The Privateer Judah- Part 2: A Risky Plan Devised and Led By Lt. J.H. Russell

Aboard the USS Colorado was a man named  Ernest White, a specialist in ship construction and employed as a spy by the Federal government.  He devised a scheme by which the Colorado's longboats, under the cover of night, would slip past Confederate guards and destroy or severely damage the Judah where she was berthed.

After some delay, White's plan was approved and put into action. and in the early hours of September 14, 1861, a force of nearly 100 men made up of a mix of the Colorado's crew and shipboard Marines under the command of Lt. John Henry Russell cast off in four longboats.

Keeping in midwater and away from the shoreline, the force rowed quietly across the bay toward Pensacola Harbor.

The Confederate forces at Pensacola were commanded by Gen. Braxton Bragg and numbered several thousand.  They were new troops and poorly trained manning a line of about four miles stretching from Fort McRee in the west eastward toward Fort Barrancas and the navy yard.

In addition, guards manned three  lookout points on the west side of the bay.

--Old B-Runner

It Must Be a 6th Thing in My Civil War Blogs Right Now: Charles F. Fisher and Edward S. Bragg

I just noticed that I am writing about two colonels right now.  One of them was a Union colonel and the other a Confederate.

They both commanded infantry regiments with the number 6.

Edward S. Bragg was from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and commanded the 6th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment.  I have been writing about him in my Saw the Elephant: Civil War blog.  A Wisconsin legislator is calling for the consideration of renaming Fort Bragg after Edward Bragg.  That way you keep the same name and save a lot of money that it will cost to change names.

So, instead  of Fort Bragg being named after the Confederate General Braxton Bragg it will be named for the Union General Bragg.  Problem solved.  (Also, I have seen at least one source saying that Braxton Bragg and Edward Bragg were related as cousins.

Of course, I have been writing about Charles F. Fisher in this blog. He commanded the 6th North Carolina Infantry Regiment at the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) and unfortunately was killed leading his men.  

So, why would I write about an infantry regiment commander in this Civil War Navy blog?  The reason is that Fort Fisher was named for him.

Both 6th regiments garnered accolades for service during the war and fought in most of the major battles in the Eastern Theater of the war.  Both had huge losses at the Battle of Gettysburg.  The 6th Wisconsin later became part of the famed Iron Brigade of the Army of the Potomac.

--Old B-Runner

The Battle of Sugar Loaf Line (Wilmington Campaign)-- Part 2: Gen. Hoke at Sugar Loaf and Bragg at Wilmington

After the fall of Fort Fisher, Wilmington was closed as a haven for blockade runners.  There would be no further runs in or out of that port city.  This closed the Confederacy to the world as they had no more Atlantic ports.

The Confederates evacuated the other defensive positions along the Cape Fear River.

While the Confederate defeat at Fort Fisher the previous month had affected morale somewhat and led to an increase in desertion, the remaining soldiers reported morale to be quite high.

General Bragg commanded the defenses of Wilmington.  His field forces were Robert Hoke's division from the Army of Northern Virginia and some artillerymen from the abandoned Confederate defense in the lower river and some home guard.

Hoke commanded three of his brigades on the east side of the Cape Fear River along the Sugar Loaf Line north of Fort Fisher.  His fourth brigade occupied Fort Anderson on the west side of the river.

Bragg remained in Wilmington in order to oversee the removal of the government stockpile supplies and stores and also to prevent Union forces on the coast from reinforcing Union General Sherman as he marched through the Carolinas with his army.

--Old B-Runner

The Battle of Sugar Loaf Line in the Wilmington Campaign-- Part 1

From Wikipedia:  The Battle of Wilmington.

The Battle of Wilmington, North Carolina, was fought February 11-22, 1865, mostly south of the city of Wilmington.  The union victory at the second Battle of Fort Fisher on January 15, meant that Wilmington, 30 miles up the Cape Fear River, could no longer be used as the Confederacy's last major contact with the outside world.

However, there was still lots o supplies in the city that needed to get sent to Lee's Army in Virginia.  What was necessary was a delaying action for as long as possible.

The action essentially revolved around three theaters, with the Sugar Loaf Line (part of which can now be seen at the Joseph Ryder Lewis, Jr. Civil War Park in Carolina Beach, North Carolina) being the first.

The Confederates were fortunate in that the Union forces did not follow up immediately on the offensive after the fall of Fort Fisher.  Even so, when Braxton Bragg withdrew from Wilmington over a month later, there were still large amounts of tobacco, cotton, equipment and military supplies that had to be destroyed.

--Old B-Runner

Feb. 21-22, 1865: The Fall of Wilmington, "The Anaconda Has, At Last, Wound His Fatal Folds Around Us"

FEBRUARY 21ST-22ND, 1865:  The gunboat fleet of Rear Admiral Porter closed in on Fort Strong and opened rapid fire "all along the enemy's line" to support the Army attack ashore as it had throughout the soldiers' steady march up both banks of the Cape Fear River.

The next day, 22 February, the defenders evacuated the fort and Porter's ships steamed up to Wilmington, which earlier in the day had been occupied by general terry's men after General Bragg had ordered the evacuation  of the now defenseless city.

That same day, the admiral wrote Secretary Welles:  "I have then honor to inform you that Wilmington has been evacuated and is in possession of our troops ....  I had the pleasure of placing the flag on Fort Strong, and at 12 o'clock noon today shall fire a salute of thirty-five guns this being the anniversary of Washington's birthday."

As Raphael  later wrote:  "...we had lost our last blockade-running port.  Our ports are now all hermetically sealed.  The anaconda has, at last, wound his fatal folds around us."

So Long Wilmington.  --Old B-Runner

February 6, 1865: About a New Ironclad at Wilmington, N.C.

FEBRUARY 6TH, 1865:  Secretary Mallory wrote General Braxton Bragg at Wilmington, North Carolina that Chief Naval Constructor John L. Porter had advised him that a new Confederate vessel could be completed within 90 days.

Machinery for the ship was available at Columbus, Georgia, but Mallory sought assurance that Wilmington would be held long enough for the machinery to be transported and the ship built so that it could get into action.

On the 8th, Bragg replied:  "This place will be held so long as our means enable us.  There is no indication of any movement against it, and our means of defense are improving."

However, Rear Admiral Porter and General Grant had other plans; Wilmington would be evacuated exactly two weeks later.

That ship Mallory was talking about was most likely the CSS Wilmington, which was destroyed on the stocks with the fall of Wilmington.

--Old B-Runner

January 13, 1865, the Beginning of the Second Battle of Fort Fisher-- Part 2

In the meantime, General Terry  selected a beachhead out of the range of Fort Fisher's guns and made naturally defensible on the northern side by a line of swamps and woods, extended across the peninsula where he landed his 8,000 troops unopposed.

This landing was supported by U.S. Navy warships.

That unopposed land has been the question raised ever after as General Bragg, the Confederate overall commander of Wilmington, did nothing to oppose it.

By daybreak of the 14th Terry had thrown up a line of defensive breastworks facing Wilmington, to the north.  This was to protect against any attack from that direction by Bragg's 6,000 troops.

Porter wrote Welles:  "We have a respectable force landed on a strip of land, which our naval guns completely command, and a place of defense which would enable us to hold against a very large army."

--Old B-R'er

Was There A Confederate Camp Near the Grainger's Pointe Neighborhood at Masonboro Sound?

From the September 24, 2012, Wilmington (NC) Star-News "My Reporter" by Gail Calloway.

The newspaper answers questions submitted by readers.

Becky Thatcher at Fort Fisher gives this information.

There was plenty of action around Masonboro Sound.  After the fall of Fort Fisher, Confederates were worried about the presence of Union troops on the lower Cape Fear River an a possible siege of Wilmington.

General Braxton Bragg ordered a line of breastworks built from just below Wilmington at Fort Meares, one of the river batteries, to Hewlett's Creek, near Masonboro Sound.  This gave Confederates a defensive line to fall back on in case Sugar Loaf (by present-day Carolina Beach) fell

The federals did attempt to land troops at Masonboro Sound but were unsuccessful.  There are some structures still standing that were there at the time.

--Old B-Runner

Fort Fisher's 2017 Beat the Heat Lectures Continue-- Part 3: Of Bragg and WASPS

The next two lectures will be:

JUNE 24--  TOPIC--    Braxton Bragg: A Reassessment"  Bragg is probably one of the most hated of all Confederate commanders and received much criticism for the fall of Fort Fisher.

SPEAKER--  Dr. Dennis Levin, retired U.S. Army historian.  I've heard him speak before.  He gives another side of the story.  Make up your own mind after hearing this talk.

JULY 1--  TOPIC--  "The WASP Program of Camp Davis."  These women were often the pilots who towed targets for the anti-aircraft crews who trained at Fort Fisher during World War II.

SPEAKER--  Krystal Lee, Beaufort County educator.

Sure Wished I Lived Closer.  --Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago: No Food to Fort Pickens and Mobile Seizure

MARCH 18, 1861--  Brigadier General Braxton Bragg, CSA, issued an order forbidding passage of supplies to Fort Pickens and the U.S. squadron off Pensacola.

MARCH 20, 1861--  The U.S. sloop Isabella, carrying supplies for the U.S. squadron at Pensacola, was seized in Mobile.

--Old B-Runner

A Visit to Fort Fisher-- Part 2

The speaker had lists of why Braxton Bragg got a bum rap and why he was not to blame for the fall of Fort Fisher.  He was very convincing and showed that Confederate General Whiting, although well-liked by his men and others was not such a good general.  I will write about the presentation later this week.

After the presentation, I took a walk around the museum and saw the Whitworth cannon that is there on loan.  This was one of the best guns at the fort and a four-piece flying battery that would go out at a gallop from the fort to safeguard stranded blockade-runners until two were sent off to other points and two were captured at the blockade-runner Hebe fight.

They also had several items belonging to Col. lamb, the fort's commander that had been presented to the fort by the Lamb family this past sesquicentennial commemoration at the fort to mark the fall of it on January 15, 1865.  This was quite an observation with over 20,000 visitors.

I sure would have liked to have been there for it.

--Old B-R'er

A Visit to Fort Fisher-- Part 1

If there is any other event more responsible fir me getting into the Civil War and history in general, it was the time my dad took me to Fort Fisher, North Carolina back when I was seven.  It is the reason for this blog and my others.

He said this was a fort from the Civil War when the North fought the South.  Living in North Carolina and North America as I knew we did, I told him that we were for the North.  He had to explain that North Carolina was a Southern state and that we were for the South.

That sparked an interest in the war and history that obviously is still with me.

I remember when the Fort Fisher Museum consisted of a single small structure located by the monument on Battle Acre and back in the early 1960s when the Confederate torpedo washed up on the shore.  Back then you could walk across the remaining mounds.

My family used to rent cottages in Carolina Beach and as such I got to visit Fort Fisher quite often, but now we have a place on Topsail Island and when we're here, it is a 50 mile drive to the fort and then there is that horrible Wilmington and beach traffic so we rarely get there.

Now that I live in Illinois, I very rarely get a chance to visit it.

But, this past Saturday, Mom and I took a drive to Fort Fisher, stopping along the way at Britt's Donuts in Carolina Beach for our sugar fix and then on to the fort for a talk about controversial Confederate General Braxton Bragg.  The speaker actually defended the general, something that is quite different from the usual negativity he gets.

That's the Reason.  --Old B-Runner

Braxton Bragg to Be Topic at Fort Fisher This Saturday

From the Friends of Fort Fisher Summer Powder Magazine bulletin.

It is the next presentation to be given at Fort Fisher State Historic Site at Spencer Theater as part of its Beat the Heat series.It will be given by the rev. Dennis Levin at 2 p.m. and will be "General Braxton Bragg: A Reappriasement.  Rev. Levin, a retired U.S. Army Lt.Col., will discuss his research into the man, the controversy and his military decisions which made him so controversial.

And, best of all, there is a good possibility that I will be able to be at this presentation.

And, then Britt's Donuts at Carolina Beach afterwards.

--Old B-Runner

Bragg Has Evacuated Kinston-- Part 1

MARCH 13TH, 1865:  Commander Rhind, Senior  Naval Officer at New Bern, reported to Commander Macomb, commanding in the North Carolina Sounds, that the expedition up the Neuse River had returned the previous evening.  "A deserter from a North Carolina regiment came on board the [Army steamer] Ella May yesterday morning.

"He states  that the whole rebel force under Bragg (estimated by him at 40,000) had evacuated Kinston, moving toward Goldsboro, but that Hoke's division returned when he left.

"The ironclad [Neuse] is afloat and ready for service; has two guns, draws 9 feet.  No pontoon was found in the Neuse.  If you can send me a torpedo launch at once he may have the opportunity of destroying the ironclad.  The bridge (railroad) at Kinston has been destroyed by the enemy."

Sounds like Rhind is thinking of a repeat of the Cushing attack on the CSS Albemarle.

--Old B-Runner

A New Confederate Warship for Wilmington?

FEBRUARY 6TH, 1865:  Secretary Mallory wrote General Braxton Bragg in Wilmington that Chief Naval Constructor John L. Porter had advised him that a new Confederate vessel could be completed in 90 days.  Machinery for the ship was available at Columbus, Georgia, but Mallory sought assurance from Bragg that Wilmington could be held long enough for the machinery to be transported and the ship built.

On the 8th, Bragg replied: "This place will be held so long as our means enable us.  There is no indication of any movement against it, and our means of defense are improving."

However, Rear Admiral Porter and General Grant had other plans; Wilmington would be evacuated exactly two weeks later.

Well, Bragg, You Know.  --Old B-R'er

Fort Fisher, My Take

The fall of Fort Fisher was really the death knell of the Confederacy, even though the cause was essentially lost starting in July 1863 and picking up speed through 1864 and to this late date.

I have to believe that General Bragg should have done something to save the fort, especially with the landings above the fort.  But, that was just Bragg being Bragg..  Too bad the Confederates didn't just let Whiting continue to command the District.  My thought is that he would have done something more.

And, i have to wonder why Porter was so keen to have the Naval Column attack the fort, despite their lack of training.  It is my thought that he was hoping to have his sailors capture the fort before the Army as that would make him even more famous, perhaps as much as Farragut..

Anyway.  --Old B-R'er

Bragg Orders Evacuation of Remaining Fortifications at Mouth of Cape Fear River

JANUARY 16TH, 1865:  With Fort Fisher lost and foreseeing the Union fleet's entrance into the Cape Fear River would cut his waterborne communications system, General Bragg ordered the evacuation of the remaining Confederate positions at the mouth of the river.

At 7 a.m. Forts Caswell and Campbell were abandoned and destroyed.  Fort Holmes on Smith's Island and Fort Johnson at Smithville were likewise destroyed by the retreating garrisons, which fell back on Fort Anderson, on the west bank of the Cape Fear River between Fort Fisher and Wilmington.

One Confederate wrote: "The Yankees have made a barren capture...."  In fact, however, Wilmington, the last major port open to blockade runners, was now effectively sealed and General Lee was cut off from his only remaining supply line from Europe.

Rear Admiral Porter was only too aware of the import of this capture and wrote Captain Godon:  "...the death knell of another fort is booming in the distance.  Fort Caswell with its powerful batteries is in flames and being blown up, and thus is sealed the door through which this rebellion is fed."

A Really Big Loss.  --Old B-R'er

Bragg Comes to Wilmington-- Part 2: "Goodbye Wilmington"

Another famous line about Braxton Bragg was that when news of his being assigned to Wilmington in October 1864, reached the public, the Richmond Enquirer wrote, "General Bragg is going to Wilmington.  Goodbye Wilmington."

And, relieved Major General Whiting at Wilmington had his supporters.  None bigger was Fort Fisher's commander, Col. William Lamb, who wrote: "No one was so capable of defending the Cape Fear as the brilliant officer who has given so much of his time and ability for its defense.

One of Lamb's lieutenants recalled that "Little Billy's" relief (what Whiting was called by his men due to his size) and Bragg's arrival brought gloom to the entire command.

While Whiting had commanded the Cape Fear District he had constantly pleaded for more troops and supplies.  But when Bragg arrived on October 22, 1864, he reported the city and its defenses to be in good shape.

Bragg's Not the Man.  --Old B-R'er

Bragg Comes to Wilmington-- Part 1: Quarreling With Himself

From the December 15, 2014, Wilmington (NC) Star-News "Back Then" by Scott Nunn.

Scott Nunn considered the appointment of General Braxton Bragg to command Wilmington, N.C. over Gen. W.H.C. Whiting as "one of the stranger pieces of history from the Battles of Fort Fisher."  The other was Gen. Butler's powder ship.

Bragg was once a highly respected military commander, but as the war progressed, his reputation diminished.  he was noted as being extremely argumentative and was deeply disliked by his subordinates.

During the Mexican War, his own troops tried to assassinate him twice.

His temper was legendary and he feuded with everyone, even himself.  Once, while serving as both quartermaster and company commander he got into an argument with himself.  he called out to the post commander to sort things out.  Supposedly that officers said, "My God, Mr. Bragg!!  You have quarreled with every officer in the army and now you are quarreling with yourself!"

A Quarrelsome Fellow.  --Old B-Runner

Confederate Camp at North Carolina's Masonboro Sound

From the Oct. 7, 2012 Wilmington (NC) Star-News My Reporter "Was there a Confederate camp at Masonboro Sound?"

A reader wrote in and wanted to know the answer.

There was plenty of Civil War action around Masonboro Sound.  General Braxton Bragg, worried about Federal troops now entrenched in the lower Cape Fear River and a possible siege of Wilmington, ordered a line of breastworks built from just below Wilmington at Fort Meares, one of the river batteries, east to Hewlett's Creek near Masonboro Sound.

This would give Confederates a defensive line in case Sugar Loaf (by present-day Carolina Beach) fell.

According to Fort Fisher's Becky Thatcher, the Union did attempt an unsuccessful landing between Wrightsville Sound and Masonboro Sond.

There are some structures still standing in the area.

Old B-R'er