USS Montgomery-- Part 3: Service in the Gulf of Mexico

From June to November,, the Montgomery blockaded Apalachicola,Florida,  and captured the ship Finland on 29 August when found to be lacking proper papers.  In November, she began blockading the Atlantic coast from Maryland to the Cape Fear River in North Carolina.

THIS PART IS A BIT CONFUSING.  On the 8th, she had a running fight with the Tallahassee.  After temporary duty off Ship Island 2 December, she was attacked off Horn Island Pass two later by the Florida and Pamlico but was not damaged.  (The Tallahassee did not become a Confederate ship until 1864.  If the Florida mentioned here is the CSS Florida cruiser, this ship was not off the Alabama coast until August 1862.)

Joining the East Gulf Blockading Squadron 20 January 1862, the Montgomery reported to Ship Island  three days later. She took schooner Isabel off Atchafalaya Bay 1 February, then carried dispatches to Tampa, Florida, before joining the West Gulf Blockading Squadron to hunt for the schooner  Columbia off San Luis Pass, Texas, 5 April.

They found the schooner abandoned and burned her, then captured a large sloop.  Cruising the Mexican and Texas coasts, she helped free American citizens held in Mexico the latter part of April and took the British schooner Will o' the Wisp off the Rio Grande on 3 June.  (There was a later another Will-o-the-Wisp sidewheel steamer sunk off Galveston in 1865.  I'm not sure if they were one and the same.)

--Old B-Runner

Officers USCSS Walker-- Part 4: James Alden

JAMES ALDEN

Carlile Patterson was followed by Lieutenant James Alden (1810-1877), a promising naval officer who had been on the  Wilkes Expedition,  on board the USS Constitution during a global voyage and the Mexican War where he served withy the Home Squadron off Mexico.

Detached for Coast Survey duty from the summer of 1849 through late winter  1851, Alden commanded  the steamer John Y. Mason and then  the Walker.

After the Walker, he went on to command the Pacific Coast-based USCSS Active until 1860.

A distinguished Civil War career saw Alden promoted  to captain and then commodore. He was also at the two Battles of Fort Fisher.

 Postwar, he served as  a rear admiral  commanding the European Fleet of the U.S. Navy.

--Old B-Runner

Edward Simpson's Ships-- Part 4: USS Vixen in the Mexican War

After the successful completion of the Yucatan Campaign, the Vixen returned to blockade duty and later participated in the capture of Laguna on 20 September.  She also took part in the capture of Tampico on 14 November then covered U.S. troop landings at Vera Cruz on 9 March 1847.

After Mexican envoys rejected peace offers, the American squadron attacked the city on the 23rd.  Two days later, the USS Spitfire and Vixen made a daring  and visually spectacular close range attack on Vera Cruz's shore defenses.

Vera Cruz finally surrendered unconditionally on the 28th.

This stunning victory enabled General Winfield Scott's army to march overland by the shortest distance and capture Mexico City which was the decisive event in the war.

HOME SQUADRON (1848-1854)

The Vixen then conducted cleanup operations for the remainder of the war.

After the ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on 30 May 1848, she joined the Home Squadron and underwent repairs at the Washington Navy Yard in 1850.  Temporarily decommissioned at Pensacola, Florida, in 1853 by several outbreaks of yellow fever and she underwent further repairs at Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1854.

The Vixen was sold in 1855.

--Old B-Runner

Edward Simpson's Ships, USS Vixen-- Part 3: Capture of Tabasco

In the Gulf of Mexico, the Vixen performed many patrol and reconnaissance assignments and helped secure the Mexican coasts for the landing and move inland of the United States Army.

Under the command of Joshua R. Sands, the Vixen first saw action on 16 October 1846 when she assisted in an unsuccessful attempt to take Alvarado, Mexico, the most important Mexican city east of Vera Cruz.  During the attack, the Vixen towed the schooners Bonita and reefer, but  together with the rest of the fleet, was unable to cross the bar and the attack was called off.

Next, the squadron moved south and attempted to cut the Yucatan Peninsula off from the rest of Mexico.  Success hinged on the capture of  of the coastal port of Frontera at the mouth of the Tabasco River which would cause the surrender of the city of Tabasco upriver.

The Vixen and the rest of the squadron maneuvered into position off Frontera on 23 October.  Commodore Matthew C. Perry of the Vixen and with the schooners Bonita and USRC Forward in tow, dashed across the bar and captured the Mexican ships protecting the port.  (The USRC Forward also took a part in the Civil war.)

Then, the Vixen and Perry ascended the river on the 24th and 25th with the other vessels of the squadron and forced the surrender of Tabasco after a three shot bombardment by the Vixen.

--Old B-Runner

USS Fulton (1837)-- Part 3: Busy Ship

During the next six years, other than periods of repair, the Fulton ranged from the Caribbean to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, transporting government officials, protecting merchant ships against search on the high seas.  From January to May 1855, the Fulton joined the search for the USS Albany which disappeared off the coast of Venezuela in 1854.  They didn't find the unfortunate ship or any survivors.

In 1857, it was in the expedition to Nicaragua to stop William Walker attempt to take over the country and the next year, the Fulton's commander arranged the release of five American merchant ships held in Tampico, Mexico, by revolutionary forces.

--Old B-Runner

USS Tennessee-- Part 2: 49ers, Walker, Captured Then ReCaptured

During the California Gold Rush, the Tennessee transported "49ers" to the eastern shore of Panama and Nicaragua  It delivered the last group of "immigrants" volunteering as mercenary soldiers for William Walker in Nicaragua and after his defeat, took hundreds of his men back home.

After that, the Tennessee regularly served the Vera Cruz, Mexico-New Orleans  route, transporting large numbers of immigrants and Mexican gold and silver.  She was tied up at New Orleans when the Civil War began.

She was seized and became the CSS Tennessee with intentions of being a blockade runner.  She never was able to fulfill that and was captured by Union forces when New Orleans fell on 1862, and was put into Union service as the USS Tennessee and temporarily served as  Farragut's flagship at the conclusion of the Mississippi River Campaign.

--Old B-Runner

The XXV Corps, Union Army

From Wikipedia.

The two brigades of USCT who accompanied the Fort Fisher expeditions were part of the XXV Corps.  Chaplain Henry M. Turner was a member of this corps.

The XXV (25th) Corps was made up almost entirely of black troops previously belonging to the X and XVIII Corps in the Union Army.

On December 3, 1864, the two corps of the Army of the James reorganized.  The white units went to the XXIV Corps.  Black troops became the XXV Corps under Major Genral Godfrey Weitzel.

The newly created corps did not have much of a role in the waning days of the Petersburg Campaign, but some of its units were at the two battles of Fort Fisher.  After that they were more heavily engaged in the subsequent Wilmington Campaign, resulting in the capture of that city in late February.

One of their most noteworthy accomplishments was being the first Union troops to enter Richmond, Virginia, after its evacuation.

In May of 1865, they were sent to Texas to stand as the "Army of Occupation" against Napoleon III in Mexico.  They disbanded in 1866.

--Old B-Runner

150 Years Ago: Maury Updates Confederate Colonization of Mexico

NOVEMBER 27TH, 1865:  By this date Matthew F. Maury could report that "about 40 of our people" had already arrived at New Virginia, the name he proposed for his colony.  He described it as "a garden spot" between Mexico City and Vera Cruz.

Maury didn't leave for England this month as he had originally planned.  It took longer than he anticipated for him to establish the administrative organization for the emigration program and to get it running smoothly.

He did go to England later and events conspired that he would never return to mexico.

--Old B-Runner

150 Years Ago: Richard Maury Arrives in Mexico

OCTOBER 24TH, 1865:  Commander Maury's oldest son, Richard, and the only member of the family who voiced any enthusiasm for his Mexican plan, arrived in Mexico City with his wife.

He, crippled like his father, would be understudy in directing immigration and would run for office when his father departed for England to see Mrs. Maury.

--Old B-Runner

150 Years Ago: Maury Has Opposition to Immigration Plans

SEPTEMBER 26TH, 1865:  Several of Maximilian's ministers objected to Maury's immigration plans and effectively stalled them.  Maury, unaccustomed to having his pans derailed, took shortcuts through the imperial household.  Empress Carlotta handled many of these plans.

This date she agreed to Maury's request to have former Major General Bankhead Magruder appointed to head a land office at a salary of $3,000  a year, with a large number of surveyors under him who were needed to assist in the classification of land titles.

Magruder, a native of Virginia, had graduated from West Point, and served in the United States Army with distinction until 1861, then serving ably in the Confederate Army.  He had announced that he would bring his family to Mexico to live.

--Old B-Runner

150 Years Ago: Maury to Direct Mexico's National Observatory

SEPTEMBER 22, 1865:  Planning to build a National Observatory and wanting to have the right man on hand to direct it, Emperor Maximilian appointed ex-Commander Maury, CSN, one time world famous head of the U.S. Naval Observatory while a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, as "Director of the National Observatory."

The Right Man for the Right Job.  --Old B-Runner

150 Years Ago: Maury Appointed Honorary Counselor of Mexico

SEPTEMBER 18TH, 1865:  Emperor Maximilian of mexico issued an imperial decree appointing Matthew Fontaine Maury as "Honorary Counselor of the State."

Maury was becoming more and more the trusted confidant of both the Emperor and Empress, which did not help him with the rest of the administration.

--Old B-Runer

150 Years Ago: Approves Maury's Confederate Immigration Pamphlet-- Part 2

"'Certainly,' said he.  Then he said, I wish you to continue the conversation with te Empress; I have something pressing to do.  She will make notes, give me verbal explanations, and have it all ready for me by four o'clock in the morning, when I will attend to it.'

"Carlotta was walking in the garden.  he referred me to some books on the table, and went to look for her.  She came, and we commenced discussing matters, she making notes nearly as fast as I could talk... we discussed, with approbation, my going to see you [Maury's wife]; the appointments of agents in the South and their salaries, and the organization of a land office.

"She is very clever, practical and businesslike.  I told her I though she could do more business in a day than all of the Ministers put together could do in a week.  She said, "'I believe I could.'"

A low Opinion of Mexican Ministers.  --Old B-R'er

150 Years Ago: Maximilian Approves Maury's Confederate Immigration Pamphlet-- Part 1

SEPTEMBER 11TH, 1865:  Emperor Maximilian approved Maury's "Regulations and Instruction" prepared to accompany the immigration decree.  The pamphlet provided general information on Mexico's climate, topography, mineral wealth and agricultural possibilities.

That evening after dinner with the royal family, in private conference with the Emperor, Maury told him:  "I can't manage immigration through Ministers.  I must transact business with you directly, and not through them; nor must they have anything to do with it.  'That's what I intend,' said he.  said I, 'I have not seen my wife and children for three years; I want to be quick, organize immigration, and take the steamer of 13th November for France.""

--Old B-Runner

General Lee Advises Maury Against Remaining in Mexico-- Part 2

"The thought of abandoning the country, and all that must be left in it, is abhorrent to my feelings, and I prefer to struggle for its restoration, and share its fate rather than to give up all as lost."

He admire Mexico but still loved Virginia.

"I shall be very sorry if your presence is lost to Virginia.  She now has sore need of all her sons, and can ill afford to lose you.  I am very much obliged to you for all you have done for us, and hope your labours in the future may be as efficacious as in the past, and that your separation from us may not be permanent.

--Old B-R'er

General Lee Advises Maury Against Remaining in Mexico-- Part 1

SEPTEMBER 6TH, 1865:  General Lee advised Matthew Maury against remaining in Mexico.  He wrote:  "We have certainly not found our form of government all that was anticipated by its original founders; but this may be partly our fault in expecting too much, and partly due to the absence of virtue in the people.

"As long as virtue was dominant, the Republic, so long was the happiness of the people secure.  I cannot, however, despair yet; I look forward to better days, and trust that time and experience-- the great teachers of men under the guidance of our ever-merciful God-- may save us from destruction, and restore to us the bright hopes and prospects of the past."

--Old B-Runner

Maury Continues With Mexico Colonization Plan

SEPTEMBER 5TH, 2015:  Steadily proceeding  with the colonization plan proposed by Matthew Maury, whom he deeply respected, Emperor Maximilian issued a decree which began:  "We, Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, in consideration of the sparseness of the population in the Mexican territory, in proportion to its extent, desiring to give all immigrants all possible security for property and liberty...do decree as follow:

:"Mexico is open to immigrants of all nations.  Immigration agents shall be appointed, whose duty it shall be to protect the arrival of immigrants, install them on the lands assigned them, and assist them in every possible way in establishing themselves. These agents will receive the orders of the Imperial Commissioner of Immigrants, especially appointed by us,  and to whom all the communications relative to immigration shall be addressed."

In other words, the way was open for Confederate immigration to Mexico.

--Old B-R'er

What Matthew F. Maury Had to Say-- Part 2

Introduction of chinchona (as mentioned in the last post) was a long cherished idea.  Before leaving England Maury had discussed it with a distinguished geographer who had developed plantations in India.  In mexico, Maury had early applied himself to the study of the country's geography, one pupose being to determine the best location for hinchona cultivation.

"Bark of the tree, variously called Calisava, Jesuit's or Peruvian Bark, was a source of quinine vitally needed in the treatment of malaria."

Mauryleft a continuing heritage of good in his wake through life.

I was wondering what chinchona was.  Now I know.

--Old B-R'er

What Matthew F. Maury Had to Say-- Part 1

Maury's reply to his family was characteristic of the stout integrity and dedication of so many naval officers on both sides during the Civil War.  He did not want to be a court drone, but to earn a living--and help make a better world.

"I have come here to provide a home for such of the conquered people as like to emigrate," he wrote.  "Suppose they do not thank me--well, there is still useful and honourable occupation for me here.  There are many things here with which I may identify myself and do good, such as organizing the census, a land survey for the Empire, a system of internal improvements; and though last, not least, the introduction of chinchona cultivation."

--Old B-Runner

Maury's Family Urge Against It As Well

The members of Matthew Fontaine Maury's family again urged him to abandon his plan of Mexican colonization and go to Russia, accepting the invitation of the Grand Duke Constantine, or go to France where Napoleon III had invited him to live.

Many nations sought the great mind of Maury, leading naval scientist of his time.  Before the Civil War he was the most honored and possibly most noted living American among other nations of the world.

--Old B-R'er