USS Isonomia -- Part 2: Operations Off Florida

The Isonomia sailed to Beaufort, North Carolina, on August 19, 1864, and arrived there on  August 23.  She joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and served off New Inlet (Fort Fisher), until ordered to Key West on 8 September with special instructions to cruise in the vicinity of Nassau and the Bahama Banks.

At Key West she was found to be unready for sea service and stationed off West Pass, Florida, where she operated until November when she returned to Key West  to prepare for cruising in Bahama waters.

At the end of January 1865, the Isonomia was returned to duty along the west coast of Florida where she continued until the end of the war.    She captured the British bark George Douthwaite attempting to slip into the Warrior River with a cargo of rum, sugar wool, ginger and mahogany from Jamaica.

Again, I have not been able to find any information on a Warrior River along the west coast of Florida.)

On 9 June 1865, she towed the USS Somerset to New York  where she was decommissioned  28 June 1865 and sold at public auction to Tabor Co.on 12 July 1865.  She subsequently became a merchant ship named the City of Providence and was later sold to foreign interests in 1867.

Still Sounded Like a Real ZSleeper.  --Old B-Runner

January 12, 1865: Porter's "Great Armada" Gets Underway to Fort Fisher From Beaufort, N.C.

JANUARY 12TH, 1865:  "The Great Armada," as Confederate Colonel Lamb described Rear Admiral Porter's fleet, got underway from Beaufort, North Carolina, where a rendezvous had been made with 8,000 Union troops under the command of Major General Terry.

The fleet, up to that time the largest American force to be assembled under one command, proceeded along the Carolina coast northeast of Wilmington and arrived off Fort Fisher that same night.

Preparations were made for commencing a naval bombardment the following morning and for the amphibious landing of 10,000 soldiers, sailors and Marines.

--Old B-Runner

Fort Fisher Sailor's Letters to Be Discussed-- Part 2: At Second Battle of Fort Fisher Then James River

The Pawtuxet remained of Wilmington after the fall of Fort Fisher and then operated in the Cape Fear River.  After the fall of  Wilmington on 22 February 1865, the Pawtuxet  proceeded to Beaufort, North Carolina, a major Union base for the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron.  Once again ready for service, the ship went to the James River Squadron in Virginia.

By then, that squadron had  at least 42 warships, including some monitors.  The Union Army was pushing toward the final destruction of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

Sidney Stockbridge wrote about daily life on the James River, including the hustle and bustle at  City Point, a formerly obscure spot  where the Appomattox River joins the James River, about 30 miles below Richmond.

City Point became one of the busiest seaports in the world as it supplied and fed some 150,000 Union troops.  Land forces dominated this arena, but maritime forces were crucial to victory.

U.S. Navy dominance of the sea lanes and inland waterways allowed  General Grant to continually move his forces around the flank of Lee's army.  There was no interruption in supplies.

The Cape Fear Civil War Round Table meets the second Tuesday of every month.  Programs start at 7:15.  Guests are welcome.  Yearly membership is $30.

--Old B-Runner

January 1, 1865: Fort Fisher Attack To Be Renewed, Porter Gets Ready

JANUARY 1ST, 1865:  Receiving General Grant's December 30 notification of a renewed Army assault on Fort Fisher with "an increased force and without the former commander [General Benjamin Butler]", Rear Admiral Porter acted vigorously to set up a massive and overwhelming attack behind the fleet's heavy guns.

He directed that his 43 warships  concentrate at Beaufort, North Carolina, and the 23 on station off the Cape Fear River send in their operational charts for corrections and on-load "every shell that can be carried" for shore bombardment.

--Old B-R'er

Butler's Powder Ship, the USS Louisiana-- Part 5: The Effort to Blow Up

Once off Fort Fisher, the USS Wilderness took up the tow .

Commander Alexander Rhind and a volunteer crew prepared to attack.  The Wilderness towed the Louisiana toward Fort Fisher, but were turned back by heavy swells.  Worsening weather caused the attack fleet to be unable to leave Beaufort so the first attack was called off.

The final attempt was made December 23, 1864, when the Wilderness brought the Louisiana in as close as it could to Fort Fisher late in the evening.  The Louisiana had been set up with a series of fuses to explode her, but, just in case, Rhind and his men set a fire aft, then escaped in small boats to the Wilderness.

Then came an anxious wait until 1:18 24 December, when the fuses were set to blow.  The effort had failed.  But wait!!!  The small fire they had set aft managed to burn its way fore to the powder and the Louisiana finally blew up.

Unfortunately, the whole effort failed.  No damage was done to the fort, where the garrison thought a blockade runner had run aground and blown up.


--A Failure, But a Good Idea.  --Old B-Runner

Butler's Powdership, the USS Louisiana-- Part 4: "Blowing Up" Fort Fisher

With the impending fall of Charleston, S.C., Wilmington, N.C. became the port to which foreign weapons and trade could proceed and it became the target of General Butler and Admiral Porter.  They had a plan to try to blow up a ship full of explosives with enough force to knock the bug sand fort over.

Wilmington was guarded by the huge sand fort named Fort Fisher.

O 26 November 1864, contrary to the beliefs from naval ordnance experts that it wouldn't work, the USS Louisiana was designated as the ship to carry all that powder and in early December, she proceeded to Hampton Roads  to be partially stripped and made to look like a blockade runner and then was laden with explosives.

She left Hampton Roads on December 13, towed by the USS Sassacus and went to Beaufort, N.C.,  where the loading of powder was completed and five days later, arrived off Fort Fisher.

--Old B-Runner

November 20, 1864: USS Louisiana to Become the Fort Fisher Powder Vessel

NOVEMBER 20TH, 1864:  Rear Admiral Porter directed Commander Macomb to send the USS Louisiana to Beaufort, North Carolina.  The Louisiana was to become the powder ship with which Admiral Porter and General Butler hoped to level Fort Fisher and obviate the necessity of direct attack.

Early in December she was taken to Hampton Roads, where she was partially stripped and loaded with explosives.

They made the Louisiana look more like a blockade runner to cover its real intention while getting up as close as possible to the fort before exploding.

--Old B-Runner

USS Berberry-- Part 5: Continued Operations in North Carolina Waters

Repairs were finished by November 1864 and the Berberry departed Norfolk on the 23rd and headed back to the waters off New Inlet, arriving ion the 26th.  That night her guns persuaded a blockade runner to give up its attempt to escape to sea.

Early in December, illness forced Ensign Milton Griffith (who had commanded the Berberry ever since commissioning) to request relief and Ensign Robert W. Browntree took command of the tug on December 4.    On the 10th, a bad storm forced the Berberry to Beaufort, N.C. for repairs.

Mid-month, the ship was in the Sounds of N.C. where she served the rest of the year.

On January 3, 1865, Acting Ensign Peter C. Asserson took command and returned to blockade duty off New Inlet.   She operated there until February 26.  She then returned to Beaufort and operated in the sounds until the collapse of the Confederacy.

On 29 May, it left N.C. waters and returned to Hampton Roads the following day. Then on to New York where she was decommissioned at New York Navy Yard on June 10 and sold at public auction two days later.

She was redocumented as the tug Rescue and  served through the turn of the century before being purchase by a foreign interest in 1902.

Quite a Busy Service.  --Old B-Runner

N.C. Events June 1864-- Part 1: Blockade Runners and Kirk's Raid

All actions are in the eastern part of the state unless (WEST).

JUNE--  3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry (Union) organized in Knoxville, Tennessee.  (WEST)

JUNE 2--   Destruction of steamer Georgiana McCall.

JUNE 4--  Capture of steamer Thistle.

JUNE 5--  Capture of steamer Thistle off Cape Lookout.

JUNE 9--  Destruction of blockade-runner Pevensey near Beaufort.

JUNE 13 to July 15--  KIRK's RAID:  Federal raid from Morristown, Tennessee, into North Carolina, the capture and destruction of Camp Vance near Morganton, and skirmishes.  (WEST)

--Old B-Runner

Destruction of Cape Lookout (NC) Lighthouse April 2, 1864-- Part 1

I mentioned this in the last post.

This lighthouse was designed and construction overseen by Captain W.H.C. Whiting, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the cost of $45,000 and lit November 1, 1859.  It was the second lighthouse at the site and it still stands.

It had a first-order Fresnel Lens which allowed the light to shine brighter.  On May 20, 1861, North Carolina seceded from the United States.  All lenses were removed from coastal lighthouses as well as navigational beacons to prevent Union forces from using them to navigate southern coasts.

Union forces captured Beaufort and Morehead City, N.C. in  1862 and by the end of the the next year they had a 3rd-order Fresnel Lens installed in the Cape Lookout Lighthouse.

On April 2, 1864, a small group of Confederates under the command of L.C. Harland were able to get out to the lighthouse with intent to destroy it.  They failed.

--Old B-R'er

Update on the Last Post, 14th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery

In the last post, I wrote about the formation of this group.

From the Lest We Forget, African American Military History.

14th U.S. COLORED HEAVY ARTILLERY

Organized at New Bern and Morehead City, N.C. from the  1st North Carolina  Colored Heavy Artillery March 17, 1864.  Attached to the Defenses of New Bern, N.C., Department of Virginia and North Carolina, to January 1865.

Sub-District of New Bern, Department of North Carolina, Sub-District of  Beaufort,  Dept. of  North Carolina to December 1865.

SERVICE:   Garrison duty at New Bern and other points in the Department of North Carolina till December 1865.  Mustered out December 11, 1865.

--Old B-R'er

A USS Monitor Christmas 1862-- Part 1: "All Is Hurry On Board"

From the December 22, 2018, Daily Press (Virginia)  "Jonathan White OpEd:  A U.S.S. Monitor Christmas."

Christmas Eve 1862, Captain John Pine Bankhead, commander of the USS Monitor, received orders to proceed  from Hampton Roads, Virginia, to Beaufort, North Carolina.

They  were:  "Avail yourself of the first favorable weather for making the passage."  But, the weather didn't cooperate and departure was not done at the time.

The officers and crew of the Monitor spent Christmas Day in Hampton Roads aboard ship.  Some had received packages of "good things" from home and Captain Bankhead lamented that he had "neither Mother, wife or sister to send me such things."

Aboard the Monitor, paymaster William F. Keeler penned a short note to his wife, Anna:  "A merry Christmas  to you all there this morning.  I wish I was where I could tell you so instead of having to write it.  I shall think of you often today.  All is hurry on board preparing for sea."

The Last Christmas of the Monitor.  --Old B-Runner

USS Merrimac-- Part 2: Sank in a Bad Storm February 15, 1865

Early in 1865, the USS Merrimac was reassigned to the East Gulf Blockading Squadron and hot underway early in February.  Bad weather forced the ship into Beaufort, N.C., on the 7th, and Charleston, S.C., on the 12.  Underway for Key West the next day, she encountered even worse weather and turned northward looking for a safe haven.

But, on February 15, 1865, Acting Master William Earle ordered the crew to abandon ship after its tiller was broken and two boilers given out and the pimps unable to  to stop the rising water in the hold.  The crew was rescued by a mail steamer Morning Star and watched that night as the ship disappeared beneath the waves.

However, the department of the Navy has the Merrimac sinking on January 15, 1865.

--Old B-Runner

Blockade Runner Revere-- Part 3: Report of the 1861 Capture

  Report of the September 10, 1861 capture.

Report of Cmdr. Parker, U.S. Navy, commanding the USS Cambridge.

"I have the honor to report that I have this day captured the English schooner Revere, of Yarmouth, from Beaufort bound to Key West laden with salt and herring and that I have ordered her to Boston, with an officer and prize crew in charge."

--Old B-Runner

Blockade Runner Revere: Was the 1862 One the Same One Captured in 1861?

Two posts ago,  I mentioned the USS Monticello capturing an English schooner named the Revere running the blockade off Frying Pan Shoals, N.C.

I looked up some more information and found that the USS Cambridge had captured an English schooner named the Revere off Beaufort, North Carolina, on September 10, 1862.

Could This Be the One and the Same?  --Old B-Runner

February 28, 1862: :The CSS Nashville Runs Into Beaufort, N.C.

FEBRUARY 28TH, 1862:  The CSS Nashville, Lieutenant Pegram, ran the blockade into Beaufort, North Carolina.

It was the first Confederate ship to fly the flag in England and had captured one Union merchant ship.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, September 23, 1861:

SEPTEMBER 23RD, 1861:  USS Cambridge, Commander W.A. Parker, captured British schooner Julia, bound for Beaufort, North Carolina.

**  Flag Officer I.M. Goldsborough assumed command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, including operations in the Chesapeake.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago: Privateer Dixie Captures American Ship

JULY 31ST, 1861:  Confederate privateer Dixie captured American bark Glenn and took her to Beaufort, North Carolina.

--Old B-Runner

North Carolina's Fort Macon-- Part 2: Guarding Beaufort

The War of 1812 revealed how defenseless the United States coast was so construction of Fort Macon began in 1826.  The Army Corps of Engineers built it over eight years according to General Simon Bernard's design.  It was named for Nathaniel Macon, an important North Carolinian of the time.

Beaufort had been attacked several times over the previous years.  The first time was by Tuscarora Indians, then Blackbeard and in August 26, 1747, by Spanish privateers.  During the American Revolution, the British attacked in 1782 and during the War of 1812, British ships would demand supplies from the town.

There had been a previous small fort at the site, but it was washed away by a hurricane in 1825.

Fort Macon was a five-sided star fort built of brick and stone.  Its outer walls were 4.5 feet thick.

It was leased by the U.S. government from the state during World War II.  It became North Carolina's second state park in 1926 (Mt. Mitchell was the first one).  The park consists of 424 acres.

--Old B-R'er

North Carolina's Fort Macon-- Part 1

From the February 16, 2016, Coastak review Online "Our Coast:  Fort Macon and Elliott Coues" by Jared Lloyd.

On April 23, 1862, Fort Macon surrendered to Major General Ambrose Burnside after a less-than 24-hour battle, then began a months-long ordeal trying to get the Confederate troops there to vacate the premises.  (I am unaware of the problems getting them to leave and have done a little more research and found no mention of them not leaving.)

Fort Macon guarded Beaufort Inlet which led to the Beaufort, North Carolina's only deep water port.

Four hundred Confederates surrendered and it was in Union hands for the rest of the war  Beaufort became the major coaling and provisioning base for the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron for the war's duration.

Sixty years later, the fort and surrounding land became one of North Carolina's first state parks.

--Old B-Runner