Henry Discher, CSN

A couple posts ago I wrote that Henry Discher had gotten excited and accidentally fired his revolver alerting the Union crew on the mailboat Fawn that something was afoot.

Here's his service record according to the Register of Confederate Navy Officers:

HENRY DISCHER

Appointed from Missouri.  Third Assistant Engineer Provisional  Navy, June 2, 1864.

Serve on:

CSS Richmond, James River Squadron, 1864

CSS Albemarle, 1864

Confederate steamers Virginia No. 2 and Torpedo, James River Squadron, 1865.

Paroled April 23, 1865, Burkesville, Virginia.

--Old B-Runner

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

Confederate Navy Officers: Joseph W. Alexander

Born in North Carolina, Appointed from North Carolina

Formerly lieutenant U.S. Navy.

First lieutenant , October 23, 1862, to rank from October 2, 1862.

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

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SERVED ON:

CSS Virginia, 1861

Commanding CSS Raleigh in Battle of Hampton Roads, March 8-9, 1862.

CSS Atlanta, 1862.  Captured by the USS Weehawken, June 17, 1863.

CSS Virginia (No. 2); detached December 19.  Ordered to command CSS Beaufort.

--Old B-Runner

The End of the Confederate James River Squadron-- Part 2: Destruction of the Ironclads

Mallory's orders to destroy the squadron were carried out by Semmes.  After outfitting his men with arms and field equipment, the admiral burned and scuttl;ed his three formidable ironclads, CSS Virginia No. 2, Fredericksburg and Richmond near Drewry's Bluff.  By 3 a.m. on 3 April the ironclads were well on fire, and Semmes placed his 400 men on wooden gunboats.

Semmes later wrote:  "My little squadron of wooden boats now moved off up the river [to Richmond], by the glare of the burning iron-clads.  They had proceeded far before an explosion, like the shock of an earthquake, took place, and the air was filled with missiles.

"It was the blowing up of the Virginia, my late flag-ship.  The spectacle was grand beyond description.  Her shell-rooms had been full of loaded shells.  The explosion of the magazine threw all of these shells, with fuses lighted, into the air.

"The fuses were of different lengths, and as the shells exploded by twos and threes, and by dozen, the pyrotechnic effect was very fine.  The explosion shook the houses in Richmond, and must have waked the echoes of the night for forty miles around."

I can't understand why the ships did not attempt to go down the James River and attack City Point and perhaps go on out to sea, regardless of obstructions and Union ships.

They Had Nothing to Lose.  --Old B-Runner

Semmes Assumes Command of Confederate James River Squadron--

FEBRUARY 18TH, 1865:  Rear Admiral Semmes assumed command of the Confederate James River squadron.  "My fleet," he wrote, "consisted of three iron-clads and five wooden gunboats."

The ironclads, each mounting four guns, were the CSS Virginia No. 2, Richmond and Fredericksburg.  The wooden ships included the CSS Hampton, Nansemond, Roanoke, Beaufort and Torpedo; all mounted two guns except the torpedo which had just one.

Semmes also noted: "The fleet was assisted, in the defence of the river, by several shore batteries, in command of naval officers...."

I wonder what had happened to the CSS Patrick Henry?

--Old B-Runner

Confederate Attack Down the James River-- Part 2: Grounded Out

JANUARY 23-24, 1865:  This serious Confederate thrust, however, came to naught when both the Virginia No. 2 and the Richmond ran aground while passing the obstructions at Trent's Reach and were brought under heavy fire from Union sore batteries.  Gunboat CSS Drewry and torpedo boat Scorpion also went aground.

The Drewry was shattered by an explosion resulting from a mortar shell penetrating her magazine, and the Scorpion, thought to be damaged by that nearby explosion, was abandoned.

The USS Onondaga, flagship of Parker's squadron, returned to Trent's Reach the following morning and took the stranded Confederate ironclads under fire.  Her 15-inch Dahlgren guns spoke with devastating effect, and the damaged Virginia No. 2 and Richmond withdrew upriver as soon as they were refloated.

Although Parker was severely criticized for failing to engage the Confederates at once, the war's last battle of ironclads ended favorably for the North.  Grant's supply line remained unbroken and he could move inexorably toward Richmond.  Control of the James and Potomac Rivers was of inestimable value to the North.

--Old B-Runner

USS Alligator: The Union's Submarine-- Part 1

From the Civil War Submarine/Naval Chronology.  A really handy site listing events in both services in different colors so it makes it real easy to distinguish from them.  Quite a bit was going on with the USS Alligator around this time, 150 years ago.

JULY 4, 1862--  The tug Fred Kopp leaves the James River, Virginia, and tows the Alligator to the Philadelphia Navy Yard.  On the same day, the USS Maratanzas captures the CSS Teaser and found on board detailed plans for the new CSS Virginia II, which is nearing completion.  The Alligator is immediately recalled Washington Navy Yard,  but its civilian crew declines the mission.


MID-JULY--  The Alligator is at the Wsahington Navy Yard (you have to wonder if President Lincoln came down to look at it as he was always interested in new technology and this was definitely something new.  After all, he was looking at the Rafael gun in August 1862.

Lt. Thomas O. Selfridge, the hero of the USS Cumberland--CSS Virginia battle (and, later, sinker of ships), has been appointed to command the submarine.

Selfridge Was Especially Hard on Ships Beginning With the Letter "C."  --Old B-Runner