Wednesday, June 24, 2015

The Shenandoah Learns of the Fall of Richmond

JUNE 22ND, 1865:  The CSS Shenandoah, Lt. Waddell, captured the Susan Abigail, recently from San Francisco.  A newspaper was found on board dated April 17, 1865.  It told of the capture of Richmond but also contained President Davis' Danville Proclamation declaring that the war would be continued with renewed vigor.

Moreover, Waddell noted:  "Three of the Susan Abigail's crew joined the Shenandoah, which was good evidence at least that they did not believe the war had ended."

The master of the prize stated that in San Francisco,  "Opinion is divided as to the ultimate result of the war.  For the present the North has the advantage, but how it will all end no one can know, and as to the newspapers they are not reliable."

After burning the Susan Abigail, Waddell continued northward to the Bering Strait, the northern exit to the Arctic Sea.

Over or Not,  Waddell Wants to Know.  --Old B-Runner

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