Thursday, April 22, 2021

A Rebel Captured the Last Slave Ship for the Union-- Part 2: Captured the Slaver Nightingale and Military Family

Continued from April 13, 2021 post.

Details about Lt. John Guthrie's action against the slave ship off Kabenda, Africa, are sketchy, but it is known that the overall mission was a complete success.  The slaver Nightingale and her cargo of 900 slaves were captured.

After the slaves were released in Liberia, the Saratoga, with her prize Nightingale in tow, headed back for the United States.

No doubt that Guthrie dreamed of  certain promotion in the U.S. Navy as one of its rising stars.  In fact, since early childhood in Washington, North Carolina, Guthrie had been raised in a family with a rich military tradition.  His great grandfather and two great uncles had served in the American Revolution.  John Wilburn Guthrie, his grandfather,  was a surgeon in the War of 1812.

His father, Dr.  J.W. Guthrie, was also a well-respected U.S. Army surgeon who had talked John into  leaving Chapel Hill (University of North Carolina)  for an appointment to West Point.  After only a year there, he switched to the U.S. Navy and entered as a midshipman in 1834.

--Old B-Runner


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