Another Fort Fisher/Wilmington Connection in the Book: Rose O'Nel Greenhow

yesterday, I wrote about Union Ensign Robley Evans' turning down a request to amputate his legs which I took from the magazine/book "The Civil War on the Front Lines."

In the section titled "Women at War: Spies, Scouts, Soldiers, and heroic Homemakers" there was a paragraph on one Rose O'Neal Greenhow.

"Few women espionage agents could surpass the successes of Rose O'Neal Greenhow, a well-connected Washington, D.C., socialite.  Greenhow not only organized a spy network that significantly contributed to the Confederate victory at First Bull Run, but served five months in Washington's Old Capitol Prison for her role, along with her young daughter.

After Greenhow was released, she returned to the South nut drowned returning from a mission to Great Britain in 1864, when the blockade runner carrying her ran aground on The North Carolina coast.

The blockade runner was the Condor and it ran aground off Fort Fisher.  She is buried in Wilmington.

--Old B-Runner

NC Timeline, October 1864-- Part 1: Loss of the Blockade Runner Condor and Rose O'Neal Greenhow

From the N.C. Civil War Sesquicentennial Timeline site.

OCTOBER 1--  Blockade runner Condor, inbound from Nova Scotia, ran aground off Fort Fisher with two prominent people aboard, James B. Holcumb (Confederate Commissioner to Great Britain, and Rose O'Neal Greenhow (Confederate spy).  She drowned in the surf when her boat overturned.

She is buried in Wilmington, with her death being listed as September 30.

The hulk of the Condor was later used as a target for Confederate gunners in the fort.

OCTOBER 8--  Union tug Aster ran aground and was lost off Carolina Shoals (Cape Fear River) while chasing a blockade runner.  The tug USS Berberry tried unsuccessfully to pull the Aster off.

(The Civil War Naval Chronology lists this as happening September 7, 1864.)

OCTOBER 10--  Capture of British steamer Bat.

OCTOBER  11-13--  Scout from Camp Palmer to Gum Swamp.

--Old B-R'er

Wilmington, N.C.-- Part 4: Can't Miss Sites

The Salvo: Travels section of the Civil War Monitor magazine is a must-use source if you're visiting any of the places they have covered.

CAN'T MISS

CHRISTINE DIVORKY--  OAKDALE CEMETERY (520 N. 15th Street)  established 1856  There are sections for those who died in a yellow fever epidemic during the war, a Confederate Mound where 350 are buried.  Also the graves of Rose O'Neal Greenhow, W,H,C. Whiting and J.N. Maffitt.

BILL JAYNE--  FORT ANDERSON--  Just south of Wilmington.  Wilmington remained in Confederate hands for over a month after the fall of Fort Fisher.  Fort Anderson protected the southern approach to the city and is the home of some of the best-preserved Civil War earthworks in U.S..  Also ruins of colonial Brunswick Town, burned by the British in 1776.

ME--  BATTLESHIP NORTH CAROLINA--  After all I gave nickels and dimes as a schoolkid to save the ship for the state.

--Old B-Runner

Civil War Navy Trivia-- Part 1: A Blockade Runner and A Spy

As I mentioned in my Saw the Elephant Blog: Civil War, the McHenry County Civil War Round Table discussion group meets tomorrow at Panera Bread in Crystal Lake, Illinois, and this month's topic will be trivia.

Here are some of my trivia questions:

1.  On August 6, 1863, the blockade runner Kate arrived in Wilmington, North Carolina, after successfully running the blockade.  Along with much-needed items in the Confederacy, it also brought something else, not so welcome.    What was it?

2.  What famous Confederate spy was returning to the Confederacy in 1864 aboard the blockade runner Condor when it ran aground off Fort Fisher, guarding Wilmington, N.C..  She drowned in rough seas trying to get to the beach.

Answers below.

--Old B-Runner



1.  Yellow Fever

2.  Rose O'Neal Greenhow

The Condor and "The Wild Rose of the Confederacy"

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

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

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

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

--Old B-Runner

Wilmington's Oakdale Cemetery-- Part 2: Defenders of Fort Fisher Buried Here

A cast iron fence originally encircled the cemetery, but during World War II it was donated to the war effort.

In 1862, he blockade runner Kate brought in yellow fever along with supplies.  The disease killed 600 people in Wilmington and 400 are buried at a site in the cemetery known as Yellow Fever Hill.

After the Civil War there was a massive influx of deceased Confederate and Union soldiers carried into Wilmington.  Unidentified bodies of 550 soldiers who died at the Battles of Fort Fisher were buried at the Confederate Plot.

In addition, Confederate General W.H.C. Whiting and James Reilly from Fort Fisher, John Newland Maffitt and Rose O'Neil Greenhow are buried at Oakdale.

Oakdale Cemetery has a Friends of Oakdale Cemetery organization to help.

--Old B-R'er

The Blockade-Runner Condor-- Part 2: Rose O'Neal Greenhow Drowned

More famous than the ship herself was one of her passengers,famous Confederate spy and supporter Rose O'Neal Greenhow, who died in the surf when her small boat overturned while making her escape from the vessel.

Tradition maintains that she was weighed down with vital dispatches to Confederate President Jefferson Davis and $2,000 in gold.

There is a diorama of her death from the old Blockade Runner Museum at the Carolina Beach Town Hall on US-421.  She was buried in Wilmington's Oakdale Cemetery.

--Old B-R'er

Rose O'Neal Greenhow Diorama At Carolina Beach Town Hall

If you visit the Carolina Beach, North Carolina, Townhall on US-421 (right next to the Federal Point Historical Museum) you can see a diorama of the death of Rose O'Neal Greenhow, as her longboat from the blockade runner Condor overturned in heavy surf and she drowned.  There are several other Civil War Cape Fear dioramas as well.

The Greenhow diorama and the other ones were originally in the Blockade Runner Museum which closed in the 1980s and were stored until a few years ago at the Cape Fear Museum in Wilmington.

I used to spend a lot of time at the Blockade Runner Museum and it is good to see the dioramas again.  The Cape Fear Museum also has the diorama of Fort Fisher and the Wilmington riverfront during the war which are on display..

--Old B-Runner

Condor Heritage Dive Site Opening in Kure Beach-- Part 2

The blockade runner Condor was attempting to run into the Cape Fear River with her cargo and Confederate spy Rose O'Neal Greenhow when it ran aground off Fort Fisher and was wrecked on October 1, 1864.

The ship was 218 feet long and the wreck is 25 feet down about 700 yards off the beach in front of the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher.  It has been fully mapped and divers can find its full lower hull, engines, paddle wheels and boilers.

Buoys will mark the site along with mooring lines for boats and kayaks.  Divers will be able to dive the wreck from June to November.

Interested persons can learn the ship's history and see artifacts at the Fort Fisher Museum.  There is a replica of the Condor's engine room in one of the tanks at the Fort Fisher Aquarium.

I Don't Know.  Some Big Ol' Sharks Out There.  --Old B-Runner

New Blockade Runner Dive Site in North Carolina

I came across an article about the new dive site on the wreck of the blockade runner Condor off Fort Fisher.  It lies about 700 yards off the N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher.

Famous Confederate spy Rose O'Neal Greenhow was on board this ship when it went aground and her escape boat overturned in the rough seas and she drowned.

Old B'Runner

A Walking Tour of Wilmington Features the Civil War Past-- Part 2

CASSIDEY SHIPYARD on Church Street by the Cape Fear River.  This is where the Confederate ironclad CSS Raleigh was constructed.  In April 1864 it scattered the Union blockading fleet off Fort fisher, but ran aground returning from the action and had to be destroyed.

The ironclad CSS Wilmington was under construction at the shipyard when the Union forces captured the city and was destroyed by Confederates while still on the stocks as they evacuated.

ROSE GREENHOW, famed Confederate spy, drowned off Fort Fisher when the blockade-runner she was on, the Condor, ran aground and her boat capsized while heading for the shore.  Her funeral was held at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church on Dock Street between Second and Third streets.  She is buried at Oakdale Cemetery.

--Old B-R'er

Something Else to Do in Wilmington Next Month

From the July 23, 2015, Wilmington (NC) Star-News "Friends of Oakdale Cemetery."

The Friends of Oakdale Cemetery will hold a flashlight tour of Oakdale Cemetery 7:30-9:30 p.m. August 15 at 520 N. 15th Street.

The tour will be led by Chris E. Fonvielle Jr., Ed Gibson and superintendent Eric Kozen.  They will speak about the history of Oakdale, Civil War veterans, funerary art and prominent people buried there.

Gen. W.H.C. Whiting, Captain John Newland Maffitt, Rose O'Neal Greenhow and Major James O'Reilly are among the Confederates buried there.

The cost is $15 a person and you must bring a flashlight.

The summer walking tour series continues 10 a.m.-noon September 19 at the cemetery.  The cost for this one is $10 for non-members and free for members.

The tours are canceled in the event of inclement weather.

I'll Be Missing These, However.  --Old B-R'er

USS Niphon Destroys Another Blockade-Runner Off Wilmington: Confederate Spy Rose O'Neal Greenhow Dies

OCTOBER 1st, 1864:  The USS Niphon, Acting Master Kemble, ran British blockade-runner Condor aground off New Inlet, North Carolina.  Niphon was prevented from destroying the steamer by intense fire from Fort Fisher.

Among the passengers on board was Mrs. Rose O'Neal Greenhow, one of the most famous Confederate spies of the war.  Mrs. Greenhow, fearful of being captured on the grounded steamer with her important dispatches, set out by boat for the shore, but the craft overturned in the heavy surf.

The crew managed to get ashore, but the woman, weighted down by $2,000 in British gold in a pouch around her neck, drowned.  She was buried at Wilmington.

A Very Famous Passenger.  --Old B-R'er

My Great Summer at Fort Fisher-- Part 6: Oakdale Cemetery

JULY 29, 1982  THURSDAY

"Came home for lunch and then dad and I went to Oakdale Cemetery.  Yesterday, I had found out that Whiting had been buried in New York City, but had been exhumed in 1900 and returned to Wilmington where he was buried alongside his wife in Oakdale.

We went to the cemetery office and inquired as to where he and several other people were buried.  They didn't know but looked it up and found the sites.  The cemetery superintendent was kind enough to give me has only walking map of the cemetery and that made it much easier to find things.

We first found the grave of John Newland Maffitt, a famous Confederate  naval captain.  It was almost overgrown as the superintendent had informed me that he never purchased the perpetual care package.  I cleared off the grave as best I could and photographed it.

next, we found W.H.C. Whiting's grave and it was in better shape.  I took a picture of it and also took pictures of  the graves of Rose  O'Neil Greenhow, a Confederate spy who drowned off Fort Fisher, and William Lord DeRosset who was the first commander of Fort Fisher."

I Wonder If Maffitt's Grave Is Now Taken Care Of?  --Old B-R'er

Second Saturday at Fort Fisher Again Next Week

From the Visit NC site "2nd Saturday: "Spies, Signals and Secrets at Fort Fisher."

August 11th will be the final Second Saturday observation at Fort Fisher for the year.  I was fortunate to go to the last one.  This, of course, means re-enactors and cannon firings.

Hands-on activities will be available including the exploring of the signal flag alphabet and creation of cipher disks.  A discussion will be held about the life of Confederate spy Rose O'Neal Greenhow, who lost her life when the blockade-runner Condor ran aground at Fort Fisher.

Guided tours of the fort will also be given.

Sure Would Like to Be There.  --Old B-Runner