January 21, 1865: Schofield's XXIII Corps Arrives at Cincinnati On Their Way to Fort Fisher

JANUARY 21ST, 1865:  Elements of the Twenty-Third Army Corps, Major Gcincieneral Schofield, disembarked from transports at Cincinnati, Ohio, which they had reached in five days via the Tennessee and Ohio rivers from Clifton, Tennessee.

From Cincinnati, they entrained for Washington, D.C., Alexandria, Virginia, and Annapolis, Maryland, where the first echelon arrived 31 January.

They had been ordered to join forces with Union troops at Fort Fisher for operations against Wilmington, North Carolina.  The movement took just 17 days to cover from Clifton, Tennessee to Fort Fisher, quite an accomplishment.

--Old B-Runner

Army Transport B.M. Runyan-- Part 1

From Civil War Talk Forum.

In the last post I mentioned this ship sinking in the Mississippi River after hitting a snag on July 23, 1864.  Some more information on this boat.

On August 30, 2010, Blessmag wrote the forum requesting information on the existence of photographs or drawings of the B.M. Runyan and Luminary.  Both served in the Mississippi River and  the Runyan carried troops from Alton, Illinois,  to Columbus, Kentucky, in 1862.

5fish replied:

Loss of the B.M. Runyan--  Happened on July 21, 1863

One report says 70 lives were lost.  Another says 150.    In either case, most of the dead were soldiers whose enlistments were up and were on their way to Cincinnati to be mustered out of the U.S. Army.

Frederick  Way, Jr.'s "Way's Packet  Directory 1845-1994" reports that  that the Runyan's cabin broke free of the hull and floated downstream before it grounded on a sandbar.

--Old B-Runner

The USS Lexington-- Part 1: Timberclad Bought By U.S. Navy

From Wikipedia.

In the last post, I mentioned this ship being one of the two who helped turn Shiloh into a Union victory.

The USS Lexington was a Timberclad ship.  (Instead of iron, they were clad in thick wood.)  It was built as a sidewheel ship in 1861 in Pittsburgh, Pa., and purchased  by the U.S. Navy and converted into a gunboat at Cincinnati under the direction of Commander John Rodgers.

It joined the Western Flotilla at Cairo, Illinois, 12 August 1861.

It was 177 feet long and had a 34-foot beam and was armed with four 8-inch Dahlgren smoothbores and two 32-pdr. guns.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago Naval Forces on Western Rivers Established--Part 2

Under John Rodgers, three river steamers were purchased at Cincinnati.  Rodgers, overcoming no little difficulty in obtaining and training crews, getting guns and other equipment, converted the steamers to gunboats USS Tyler, Lexington and Conestoga.

These three gunboats, as stated by Alfred Thayer Mahan, were of inestimable service "in keeping alive the attachment to the Union where it existed."

--Old B-R'er

23rd Army Corps Reach Cincinnati

JANUARY 21ST, 1865:  Elements of Major General Schofield's 23rd Army Corps disembark from transports at Cincinnati, Ohio, which they had reached in five days via the Tennessee and Ohio rivers from Clifton, Tennessee (See Jan. 16th in this blog).  The troops entrained for Washington, D.C., Alexandria, Virginia, and Annapolis, Maryland, where the first groups arrived Jan. 31st.

They were later by transport ships to the Cape Fear River for operations against Wilmington.

--Old B-R'er

Admiral Lee Looking for More Ships in Western Waters

NOVEMBER 23RD, 1864:  Constantly alert to the need to strengthen his squadron for the difficult work of convoying and patrolling the Western Rivers, Rear Admiral Lee on this date dispatched a group of officers on a confidential mission to Cincinnati, Pittsburgh "and other places if necessary, for the purpose of purchasing ten sound, strong, and swift light draft steamers to be converted into gunboats."

Ten were eventually bought, converted and added to the Mississippi Squadron in early 1865.

--Old B-R'er

Cincinnati's Fort Fisher Connection

When we got back from Washington Park last night, I did a bit of research on it and found out it had been a series of cemeteries before 1855 when it was turned into the park.  Bodies were reinterred in Cincinnati's Spring Grove Cemetery.  My buddy Denny said that the Proctor and Gamble and Kroger of those companies are buried there.

Looked the cemetery up and found quite a list of other notables including Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase and a whole lot of Union generals (and even one Confederate one) were there.  Two of the Union names particularly jumped out at me as having Fort Fisher and Wilmington connections.

Godfrey Weitzel was involved in the the first attack on Fort Fisher.  If I recall, he was supposed to be in command until his commanding general, Ben Butler, superceded him.  The other one was Jacob D. Cox who was very involved in the capture of Wilmington in the five weeks following the fall of Fort Fisher.

We're Off to see Them in a Little Bit.  --Old B-R'er

Farragut's Cannon in Cincinnati

Yesterday, I arrived in Cincinnati and that night went to the newly redeveloped Washington Park downtown for a concert featuring two popular local bands.  While walking around, I espied off in the distance what appeared to be a 19th century naval cannon.

Obviously, I had to check it out.  Turned out to be a 30-pdr Parrott cannon that had been on one of Admiral Farragut's ships at the 1864 Battle of Mobile Bay in Alabama.  Unfortunately, it did not say what ship.  A plaque by it said that it had been in Washington Park since 1870 and had been acquired by the War Department and had been a gift to the city by T.W. Seig of the 6th Ohion Infantry regiment.

It had been restored in the mid-1970s using anonymous donations and volunteer labor and was rededicated Aug. 5, 1997, 133 years after the Battle of Mobile Bay.

After I got back to Denny's, I went online but could find no new information about it.

Sure would like to know what ship it was on.

Old B-Runner