JANUARY 15TH
Flag Officer Foote writes to Lt. Paulding of USS St. Louis admonishing him to be more careful with his ammunition and not waste so much of it. Instead of firing all guns that bear on a target, just one to get the range. Poor Foote always had too much to do with too little. Starting a brown water navy from scratch was proving to be quite the challenge.
The Confederate Navy acquired 14 steamers in New Orleans to be armed to bolster the city's defense. The vessels were not to rely on cannons or firearms, but men to be armed with cutlasses for close quarter fighting. Each boat to have one heavy piece of artillery, though, "in case the stern of any of the [Union] gunboats should be exposed to fire, for they are entirely unprotected behind."
JANUARY 16TH
Gunfire and boat crews from USS Hatteras destroyed a Confederate battery and seven small vessels loaded with cotton and turpentine (running out), a railroad depot, wharf and telegraph office at Cedar Key, Florida. Confederate prisoners were taken.
Throughout the war, small raids like this were made incessantly along the Confederate coastline.
Flag Officer Foote reported that the seven Eads gunboats were all commissioned today (including the one we saw at Vicksburg, the USS Cairo). These ironclad gunboats were a major force on the rivers.
And, So it Goes. --Old B-Runner
No comments:
Post a Comment