Aboard the USS Colorado was a man named Ernest White, a specialist in ship construction and employed as a spy by the Federal government. He devised a scheme by which the Colorado's longboats, under the cover of night, would slip past Confederate guards and destroy or severely damage the Judah where she was berthed.
After some delay, White's plan was approved and put into action. and in the early hours of September 14, 1861, a force of nearly 100 men made up of a mix of the Colorado's crew and shipboard Marines under the command of Lt. John Henry Russell cast off in four longboats.
Keeping in midwater and away from the shoreline, the force rowed quietly across the bay toward Pensacola Harbor.
The Confederate forces at Pensacola were commanded by Gen. Braxton Bragg and numbered several thousand. They were new troops and poorly trained manning a line of about four miles stretching from Fort McRee in the west eastward toward Fort Barrancas and the navy yard.
In addition, guards manned three lookout points on the west side of the bay.
--Old B-Runner
No comments:
Post a Comment