Albert Gallatin Hudgins, CSN

From Texas History  "Register of Officers of the Confederate States Navy, 1861-1865)

ALBERT GALLATIN HUDGINS

Born and appointed from Virginia.  Resigned as acting midshipman, U.S. Navy, March 11, 1861.  Acting master , September 24, 1861.  Lieutenant for the war, February 8, 1862,   Second lieutenant September 8, 1862. Second lieutenant, October 23, 181862, to rank from October 2, 1862.

First lieutenant Provisional Navy, June 2,  1864, to rank from January 6, 1864.

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Served on the CSS  Sumter, 1861, wounded and captured while in charge of prize brig  Cuba, July   8, 1861; exchanged  at Aiken's Landing, Virginia, August  5, 1862.

CSS Baltic, Mobile Squadron, 1862-1863.  Drewry's Bluff, Virginia, 1863.  Participated in the expedition for the capture of  U.S. steamers Satellite and Reliance,  August 23, 1863.  Johnsons Island  expedition, 1863.

C.S. steamers  Raleigh and Arctic, Wilmington Station,  1863-1864.

Special duty, 1864.  CSS Bombshell; captured in Albemarle Sound, May 5, 1864, ; paroled at Charleston, South Carolina, December  15, 1864.

C.S. steamers  Virginia (No. 2) and Richmond, James River squadron, 1865.

Semmes Naval Brigade 1865.  Paroled at Greensboro, North Carolina,  April 28, 1865.

--Old B-Runner

Charles Carroll Simms, CSN-- Part 2: Mobile Bay

After the destruction of the CSS Virginia, he was on the CSS Nansemond on the James River and later on the CSS Selma at Mobile Bay in the last year of the war.  He then commanded the ironclads CSS Baltic and CSS Nashville.

He surrendered to Union forces in early May 1865 and was soon afterwards paroled.

Simms died in 1884 and is buried at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C..  Assistant Navy Secretary of the Navy during the Civil War Gustavus Vasa Fox is also buried there.

Charles Simm's father, John Douglas Simms, was chief clerk of the U.S. Navy and Acting Secretary of the Navy in 1841.  His grandfather, Col. Charles Simms was an officer in the American Revolution and Mayor of Alexandria, Virginia.

--Old B-R'er

Confederate Tombigbee River Squadron Offers to Surrender

MAY 4TH, 1865:  Rear Admiral Thatcher accepted an offer from Commodore Ebenezer Farrand, CSN, to surrender "all Confederate naval forces, officers, men, and public property yet afloat under his command and now blockaded by a portion of our forces in the Tombigbee River [Alabama]."

The formal capitulation took place on the 10th and included the CSS Nashville, Morgan, Baltic and Black Diamond.

--Old B-Runner

Fall of Mobile, Alabama-- Part 2

Secretary Welles extended the Navy Department's congratulations to Rear Admiral Thatcher and major general Gtanger "for this victory, which places in our possession, with but one exception, all the chief points on the Southern coast, and bids fair to the closing of the naval contest of the rebellion."

Before the evacuation of  the city, ironclads CSS Huntsville and Tuscaloosa were sunk in Spanish River.  CSS Nashville, Baltic and Morgan sped up the Tombigbee River to avoid capture.

With the Stars and Stripes raised over Mobile, the Union ironclads steamed upriver in pursuit of the Confederate ships.

--Old B-Runner

Spanish Fort Falls

APRIL 8TH, 1865:  Invested by General Canby's troops and bombarded heavily by the guns of Rear Admiral Thatcher's ships, Spanish Fort and Fort Alexis, keys to the defense of Mobile, finally fall.  In reporting the capture to Secretary Welles, Thatcher noted the efficiency of the naval battery on shore under Lt.Cmdr. Gillis (the one from the sunken USS Milwaukee).

He added:  "Eighteen large submerged torpedoes were taken by our boats from Apalachee or Blakely River last night in the immediate vicinity of our gunboats.  These are the only enemies that we regard."

The loss of a half dozen vessels to torpedoes near Mobile since the USS Tecumseh was sunk by one in August had taught Union naval officers an unforgettable lesson about torpedo warfare.

The onfederate defenders of Mobile Bay were supported by a squadron under Flag Officer Ebenezer Farrand, consisted of the CSS Nashville, Morgan, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa and Baltic.

--Old B-R'er

The CSS Baltic Is a Mud Scow

MARCH 20TH, 1864: Lt. Simms, CSN, commanding the CSS Baltic, wrote Commander C. ap R. Jones that naval constructor John. L. Porter "has made a very unfavorable report on the condition of the ship and recommended that the iron be taken from her and put upon one of the new boats that were built.... Between you and I the Baltic is rotten as punk and is about as fit to go into action as a mud scow." // By July the Baltic had been dismantled and her armor transferred to the CSS Nashville. //// A mud scow is a boat used for dredging mud. ////A Worthless Ship. --Old B-R'er

CSS Baltic

From Wikipedia.

Back on June 14th and 15th, I wrote about two Confederate naval officers, Peter Murphey and Andrew Bierne being paroled at Alabama's Nanna Hubba Bluff, near Mobile on May 10, 1865.  In addition, the CSS Baltic was captured there as well and on the same day.  Sure was a lot going on there that day.

I had never heard of the CSS Baltic so had to find out about it.

The CSS Baltic was an iron and cotton-clad sidewheel steamer built in Philadelphia in 1860 as a river tow boat belonging to the Southern Steamship Company.

The state of Alabama converted it into an armored ram and turned it over to the Confederate Navy.  The Baltic was 624 tons, 186 feet long, 38 foot beam, crew of 86 and mounted two Dahlgrens, two 32-pounders and two smaller guns.

It operated in Mobile Bay, Mobile and the Tombigbee River.  By February 1863, it was classified as unfit for service in sinking condition.  It was dismantled in July 1864 and its armor transferred to the CSS Nashville.  It was captured at Nanna Hubba Bluff May 10, 1865 and sold to the U.S. government Dec. 31, 1865 to be broken up.

The Story of a Ship.  --Old B-Runner

Nanna Hubba Bluff in Alabama

Yesterday, I wrote about Lt. Peter Murphey being paroled May 10, 1865 at Nanna Hubba Bluff in Alabama.  I had never heard of it, but that is sure an interesting name so had to find out more about it.

According to Wikipedia, it is a bluff above the Tombigbee River, north of Mobile, Alabama,  near the town of Calvert in Mobile County.  It received its name from local Indians.

During the Civil War Confederate shipyards were there.  It is now owned by ThyssenKrupp Company which built a $4.65 billion facility at the site.

It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on 1974.

I also came across mention of the CSS Baltic being captured there on the same day that Murphey received his parole.  I never heard of this ship so you know what that means.

Then, I also found out that Lt. Andrew Bierne, who I have written about, also was paroled at Nanna Hubba Bluff on May 10, 1865.  There must have been big doings there on May 10, 1865.

Didn't Know Any of This.  --Old B-Runner