible to get her out. Finding the efforts to set her on fire were fruitless, the fleet withdrew, after firing two hours.
A squad of Confederate cavalry entered Cleveland, Tennessee, and conscripted every man able to perform service.
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