DECEMBER 24TH, 1864: After many days of delay because of heavy weather, the powder ship USS Louisiana, Commander Rhind, towed by the USS Wilderness late at night, anchored and was blown up 250 yards off Fort Fisher, North Carolina. After Rhind and his gallant crew set the fuses and a fire in the stern, they escaped in small boats to the Wilderness.
Rear Admiral Porter and General Butler, who was waiting in Beaufort, N.C., about 70 miles away, to land his troops the next morning to storm Fort Fisher, placed great hope in the exploding powder ship, hope that Rear Admiral Dahlgren as an ordnance expert no doubt disdained.
--Old B-R'er
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