Some More Information on Thomas Randall and Little River Before and After the War

From the Little River Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center.

Until recently, a burned out hulk of a house towered over a grassy slope near the harbor in Little River.  It was the Randall-Vereen House, one of the oldest in Horry County.

The house was one of three built by Captain Thomas Randall of New England, who came to Little River after the War of 1812.  For a time, Little River was called "Yankee Town" by the rest of the county, because a few people from New England had come to live there.

The village became a prosperous port in the 1850s, shipping  fine lumber and naval stores to Northern markets.  It had a saw mill, waterhouse, stores, school and bank.   Several churches were organized and b people built nice homes.

The Civil War, however, wiped out this progress.  A large salt works produced much needed salt for the Confederate Army until it was burned by Union forces.  Shipping and fishing was at a standstill with the coastal blockade.

--Old B-Runner

Lt. Charles Read's Great Adventure from the Clarence to the Tacony to the Archer

 All this started when I wrote about the Edward H. Faucon was ordered to take his ship, the USS Montgomery, and search for the Confederate raider Tacony which was capturing Union ships off New England.

That had started when the CSS Florida, under John Newland Maffitt had captured the American ship Clarence and set  Charles W. Read up as a raider.  Read had captured several ships before he captured the Tacony and then decided that was a better ship for his purposes and transferred his men and armament to that vessel.

He had captured several more ships  when he captured the Archer and again decided that ship would be better suited and once again transferred his men and armament.

So, this was his third ship.

--Old B-Runner

N.C. Events, August 1864: CSS Tallahassee and CSS Albemarle

From the North Carolina Civil War Sesquicentennial Timeline.

  WEST means it took place in the western part of the state, otherwise in the eastern.

AUGUST  1-3   Pursuit of Confederate forces from Athens, Tennessee, into North Carolina (WEST).

AUGUST 2--   Skirmish at Murphy  (WEST).

AUGUST 6--  The CSS Tallahassee runs out of Cape Fear River and begins a successful two week commerce raid on Union shipping all the way to New England.

AUGUST 6-7--  Appearance of CSS Albemarle at mouth of the Roanoke River.

Two Confederate Warships Make Appearances.

So August 6 Was A Good Day For The Confederacy And A Very Good Day For the Confederate Navy.  --Old B-R'er

August 6, 1864: CSS Tallahassee Runs Out of Wilmington

AUGUST 6TH, 1864:  The CSS Tallahassee, Commander Wood, ran out of the Wilmington's Cape Fear River, and after eluding several blockaders off the bar, embarked on one of the most destructive commerce raiding cruises of the war.

"This extemporaneous man-of-war," Jefferson Davis later wrote, "soon lit up the New England coast with her captures...."

In the next two weeks Wood, whom Davis called "an officer of extraordinary ability and enterprise," took or destroyed more than 30 ships.

A Little Known Yet Successful Commerce Raider.  --Old B-Runner

June 4, 1864: Gloucester Asks for Fishing Fleet Protection

All of these dates in Civil War naval history are from the "Civil War Naval Chronology 1861-1865" book.

JUNE 4TH, 1864:  The success of the CSS Tacony against shipping off the New England coast the previous year (20-27 June 1863) prompted a committee from Gloucester, Massachusetts, to address a request to Secretary Welles:  "In behalf of the citizens and businessmen of this town interested in the fishing business, to ask your attention to the necessity of some protection for our fishing fleet the coming season...

"It is necessary that a steamer, properly armed, should be detailed for the special service of cruising in the Gulf of St. Lawrence until the close of the fishing season,"

Welles ordered the USS Ticonderoga, Captain Charles Steedman, on this duty.

--Old B-Runner

150 Years Ago: The CSS Shenandoah Enters the Atlantic Ocean

SEPTEMBER 16TH, 1865:  The CSS Shenandoah, Lt. Waddell, rounded Cape Horn and entered theAtlantic Ocean enroute to Liverpool, England.  In the Pacific, the Shenandoah had struck the New England whaling industry a blow as that administered to the English whaling industry in 1813 by the USS Essex, commanded by Captain David Porter, the father of Civil War Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter.

There was a lot of truth in the boast made by Waddell in later years when he said, "I made New England suffer."

--Old B-R'er

Meanwhile, the CSS Shenandoah Continues Her Cruise

MAY 13TH, 1865:  The CSS Shenandoah, then south of the Kuriles, steadily headed North, her position unknown in the vast distances of the Pacific.  The threat of this single raider, however, created consternation in the North.

The merchants of New London, Connecticut, requested Secretary Welles to protect their whaling vessels in the Arctic and Pacific oceans.  Previously New England ship owners had sought protection by purchasing additional insurance.  When news arrived from England that the Shenandoah was on her way to the Arctic, the leading maritime insurance carrier in New England did a booming business.

In a three day period the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company collected $350,000 in premiums from shipowners increasing coverage on their vessels.  During the course of one day alone, the company received $118,978 in premiums -- the largest sum written by the company during a 24-hour period until the start of World War I.

The Fear of the Shen.  --Old B-Runer

150 Years Ago-- June 4-5, 1864: Fishing and Runners

JUNE 4TH, 1864:  The success of the CSS Tacony against shipping off New England in the previous year (June 20-27, 1863) prompted a committee in Gloucester, Massachusetts, to write Welles:  "In behalf of the citizens and businesses of this town interested in the fishing business, to ask your attention to the protection for our fishing fleet for the coming season."  Welles ordered the USS Ticonderoga to this duty.

The USS Fort Jackson captured the blockade-running steamer Thistle at sea east of Charleston.  All her cargo except a cotton press was thrown overboard in the six-hour chase.

JUNE 5TH, 1864:   The USS Keystone State seized blockade-running British steamer Siren off Beaufort, NC, with cargo including hoop iron and liquor.

--Old B-R'er

New England Coast In Full Consternation

JULY 18th

A delegation from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, meets with Secretary Welles seeking additional defense for the city.  Welles writes in his diary: "Letters from numerous places on the New England coast are received to the same effect..  Each of them wants a monitor, or cruiser, or both."

He then pointed out that shore defense belonged to the War Department rather than the Navy, and that coastal communities should bear some responsibility for their own defense.

Lt. Read's suvvessful raid on the New England coast had really stirred up the populance along with continuing rumors of other Confederate raiders.

Old B-R'er

Naval Happenings 150 Years Ago: June 22nd to 23rd, 1863

JUNE 22ND

CSS Tacony, Lt. Charles Read, captured schooners Florence, Marengo E. Ann, Choate and Ripple off New England.  He burned all but the Florence, bonding it and placing 75 prisoners on it.  A pretty good day's work.  Read was getting to be a real big thorn in the Union's side.


JUNE 23RD

CSS Tacorny, under you-know-who, captured and burned schooners Ada and Wanderer off New England coast.

Old B-Runner