From the Feb. 6th Rochester (NY) Democrat Chronicle "A Rochester sailor's near-fatal ordeal" by Bob Marcotte.
"We left Boston on the 24th of February (1862). That night I shall never forget, " wrote Edward Fenn in a letter home.
That night, he and his crew nearly drowned when his ship, the old Ship-of-the-Line USS Vermont encountered a sever gale on its way to Port Royal, South Carolina where it was to serve as a receiving and store ship The Vermont was battered for two days and left drifting helplessly.
Fenn was a surgeon's assistant on the ship.
THE US NAVY AT START OF THE WAR
The US Navy was clearly not up to the task of enforcing a blockade of 3,549 miles of Confederate shoreline, including some 189 harbors and inlets. However, by the end of the war, the Navy had grown to a force of 641 ships. And, as Confederate port and positions continued to fall, the blockade gained in intensity.
In the Army, regiments were recruited from the same area. Thus, the 13th, 108th and 140th New York Infantry regiments consisted primarily of men from Monroe County.
The Navy, however, assigned recruits at random to ships, usually at receiving ships where new enlistees entered service.
More to Come. --Old B-Runner
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