Other Medal of Honor Recipients Buried at West Laurel Hill Cemetery

From Wikipedia.

Continuing with my Road Tripping Through History.

There are four other Union veterans buried in West Laurel Hill Cemetery  (Name, life & where he earned his Medal of Honor):

CHARLES M. BETTS (1838-1905)  Greensboro, N.C. April 1865.  (This would have made him one of the last to receive the Medal during the war.)

WALLACE W.JOHNSON  (1842-1911)  2nd Day Battle of Gettysburg

GEORGE HENRY STOCKTON  (1833-1912)  Vicksburg

ELWOOD N. WILLIAMS  (1842-1921)  Shiloh

--Old B-Runner

Charles V. Gridley-- Part 2: 'You May Fire When You Are Ready, Gridley'

From 1871 to 1875, he was stationed on the only U.S. Navy vessel on the Great Lakes, the USS Michigan which was home based at Erie, Pennsylvania.  While stationed there, he married Harriet, the daughter of Judge John Vincent and they had three children.  Harriet was also the cousin of Civil War hero  Brigadier General Strong Vincent, who was killed at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Gridley was promoted to commander in 1882 and served as an instructor at the Naval Academy and the Cruiser Training  Squadron.

March 14, 1897, he was promoted to captain and ordered to the Asiatic Squadron where on July 28, 1897, he received command of the USS Olympia, Commodore  George Dewey's famous flagship in Yokohoma, Japan.

*****************************

SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR

During the Battle of Manila Nay in the Philippines on 1 May 1898, Gridley commanded the Olympia from inside the vessel's armored conning tower, an uncomfortably  hot station in the relentless Philippine sun.

Dewey gave his famous command, "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley."  What resulted was a very one-side American victory over the outmatched Spanish fleet.

At the conclusion of the battle,  Gridley was not in condition to celebrate as he was suffering from dysentery and what appears to have been liver cancer.  The heat and stress of the conning tower had further weakened him.  Dewey would have relieved him of his command had not Gridley protested.

George Dewey had been at the Battles of Fort Fisher.

--Old B-Runner

It Must Be a 6th Thing in My Civil War Blogs Right Now: Charles F. Fisher and Edward S. Bragg

I just noticed that I am writing about two colonels right now.  One of them was a Union colonel and the other a Confederate.

They both commanded infantry regiments with the number 6.

Edward S. Bragg was from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and commanded the 6th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment.  I have been writing about him in my Saw the Elephant: Civil War blog.  A Wisconsin legislator is calling for the consideration of renaming Fort Bragg after Edward Bragg.  That way you keep the same name and save a lot of money that it will cost to change names.

So, instead  of Fort Bragg being named after the Confederate General Braxton Bragg it will be named for the Union General Bragg.  Problem solved.  (Also, I have seen at least one source saying that Braxton Bragg and Edward Bragg were related as cousins.

Of course, I have been writing about Charles F. Fisher in this blog. He commanded the 6th North Carolina Infantry Regiment at the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) and unfortunately was killed leading his men.  

So, why would I write about an infantry regiment commander in this Civil War Navy blog?  The reason is that Fort Fisher was named for him.

Both 6th regiments garnered accolades for service during the war and fought in most of the major battles in the Eastern Theater of the war.  Both had huge losses at the Battle of Gettysburg.  The 6th Wisconsin later became part of the famed Iron Brigade of the Army of the Potomac.

--Old B-Runner

News in the Wilmington Journal, July 23, 1863

Besides news of local interest:

**  There were stories about action at Charleston, South Carolina.

**  A possible attack on Union forces at Morris Island by Charleston.

**  Lists of casualties in North Carolina regiments at the Battle of Gettysburg.

--Old B-Runner

Fall of Both Charleston and Wilmington Within a Week Sounded Death-Knell of the Confederacy

Even though the outcome of the war was clearly in complete Union victory by this late date, the fall of these two important Confederate cities with a week of each other very clearly put any hope of a new nation completely out of the question.

The other dual Confederate disaster would have to be considered the loss at Gettysburg July 3, 1863, and surrender of Vicksburg the following day.  This was the turning point.

But the fall of these two Atlantic ports was clearly the death knell.

No Hope.  All is Lost.  --Old B-Runner

150 Years Ago: Today, Nov. 19, 1863: That Little Old Speech Out At Gettysburg

Of course, 150 years ago, it was time for one Abraham Lincoln, president of one United States (not so united at the time) to deliver one short, but impactful and insightful speech at the dedication of a National Cemetery at Gettysburg where so many had died some four months earlier.

That man surely had a way with words and phrasing. Who'd have thought of calling 87 years ago like that?

Anyway, I will have an interesting retraction by a Pennsylvania newspaper on their review of the speech in my Saw the Elephant Blog later today.

-- Old B-Runner

Naval Happenings 150 Years Ago: June 27 to 30th, 1863-- The Naval Side of Gettysburg

JUNE 27TH

CSS Florida, Lt. Maffitt, seized and bonded whaling schooner V.H. Hill en route to Bermuda.


JUNE 28TH

Rear Admiral Dahlgren noted in his private journal that the French Admiral had told him that he thought there were torpedoes near Fort Sumter "and that fifteen monitors might take it if they fired faster.  He said we fired once in eleven or twelve minutes for each turret."

CSS Georgia captured City of Bath near Brazil.

JUNE 28TH-30TH

As Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia moved into Maryland and Pennsylvania (Battle of Gettysburg), Washington, Annapolis and Baltimore were threatened.  The US Navy Department ordered Rear Admiral S.P. Leeto send ships for their defense.


JUNE 30TH

Captain Semmes of the CSS Alabama wrote that it had been two years since he ran the bklockade in the CSS Sumter.  They had been an exciting two years with all the cruising and capturing.

Captain Josiah Tattnall wrote Cmdr. William W. Hunter that the inronclad steamer Savannah was ready except for its officers, but "I have the pleasure to transfer her to your command."

Old B-R'er