Abner Read, USN-- Part 3: Helped Save Fort Pickens and Took Command of the USS New London

Read was aboard the USS Supply in Pensacola, Florida,  when the secession crisis came after Abraham Lincoln was elected president.  The USS Wyandotte arrived and needed its hull scraped.  The steamer was short of officers since so many had resigned to cast their lots with the fledgling Confederacy so Read was sent to it.

In her, he helped prevent the Confederates from taking over Fort Pickens.  During this time, though, he fell sick and was sent home to recuperate.

Once recovered, he took over the newly acquired USS New  London on her commissioning 29 October 1861.  Assigned to the Gulf Squadron, he was stationed in Mississippi Sound where she was joined by the USS R.R. Cuyler.  They rook the schooner Olive  on 21 November 1861 with a load of lumber.

--Old B-R'er

USS Glasgow; Was This The Ship That Captured the Blockade Runner Alabama-- Part 2

USS Glasgow (1863)

Was a blockade runner captured by the U.S. Navy.  Used mainly as a dispatch boat and storeship.

The Glasgow was originally the blockade runner Eugenie, captured off Mobile by the USS  R.R. Cuyler.  She was purchased from the U.S. Prize Court in Key West, Florida, and commissioned 9 July 1863, Acting Ensign N.M. Dyer in command.

252 tons, sidewheel, armament one 12-pdr.  howitzer, one 12-pdr.  rifle.

She was assigned to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron and served as a dispatch boat and supply ship for the squadron between  Mobile Bay and Pensacola, Florida.

--Old B-Runner

May 3, 1862:USS R. R. Cuyler Captures a Blockade-Runner

MAY 3RD, 1862:  The USS R. R. Cuyler, Lt. F. Winslow, captured the schooner Jane off Tampa Bay, Florida, with cargo including lead.

--Old B-Runner

March 29, 1863: Capturing Blockade-Runners

MARCH 29TH, 1862:  The USS R.R. Cuyler, Lt. F. Winslow, captured blockade-running schooner Grace E. Baker off the coast of Cuba.

**  A boat under the command of Acting Master's Mate Henry Eason from the USS Restless, captured schooner Lydia and Mary with a large cargo of rice for Charleston, and destroyed an unnamed schooner in the Santee River, South Carolina.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, January 20, 1862: The Bormann Fuse

JANUARY 20TH, 1862:  Boarding party from the USS R.R. Cuyler, Lt. F. Winslow, assisted by the USS Huntsville and two cutters from the USS Potomac, captured blockade running schooner J.W. Wilder, grounded about 15 miles east of Mobile.

**  Flag Officer Goldsborough, having arrived at Hatteras Inlet on 13 January, ordered Commander Rowan to be certain that all officers in the squadron had been instructed in the use of the Bormann fuse in the 9-inch shrapnel shells, which were to be used in the attack on Roanoke Island.

Careful planning and training were essential elements of victory at Roanoke Island as elsewhere.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, November 21, 1861: Joint Union Navy Force Captures Two Confederate Ships

NOVEMBER 21ST, 1861:  The USS New London, Lt. Abner Reed Read, with USS R.R. Cuyler and crew members from the USS Massachusetts, captured Confederate schooner with cargo of lumber in the Mississippi Sound; the same force took the steamer Anna, with naval stores, the following day.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago: USS R.R. Cuyler Seizes and Burns Confederate Ship

AUGUST 29TH, 1861:  The USS R.R. Cuyler, Captain Francis B. Ellison, seized and burned Confederate ship Finland, which was prepared to receive cargo of cotton and run the blockade off Apalachicola, Florida.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago: US Navy Academy Moves from Annapolis to Newport, Rhode Island for Duration

APRIL 23RD, 1861:  USS Pawnee reached Washington where Commodore Paulding reported to the Navy Department on the loss of the Norfolk Navy Yard.  Pawnee's arrival strengthened the Capital's defenses at a very critical juncture.

APRIL 24TH, 1861:  USS Cumberland, Flag Officer Garrett Pendergrast, captured Confederate tug Young America and schooner George M. Smith with cargo of arms and ammunition at Hampton Roads.

**  USS Constitution, Lt. G.W. Rodgers, departed with midshipmen on board for New York and Newport, Rhode Island, under tow of USS R.R. Cuyler with Harriet Lane in company, to transfer the U.S. naval Academy.  It remained at Newport for the duration of the war for safety.

--Old B-R'er

Blockade-Runner Armstrong Captured Off Wilmington

DECEMBER 4TH, 1864:  The USS R.R. Cuyler, USS Mackinaw and USS Gettysburg, captured blockade running steamer Armstrong at sea.  The Cuyler and Gettysburg, joined by the USS Montgomery, picked up a  number of bales of cotton thrown overboard by the Armstrong during the chase.

The Mackinaw had earlier in the day captured the brig Hattie E. Wheeler with a cargo of sugar.

Good Prize Money.  --Old B-R'er

James E. "Fighting Jim" Jouett

From Wikipedia.

"Fighting Jim" Jouett (1826-1902)

American Navy in the Mexican War and Civil War.  His grandfather was Revolutionary War hero Jack Jouett and his father Matthew Harris Jouett, a noted American painter.

James Jouett was born 7 February 1826, near Lexington, Kentucky.  He was captured at the beginning of the Civil War at Pensacola, Florida, and after parole, joined the Gulf Blockading fleet off Galveston, Texas.  On November 7-8th, he was on the USS Santee when it captured the Royal Yacht and later he commanded the USS Montgomery and the USS R.R. Cuyler (I have written about these two ships).

In September 1863, he took command of the USS Metacomet.  At the Battle of Mobile Bay, August 5, 1864, the Metacomet was lashed to Farragut's flagship, the USS Hartford and later sent off in pursuit of two Confederate gunboats.  The Metacomet riddled the CSS Gaines with shot and captured the CSS Selma.

After the war, Pruett commanded the North Atlantic Squadron in 1884.  He retired in 1890 after brilliant service.  He made his retirement home at "The Anchorage" in Sandy Springs, Maryland, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Section 1, Site 85 A.

Two destroyers carried his name, one in each world war, and there was a guided missile cruiser.

Quite the Career.  --Old B-Runner

Some Pennsylvania Sailors at Fort Fisher

From the March 22nd Union City, pennsylvania's Past Time: Some Civil War Navy men from Union City and Northwestern Pennsylvania" by Kathy Warnes.

There was a long list with information about them, but I just selected those mentioned as being at Fort Fisher.

HIRAM RICE of Waterford. Enlisted July 1864 and served in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron on USS Pontoosuc. At both battles of Fort Fisher and Fort Darling. Served ten months and honorably discharged.

Commander of J.F. Rice Post No. 345 of Waterford, named for his brother killed at the Battle of Malvern Hill.

MELVIN M. SMITH of Lowvlle. Enlisted August 1863 and assigned to South Atlantic Blockading Squadron under Porter. Served on the R.R. Cuyler and at engagements of Hampton Roads, Wilmington, NC and New Orleans. Discharged June 1865. (I'm not sure of these facts.)

H.N. WADSWORTH-- of Harbor Creek. Enlisted 1864 and served under Capt. M.W, Caldwell on USS R.R. Cuyler. Participated at Fort Fisher. Mustered out July 1, 1865.

B-Runner