Some More on Blockade Runner Dan

I was able to find a little more on the steamer Dan.  

It was run aground near Waccamaw Neck, near Charleston, South Carolina, not near Wilmington as it seemed according to my first source.  This threw off my search.

The Dan must have been trying to run into Wilmington, but couldn't.  Waccamaw Neck isn't too far from Wilmington and is part of the Myrtle Beach S.C., Grand Strand.  The town of Pawley's Island is on it.

In 2004, a large Parrott shell was found at a construction site at Murrell's Inlet.  Its origin is not known, but thought to have been fired at a Confederate fort  at Murrell's Inlet.  Also, on June 1, 1863, there was a skirmish between the Confederate blockade runner Rose and two Union warships.  The Rose ran aground, but the Confederates managed to drive off the Union ships.

Also, another skirmish took place on January 7, 1864, at Debordieu Beach when the Confederate blockade runner Dan ran aground and was set on fire to prevent capture.  Today, the beach is a private resort area.

--Old B-Runner

Blockade Runner Dan

Kind of interesting that I was just writing about a blockade runner named Don and now we have one named Dan.  Brothers?

From American Civil War High Command  North Carolina.

January 7, 1864, Thursday.

NORTH CAROLINA

The steamer Dan failed to run the blockade into Wilmington and was beached to avoid capture.

The crew was captured other than three men who drowned.

I am unable to find out any more about this ship.

--Old B-Runner

A Plea to Lord Lyon from Captain Cory

Evidently Captain Cory was not released to return to Nassau.  He wrote a letter as a prisoner at Fort Warren in Boston Harbor to Lord Lyons.

FORT WARREN, BOSTON HARBOR

March 14, 1864

MY LORD:  I am an Englishman, and was born  in Homsen, East Riding, Yorkshire, on the 21st of December 1832.  My father was  the Rev. Charles Cort, vicar of Skipsin and Broome, East   Riding, Yorkshire.

I was captured in the British steamer Don, by the United States steamer Pequot, on the 4th  instant, about fifty miles frm Wilmington, North Carolina.  I joined my ship in London, England, as chief officer, July 20, 1863, and on the 20th of February, 1864,  became her commander.

All my officers, and nearly the whole of my crew, are British subjects.  I have never been in the service of either of the belligerants, and have no interest whatsoever in any way.

My lord, as a subject of her Britannic Majesty, I claim your lordship's protection for myself, officers, and crew, and beg leave to ask your lordship, on receiptof this, what course to pursue to obtain  the much cherished and esteemed boon to all Englishmen, "liberty."

FRED. CORY

*************************

So, his first name must have been Frederick?  It would have made sense that he would have been held than immediately released.

--Old B-Runner

The Capture of the Blockade Runner Don-- Part 2

Throughout the night, the Fedeal ships kept up their pursuit.

The next morning, as dawn broke, Cory discovered that one of the newer Union ships, the USS Pequot,  was barely three miles away and steaming fast towards them.  Cory turned to flee, but the chase was soon over.

The Pequot was a much faster vessel than the Don and soon overhauled the hapless blockade runner.

The Pequot's comander, Lieutenant  Stephen P. Quackenbush, now aware of the earlier incident where the Don was able to escape,  went on board the Don to shake hands with Cory and complimented him on his skill and courage.

The Don was confiscated as a prize.  Cory and his crew were questioned and set free to return to Nassau.

Oh Well.  --Old B-Runner

The Capture of the Blockade Runner Don-- Part 1: Quite an Initial Escape

From "British Blockade Running in the American Civil War."

This is the story of the capture of the Don.

Late on the afternoon of her third day out of Nassau, she was waiting off the coast of Wilmington.  The day was hazy.  Painted gray, the Don was all but invisible beyond a couple hundred yards.  Then the sun burnt throught the haze, and almost at once the lookout spotted a Federal cruiser, under steam and sail,  bearing down n them.

Cory quickly summed up the situation.  There was insufficient time for the Don to get up enough steam to escape.  He ordered up steam, then turned his vessel into the wind.  She sat there waiting, making no attempt to flee.

The Union vessel  was a large, full-rigged corvette, and was running along before a strong breeze.  In order for her to be brought under control,  the sail would have to be furled.  Cory watched as, up the rigging, the sail was gathered in.  She was barely fifty yards away when Cory ordered full speed ahead.

Off the Don shot, past the Union vessel which was unable to bring her guns to bear.  The Federal ship continued on for a quarter mile before she could make her turn.

In the meantime, the Don  was speedily putting distance between herself and the enemy ship.  Eventually turning, the other ship opened fire with her bow guns but to little effect.  The Don was up and away.  As darkness descended, she lost her pursuer.

A Close One...But.   That Sly Captain Cory.  --Old B-Runner

Who Was 'Captain Cory?'

From "British Blockade Runners in the American Civil War" by Joseph McKenna.

Evidently, the Don was originally commanded by Augustus Charles Hobart-Hampden, and had run into Wilmington.  When he returned to  England, command of the Don passed to his chief officer:   Captain Cory."

Who he was is up for speculation.  There is no one on the Navy List who quite fits the time period.  Most likely he was another Royal Navy officer like Hobart-Hampden, who was enjoying the adventure and money to be made running the blockade.

Cory twice successfully ran the blockade into Wilmington.  But on his third attempt, on 4 March 1864, the Don was captured by the USS Pequot.  At the time, the Don had a cargo of Army uniforms from Peter Tait & Company of Limerick, blankets and shoes valued at $200,000.

--Old B-Runner

USS Don-- Part 2: A Short History

From the Naval History and Heritage Command.

DON

(Screw steamer:  390 tons, 162 feet long, 23 foot beam,  12 foot 3 inches depth,  d. 6', complement 43, 10-14 knots)

She was an iron, twin-screw,  two-stacked running mate of  Hansa as a blockade runner.  Operated and partly owned by the State of North Carolina and are generally  considered to have been public vessels for all practical purposes.

A man named Captain  Cory commanded the Don when, as a still new , $115,000 ship carrying  a $200,000 cargo of Army uniforms, blankets and shoes in from Nassau, she fell prey  to the USS Pequot, 4 March 1864, on her third attempt that voyage  to run into Wilmington, North Carolina.

She was  purchased from the Boston prize court the next month and commissioned as the USS Don and assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron.  She was sold to commercial interests 28 August 1868 after being stricken from the Navy Register.

--Old B-Runner

Fates of Some Blockade Runners

From "Civil War Navies 1855-1883" by Paul H. Silverstone.

CERES

Run aground off Old Inlet, N.C., on 6 December 1863.  Set on fire, but captured by USS Violet.

DEE

Ran blockade seven times.  Chased ashore by the USS Cambridge and destroyed near Masonboro Inlet, 5 February 1864.

 FLORA

Ran blockade 11 times.  Sold to the Confederate government, October 1863.  renamed the Virginia and then the Cape Fear.    Used as a transport on the Cape Fear River.  Scuttled off Smithville (Southport) 16 January 1865.

HEBE

Ran blockade 3 times.  Chased ashore by the USS Shokokan at New Inlet, N.C., and destroyed, 18 August 1863.

VESTA

Run around and destroyed while trying to enter Little River Inlet, N.C., on first voyage, 11 January 1863.

--Old B-Runner

USS Don

Patrick Mullen was on the USS Don when he received his second Medal of Honor.

From Civil War Navies 1855-1883" by Paul H. Silverstone.

Blockade runner Don was built by J&W Dudgeon in London, England in 1863.  Other ships listed built by J&W Dudgeon were the  blockade runners Flora (1862), Hebe (1863) and Vesta (1862).

Tonnage of these ships put at between 353 to 449 GRT.  

Dimensions:175' by 22'6"

Depth: 12'3"

Don owned by State of North Carolina.

Don was captured by USS Pequot off Wilmington, N.C., 4 March 1864.  Commissioned into U.S. Navy as the USS Don.

--Old B-Runner

Patrick Mullen's Two Medals of Honor-- Part 3: Rescued an Officer from Drowning

During the rescue, Patrick Mullen noticed an officer struggling in the water.  As the man sank below the surface, Mullen jumped overboard and brought the officer back to the boat and saved him from drowning.

For his bravery, the young sailor was awarded a bar to wear on his Medal of Honor, signifying it was his second one.

Few details can be found online about the rest of Patrick Mullen's life.  He had a wife named Emma and two sons, Edward and William, who were born after 1881.  National Archives records show that he applied for  a pension in the 1890s after filing a disability claim., but it was denied after he failed to show up for a medical exam.

Mullen died  on February 14, 1897, in his adopted hometown of Baltimore.  He was buried in the city's  New Cathedral Cemetery.

Mullen's Medal of Honor (with the bar) is housed at the American Numismatic Society in New York.

--Old B-Runner

Patrick Mullen's Two Medals of Honor-- Part 2 on the USS Don

Patrick Mullen was part of a  cutter crew  during a boat expedition when it came under heavy attack by a few hundred Confederates.  According to his citation,  he helped his commanding officer by taking charge of the boat's only howitzer.  

Lying on his back, Mullen loaded the weapon and expertly fired it at the enemy, killing and wounding several of them.   The blast  led to a Confederate retreat, which saved the lives of his comrades.

Mullen earned his second Medal of Honor just six weeks later.  However, he earned it after the war was over, which officially ended April 9, 1865.  (It actually did not end on April 9th which was the surrender of Lee's army.  Confederate armies were still in the field at the time.)

This time. Mullen was on the USS Don, a captured British blockade runner that was now patrolling the Potomac River.  On May 1, 1865, the Don attempted to pick up the crew of a smaller vessel, Picket Launch No. 6, which had begun to fill with water.

And, then....

--Old B-Runner

Sailor Received the Medal of Honor Not Once, But Twice: Patrick Mullen

From the June 2022 U.S. Department of Defense Medal of Honor Monday.

Navy Boatswain's Mate  Patrick Mullen is one of only 19 Medal of Honor recipients who earned the highest military honor not once, but twice.  While his actions that led to the awards occurred within six weeks of each other, he only received one during the actual war.  The other one came afterwards.

Mullen was born in Ireland on May  6, 1844;  however, his family immigrated to the U.S. when he was a young boy, and they settled in Baltimore.  His last name was originally spelled Mullin, but he changed it to Mullen when he joined the Navy.

By the end of the war he was a  boatswain's mate on the USS Wyandank, a steamer used by the Navy as a storeship and barracks  for the Potomac Squadron.

He earned his first Medal of Honor on March 17, 1865, --  St. Patrick's Day -- while the ship was in the area of  Mattox Creek, Virginia.

--Old B-Runner

Timby and the Monitor Blog

Also included in the Timby and the Monitor blog was a drawing of what Theodore Timby believed his revolving turret would look like on a ship.  The one he designed also had a low freeboard and looked a whole like Ericsson's Monitor.  Only, the pilot house was on top of the turret instead of on the deck.

This was sent to China in 1842 at the suggestion of Caleb Cushing, whom I have written about in this blog as the name of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Charles Read was going to attack in Portland, Maine, was named after him.

Another drawing in the blog showed how the turret was to turn.  Also a cutaway of the turret tower which had three levels.

There was also a patent for an  improvement in Timby's Revolving  Battery-Towers.

--Old B-Runner

Theodore Walcott Dickes, Great Great Grandson of Thedore Timby-- Part 2

They had many dear friends among their neighbors.  He loved to sail.  He was a great reader and late in life began a writing career.  In 2005, he published "Virginia - Who Is She" a memoir of his wife.

He was at work on a non-fiction  work on the life of his ancestor Theodore Timby, inventor and writer, who created the revolving turret design on the Civil War era "Monitor" battleship.  (Well, ironclad.  But revolving turrets were used on U.S. warships and around the world from the Civil War to even the current ships.)

Theodore was a beautiful, caring man who gave unconditional  love and support to his wife and children, always.  He showed great generosity and respect to everyone he met.  On his final holiday in Venice, standing tall and white-haired on a balcony above the Grand Canal, passing tourists on the canal waved at  at what they took to be a count at home on his terrace.

His urn will be placed next to his wife Virginia's at Riverside Cemetery in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.  May they rest together in peace forever.

Theodore's family and friends  will be invited to a  graveside ceremony in May.

It is too bad he didn't get a chance to finish the book on Theodore Timby.

Published in the Hartford (CT.) Courant on April 4, 2010.

Theodore Walcott Dickes-- Part 1

I was sorry that there had only been a few posts from the Monitor and Monitor blog and also thought it would be interesting to contact Dickes.  I have been writing from his blog the last several posts.

However, after typing in his name, I found out that he had died in 2010.

Part of his obituary reads:

Theodore Walcott Dickes, of Encinitas, California,  formerly of Old Saybrook, Connecticut, passed away on March 20, 2010, at the age of 82.  He was born in Middletown, Connecticut.

He served in the U.S. Navy 1945-1946 in Europe.  At discharge, he married Virginia, both were age 19.  He joined the Standard-Knapp Corporation of Portlant, Ct., in 1947 and was with them for fifty years, and was Vice-President of Sales and Marketing.

He received a Master of  Science degree from Rennselear Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, in 1981.

For thirty years, he and Virginia lived in Old Saybrook, Ct., in a home overlooking a salt marsh at the mouth of the Connecticut River.

--Old B-Runner

The Timby and the Monitor Blog-- Part 6: 'The Duplicity of Ericsson'

When Ericsson's vessel was completed it was quickly recognized as Theodore Timby's  turreted, low freeboard ship concept which he had  modeled and exhibited in New York as early as 1843.

Despite high levels of protest by military and political principals of the times and others who knew, duplicity of Ericsson in high places, and a government acting in denial of its own official records, Timby's revolutionary design became famous as the Civil War USS Monitor, but in history, alas to the credit and fame of the wrong man.

Of course, these are the words of Theodore Walcott Dickes, great -great grandson of Theodore Timby.  He definitely has an axe to grind and rightfully so.  Until I came across that article about seeing the remains of the USS Monitor at the Mariners' Museum and under Monitor designers saw the names of Ericsson and Timby, I had never heard of Theodore Timby.

That is why I have been writing about this the last several weeks.

--Old B-Runner

The Timby and the Monitor Blog-- Part 5: Trying to Set the Record Straight

In the ensuing  world famous battle,  which would render all the navies of the world obsolete, the Monitor with its Timby Turret and low freeboard technology turned back the Confederate threat and gave Abraham Lincoln the strategic victory he needed to prosecute the war  toward the preservation of the fledgling American democracy.  (I'm not sure this was the whole reason.)

The Dr. Timby story that follows will reveal why he remains unknown in that final resting place.  It s to be hoped  that this publication and the "telling of the tale" can bring some recognition for him, almost 100 years after his death in 1908.

Although seemingly protected, by law,  thru his  US patent #356789 first filed as a caveat in 1842, his designs were  plagerized by Swedish engineer John Ericsson who used them to offer and win, when war loomed in 1861, a government contract to  build a vessel.

--Old B-Runner

The Timby and the Monitor Blog-- Part 4: And, Then It Appeared

On the morning of March 9, 1862, the CSS Virginia was preparing to finish off the Union fleet in Hampton Roads.  As the daylight increased, watchers on shore and ship noted with disbelieving eyes, the slow approach of an object  and shape never seen before in naval history.

Admiral Farragut, who had remained aboard the helpless  Federal flagship later described it as a "giant shingle, floating on the water with a cheesebox on top."  (I am not sure Farragut was at the battle as he was headed for the Battle of New Orleans in April.)

It was, in fact,  the Theordore Ruggles Timby inspired USS Monitor, as black and menacing  as the mythical monster of Loch Lommand with only a few inches of  its slim iron hull above the waterline, as it parted the waves and closed upon the CSS Virginia.

Most striking to onservers, it bore at its midsection a cylindrical iron turret that was seen to revolve around its center.  Twenty feet in diameter, with iron walls  8 inches thick the turret rotated, as if in the hunt for a line of fire to its prey.  Upon command, the gaping muzzles of two huge 11 inch smoothbore guns appeared from behind small ports in the armored wall  of the turret.

The genius of the Timby machine and patent, as intended of course,  was that it could fire in any direction, with devastating effect on targets.

--Old B-Runner

The Timby and the Monitor Blog-- Part 3: March 8, 1862

Continued from June 23.

How did Timby's role in the creation of the USS Monitor come to be essentially forgotten?

To find an answer, , we go back to the morning of March 8th of 1862.  The Civil war is raging. On this day, the powerful Confederate Navy ironclad CSS Virginia steamed into Hampton Roads and immediately attacked two wooden hulled Union ships, the USS Congress and the USS Cumberland.  It wasn't much of a battle.  The Virginia steamed triumphantly.

It was one of the worst defeats in U.S. Navy history "not to be equalled in scope, until the Japanese attack of December 7th, 1941."

News reached Washington, D.C. almost immediately.    Secretary of War Edwin Stanton told President Lincoln:  "It is certain that the Confederates will come up the Potomac River now and destroy our city."  Orders were given to sink anything available in the river tio serve as obstructions.

Then, came the next day.  And, you know what ship arrives on the scene.

--Old B-Runner

RoadTrippin' with Theo Timby-- Part 5: Stanton, Wilkes, a Confederate General and Spy

And, these are just a few of the notable burials in Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C..

**  Joseph Bryant Smith (1826-1862)--  USN.  Acting commander of USS Congress and decapitated in the fight with the CSS Virginia.

**  Also, his father Josph Smith (1790-1877)   Rear Admiral.  In 1862 appointed  Chief of Bureau of Yards and Docks.  And his brother Albert Nathaniel Smith (1822-1866), Commander USN  Chief of the Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting.

**  Edwin McMasters Stanton  (1814-1869)--  Lincoln's Secretary of War.

**  Abel Parker Upshur  ((1790-1844)--  Secretary of the Navy and Secretary of State under President Tyler.  Killed by explosion of cannon on the USS Princeton.  This ship used some of John Ericsson's inventions including the cannon that blew up.

**  Bettie Duval Webb  (1845-1891)--  Confederate spy.

**  Cadmus Wilcox  (1824-1890)--  Confederate general.

**  Charles Wilkes  (1798-1877)--  Union naval officer.  As commander of the USS San Jacinto, he stopped the British ship Trent and removed Confederate commissioners  Mason and Slidell.  Reburied at Arlington National Cemetery.

--Old B-Runner

RoadTrippin' with Theo Timby-- Part 4: The Famed Rodgers Naval Family and Howard K. Smith

Continuing with notable and interesting burials in Washington, D.C.'s Oak Hill Cemetery.

**  George Peter  (1779-1861)--  Officer in War of 1812.    U.S. House of Representatives.

**  John Rodgers  (1812-1882)--  U.S. Navy.  Son of Navy hero John Rodgers.    Commanded South Atlantic Blockading Squadron during Civil War.

**  William Ledyard Rodgers (1860-1904)--  U.S. Navy.  Son of John Rodgers (above).  Officer in Spanish-American War and World War I.

**  George Washington Roosevelt (1843-1907)--  Third cousin of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  Civil War Medal of Honor recipient.

**  Howard K. Smith  (1914-2002)--  Famed pioneer television newscaster.

--Old B-Runner

RoadTrippin' With Theo Timby-- Part 3: Some More Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery

Continuing with Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

**  John Harris  (1793-1864)  USMC, commissioned 2nd lt. in 1814.   War of 1812.   Commandant of USMC during first three years of the Civil War.

**  John Berrien Montgomery  (1794-1873)  War of 1812 and at Battle of Lake Erie.  Mexican War.  Also Civil War.  I have written about the USS Montgomery destroyer which was at Pearl Harbor and is named after him in my World War II blog.

**  John George Nicolay  (1832-1901)  Lincoln's personal secretary.  Involved with day to day details of the Lincoln administration.

**  Charles Harting Percy  (1919-2011)  U.S. Senator from Illinois.

**  Jesse Lee Reno   (1823-1862)  USMA graduate Class of 1846.  Classmates included George Pickett, George B. McClellan and Stonewall Jackson.  Mortally wounded September 14, 1862, near Battle of South Mountain in the Antietam Campaign.

--Old B-Runner

RoadTrippin' With Theo Timby-- Part 2: Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C.

Continuing with Roadtrippin Through History with Theodore Timby.  His body was removed from Evergreen(s) Cemetery in New York City and moved to this cemetery in the nation's capital.

These people, as in the last post, are not necessarily involved in the Civil War.  They're just people I've heard of or thatn I found interesting reading some about them.

**  DEAN ACHESON: (1893-1971)  Presidential cabinet secretary.  Secretary of State.

**  JOSEPH K. BARNES:  (1817-1883)    Union Surgeon General.  On the morning after Lincoln was assassinated, he attended  the death bed and oversaw the autopsy.  Also served as surgeon for the dying President  James Garfield after he was mortally wounded by an assassin.

**  HORACE CAPRON:  (1804-1885)  One of the oldest field officers in Union Army.    His son, Horace Capron, Jr. was a Medal of Honor recipient and killed in action.

**  SALMON CHASE:  (1808-1873)  U.S. Senator, Ohio governor, Lincoln Presidential cabinet secretary

**  WILLIE LINCOLN:  (1850-1862)  Third child of President Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln.  Reburied in Springfield, Illinois with his father.

--Old B-R'er

RoadTrippin' With Theo Timby

The Monitor's revolving turret inventor (and patent holder) Thordore Timby was buried initially at Evergreen Cemetery (now called Evergreens Cemetery) in New York City.  Whenever I am writing about someone or something, I like to go Roadtripping through history and follow places or people I mention in the blog entries and see where it takes me.

I especially like to find out if other people of interest are buried in the cemeteries where our person was buried.

So, I looked up Evergreen(s) Cemetery.

**  GEORGE HENRY ELLIS:  (1875-1898)  The only U.S. sailor killed in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish-American War.

**  THOMAS DILWARD:  (1817-1887)  Called the African Tom Thunb because of his size.  Appeared in minstrel shows and is credited with inventing the phrase "Hunky Dory" meaning everything's alright.

**  MARTIN HILDEBRANDT:  (1825-1890)   Early American tattoo artist.   During the Civil War, he was a Union soldier in the Army of the Potomac and traveled from camp to camp tattooing soldiers.

**  A lot of early entertainers and baseball players.

**  CHARLES A. READ:  (1837-1865)  Awarded Medal of Honor during Civil War as a sailor on the USS Kearsarge in its battle with the CSS Alabama.

**  BILL ROBINSON:  (1878-1949)  Nickname "Bojangles."  As in "Mr. Bojangles."   Most highly paid black  tap dancer, singer and actor in the U.S. in first half of 20th century.

**   TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FIRE:  (1911)   Six women whose bodies could not be identified buried under a statue of a kneeling woman.

Some Interesting People.  --Old B-Runner