JULY 21, 1864: USS Prairie Bird seized steamer Union on the Mississippi River for violation of revenue laws and giving "aid and comfort to the enemy." The Union, not the USS Union I've been writing about, must have bought some contraband cotton from Confederates.
JULY 22, 1864: Lt. Charles S. Cotton and Acting Ensign John L. Hall, led a landing party from the USS Oneida on a daring expedition that resulted in the capture of a Confederate cavalry patrol near Fort morgan, Mobile Bay.
The sailors rowed in from the Oneida under cover of darkness, and lay in wait for a nightly Southern patrol which had been under observation for some time. Surprise was complete, and Hall marched a detachment four miles further inland (well east on the long peninsula) to destroy the patrol's camp site.
Lt. Cotton reported: "The results of the expedition were-- captured 1 lieutenant and 4 privates of the Seventh Alabama Cavalry, arms and ammunition; 5 horses, with their equipments complete, and all the camp equipage and stores."
Of course, along with Farragut operating against Fort Morgan, it would be necessary to land Union troops to take the fort. Getting rid of this patrol would help the landing of the troops.
--Old B-Runner
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