J.R.M. Mullany, USN--Part 2: Commanding the USS Bienville and USS Oneida

Prior to the Civil War, Mullany served at sea in almost every part of the globe.

From January until March, 1861, he served on the frigate USS Sabine in the protection of Fort Pickens in Pensacola, Florida.  In April and May of that year, he was in command of the gunboat USS Wyandotte and occupied a position in Pensacola in the rear of Fort Pickens, which was at the time under serious threat of attack.  He also assisted in re-enforcing the fort on April 12, 1861.

He was commissioned commander, 18 October 1861, and assigned to the USS Bienville in the North Atlantic and  West Gulf Squadrons where he remained until April 1862 until May 1865.  Much of that

When Farragut proposed to attack Mobile Bay, Mullany volunteered his services, but Farragut did not consider the Bienville as fit to engage the forts, he was given the command of the steamer USS Oneida. time, he was under threat of enemy fire.

The Oneida was lashed to the former ironclad USS Galena on the side toward Fort Morgan and at the end of the line of ships passing that fort on 5 August 1864.  As such, it was exposed to a very destructive fire from the fort,

Later, the Oneida engaged the Confederate ram CSS Tennessee which was able to rake the wooden ship with its cannons, causing even more damage.

--Old B-Runner

J.R.M. Mullany, USN-- Part 1: Gridley's Commander at the Battle of Mobile Bay

The commander of the USS Oneida, on which eight men received Medals of Honor and Charles Gridley received highest accolades at the Battle of Mobile Bay was this man.

I had never heard of him before so did some research.

From the USS Mullany site.

The USS Mullany (DD-528)was a Fletcher-class destroyer that served in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1971 when it was sold to Taiwan.  It was the second ship named  for  Rear Admiral  James Robert Madison Mullany.

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James Robert Madison Mullany was a U.S. Navy officer born in New York City on 26 October  1818 and died  in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania on 17 September 1887.

He was the son of  Colonel James R. Mullany, Quarter Master general of the U.S. Army and entered the Navy as a midshipman from New Jersey, 7 January 1832.

He was promoted passed midshipman on 23 June 1838, and lieutenant 29 February 1844.

Mullany was actively engaged in the Mexican War and took part in the capture of  Tobasco in June 1847.

--Old B-Runner

Some More on Charles V. Gridley-- Part 2: Service at the Battle of Mobile Bay

During the Battle of Mobile Bay, Gridley was placed  all of the way forward on the USS Oneida, where he could watch the channel for  mines and gave steering directions to   the ship's commander,  Cmdr.  J.R.M. Mullany.  During the action,  the Oneida had eight men killed and thirty wounded, including its commander.

Though a shell hit close to Gridley, he was unscathed.

The Oneida was lashed to the USS Galena and in the rear of the line of battle and came under fire of both Fort Morgan and the Confederate ram CSS Tennessee.  One shot in particular did heavy damage to the Oneida and wounded its commander in several places, causing the amputation of his left arm.

His commanding officer was highly pleased with his actions and wrote:  "The conduct of Acting Ensign  C.V. Gridley is beyond all praise.  He had charge of the  master's division and assisted  in conning the ship from the topgallant forecastle."

Following the war, Gridley was detailed to transport a group of Confederate  prisoners to Texas who had accepted the option of going into exile in Mexico.  On arriving, it was found that the former Confederates would have no way of continuing south, as the bridges across the Rio Grande had been destroyed.  In spite of their being former enemies, Gridley did not abandon his passengers.  he took it upon himself to transport them  across to Mexico.

I am writing about him in my Cooter's History Thing blog right now and continuing with his service in the U.S. Navy after the Civil War.

--Old B-R'er

Some More on Charles V. Gridley-- Part 1

Back in June, I was writing about Charles V. Gridley and his service in the United States Navy, including the Civil War.  He was probably most famous as being the recipient of George Dewey's command, "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley." at the Battle of Manila Bay which was a huge American victory during the Spanish-American War.

I have come across some more information on his Civil War service and will include it here.

From "The Spanish-American War Centennial Website, Capt. Charles V. "Steve" Gridley.

He was just 16 when appointed to the USNA and graduated in 1864 in the bottom half of his class, which also included future notables Robley Evans and  Charles Sigsbee (who was in command of the USS Maine when it blew up in Havana Harbor).  Both of these men were at the Battles of Fort Fisher.

His first assignment was on the USS Oneida in Farragut's fleet where he got his baptism of fire at the Battle of Mobile Bay.  He would not  experience such a large action again for thirty-four years, at Manila Bay.

--Old B-Runner

Fort Jackson Mutiny-- Part 9

**  The men in the seven units  who did not want a parole (which meant if they took it and were exchanged they'd have to return to Confederate service) were offered  an opportunity  to sign an oath of future allegiance to the United States as an alternative to being sent to prison and many signed the oath.

**  Many of them eventually joined  the Union Army.

Again, there is not much information available as far as this mutiny is concerned.

--Old B-Runner

Fort Jackson Mutiny Facts-- Part 8: Parole or Not to Parole?

**  The Confederates troops drew up on Fort Jackson's grounds the night of the mutiny and demanded to surrender to nearby Union troops.

**  Those troops involved in the mutiny were largely foreign or northern-born and did not have a strong attachment to o love of the Know-Nothing Party or government of New Orleans.

**  They did not have a strong attachment to  to Confederate goals as did they native-born Southerners.

**  The experience of having been working class men in New Orleans and accustomed to organizing to go on strike when not being paid was also a factor.

**  Choosing to mutiny on the first night there were nearby Union troops suggests that they preferred the Union.

**  After the officers surrendered the forts on April 28, 1862,  all were offered a parole.

**  All the officers and enlisted men of the one non-New Orleans unit swore to not fight until am exchange could be arranged, and then  they would fight for the Confederacy again.

**  The other seven units had many men who did not want a parole, for that would eventually mean they would have to return to Confederate service.

--Old B-Runner

Fort Jackson Mutiny Facts-- Part 7: Conditions at the Fort

Some other things presented by Michael Pierson for the mutiny:

**  Unpleasant conditions at the fort

**  A week of mortar fire

**  A night of heavy direct fire when the Union fleet ran past the forts

**  A alleged lack of food in the fort

**  A conviction that it was useless to continue fighting once the Union fleet reached New Orleans

**  Pierson has also found that the mutineers may have had Unionist goals

**  The mutiny was well organized

**  The mutineers were able to deceive officers until ready to act

--Old B-Runner

Fort Jackson Mutiny Facts-- Part 6: How Long Could Farragut Wait for the Troops Necessary to Occupy and Control New Orleans?

**  In order to actually occupy New Orleans, Farragut needed the Unions soldiers on the troop ships which had not run past the forts.  They could not run past the forts on their own.

**  Without the troops, the mayor of New Orleans and the "Mob" controlled the streets and left the mayor the ability to refuse the surrender of the city.

**  This left Farragut with the option of bombarding the city, awaiting the capture of the forts or withdrawing to south of the forts.

**  The forts still had six weeks worth of food.

**   Neither the mortar attacks or broadsides form Farragut's ships had significantly damaged Fort Jackson's defensive works.

**  If the forts held out for six weeks, Farragut may have had to retreat back down the river.

** It was the mutiny at Fort Jackson on the night of April 27 and the refusal to fight any longer of the rest of the fort's garrison the following morning (except one  unit raised in a plantation parish), along with lack of Fort St. Philip would fight that enabled Farragut to bring the troops upriver to New Orleans and land sufficient troops to control the city streets.

--Old B-Runner

Fort Jackson Mutiny-- Part 5: The Facts According to Pierson

H-Net Review of Michael Pierson's book Mutiny at Fort Jackson: The Untold Story of the Fall of New Orleans" by Judith Gentry.

Again, I have not found any articles on the Confederate mutiny other than Pierson's book.

These are some points his book made:

**  Joblessness and poverty coerced poorer immigrants to volunteer their service in the Confederate military. This had nothing to do with their love of the Confederacy.

**  By September, the "Mob" of New Orleans had coerced military-age men to join local units of the state militia.

**  In the emergency of February and March 1862, when Farragut's ships entered the lower Mississippi River, several of the militia units were organized  into units of the Confederate army and placed on ships that carried them down the river to Forts Jackson and St. Philip.

**  Pierson argues that the importance of the mutiny at Fort Jackson has been underestimated.

**  Farragut's run past the forts and appearance at New Orleans on April 25 did not result in the occupation of New Orleans right away.

--Old B-Runner

Fort Jackson Mutiny-- Part 4: An Immigrant Thing

The mutineers were soldiers primarily recruited from New Orleans'  large German and Irish immigrant populations.  Pierson shows that  the new nation (the Confederacy)  had done nothing to encourage poor white men to feel they had aa place of honor in the new  Southern Republic.

He  argues that the mutineers actively  sought to help the Union cause.  In a major reassessment of the Union administration of New Orleans that followed, Pierson  demonstrates that Union general Benjamin Butler enjoyed the support of  many white Unionists in the city.

Pierson adds  an urban working-class element to debates over the effects of  white Unionists in Confederate states.  With the personal stories o soldiers appearing throughout the book, "Mutiny at Fort Jackson" presents the Civil War from a different perspective, revealing the complexities of New Orleans society and the Confederate experience.

--Old B-Runner

Fort Jackson Mutiny-- Part 3: So, Why Was There a Mutiny?

I was unable to find an article in Wikipedia about the Confederate mutiny.

This is from a review of the book "Mutiny at Fort Jackson:  The Untold Story of the Fall of New Orleans" by Michael  D. Pierson from Good Reads.

New Orleans was the largest city -- and one of the richest -- in the Confederacy. protected in part by Fort Jackson. which was 65 miles down the Mississippi River from it.

On April 27, 1862, Confederate soldiers at Fort Jackson rose up against their commanding officers.  Farragut's fleet had already run past Fort Jackson and its sister fort, Fort St. Philip, so New Orleans was essentially now defenseless.  New Orleans fell soon afterwards.

Although the Fort Jackson mutiny marked a critical turning point in the Union's campaign to regain control of  this vital Confederate financial and industrial center, it has received surprisingly little attention from historians.  Michael Pierson examines newly uncovered archival sources to determine why the soldiers rebelled at  such a decisive moment.

(Well, my own idea is that defending Fort Jackson after the Union fleet had passed it was kind of like closing the barn door after the horses got out.  Pretty much a waste of time.)

--Old B-Runner

The Mutiny at Fort Jackson in 1862-- Part 2

What causes troops or sailors to mutiny?  There is always a big story behind that event, but in the case of Fort Jackson, guarding the Mississippi River approach to New Orleans, there is very little written about it, which is surprising.  Until I read that a mutiny had occurred in the Wikipedia articles on Fort Jackson, i  was completely unaware of it.

Then, I learned that the following year, there was another mutiny staged, this time by Union troops.

Is it something about the location of the fort that caused not one, but two mutinies?

However, now there is a book on it "Mutiny at Fort Jackson" by Michael  Pierson.  It is UNC Press, 2009, hardcover, 246 pages and $30 cost.

--Old B-Runner

There Was a Mutiny by Confederate Troops at Fort Jackson and a Later One by Union Troops-- Part 1

In an earlier post I wrote that Fort Jackson surrendered after Farragut's fleet had bombarded it and then run past  it.  But the eventual surrender of the fort (and sister Fort St. Philip across the river) did not happen because of Union siege or bombardment, but because a mutiny occurred among the Confederate defenders.

And, this was not the only mutiny that occurred at Fort Jackson during the Civil War

On December 9, 1863, a mutiny occurred with black troops from the  Fourth Regiment of  Corp d'Afrique.

So, what was it about Fort Jackson that caused mutinies?

--Old B-Runner

Fort Jackson-- Part 3: The Problem With Hurricanes

In the 1960s,  Leander Perez (quite a character) threatened to turn Fort St. Philip into  a prison for advocates of  desegregation ("outside agitators") who entered the Plaquemines Parish.

Due to the location of Fort Jackson, it is vulnerable to strong winds, pelting rain, and decimating storm surges from storms ranging from rough weather to deadly hurricanes.  The fort was inundated with twenty feet of water  from both Hurricane Betsy, a category four hurricane, in September 1965, and Hurricane Camille, a category five storm,  in August of 1969.

The fort was again badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina's storm surge in 2005.  Between  Katrina and Hurricane Rita the following month, much of  the fort sat under water for up to six weeks.  Many of the historical exhibits in the fort were destroyed, and the fort itself suffered much structural damage.

Since the 1970s,  the grounds of Fort Jackson have been used for the Plaquemines Parish Fair and the Orange Festival.

The fort was used to treat oily birds in the early weeks of the Deepwater  Horizon oil spill.  The treatment facility was moved to Hammond, Louisiana,  on July 10, 2010, in order to make it less vulnerable to hurricanes.

--Old B-Runner

Fort Jackson-- Part 2: A Mutiny, Prison and 'Infested With Snakes'

Not to be confused with the Old Fort Jackson at Savannah, Georgia.

After Farragut sailed past the forts and New Orleans fell, the forts continued to battle Union forces.  Then, there was a mutiny by the garrison of Fort Jackson against their officers and conditions which caused the surrender of the forts.

Later, Fort Jackson was used a s a Union prison.  It was here that the French champagne magnate  Charles Heidsieck was held  for seven months on charges of spying.  (After reading about this gentleman, I am going to have to write about him.)

On November 9, 1927, the State of Louisiana sold Fort Jackson as surplus government property to Mr. and Mrs. H.J. Harvey, who later donated the property to the Parish of Plaquemines in 1960 in hopes that the fort and 82 acres of land it sits on, would be restored.

That same year, the fort was declared a National Landmark and it was also listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1967.

The Plaquemines Parish began  renovations of the fort in 1961.

However, the National Park Service declared that "the Fort area had become a jungle with mud-filled tunnels infested with snakes and flooded with water."

--Old B-Runner

Fort Fisher Hosts First Program Since the Virus Hit

From the July 10, 2021, WWAY (Wilmington, N.C.) 3 ABC by Celeste Smith.

Really good news to me.  Every summer Fort Fisher has all sorts of programs both outside and inside detailing the fort's history, including its popular "Beat the Heat" lectures.  Of course, that all came crashing to an end last year because of you-know-what.  Sure nice to have things back.

The Fort Fisher State Historic Site hosted its first program after an 18-month-long hiatus.

Today (Saturday, July 100, the annual Summer Artillery Program's "Most Terrible Storm of Iron and Lead" was held at the site from  10am to 4 pm.

The free event featured guided tours, an activity for kids called the "Toy Soldier Workshop," and cannon firings throughout the day.  The site's program manager, Becky Sawyer, said they are glad to offer programs to visitors again.

The site will host its next program which will focus on the events of World War II revolving around the fort and Wilmington area the Saturday of Labor Day weekend in September.

Sure Glad to see the Old Fort Back to Usual.  --Old B-Runner

Fort Jackson-- Part 1: Site of Battle

From Wikipedia.

Fort Jackson is a masonry fort located 40 miles up the Mississippi River from its mouth in Plaquemines Parish.  It was constructed as a coastal defense for New Orleans between 1822  and 1832, and it was a battle site during the Civil War and is a National Historic  Landmark.  It was recently heavily damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and its condition is considered very endangered.

On its grounds are also located the Endicott era  work called Battery Millar.

It is 70 miles south of New Orleans on the western bank of the Mississippi River

The fort was occupied on and off from its completion to until after World War I, when it served as a training station.  It is now owned by Plaquemines Parish .

Fort Jackson and its sister fort across the river, Fort St. Philip, were the site of the Battles of Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip from April 16 to April 28, 1862, during the Civil War.  The Confederate controlled fort was the site of a siege of 12 days by the fleet of U.S. Navy flag officer David Farragut.  It fell on April, 28, after the Union fleet sailed past it.

--Old B-Runner

The Fall of New Orleans' Fort Jackson-- Part 5: Hurricanes Have Taken a Toll

The fort was repaired, but not used much for the rest of the war.  For a short time during the short Spanish-American War it was used as a prison and in World War I as a training ground before it was decommissioned.

Plaquemines Parish leaders succeeded in having it listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1967.  They cleaned the place up and turned it into a military museum.

A century after the battle,  Hurricanes Betsy in 1965, Camille in 1969 inundated it with water.  In August 2005, it suffered what was essentially a direct hit by Hurricane Katrina, which submerged much of the fort for more than a month.

Today, the fort is closed to visitors, although artifacts once housed inside the fort are now on display at a nearby museum.

--Old B-Runner

The Fall of New Orleans' Fort Jackson-- Part 4: 'The Crash of Splinters, the Explosions of Boilers and Magazines'

On April 12, 1862, the Union fleet fired a few test shots on Fort Jackson to calculate the distance.  Soon after that, the siege was on.  Because For St. Phillip was largely out of range of Farragut's fleet, the worst of the fire went to Fort Jackson.

An account that has been attributed to General Butler, but which was actually written by James Parton for his 1864 book "General Butler in New Orleans," described the bombardment thusly:

"The mere noise was an experience unique to the oldest officers -- Twenty mortars, a hundred and forty-two guns in the fleet, a hundred and twenty in the Forts, the crash of splinters,  the explosions of the boilers and magazines, the shouts and cries, the shrieks of scalded and drowning men; add to this, the belching flashes  of guns, burning rafts of burning steamboats, the river full of fire, and you have a picture of the battle that was all confined to Plaquemines Bend."

By April 27, the men of Fort Jackson had had enough and staged a mutiny.  A day later, Duncan surrendered.  That open the door to New Orleans and the fleet to make its way to it.

--Old B-Runner

The Fall of New Orleans' Fort Jackson-- Part 3: Making Plans

Just a month after the fall of Fort Sumter, the federal warship USS Brooklyn appeared at the mouth of the Mississippi River and sent word to General Johnson K. Duncan, the commander of Fort Jackson, that  the federal blockade of the river was in effect.

This began a  long, difficult year in New Orleans, marked by shortages and occasional naval skirmishes at the river's mouth.  It all came to a head in April 1862 when Union commander David  Farragut moved on Fort Jackson with 17 wooden vessels and 24 mortar boats. 

Also there were 6,000 men under General Butler's command, waiting on transport ships to take over New Orleans.

The Confederate forces had  69 guns at Fort Jackson and another 45 at Fort St. Philip.  They also had  10 wooden ships and two ironclads, although one, the CSS Louisiana, was unfinished and therefore used as a floating battery.

They hoped to further impede Farragut by blocking the river  with a string of vessels, connected by a chain, stretching between the two forts.

--Old B-Runner

The Fall of New Orleans' Fort Jackson-- Part 2

As early as 1742, the French first built a battery there.  Later, under Spanish rule, Fort Bourbon was built there on the site of what would become Fort Jackson.  About the same time, they also built Fort San Felipe --  a predecessor to Fort Jackson's sister fort, Fort St. Phillip -- on the east bank.

With the need for even stronger defense made by the War of 182 the construction of Fort Jackson came to be at an eventual cost of $554,500.

Its foundation would be made of three layers of cypress logs, atop which would be laid  cypress planks.  From there would rise a star-shaped fort, made of bricks, protected by an outer wall and an inner moat and lined with dozens of guns.

There was such confidence  in the combined strengths of  forts Jackson and St. Phillip, which also received a modernization at the time, almost no other defense were constructed further upriver between the forts and New Orleans.

This would prove a very big mistake.

--Old B-Runner

The Fall of New Orleans' Fort Jackson-- Part 1

From the April 27, 2021, New Orleans Advocate "The fall of Fort Jackson, 159 years ago this week, was a big win for Union forces entering New Orleans" by Mike Scott.

It has been said on occasion that the fall of New Orleans to Union forces came with hardly a shot being fired.

When Confederate forces abandoned the city, They say Union General Benjamin "Beast" Butler simply waltzed in with his troops.

However, the Confederate defenders of Fort Jackson, downstream on the Mississippi River definitely would disagree.

The masonry fort, located south of New Orleans on the  west bank of the river in Plaquemines Parish, was constructed between 1822 and 1832,   It had a withering fire by Union warships as they ran past it and then had a ten-day siege afterwards.

Named after Andrew Jackson, who had urged its construction, it wasn't the first fort to be built there.

--Old B-Runner

New Lumbee Indian Exhibit at Fort Fisher-- Part 2

Officials in hand  for the exhibit debut included: 

Michelle Lanier, Director N.C.  Division of State Historic Parks

Sarah Koonts, Acting Deputy Secretary & State Archivist

Pamela B. Cashwell, Secretary Department of  Administration

Robin Cummings, Chancellor University of North Carolina at Pembroke,

Nancy Fields, Director, Museum of Southeast American Indian

Greg Richardson, Director, NC Commission  of Indian Affairs

Harvey Godwin, Jr., Lumbee Tribal Chairman

The exhibit was guest  curated by the Museum of the Southeast American Indian and the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.

It uses text, maps photographs and  diagrams to show the grim price paid by individuals who  were transported more than  a hundred miles from home to construct a colossal Confederate fortress.

Fort Fisher State Historic Site is located at 1610 Fort Fisher Blvd. in Kure Beach, North Carolina.

--Old B-R'er

Exhibit Honoring Lumbee Indians Forced to Work at Fort Fisher Debuted

From the June 30, 2021, WECT News 6, (Wilmington, North Carolina)  "Exhibit honoring Lumbee men forced to work at Fort Fisher during the Civil War debuted by state leaders.

This week, state officials joined the Lumbee  Tribe and American Indian Tribal leaders from across North Carolina to officially debut the state's newest exhibit at Fort Fisher, which honors Lumbee men who were forced to work at the fort during the war.

The new exhibit is housed in a display case at Fort Fisher State Historic Site is entitled, "A memory a People Could Not Forget:  Lumbee Indians at Fort Fisher."

It shows the important role played by the Lumbee Indians in constructing the fort's massive earthworks alongside  free and enslaved Blacks.  Faced with the  reality of conscription and brutal working conditions, the Lumbee Indians  endured seemingly  endless labor demands in building what became known as the "Gibraltar of the South."

--Old B-Runner