DECEMBER 13TH, 1864: Returning to the Confederacy from London, Captain Semmes had landed the month before in Bagdad, Mexico, near Matamoras. This date, en route to his home in Mobile for a brief respite before making his way to Richmond, Semmes crossed the Mississippi River with his son, Major O.J. Semmes.
He later wrote: "We reached the bank of the Mississippi just before dark. There were two of the enemy's gunboats anchored in the river, at a distance of about three miles apart...the enemy had converted every sort of water craft, into a ship of war, and now had them in such number, that he was enabled to police the river in its entire length, without the necessity of his boats being out of sight of of each other's smoke...."
--Old B-R'er
Showing posts with label Matamoras Mexico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matamoras Mexico. Show all posts
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
The Cuban Missile Crisis Had a Counterpart in the Civil War-- Part 1
From the Civil War Navy Sesquicentennial Blog "Playing with Fire Off the Cuban Coast in Oct. 1862."
This past Monday, October 22nd was an eventful day in the U.S. history. And, it scared me more than any Halloween monster. This was the date in 1962 that President Kennedy went on the TV and said that the Soviet Union had placed nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from our country. I thought this signalled the end of the world in a nuclear holocaust. I wrote about it in my Cooter's History Thing Blog for that date.
But, 100 years before that, events unfolded that almost led to another war. Of course, the Civil War was underway, but the United States came close to having a war with Spain over something that happened in Cuba.
A lively trade developed during the war consisting of cotton from Matamoras, Mexico, military supplies from Havana, Cuba and Mobile, Alabama.
Union Commander Charles S. Hunter was patrolling off the coast of Cuba and especially on the lookout for the blockade-runner General Rusk, sometimes called the Blanche, that had made the run between the ports six times. On the seventh attempt into Cuba, carrying 569 bales of cotton, the ship had managed to run aground, but its commander wasn't worried as the ship was in Spanish waters and flying the Spanish flag. He thought he was safe.
He Wasn't. --Old B-Runner
This past Monday, October 22nd was an eventful day in the U.S. history. And, it scared me more than any Halloween monster. This was the date in 1962 that President Kennedy went on the TV and said that the Soviet Union had placed nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from our country. I thought this signalled the end of the world in a nuclear holocaust. I wrote about it in my Cooter's History Thing Blog for that date.
But, 100 years before that, events unfolded that almost led to another war. Of course, the Civil War was underway, but the United States came close to having a war with Spain over something that happened in Cuba.
A lively trade developed during the war consisting of cotton from Matamoras, Mexico, military supplies from Havana, Cuba and Mobile, Alabama.
Union Commander Charles S. Hunter was patrolling off the coast of Cuba and especially on the lookout for the blockade-runner General Rusk, sometimes called the Blanche, that had made the run between the ports six times. On the seventh attempt into Cuba, carrying 569 bales of cotton, the ship had managed to run aground, but its commander wasn't worried as the ship was in Spanish waters and flying the Spanish flag. He thought he was safe.
He Wasn't. --Old B-Runner
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