Confederate Navy Officers: Richard Fielder Armstrong (At Fort Fisher)

Born in Georgia.  Appointed from Georgia.

Resigned as Acting Midshipman, U.S. Navy, January 30, 1861.

Midshipman April 17, 1861.

Acting master September 24, 1861.

Lieutenant for the war, February 8, 1862.

Second lieutenant, October 23, 1862, to rank from October 2, 1862.

First lieutenant Provisional Navy, June 2, 1864, to rank from  January 6, 1864

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Served on the CSS Sumter 1861-1862.  (He probably would have been there when J.T. Hester murdered William Andrews.)

CSS Alabama, 1864

Assisted in the defense of Battery Buchanan in the Union attack of Fort Fisher, December 23-25, 1864; gallant conduct commended.

--Old B-Runner

USCSS Walker Commanders-- Part &: Alban C. Stimers, Chief Engineer of the U.S. Navy During the Civil War

As this list of the USCSS Robert J. Walker shows,  as an early steamer in the service of the U.S. Government, the ship served as a training platform for  a number of officers eager to learn the operation of steamships at a time when there was not enough of such vessels to go around for all those with the desire to learn their operation.

Among those assigned to the Walker by the U.S. Navy was Alban C. Stimers, a 25-year-old second engineer attached to the ship  on November 18, 1852.  Stimers rose rapidly in naval ranks and during the Civil War served as the Chief Engineer of the U.S. Navy.

He played a major role in working with John Ericsson on the construction of the USS Monitor, and sailed with the ironclad, although not a member of the crew,  on its famous voyage south in 1862 and the resulting battle with the CSS Virginia, the former USS Merrimac.

--Old B-Runner

USCSS Walker Commanders-- Pt. 6 Benjamin Franklin Sands-- Part 2: Distinguished Service

Benjamin Sands commanded the ship until 1857 and spent much of the remaining time mapping the Gulf Coast of the United States.

During this time, he wrote:

"I was engaged  upon this interesting hydrographic work in  the Gulf of Mexico, the fields of my especial  surveys being the Florida Keys and the west coast of that state, including Cedar Keys, Tampa Bay and Pensacola Harbor, thence west, taking in the Bay of Biloxi, Chaudeleur  Sound, the Deltas of the Mississippi, and  the westward thereof, including Atchafalaya Bay and Sabine Pass on the Texas Coast."

Sands and his crew also plotted portions of the Gulf Stream from Florida to Cape Hatteras in 1855, which was of key interest to  Superintendent  Bache.

Benjamin Sands, like his predecessors, enjoyed a prominent career that included early Coast Survey duty in the 180s and early 1840s and service in the Gulf of Mexico during the Mexican War.

He served with distinction on post-Mexican War Coast Survey duty, including his time on the Walker.  Sands' Civil War service was as  a captain on blockade squadron duty on the Atlantic and Gulf (and he was at both Battles of Fort Fisher).  He also was appointed  Superintendent of the  U.S. Naval Observatory.

In 1871, he was appointed rear admiral.

--Old B-Runner

USCSS Walker Officers- Pt. 5: Benjamin Franklin Sands-- Part 1

The next commanding officer of the Walker after Lee was Benjamin Franklin  Sands (1811-1883).  he commanded the Walker longer than anyone.

Sands' autobiography says he took command in 1851 in Mobile, Alabama, and commenced   surveys along the Gulf Coast between Pensacola and the mouth of the Mississippi River.  After that, he took the Walker to Hampton Roads, Virginia, and then to Baltimore , where the ship was laid up.

He and his crew then continued working the local waters in two smaller  coastal schooners.

When the Walker was put back into commission in December 1852,  Sands took the steamer back to the Gulf of Mexico, where he continued command  through 1857.

--Old B-Runner

Officers of CS Ship Robert Walker-- Part 5: Samuel Phillips Lee

SAMUEL PHILLIPS LEE

The USCSS Robert J. walker's next commander was Samuel Phillips Lee (1812-1897).

He also rose to, positions of prominence in naval rank as a Civil War rear admiral.  H commanded the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron for a long time, during which he became very rich with his cut of the prize money from captured blockade runners.

Also, he commanded the Mississippi Squadron and the postwar North Atlantic  Squadron of the U.S. Navy.

He was born in Virginia and was the grandson of Richard Henry Lee and third cousin to Robert E. Lee.  Even so, he continued to serve in the U.S. Navy.

--Old B-Runner

Officers USCSS Walker-- Part 4: James Alden

JAMES ALDEN

Carlile Patterson was followed by Lieutenant James Alden (1810-1877), a promising naval officer who had been on the  Wilkes Expedition,  on board the USS Constitution during a global voyage and the Mexican War where he served withy the Home Squadron off Mexico.

Detached for Coast Survey duty from the summer of 1849 through late winter  1851, Alden commanded  the steamer John Y. Mason and then  the Walker.

After the Walker, he went on to command the Pacific Coast-based USCSS Active until 1860.

A distinguished Civil War career saw Alden promoted  to captain and then commodore. He was also at the two Battles of Fort Fisher.

 Postwar, he served as  a rear admiral  commanding the European Fleet of the U.S. Navy.

--Old B-Runner

Officers of USCSS Robert J. Walker-- Part 3: Carlile Patterson

Lieutenant (Commanding) Carlile P. Patterson (1816-1881) was the Walker's first  Coast Survey commanding officer, assuming his post in Mobile from Captain Evans of he Revenue Marine.

Patterson served with the Coast Survey with distinction as a naval officer on detached service, and commanded the Survey's first ship in the Gulf of Mexico, the schooner  Phoenix, in 1845.

After commanding the Walker, Patterson resigned and headed into merchant service with the Pacific Mail Steamship Company commanding the vessels Oregon and Golden Gate on their regular  voyages from Panama  to San Francisco from 1849 to 1853.  He was in command of the PMSSC Oregon when it brought news that California had been admitted to the Union.

Patterson remained in the West until 1861 with his family.  Returning east when the Civil War started he rejoined the Coast Survey and in 1874, became its Superintendent, a post he held until his death.

--Old B-Runner

Many Notable Officers Assigned to Coast Survey-- Part 2: Porter, Lee, Rodgers, Maffitt and Ammen

Some of the the U.S. officers who served on the Coast Survey ships who went on to achieve greater fame in the Civil War were David Dixon Porter, John Rodgers, Samuel Philips Lee, C.R.P. Rodgers, Thornton Jenkins, Daniel Ammen, C.H. McBlair and Alban Stimers.

Also, John N. Maffitt, who would later gain fame for commanding the CSS Florida and several blockade runners, was ordered to the Coast Survey in 1842, where he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in 1843 and went on to serve fourteen years   in the hydrographic survey.  He surveyed Nantucket, Massachusetts; Wilmington, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia.  A channel in Charleston Harbor still bears his name.

These and others served on the Coast Survey's steamships.

These ships became an intrinsic part  of great national  endeavors driven by  remarkable changes in transportation  technology, new insights in science of the United States coastline in the first half of the 19th century.

--Old B-Runner

MCCWRT Discussion Group This Saturday: Civil War Ironclads

The McHenry County Civil War Round Table's discussion group will meet this coming Saturday, May 22, 2021, at the Panera Bread in Crystal Lake, Illinois, at 10 a.m..

The topic will be Civil War Ironclads.  Anything dealing with the naval aspect of the war is my favorite, so I will really be looking forward to this one.

It is so nice to start having in person meetings again after all this time.

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Plus, the next regular McHenry County Civil War Round Table meeting will be held in person for the first time since March 2020.

It will be held June 8, 2021,  at the McHenry County  Historical Society Museum in Union, Illinois. where we will have a presentation by Bruce  Allardice on "Poltroons, Patriots and Politicians:  Civil War Generals."

Everyone's Welcome.  --Old B-Runner

Many Notable Naval Officers Assigned to the USCSS Robert J. Walker-- Part 1: It's the Experience

From the NOAA  National Marine Sanctuaries "Rediscovering the Robert J. Walker: Some notable officers assigned to the  Robert J. Walker."

In a mutually  beneficial arrangement, naval officers were assigned  to the Coast Survey before the Civil War.  This afforded early  command opportunities  for these officers  as well as training them in aspects of navigation, carting, inshore piloting and other naval skills.

With the addition of steam vessels, the Coast Survey became even more desirable as a training ground.

For many naval officers attached to the Coast Survey at this time, this was  their first experience on steam vessels, preparing them for the upcoming conflict.

The commanding officers of these vessels (and the Walker as well)  reads like a "Who's Who" of Civil War fame.

--Old B-R'er

USCSS Robert J. Walker-- Part 6: Discovery of the Wreck

A commercial fisherman found the wreck of the Walker in the 1970s, located  10 nautical miles off the coast of New Jersey in 85 feet of water.  Divers have visited the wreck on a regular bases since then.  But, it  remained unidentified until 2013 when NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) announced  that a positive identification had been made.

On June 21, 2013, the NOAA research ship NOASS  Thomas Jefferson, operating in the area to conduct hydrographic surveys for navigation after Hurricane Sandy, held a wreath -tossing ceremony in the general area of the wreck of the Robert J. Walker to honor its dead on the 153rd anniversary of its sinking.  It was the first commemorative ceremony ever held for them.

The Jefferson then collected survey data using multibeam sonar and sidescan sonar later on that day that established with 80% certainty the identity and location of the wreck.

A NOAA dive team, also in the area for post-Hurricane Sandy operations,  confirmed the wreck's identity on 23 June 2013.  The NOAA used  several key clues to confirm  the identity of the ship, including the size and layout of the iron hull, unique engines, and rectangular portholes.

The NOAA has no plans to raise the wreck, make it a sanctuary, or limit diving on it, but does plan to work with the New Jersey diving community to increase understanding of the wreck.

--Old B-Runner

USCSS Robert J. Walker-- Part 5: Loss

That loss of 20 men was the greatest disaster ever suffered by any of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric  Administration (NOAA).

The commercial schooner R.G. Porter came to the Walker's assistance, recovered her survivors, searched for missing men and  brought the survivors to May's Landing, New Jersey.  Later that day, the Fanny, the schooner that caused the accident, arrived at  Cape May, New Jersey with damage consistent with a collision.

With the Civil War approaching, no inquiry was made into the loss of the Walker.  The Coast Survey did not pursue the Fanny's  presumed culpability in the incident.  No official ceremony was held to honor the lost men.

--Old B-Runner

USCSS Robert J. Walker-- Part 4: Some More Facts and Loss

TYPE OF SHIP:  Survey ship

LENGTH:  133 feet

BEAM:  31 feet

DRAFT:  9 feet 3 inches

PROPULSION:   steam engine, sidewheel

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LOSS

Early on the morning of  21 June 1860, the Robert J. Walker had completed her most recent  hydrographic survey work and was bound from Norfolk, Virginia, to New York City in rough seas and a crew of 72 and the wife of the executive officer aboard.  At 02:20, a commercial schooner , identified as the  Fanny by the Robert J. walker's crew, collided with her.

The Walker sank  in less than 30 minutes off the coast of New Jersey about 12 nautical miles southeast of the Absecon  Inlet Light, with a loss of 20 men.

--Old B-Runner

USCSS Robert J. Walker-- Part 3: Just the Facts

JUST THE FACTS

NAMESAKE:  Robert J. Walker

United States Senator from Mississippi (1836-1845)

Secretary of the Treasury (1845-1849)

Governor of Kansas Territory (1857)

BUILDER:  Joseph Tomlinson, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

COMPLETED:  1844  (Intended as U.S. Revenue Service cutter, but turned down.)

ACQUIRED:  1848

 IN SERVICE:  1848

FATE: Sunk in collision 21 June 1860

--Old B-Runner

USCSS Robert J. Walker-- Part 2: Work Surveying Mobile Bay and the Gulf Coast

The Walker's first  operations involved surveying the waters of Mobile Bay in 1848.  Her first commanding officer, Carlile P. Patterson, reported that year on her performance and capabilities  with those of sailing ships.

The 1850s were spent charting the waters of the United States Gulf Coast.  

Two men died in 1852 because of disease along the coast.

On the night of 20 January  1858, the Robert J. Walker was at Pensacola, Florida, when a major fire broke out at the Army's Fort Pickens.  Her men and boats, along with  the hydrographic party of the Coast Survey ship USCS Varina, promptly assisted in fighting the fire.

The next day, communication came from Pensacola's commander, Army Captain John Newton of the Army Corps of Engineers, acknowledging the important role the Walker had provided in fighting the fire. 

--Old B-Runner

USCSS Robert J. Walker (1844)-- Part 1: Coast Survey Ship

From Wikipedia

John Julius Guthrie also served on this ship before the Civil War according to one source I found.  But, in addition, it was amazing how many naval officers who gained fame during the Civil War also were on this ship.

The USCS  Robert J. Walker was a survey ship that served  in the United States  Coast Survey, a predecessor of  the United States Coast and Geodetic  Survey, from  1848 until its sinking in 1860 after a collision at sea.  Her loss resulted in the loss of twenty men, the greatest loss of life in a single incident to ever befall the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or any of its ancestor agencies.

The Robert J. Walker was a sidewheel steamer built in 1844 by Joseph Tomlinson at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as one of the U.S. government's  first iron-hulled  steamers.  She was among   eight steamers originally intended for the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, but the Revenue Service decided that steamers were too expensive to maintain and operate, and she instead entered Coast Survey service in 1848.

--Old B-Runner

John Julius Guthrie, Jr.-- Part 2: Service in Western Waters, Capture and Exchanged

Ordered to the New Orleans naval station, he was promoted to the rank of acting master  on October 21 and sent aboard the General Polk.

In March, he transferred to the floating battery New Orleans, under the command of his father at Island No. 10.  (So John J. Guthrie commanded the ship and had his two sons with him as well.)

After the fall of Island No. 10 on April 8,  Guthrie was captured and sent to the Union POW camp at Johnson's Island in Lake Erie.

Exchanged in October, he served at the Richmond and Wilmington naval stations and finished the war at Montgomery, Alabama.

After the war, he returned to Norfolk County, Virginia, and farmed.

--Old B-Runner

John Julius Guthrie, Jr.-- Part 1: Son of John J. Guthrie and Brother of B.W. Guthrie, CSN

From "Civil War Biographies from Western Waters" by Myron J. Smith, Jr..

JOHN JULIUS GUTHRIE, JR.

(1844, Portsmouth, Virginia-  December 3, 1903, Norfolk County, Virginia.)

Confederate States Navy

Son of John Julius Guthrie and brother of Benjamin Wilburne  Guthrie.

This D.C. resident (District of Columbia?) was appointed an acting US Navy  midshipman in the fall of  1859, and was sent  to the USNA the following summer.

Following the opening of he Civil War in April 1861, Guthrie resigned from the Federal service and was appointed a  Confederate States Navy master's mate on September 26, 1861.

--Old B-Runner

John J. Guthrie's Resignation and Dismissal from U.S. Navy

From Naval History and Heritage Command "Officers List."  Those who resigned from U.S. Navy in 1861.  

Name and Rank:  JOHN J. GUTHRIE, Lieutenant

Date of Tender of Resignation:  ? July 1861

Date of Letter of Dismissal:  July 15, 1861

Some of the lieutenant names that I recognized for  their Confederate service:

George J. Sinclair

Isaac N. Brown

James J. Waddell

John Wilkinson

--Old B-R'er

Benjamin W. Guthrie and John Julius Guthrie, Jr.

From Find-A-Grave.

BENJAMIN WILBURNE GUTHRIE

BIRTH:  1841, Washington, North Carolina

DEATH:  21 May 1895,  (aged 53-54), New York City, NY.

BURIAL:  CEDAR GROVE CEMETERY, Portsmouth, Virginia Plot 4 297

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JOHN JULIUS GUTHRIE, JR.

BIRTH:  1844, Portsmouth, Virginia

DEATH:  3 December 1903 ( aged 58-59), Portsmouth City, Virginia

BURIAL:  CEDAR GROVE CEMETERY, Portsmouth City, Virginia  PLOT 4 297

--Old B-Runner

Benjamin W. Guthrie-- Part 2: Service on the Mississippi River and Wilmington and Charleston Squadrons.

At New Orleans. B.W. joined his relatives aboard the CSS Red Rover, which, in March 1862, towed the floating battery New Orleans  to Island No. 10.  There, he managed to escape frim he New Orleans before it was captured in early April.

He then returned east and served with the Wilmington, North Carolina Squadron and later the Charleston Squadron in South Carolina.

Following the conflict, Benjamin Guthrie moved to New York City  where he worked as a manufacturer's representative for a wallpaper concern.

--Old B-Runner

Benjamin Wilburne Guthrie, John J. Guthrie's Son-- Part 1

At one point earlier in my research on John J. Guthrie, I was wondering if this Confederate Navy officer was the son of John.  He was.

From "Civil War Biographies on Western Waters" by Myron J. Smith.

GUTHRIE, BENJAMIN WILBURNE 

Born (ca 1841) in Washington, North Carolina  Died New York City May 21, 1895.

CSA /  CSN

The son of John Julius Guthrie and brother of John Julius Guthrie, Jr.. 

Benjamin moved to Portsmouth, Virginia, with his family  before he was five.  Following the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, he enlisted in Company K. of the 9th Virginia Infantry on August 31, 1861.

After he was offered  an appointment  as a CSN master on February 24 and the opportunity to serve with his father and brother in western waters, he transferred from the infantry three days later.

--Old B-Runner

John J. Guthrie-- Part 4: After the War

At the conclusion of the war, Guthrie moved to Portsmouth, Virginia,  where, later in the year, he became  the first Confederate States Navy  officer who had resigned from the U.S. Navy, to be pardoned by President Andrew Johnson and had his "disabilities" restored by act of Congress.  (I'm not exactly sure what the "disabilities" here means.)

President U.S. Grant appointed Guthrie paymaster and superintendent of the Life Saving Service's lifesaving stations between  Cape Henry and Cape Hatteras.

He died a hero when he was drowned while attempting  to rescue crewmen from  the steamer USS Huron, which had run aground off Nag's Head, North Carolina.

By a strange twist of fate, the wreck and his death occurred near the spot where  Guthrie's maternal grandfather, Captain William MacDaniel, had perished  years before.

--Old B-Runner

John J. Guthrie-- Part 3: CSS Chattahoochee, Blockade Runner Advance and CSS Albemarle

The previous commander of the CSS Arkansas, William McBlair? and John Guthrie were detached from the Arkansas and ordered to the east.

Following his removal from the CSS Arkansas project at Yazoo City (Greenwood, Ms.)  Guthrie served at the Richmond and Wilmington naval stations.

On February 4, 1863, he was posted to Chattahoochee, Florida, and commanded the CSS Chattahoochee.  Following the boiler explosion aboard on May 27, 1863, he commanded the initial voyage of the North Carolina state-owned  blockade runner A.D. Vance (also known as the Advance) in February 1864.

Guthrie was then sent  to superintend the Halifax, North Carolina, Navy Yard, where he assisted with the material requirements of then famed ironclad CSS Albemarle.

After the loss of the Albemarle to William Cushing's famed "torpedo," he returned to blockade running.  On March  23, 1865, he was appointed military aide to North Carolina governor Zebulon  B. Vance.

--Old B-R'er

John Julius Guthrie Biography-- Part 2: Early Service in Confederate Navy, New Orleans to Island No. 10 and CSS Arkansas

Upon returning to the United States, Guthrie  found out that his home state had joined the Confederacy and now he had to chose which side to serve.  Despite  a plea from a good friend, Captain Andrew H. Foote, he resigned his Federal commission  and was appointed a CSN lieutenant  on July 13, 1861.

Posted to New Orleans, on November 7, he was given command of the steamer CSS Red Rover (which was captured and turned into the Union hospital ship USS Red Rover).  On December 11, he also assumed command of the floating battery New Orleans, formerly the Pelican drydock.

Early in March 1862, he took both vessels up to Island No. 10, but once there was detached from them and sent to Memphis to assist in the outfitting of the new Confederate ironclad ram CSS Arkansas.  To prevent her capture, the Arkansas was moved up the Yazoo River to Greenwood, Mississippi, but then very little more work was done on her until early May when the dynamic Lt. Isaac Newton Brown was ordered to make her ready for battle.

John Guthrie and the ship's commander, William McBlair were transferred elsewhere.

--Old B-Runner