It's All About the USS Monitor in Andover, Mass.-- Part 2

Scheduled presentations:

**  Battle of the Ironclads/Raising the Monitor Q&A by John Quarstein  USS Monitor Center Director Emeritus.

**  USS Monitor--  Technical Aspects by James Worden of North Andover.

**  History of the Steam Frigate USS Merrimack 1855-1861 by Brian Howard NAHS Executive Director.

**  Displays of ship models and portrait of Rear Admiral John L. Worden, USN, provided by the Worden family.

**  Short film of the USS Monitor's 2002 recovery and ongoing restoration efforts.

Wish I was There.  --Old B-R'er

Road Tripping Through Civil War Naval History: From the CSS Owl, to Maffitt to the CSS Diana

This all started earlier this month when I had a blog entry featuring the blockade runner Owl, which had a picture of the ship running through the blockade at Wilmington, N.C..  It was a great picture, and I am currently using it at the top of this blog.  If anyone knows who painted this, please let me know so I can credit that person.

Then, I started my road trip with a confusing entry in Wikipedia on this ship, which I found out was actually owned by the Confederate government so correctly was the CSS Owl.  It didn't enter the war until near the end, but at the time was the best designed ship available to do the job it was supposed to do.

And, it was commanded at the end by a person I really admire, John Newland Maffitt.

The ship ran into Wilmington near the end and was headed there when news came that Fort Fisher had fallen.  Maffitt then tried to run into Charleston, S.C., Florida and finally Galveston.  It was helped out of a really tight place on that final run in by the CSS Diana, a ship I had never heard of before.  This ship will be my next area of research.  (And, I found out it was a Confederate ship, then a Union ship and went back to being a Confederate ship.  How's that for interest?)

After running out of that place, Maffitt sailed to England and turned the Owl over to authorities there.

So, Let's Go Road Tripping Through Some Civil War Naval History.  --Old B-Runner

Blockade Runner Owl

From the May 26, 2020  Wilmington (NC) Star-News "Photos:  Past vessels along the Cape Fear River."

Picture 46 of 82

A painting of Captain John Newland Maffitt's  Owl running the blockade into Wilmington.

John Morris, head of the North Carolina Underwater Archaeology Branch at Fort Fisher will be speaking  June 30, 2018, from 3 pm to 4 pm at the Wrightsville Beach (NC) Museum about American Civil War vessels lost in the area.

A collection of artifacts from the blockade runner Modern Greece will be available for guest inspection and handling.

North Carolina  is home to more Civil War shipwrecks than any other state.

Also, Photo 61 of 82 shows a map of the blockade runner Condor which is now a Heritage Dive Site.  Photo 62 is an underwater photo of the Condor.  Also photo 76 shows an oblique view of the Condor.

--Old B-Runner

Picture of the Capture of the Blockade Runner Annie, Oct. 31, 1864

From the New York City Library Digital Collections.

A drawing of the capture of this ship under fire from Union vessels, whose names are given:  How-quah, the Alabama's launch, Wilderness, Niphon, Kansas and Alabama.

Drawn in 1864 by Charles F. Ellmore.

--Old B-Runner

Wilmington, N.C.--Part 1: Original Painting Sold for $75,000

From the Summer 2019 Civil War Monitor magazine.

I originally started this on July 22, 2019, so it has been a long while since I got around to continuing with it.

The magazine also featured a two-page spread of a painting on the 2nd Battle of Fort Fisher by Thomas.F. Laycock.

I can't find out a lot about him other than he also had a painting of the USS Maine which sank in Havana Harbor and was one of the reasons for the Spanish-American War.  He lived from 1840 to 1898.

I did find that the original painting of the Fort Fisher battle sold at auction by Christie's in New York in 2017 for $75,000.

--Old B-R'er

Fort Fisher Painting Featured in Summer Civil War Monitor magazine

From the Summer 2019 issue of The Civil War Monitor  "Salvo:  Facts, Figures & Items of Interest."

And, the painting is featured on a two-page spread and you get to see how big of a fortification Fort Fisher was and the huge size of the Union fleet attacking it.  You see the three single turret monitors and the double turret one in close and the lines of Union ships, including the biggies like the Minnesota and Wabash.  I had to look hard and finally found the New Ironsides in the big ship line second from the right.

"In this lithograph by T.F. Laycock, a fleet of U.S. vessels under the command of Rear Admiral David D. Porter bombards Fort Fisher on the North Carolina shore in mid-January 1865.  A subsequent land attack by Union troops forced the fort's surrender, opening the way for the capture of the port city of Wilmington.  For more on Wilmington, turn the page."

Then there is a four page spread on what to see and do in Wilmington including can't miss sites, best kept secret, best family activity, best Civil War spot, best eats, best sleep and best book.

Obviously, I will be writing about this article this next week.  Liz and I were just at nearby Carolina Beach, home of Britt's Donuts, on Monday and Tuesday, July 15 and 16.

If you hurry up you can still purchase a copy at your local news stand.

Carolina Beach, My Favorite Beach.  --Old B-Runner

Out of My Price Range: $75,000 for Fort Fisher Painting

From Christie's September Sampling.

Christie's Auction House in new York sold the "Bombardment of Fort Fisher" painting by Thomas F. Laycock for 78.2% above its estimate, for a whopping $75,000.  It is an 1888 oil on canvas and they had estimated it would bring between $7,000 and $10,000.

It is signed and dated and the canvas measures 36 1/4 inches by 72 inches.  The  Union fleet is shown bombarding the fort.

Thomas F. Laycock (1810-1898) also made a famous painting of the USS Maine.

--Old B-R'er