Aaron Anderson, Medal of Honor Recipient-- Part 2: Came Under Heavy Fire But Accomplished Mission

As the boat's commander, an ensign, was preparing to fire the howitzer at the schooners, they came under fire from around 400 Confederates on shore.  Despite this, the Union crew rowed closer to the schooners and set fire to them with "incendiary devices."

Water was rushing into the boat from bullet holes fired by the Confederates.  One of the men on the boat was Aaron Anderson, age 52.  Some accounts refer to him as Aaron Sanderson.

He and the other Union crewmen received Medals of Honor for their actions that day.

--Old B-Runner

Aaron Anderson, Black Sailor Medal of Honor Recipient-- Part 1: Member of the Potomac Flotilla

From the February 8, 2018, Fredericksburg (Va.) Free Lance Star "Upcoming Stratford Hall program to detail heroics of medal-winning African-American sailor" by Bob Hedelt.

Stratford Hall, Va., is where Robert E. Lee was born.

Aaron Anderson received a Medal of Honor for his actions at Mattox Creek, Virginia, in 1865.

In March 1865, the ships of the Union Potomac Flotilla sailed up Westmoreland County's Mattox Creek.  About 70 soldiers landed and a small boat with a howitzer manned by Union sailors  rowed up another fork of the creek where they found three schooners, apparently abandoned.

--Old B-R'er

George Henry Preble-- Part 8: Postwar Service and Death

After the war, Preble commanded the steamer USS State of Georgia and rescued 600 passengers from the wreck of the steamer Golden Rule.  From 1865 to 1868, he was at the Boston Navy Yard where he was promoted to captain March 16, 1867.  Then he commanded the screw steamer USS Pensacola until 1870.

Promoted to commodore in 1871 and commanded the Philadelphia Navy Yard 1873-1875.  Became rear admiral September 30, 1876, and retired in 1878.

He was a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (an organization of former Union officers) and in 1873 was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society.  He died in Boston, Massachusetts March 1, 1885 and is buried near his famous uncle at Eastern Cemetery in Portland, Maine.

--Old B-Runner

February 27, 1863: CSS Alabama Takes a Prize

FEBRUARY 27, 1863:  The CSS Alabama, Captain Semmes, captured and released on bond the ship Washington in the mid-Atlantic.  Semmes noted:  "She was obstinate, and compelled me to wet the people on her poop, by the spray of a shot, before she would acknowledge that she was beaten."

--Old B-Runner

George Henry Preble-- Part 7: Of Books, Documents and "The Star-Spangled Banner"

Preble was also a noted writer of naval and historical topics and collector of naval documents.  His extensive personal library of books and documents are in the George Henry Preble Collection at the Navy Department Library.

In 1868, he prepared a genealogical history of the Preble family which included a lot about his famous uncle Edward Preble and a defense of his actions that led to his dismissal from naval service.  In 1872, he published "A History of the American Flag.

At one time he also took care of the original "Star-Spangled Banner" that had flown over Fort McHenry in the War if 1812 and had it sewn to a piece of sailcloth to conserve it.  Plus, he also took the first photograph of it.

--Old B-R'er

George Henry Preble-- Part 6: The CSS Florida Makes Its Escape

Preble fired a 4th shot at the fleeing unknown vessel, but missed.  At that time the Florida lowered the English ensign it had been flying and made for the protection of Fort Morgan.  It was not until then that Preble was sure that the vessel he was after was Confederate.  It turned out to be the Confederate raider CSS Florida under command of John N. Maffitt.

A major reason the Florida escaped was that one of the Oneida's boilers was down.

During the chase, Preble had fired at the Florida for 29 minutes.

There were also reports of visibility issues as well.

After he was reinstated to naval service, Preble commanded the sailing sloop USS St. Louis.  Sad for him, though, while off Madeira, the CSS Florida again escaped from him.

That Doggone Florida.  --Old B-Runner

George Henry Preble-- Part 5: Chasing the CSS Florida

The Winona was not on station at the onset of the Florida chase as it had been sent out in a chase of a blockade runner.  It was returning as the Florida chase began.

One of Preble's Oneida's boilers was shut down for repairs so just one was in operation.  This significantly slowed Preble's ship.

Preble placed the Oneidai n front of the fast-moving Florida.  At 6 p.m., he ordered shots fired across the Florida's bow (still not knowing what kind of ship he was facing).  And then another across the unknown ship's forefoot.  All three shots were fired just as soon as the Florida was within range.

The Florida did not stop.

--Old B-R'er

The Rodgers-Perry Families-- Part 2: John Rodgers, Jr. Captured CSS Atlanta

Robert served in the U.S. Army during the Civil War as a major and later colonel of the 2nd Maryland Eastern Shore Infantry.

Two of Robert and Sarah Rodgers' sons were in he Navy.  Frederick Rodgers (1842-1917) served during the Civil War and afterwards rose to the rank of rear admiral and commanded the U.S. Asiatic Squadron.  John Augustus Rodgers became a rear admiral as well.

Robert Smith Rodgers' younger brother, John Rodgers Jr. (1812-1882) also served in the U.S. Navy.  During the Civil War, he served on ironclads and was commander in the capture of the Confederate ironclad CSS Atlanta.

Quite a Family.  --Old B-Runner

The Rodgers-Perry Families in American History-- Part 1: John Rodgers War of 1812 Hero

From the December 16, 2017, Cecil (Md) Whig "Rodgers-Perry:  Families linked heroes, historical figures" by Erika Sturgill.

Havre de Grace and Perryville, Maryland have a lot in common with these two families, the Rodgers and Perry.

Rodgers is a famous American name.  Commodore John Rodgers made a name for himself during the War of 1812.  His son, Robert Smith Rodgers was born in 1808 and served in the U.S. Army.  On December 15, 1841, he married Sarah Perry, daughter of Commodore Matthew C. Perry and niece of Battle of Lake Erie hero Oliver Hazard Perry, thus joining two famous American families.

They had an elaborate wedding ceremony at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

--Old B-Runner

George Henry Preble-- Part 4: In Defense of the CSS Florida Escape

However, Preble had his supporters in the incident.
Even the commander of the CSS Florida, John Newland Maffitt, testified that it was his ship's superior speed that enabled him to run into Mobile Bay.

Other Oneida officers testified that Preble had done no wrong.

The CSS Florida appeared around 5 p.m. on September 4, 1862, flying the ensign of an English warship to confuse the blockaders.  Preble was in command of the Mobile blockade at the time in  his USS Oneida along with the the USS Winona because the other blockading ships were away for repairs.  So instead of the usual six ships, there were just two.

--Old B-Runner

George Henry Preble-- Part 3: Confederate Cruiser Florida Eludes Him

George Preble commanded the steam gunboat USS Katahdin with Farragut on the Mississippi River.  Promoted to commander July 16, 1862, he was given command of the steam sloop Oneida blockading Mobile Bay, Alabama.

As a result, Preble was dismissed from the Union Navy

He received a lot of support for overturning the dismissal and he was reinstated.

--Old B-R'er

Remains of Clotilda Might Have Been Found-- Part 5

Sylvianne Diouf wrote a book on the Clotilda and her slaves "Dreams of Africa in Alabama" in 2007.

Timothy Meaher bought the Clotilda, a two-masted schooner, for $35,000 and hired William Foster to captain the ship to Africa with instructions to purchase 100 slaves for $9,000 in gold.  Once in Dahomey, he met with black African slave traders and made his purchases.

On the way back to the United States, the Clotilda survived a collision with a Portuguese warship that had given chase and a storm that destroyed a mast.

It Would Be Quite a Discovery If the Shipwreck Is the Clotilda.  --Old B-Runner

Remains of Last-Known Slave Ship Clotilda May Have Been Found-- Part 4

Later members of the Clotilda slaves bought land north of Mobile and created Africatown where some of the descendants still live.

In Africatown they spoke their native tongue, farmed the land using traditional African techniques and ran their own school.

The last of the original Clotilda slaves, Cudjoe Lewis died in 1935.

--Old B-Runner

Remains of Last-Known Slave Ship Clotilda May Have Been Discovered-- Part 3

It is known that the captain of the Clotilda burned it and sank it in 1860.

He had carried 110 slaves from the "Kingdom of Dahomey" modern-day Benin, Africa.  Slavery in the United States was still legal in 1860, but it was illegal to bring in new slaves and had been since 1808.

Wealthy plantation owner Timothy Meaher had made a bet that he could sneak slaves into the United States past the two federal forts protecting Mobile Bay (Forts Morgan and Gaines).

He won his bet and the human cargo was delivered.

The 110 slaves were freed five years later and they asked Meaher to pay their way back to Africa, but he refused.  They then appealed to the U.S. government to no avail either.

They Were Stuck.  --Old B-Runner

February 20, 1863: Schooner Captured

FEBRUARY 20, 1863:  The USS Crusader, Acting Master Thomas I. Andrews, captured the schooner General Taylor on Mobjack Bay, Virginia.

John M. Maffitt, later a famous Confederate Naval officer was its original commander.

--Old B-R'er

George Henry Preble-- Part 2: Life Leading Up to the Civil War

He was in the Seminole War in Florida in 1841, as well as on the USS St. Louis when it circumnavigated the world 1843-1845,  It landed the first American force ashore in China.  In the Mexican war, he participated in the capture of Alvarado, Veracruz and Tuxpan.

Preble became master in 1847 and lieutenant in 1847.  While serving on the USS St. Lawrence, he went with Commodore Matthew C. Perry to Japan in 1853 where he surveyed various Far Wast harbors.

After that he spent a period as a lighthouse inspector and at Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston and then was on the USS Narragansett from 1859-1861.

--Old B-Runner

George Henry Preble, USN-- Part 1: Wrote About Him In My Not So Forgotten Blog

From Wikipedia.

Last week, I wrote about his capturing a Chinese pirate's flag in battle back in the 1840s in my Not So Forgotten: War of 1812 blog.  He also was an officer in the Civil War.

February 25, 1816 to March 1, 1884

American naval officer and writer.  Notable for his book on the American flag and he took the first photograph of the Fort McHenry flag which inspired "The Star-Spangled Banner."  Wikipedia has the picture of the flag Preble took the photo of where you can get an idea of its size because of the soldier standing in front of it.

He was born in Portsmouth, Maine, to a seafaring family which included an uncle by the name of Commodore Edward Preble, famous for his Barbary Wars exploits.

George Preble entered the Navy as a midshipman December 10, 1835, and served on the War of 1812 ship, the frigate USS United States until 1838.

--Old B-R'er

Fort Fisher Sword a Humphrey Family Heirloom-- Part 2

Chris Fonvielle, associate professor of history at UNC-Wilmington calls it a rare B-Douglas sword made by B. Douglas & Co. and manufactured in Columbia, South Carolina.

The Humphrey family also has a map dating to 1864 showing the forts defending Wilmington.  On it Market Street is shown as Plank Road.  The Humphrey farm is also shown on it.

Many Humphreys are buried in Prospect Cemetery, located next to the old family farm.  It was once part of Prospect Methodist Church which closed in the 1930s and moved to Scott's Hill.

A Lot of History Here.  --Old B-Runner

Fort Fisher Sword a Humphrey Family Heirloom-- Part 1

From the January 7, 2018, Wilmington (NC) Star-News "Civil War sword a Humphrey family heirloom" by Justin Pope.

According to Bill Humphrey, a Union soldier got a Confederate sword during the fighting at Fort Fisher.  After its fall, Union soldiers came into New Hanover County.  His ancestors had a farm near present-day Market Street and Military Cutoff Road in Wilmington.

A fight ensued and the Union soldier dropped the sword and a Humphrey retained it.

The only identification on it are the letters "CS."

--Old B-Runner

Remains of Slave Ship Clotilda May Have Been Found-- Part 2

No definite item has been found to prove without a doubt that the wreck is indeed that of the Clotilda, but the wreck itself dates to the mid-1800s judging from the architecture of it.and has the features of a typical Gulf Coast schooners that were used to haul lumber and heavy cargoes.  The Clotilda was built in 1852 and was a Gulf Coast schooner.

The slave owners are known to have burned the ship at the conclusion of the voyage from Africa to hide the evidence of what they had done.  There is evidence that the wreck had been burned.

A team of archaeologists from West Florida University are investigating the shipwreck.

At this point, they are just looking at what they see above the water and mud.  Many permits are needed to actually begin a dig at the site.

Accounts published in the past have misnamed the ship as the Clotilde, but it is the Clotilda.

Most Likely, It Is the Clotilda.  --Old B-Runner

Wreck of Alabama Ship Might be Last American Slave Ship-- Part 1

From AL.com  "Wreck found by reporter may be last American slave ship, archaeologists say" by Ben Raines.

Using historical records and accounts from old-timers, the long lost wreck of the Clotilda may have been found.  It is thought to be the very last slave ship to bring its human cargo to the  United States in 1860.

The remains were found partially buried in mud alongside an island in the lower Mobile-Tensaw Delta, a few miles north of the city of Mobile.  They were exposed by the recent low tides brought on by the same weather system that brought the "Bomb Cyclone" to the U.S. east coast.

The site is accessible only by boat.

The USS Niphon and Blockade Runner Condor

On the night of 29 September 1864, the USS Niphon fired on the blockade runner Night Hawk and observed her go aground by Fort Fisher.  A boat crew led by Acting Ensign Semon boarded it under the fire of Fort Fisher, set her afire and brought off its crew as prisoners.

The Niphon was largely responsible for the Condor running ashore but unable to board it because of gunfire from Fort Fisher.

It is usually thought the Condor ran aground because it mistook the wreck of the Night Hawk for a Union blockading ship.

--Old B-Runner

Blockade Runner Condor

**  The commander of the Condor was Captain Hewett.

**  It was built by Randolph,  Elder & Co. who built five ships: Ptarmigan, Flamingo, Falco(n),  Evelyn and Condor.

**  You Tube has a video of the shipwreck.

**  The Condor had three funnels.

**  There is also a You Tube animated video of the ship's sinking well worth watching.

--Old B-Runner

The Condor and "The Wild Rose of the Confederacy"

The Condor was one of five Falcon Class steamers built on the Clyde River in Glasgow, Scotland specifically to run the blockade.  On its maiden voyage, it ran aground and was lost on the night of October 1, 1864, in front of Fort Fisher.

Noted Confederate spy Rose O'Neal Greenhow was on board and returning from England where she had been raising funds for the Confederacy.  She feared she'd be captured and executed and insisted she be rowed to shore despite being advised not to do so by the ship's captain and officers.

A volunteer crew attempted to get her ashore, but waves capsized the boat and she drowned.  She was buried in Wilmington's Oakdale Cemetery.  Her grave is often marked with flowers and a Confederate flag in homage to "The Wild Rose of the Confederacy."

The rest of the Condor's crew rowed ashore the following day, including a Newfoundland puppy belonging to the ship's pilot, Thomas Brinkman.

--Old B-Runner

February 13, 1863: USS Indianola Steams Past Vicksburg: Orders to Pay Visit to "Jeff Davis' Plantation"

FEBRUARY 13, 1863:  The USS Indianola, Lieutenant Commander George Brown, ran past the batteries at Vicksburg to join the USS Queen of the West in blockading the Red River.  Rear Admiral Porter's instructions to Brown added:  "Go to Jeff Davis' plantation load up with all the cotton you can find and the best single male Negroes."

Towing two barges filled with coal, the Indaianola steamed slowly past the upper batteries of Vicksburg undetected.    Abreast the point, Indianola was sighted and a heavy fire opened upon her without effect."

A Little "Something" for Jeff Davis.  --Old B-Runner

Joseph Brown and His Ironclads

From the Strategy Page Book Review  "Joseph Brown and His Civil War Ironclads: The USS Chillicothe, Indianola and Tuscumbia"  by Myron J. Smith, Jr..

Smith also wrote "Civil War Biography from the Western Waters, the Timberclads in the Civil War."

This is the first biography to be written on Joseph Brown (1823-1899) and his role in the creation of the Union's Riverine fleet.

Brown was a Scottish immigrant who became a steamboat captain and self-taught naval architect and engineer.  He was also an abolitionist, entrepreneur and politician.

Today, however, he is largely forgotten despite having designed and building the USS Chillicothe, Indainaola and Tuscumbia.  There is a chapter on each of the three ships in his book.

Brown also converted some 55 ships of all types into "tin-clads,"  lightly protected gunboats.  There are also accounts of the performance of his ships at Fort Donelson, Island No. 10, Fort Pillow and the Gulf.

--Old B-Runner

N.C. Timeline, February 1863-- Part 2

12-13--  Expedition from Batchelder's Creek.

13--  Skirmish at Sandy Ridge.

13--  Skirmish near Washington.

14--  Reconnaissance of Shallotte and Little River Inlets.

25--  Engagement between USS Monticello and Fort Caswell.

27--   Skirmish at New Bern

--Old B-Runner

N.C. Timeline: February 1863-- Part 1

From N.C. Sesquicentennial Timeline.

Most of these events take place in the eastern part of the state.

FEBRUARY--  Yadkin County militia battle Unionist bushwhackers at a schoolhouse near Yadkinville.  (West)

1-10--  Expedition from New Bern to Plymouth.

2--  Destruction of salt works at Wale's Head, Currituck Beach.

7.  Skirmish near Edenton.

10.  Skirmish at Batchelder's Creek.

--Old B-Runner

February 7, 1863: CSS Tuscaloosa and CSS Huntsville Launched

FEBRUARY 7TH, 1863:  Commander Ebenezer Farrand, CSN,  reported to Governor  John G. Shorter of Alabama the successful launching of ironclads CSS Tuscaloosa and Huntsville at Selma, "amid  enthusiastic cheering."  Both warships were taken to Mobile.

--Old B-Runner

Play It Safe, Stay Off Fort Fisher's "Rocks"-- Part 2

"The Rocks" is a man-made rock jetty crossing the former channel of New Inlet from the tip of Federal Point (Confederate Point during the war).  It was Fort Fisher's job to protect blockade runners using it and to keep the Union ships at bay.

It is topped by aging concrete and is a favorite site for fishermen, locals, tourists and crabbers.  However, in many places there are gaping holes revealing the rocks and further out the concrete topping gives way to sharp-edged algae covered rocks.  Very slippery and dangerous.

Rising tides periodically strand walkers on it.

I haven't been a long distance on it, but the part near the shore has those gaping holes.

--Old B-Runner