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re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 1/16/14 at 7:56 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 1/16/14 at 7:56 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 17 January 1864
Ironclad gunboats were the first item and also the last item on the “want” list of Admiral David G. Farragut on this day. He wrote to Admiral David D. Porter, pointing out that for the upcoming assault on Mobile Bay, Alabama, he was eager to attack at Mobile but needed ironclads to cope with the Confederate ram Tennessee and other Southern vessels: “...I am therefore anxious to know if your monitors, at least two of them, are not completed and ready for service; and, if so, can you spare them to assist us? If I had them, I should not hesitate to become the assailant instead of awaiting the attack. I must have ironclads enough to lie in the bay to hold the gunboats and rams in check in the shoal water.”
In the event that this correspondence should sound a bit less formal than was the custom in military circles at this time, there is a good reason for this. Farragut and Porter were brothers in every way but blood. When Farragut was orphaned at an early age he was adopted by Porter’s father, also named David D., and the two were raised together.
This morning the Confederates made a desperate attack upon the Union lines near Dandridge, Tennessee. They threw out no skirmishers, but pressed down upon the Federals in full force, seemingly determined to sweep them from the field. Observing their desperate determination, General Samuel Davis Sturgis ordered Colonel Edward M. McCook, who was in command of a division of Elliott's cavalry, to charge the enemy on horse. This order was obeyed most gallantly. The charge of this division turned the fortunes of the day, which, up to this time, had been decidedly against the Yankees. The First Wisconsin, which bore the brunt of the enemy's attack, lost sixty in killed and wounded. The Union loss in all did not exceed one hundred and fifty.
A fire occurred at Camp Butler, near Springfield, Illinois, destroying the officers' quarters and quartermaster's stores. Captain Dimon and Lieutenant Bennett, of the Thirty-eighth Illinois cavalry, were burned to death, and two other lieutenants were badly injured.
The bombardment of Charleston, South Carolina, by the forces under General Quincy Adams Gillmore, was continued with great fury, several new Parrott guns having been opened on the city from Battery Gregg.
Ironclad gunboats were the first item and also the last item on the “want” list of Admiral David G. Farragut on this day. He wrote to Admiral David D. Porter, pointing out that for the upcoming assault on Mobile Bay, Alabama, he was eager to attack at Mobile but needed ironclads to cope with the Confederate ram Tennessee and other Southern vessels: “...I am therefore anxious to know if your monitors, at least two of them, are not completed and ready for service; and, if so, can you spare them to assist us? If I had them, I should not hesitate to become the assailant instead of awaiting the attack. I must have ironclads enough to lie in the bay to hold the gunboats and rams in check in the shoal water.”
In the event that this correspondence should sound a bit less formal than was the custom in military circles at this time, there is a good reason for this. Farragut and Porter were brothers in every way but blood. When Farragut was orphaned at an early age he was adopted by Porter’s father, also named David D., and the two were raised together.
This morning the Confederates made a desperate attack upon the Union lines near Dandridge, Tennessee. They threw out no skirmishers, but pressed down upon the Federals in full force, seemingly determined to sweep them from the field. Observing their desperate determination, General Samuel Davis Sturgis ordered Colonel Edward M. McCook, who was in command of a division of Elliott's cavalry, to charge the enemy on horse. This order was obeyed most gallantly. The charge of this division turned the fortunes of the day, which, up to this time, had been decidedly against the Yankees. The First Wisconsin, which bore the brunt of the enemy's attack, lost sixty in killed and wounded. The Union loss in all did not exceed one hundred and fifty.
A fire occurred at Camp Butler, near Springfield, Illinois, destroying the officers' quarters and quartermaster's stores. Captain Dimon and Lieutenant Bennett, of the Thirty-eighth Illinois cavalry, were burned to death, and two other lieutenants were badly injured.
The bombardment of Charleston, South Carolina, by the forces under General Quincy Adams Gillmore, was continued with great fury, several new Parrott guns having been opened on the city from Battery Gregg.
1
Posted on 1/17/14 at 9:00 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 18 January 1864
In the days of the original popular votes in the Southern states to secede from the Union, there had been definite sectional divisions of opinion in many states. The coastal part of Virginia, for example was strongly secessionist, while the western mountain regions felt so strongly the other way that the state of West Virginia eventually resulted. Similar sentiments existed in western North Carolina, northwestern Georgia and eastern Tennessee, and it was beginning to cause serious problems for the Confederacy, especially since the draft laws had been extended and strengthened. Draft dodging was a problem, even in the face of patrols to seek them out, along with deserters. Now, open public meetings were beginning to be held to protest the draft.
Rear Admiral David G. Farragut arrived off Mobile Bay to inspect Union ships and the Confederate defenses. He had sailed from New York in his renowned flagship Hartford after an absence of five months, and was to officially resume command of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron on 22 January at New Orleans. Farragut was concerned about the reported strength of the Confederate ram CSS Tennessee, then in Mobile Bay, and determined to destroy her and silence the forts, closing Mobile to the blockade runners. To this end, he immediately began to build up his forces and make plans for the battle.
Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles directed Captain Henry A. Walke, in charge of the USS Sacramento, to search for "...the piratical vessels now afloat and preying upon our commerce..." adding: "You will bear in mind that the principal object of your pursuit is the Alabama." The CSS Alabama had by this date taken more than 60 prizes, and the effect of all raiders on Union merchantmen was evident in the gradual disappearance of the U.S. flag from the ocean commerce lanes. Boat crews from the USS Roebuck, Acting Master Sherrill, captured the sloop Caroline off Jupiter Inlet, Florida, with a cargo of salt, gin, soda, and dry goods.
The USS Stars and Stripes, under Acting Master Charles L. Willcomb, captured the blockade running steamer Laura off Ochlockonee River, Florida, with a cargo including Cuban cigars.
In the days of the original popular votes in the Southern states to secede from the Union, there had been definite sectional divisions of opinion in many states. The coastal part of Virginia, for example was strongly secessionist, while the western mountain regions felt so strongly the other way that the state of West Virginia eventually resulted. Similar sentiments existed in western North Carolina, northwestern Georgia and eastern Tennessee, and it was beginning to cause serious problems for the Confederacy, especially since the draft laws had been extended and strengthened. Draft dodging was a problem, even in the face of patrols to seek them out, along with deserters. Now, open public meetings were beginning to be held to protest the draft.
Rear Admiral David G. Farragut arrived off Mobile Bay to inspect Union ships and the Confederate defenses. He had sailed from New York in his renowned flagship Hartford after an absence of five months, and was to officially resume command of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron on 22 January at New Orleans. Farragut was concerned about the reported strength of the Confederate ram CSS Tennessee, then in Mobile Bay, and determined to destroy her and silence the forts, closing Mobile to the blockade runners. To this end, he immediately began to build up his forces and make plans for the battle.
Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles directed Captain Henry A. Walke, in charge of the USS Sacramento, to search for "...the piratical vessels now afloat and preying upon our commerce..." adding: "You will bear in mind that the principal object of your pursuit is the Alabama." The CSS Alabama had by this date taken more than 60 prizes, and the effect of all raiders on Union merchantmen was evident in the gradual disappearance of the U.S. flag from the ocean commerce lanes. Boat crews from the USS Roebuck, Acting Master Sherrill, captured the sloop Caroline off Jupiter Inlet, Florida, with a cargo of salt, gin, soda, and dry goods.
The USS Stars and Stripes, under Acting Master Charles L. Willcomb, captured the blockade running steamer Laura off Ochlockonee River, Florida, with a cargo including Cuban cigars.
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