James Crosby Long, CSN-- Part 3

From Tennessee History Quarterly "Tennessee's Confederate Marines:  Memphis Detachment" by David M. Sullivan.

James Long was at the famed Battle of Hampton Roads for both days, including of course, the historic battle between the CSS Virginia and USS Monitor.  Not only was he there, but he was also on the Virginia.

Inside the Virginia's iron walls were 14 Tennesseans, including Acting Midshipmen Robert Chester Foute and James Crosby Long.  Also, there were 12 enlisted men of the Confederate States Marine Corps.  The Marines had been recruited from rivermen, dock workers and roustabouts who had been recruited in Memphis in the summer of 1861.

The book says that Long became an officer on the CSS Virginia on March 1, 1862, right before the battle.  Foute arrived just two weeks earlier on February 12, 1862.

Old B-Runner

Charles K. Mallory's Brothers

From Find-a-Grave.

These people were buried at Saint John's Church Cemetery in Hampton, Virginia, unless otherwise noted. 

CHARLES KING MALLORY, JR. was the oldest child.

Born: 21 Nov 1844

Died: 1 June 1863

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EDMUND SKINNER MALLORY

Born: 22 Sep 1846, Hampton, Va.

Died: 1903 (aged 56-57), Jackson, Tn

Buried:  Riverside Cemetery, Jackson, Tn.

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ENS STEVENSON BLOUNT MALLORY  (Ensign)

Birth: 15 June 1856

Died 14 Nov 1878 (aged 22)

Buried:  Frederiksted, Santa Cruz, West Indies

U.S. Navy and USNA graduate.

--Old B-R'er

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

Talking About Gen. J.D. Cox, Schofield's Move to Wilmington and Sherman's Carolinas Campaign

Over in my Saw the Elephant:  Civil War blog this past week, I have been writing about Gen. Schofield's 23rd Corps moving from Tennessee to D.C. and Wilmington, a man very involved in the Wilmington Campaign, Gen. John D. Cox.

And also what the move and man had to do with Sherman's Carolina Campaign.

Also, that when Cox's division landed at Fort Fisher several weeks after it fell, it resembled a farmer's pumpkin patch as those shells rusted.

These were all events leading up to Wilmington's fall and Joe Johnston surrendering at Bennett Place near Durham, N.C..

This was a big part of the Fort Fisher/Wilmington Campaigns, but I wrote about them in connection with the McHenry County Civil War Round Table discussion group's meeting in February.

--Old B-Runner

Action In Western North Carolina Jan-Feb. 1864

Even though these would not involve ships, this goes to show there was action in the western part of the state of North Carolina which had a lot of pro-Union sentiment.

January 1864--  General Robert B. Vance leads 500 Confederate troops on an expedition from Asheville, N.C., to Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  Vance is captured by  a Federal cavalry detachment.  This was one of the largest military missions that took place in Western North Carolina.   (In case you're wondering, Robert Vance was the brother of N.C. Governor  Zebulon Vance.)

JAN. 31-FEB. 7--  Federal expedition from Maryville, Tennessee, to Quallatown, N.C..  Major Francis M. Davidson leads 600 Illinois cavalrymen into Cherokee County to destroy Thomas' Legion.

FEB. 2--  Action at Deep Creek.

FEB 5--  Action at Quallatown.

FEB. 17-22--  Federal expedition from Motley's Ford, Tenn., to Murphy, N.C., and vicinity, Cherokee County.

--Old B-Runner

Capture of a Confederate Torpedo Boat on Tennessee River

MARCH 2ND, 2013:  On this date the Chattanooga Gazette carried an account of the capture on the Tennessee River of a Confederate torpedo boat, accessory equipment and a nine man party.  The expedition had been organized in Richmond in early January and had gone by rail to Bristol, Tennessee, where a boat was obtained and launched on the Holston River.

Its mission was destroy Union commerce and key bridges on the Tennessee River.  The expedition was captured near Kingston, Tennessee, by a local group of armed citizens.

--Old B-R'er

Schofield's 23rd Army Corps Begins Arriving at Fort Fisher

FEBRUARY 8TH, 1865:  The first troops of General Schofield's 23rd Army Corps were landed at Fort Fisher, North Carolina.  By mid-month, the entire Corps had moved by ocean transport from Alexandria and Annapolis to North Carolina.

The protection of the Federal Navy and the mobility of water movement had allowed the redeployment of thousands of troops from Tennessee to the eastern theater for the final struggles of the war.

What Is Bragg to Do?  --Old B-Runner

Fitch Returns Later in the Day

DECEMBER 6TH, 1864:  Undaunted, Leroy Fitch returned to the scene of the battle later in the day, this time accompanied by the ironclad USS Carondelet and again engaged those pesky batteries.  This time, he chose a different firing position and disabled some of the Confederate guns..

Attesting to the endurance of the Neosho under fire, Fitch was able to report to Rear Admiral Lee: "During the day the Neosho was struck over a hundred times, but received no injury whatever.

--Old B-R'er

USS Undine Captured-- Part 2

The Undine continued to fire on the batteries for nearly three hours, but nearing the end of its ammunition and  engine disabled, the ship attempted to surrender.  This was unobserved by the Confederates who continued firing so the commander tried unsuccessfully to destroy his ship.

The Undine was taken intact as were the two transports and could be put to good use ferrying Confederate troops across the Tennessee River.

The attacking troops were operating in territory long under Union control and were a part of general Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry, who were attempting to cross the river to join forces with general Hood for the large-scale Confederate assault on Tennessee.  By this drive into Tennessee, Hood and Forrest hoped to sever General Sherman's supply lines and force him to abandon his march across Georgia.

--Old B-R'er

150 Years Ago-- December 16-17, 1863: Farragut Congratulated and Affairs at Havana

DECEMBER 16TH:

Rear Admiral Farragut was still in New York City and receiving all sorts of congratulations for his capture of New Orleans and success on the Mississippi River. He wrote: "That we did our duty to the best of our ability, I believe; that a kind Providence smiled upon us and enabled us to overcome obstacles before which the stoutest of our hearts would have otherwise quailed, I am certain."

**  Thomas Savage, U.S.Consul-General in Havana reported to Commodore Bell regarding blockade-runners in that port. He said the Roebuck, a schooner of 41 tons had arrived from Mobile yesterday with cotton. It had left Mobile on the 8th, the first ship from Mobile "for a very long time.... The famous steamer Alice, which ran the blockade at Mobile successfully so many times, is now in dry dock here fitting out for another adventure."

DECEMBER 17TH:

The USS Moose sent landing parties ashore at Seven Mile Island and Palmyra, Tennessee, where they destroyed distilleries used by Confederate guerrilla troops. I wonder if there was an ulterior motive?

**  The USS Roebuck captured the British blockade-running schooner Ringdove off Indian River, Florida inbound from Havana with cargo of salt, coffee, tea and whiskey.

--Old B-R'er

Farragut Marker Removed in Tennessee

From the September 22, 2011, KnoxNews.com (Tn) by Hugh G. Willett.

Lylan Fitzgerald owns the Stony Point property on Northshore Drive, has removed the marker because of problems with vandals and trespassers.  The monument/marker is 111-years-old and honors the site believed to be Union Admiral David G. Farragut's birthplace.

It was installed by the DAR in 1900.

Rumors say a history collector has it, perhaps living in Texas.

Farragut's father Jorge Farragut, a Spanish immigrant and Revolutionary War veteran was deeded the property in 1796.

David Farragut died in1870 and is buried in Bronx, New York.

I Have to Doubt That History Folks Would Be the Ones Trespassing or Vandalizing.  --Old B-R'er

Naval Happenings 150 Years Ago: April 2nd: Smaller Operations

APRIL 2ND TO 9TH

An armed boat expedition of sailors and Marines from the USS Fort Henry, reconnoitered Bayport, Florida.  Arrived April 3rd.  One launch did not operate well and the Confederates had ample time to prepare for the attack, or, as leader Acting Lt. McCauley wrote "gave the rebels leisure to make all preparations for our reception."  Two Confederate sloops and two small schooners ran into a bayou and grounded to escape destruction.  The sloop Helen, carrying corn, was captured and destroyed.

Union sailors engaged a battery and forced its evacuation and burned a schooner with cargo of cotton before withdrawing.

In the next week, the expedition reconnoitered the Chassahowitzka, Crystal, Homosassa, Withlacooche, Waccasssassa and Suwannee rivers as small boats carried Union sea power to areas larger ships couldn't go.


APRIL 3RD

A Union expedition destroyed Palmyra, Tennessee, in retaliation for Confederate guerrillas firing on a Union convoy April 2nd which crippled the USS St. Clair and damaging two Union Army transports.

Getting Back at Them.  --Old B-R'er

Foundry Helps Explore Mystery of H.L. Hunley

From the September 5, 2011, Clarksville (Tn) Leaf Chronicle.

Clarksville Foundry, dating back to the 1850s, is participating in the National Georgraphic Channel's project to explore the sinking of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley.

The foundry analyzed a piece of iron from the sub to determine its chemical elements, then created a mold and cast a reproduction of a portion of the cunning tower in the channel's 2-hour special "Secret Weapons of the Confederacy" which premiered September 15th.

The Clarksville Foundry is one of America's oldest and one of Tennessee's oldest manufacturing companies., organized in 1847 by H.P. Dorris, produced munitions for the Confederacy.  For the past 100 years it has been operated by the Foust family.

They have recently cast an 1847 six-pounder reproduction cannon from period drawings and presented it as a gift to the Fort Defiance Civil War Park in Clarksville.

An Old Company Working With the Past.  --Old B-Runner

Naval Happenings 150 Years Ago: February 24-25, 1862

FEBRUARY 24TH

Captain Buchanan, CSN, ordered to command the James River, Virginia, naval forces and to fly his flag aboard the new CSS Virginia, along with other vessels: Patrick Henry, Jamestown, teaser, Raleigh and Beaufort.

Sec. of War Mallory added that the Virginia was such a novelty of construction "is untried, and her powers unknown; and hence the department will not give specific orders as to her attack upon the enemy." He suggested use of the ram, especially because of ammunition scarcity.

An attack up the Potomac River to Washington, DC, would be great as well.

FEBRUARY 25TH

The USS Monitor is commissioned in New York Harbor. Captain Dahlgren describes the Monitor as "a mere speck, like a hat on the surface."

The USS Cairo arrived at Nashville, Tennessee, with troops. The troops landed and occupied the city without resistance. Flag Officer Foote quoted a Nashville paper as stating: "We had nothing to fear from a land attack, but the gunboats are the devil."

The Upcoming Battle of the Ironclads Is Certainly Coming Together. --Old B-Runner