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

October 18, 1864, Navy Keeping Watch on Hood's Advance-- Part 2

As Hood approached Tuscumbia and his rendezvous with general Forrest's cavalry,  Union commanders became increasingly concerned with measures to keep the Confederates from crossing the Tennessee River in Alabama.

They relied heavily on Union gunboats of the Mississippi Squadron to accomplish this as well as to provide intelligence as to Confederate movements.

During the climatic campaign between the forces of Thomas and Hood, the close cooperation and support of naval forces played a key role.

--Old B-Runner

October 18, 1864: Navy Keeping A Watch on Hood's Advance on Tennessee-- Part 1

OCTOBER 18TH, 1864:  Major General Thomas, commanding Union forces in Tennessee, wired Major General Sherman concerning his plans for opposing General Hood's thrust into Tennessee:  "I have arranged with Lieutenant [Commander] Greer, commanding the gunboat fleet on the lower Tennessee, to patrol the river as far up as Eastport [Mississippi].

"Lieutenant Glassford, commanding between Bridgeport and Decatur [Alabama] patrols that portion of the river daily, and cooperates with me cordially."

--Old B-R'er

USS Lexington-- Part 3: Further Operations on the White, Yazoo and Cumberland Rivers

The Lexington continued operations on the Tennessee River until returning to the Mississippi with the Conestoga, Mound City  and St. Louis and entered the White River and captured St. Charles, Arkansas.

The Lexington was afterwards transferred to the Union Navy and in October 1962, participated in a joint expedition up the Yazoo River to attack Vicksburg from the rear.  Providing cover for General Sherman's troops when they attacked on Chickasaw Bayou.

On January 4, 1863, the gunboats and army transports headed up the White River for an attack on Fort Hindman which was captured.  Then the Lexington was recalled to the Cumberland River in Tennessee and cleared it of Confederate efforts as well as arriving just in time to save the Union garrison at Fort Donelson.

--Old B-R'er

USS Lexington-- Part 2: Action At Belmont, Fort Henry and Shiloh

The USS Lexington saw action on September 10, 1861, when it and the USS Conestoga exchanged shots with a Confederate battery at Lucas Bend, Missouri, and damaged the Confederate ship Jackson.

In November, the Lexington covered Gen. Grant's Army at the Battle of Belmont and then steamed up the Tennessee River to attack Fort Henry.  The Union gunboats forced Fort Henry to surrender and afterwards swept the Tennessee River of Confederate transports and captured the unfinished steamer Eastport and destroyed a railroad bridge.

After repairs, the Lexington and  USS Tyler engaged Confederates fortifying Pittsburg Landing on March 1, 1862,  then went further upriver and engaged a Confederate battery at Chickasaw, Alabama, on the 12th.

Then came the Battle of Shiloh on April 6, when, with the Union Army  looking deep  in defeat, the two ships dropped downriver and opened fire on the Confederate right flank as it crashed down on the Federal troops along the river.  Their concentrated broadsides stopped the Confederate advance.

They continued their heavy fire throughout the night.

Thank You Navy.  --Old B-Runner

U.S. Navy at Battle of Shiloh: USS Lexington and USS Tyler

Today, the McHenry County (Illinois) Civil War Round Table is having our monthly discussion group meeting in Crystal Lake at Panera Bread from 10 am to noon.  Today's topic:  the Battle of Shiloh.

Since I am a big Navy buff, I will definitely bring this aspect of the battle up at some point.

The two Navy ships were the USS Tyler and USS Lexington, both converted commercial craft.  When things were at their bleakest for Union forces, these two ships opened fire on advancing Confederates at the river and beyond and stymied the advance.

General Grant sure owed them a big thanks.

--Old B-Runner

Rear Admiral Andrew Foote-- Part 3: Civil War

On June 29, 1861, Foote was promoted to captain.

From 1861 to 1862 he commanded the Mississippi River squadron which he organized and led.  At the time, the Western Flotilla of the U.S. Navy was under the jurisdiction of the Army.

In February 1862, he cooperated with Union General Ulysses S. Grant with the capture of Fort Henry in Tennessee on the Tennessee River which mostly was the action of the Navy.  One hunboat was heavilt damaged.

A few days later Foote engaged the river batteries at Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River.  This was a much stronger fortification and many of his ironclads were damaged, including the flagship, USS St. Louis.  Foote was wounded.

For the actions at the two forts, Foote received the Thanks of Congress.



--Old B-R'er

March 16, 1862: Operations on the Tennessee River

MARCH 16TH, 1862:  Lt. Gwin reported on the operations of the wooden gunboats on the Tennessee River into Mississippi and Alabama where they kept constantly active:  "I reported to General Grant at Fort Foote on the 7th instant and remained at Danville Bridge, 25 miles above, awaiting the fleet of transports until Monday morning, by direction of General Grant, when, General Smith arriving with a large portion of his command, forty transports, I convoyed them to Savannah, arriving there without molestation on the 11th.

"The same evening, with General Smith and staff on board, made a reconnaissance of the river as high as Pittsburg.  The rebels had not renewed their attempts to fortify at that point, owing to the vigilant watch that had been kept on them in my absence by Lieutenant Commanding Shirk."

--Old B-R'er

March 12, 1862: Jacksonville, Florida, Occupied

MARCH 12TH, 1862:  Landing party under Lt. Thomas H. Stevens of the USS Ottawa occupied Jacksonville, Florida, without opposition.  This was all part of the Confederacy giving up all points along the coast that they felt could not be defended against the Union Navy.

**  USS Gem of the Sea, Lt. Baxter, captured British blockade runner Fair Play off Georgetown, South Carolina.

**  Gunboats USS Tyler, Lt. Gwin, and USS Lexington, Lt. Shirk, engaged a Confederate battery at Chickasaw, Alabama, while reconnoitering the Tennessee River.

--Old B-Runner

February 23, 1862: Operations On the Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers

FEBRUARY 23RD, 1862:  Flag officer Foote, with Brigadier General Cullum, reconnoitered the Mississippi River down to Columbus, Kentucky, the anchor of the powerful Confederate defenses.  He reported proceeding "with four ironclad boats, two mortar boats and three transports containing 1,000 men."

Lt. Gwin, in the USS Tyler, conducted a reconnaissance of the Tennessee River to Eastport, Mississippi.  At Clifton, Tennessee, he seized 1,100 sacks and barrels of flour and some 6,000 bushels of wheat.

--Old B-Runner

February 7, 1862: A Huge Explosion on the Tennessee River

FEBRUARY 7TH, 1862: The USS Conestoga, Lt. S.L. Phelps, forced Confederates on the Tennessee River to abandon and burn steamers Samuel Orr, Appleton Belle and Lynn Boyd to prevent their falling into Union hands.  The Samuel Orr was loaded with torpedoes, "which," Phelps observed, "very soon exploded; the second one was freighted with powder, cannon, shot, grape balls, etc.

"Fearing an explosion from the fired boats (there were two together), I had stopped at a distance of 1,000 yards, but even there our skylights were broken by the concussion; the light upperdeck was raised bodily, the doors forced open, and locks and fastenings everywhere broken.

"The whole river for a half mile around about was completely beaten up by falling fragments and the shower of shot, grape, balls, etc."

Reckon He Should Have Been Watching From 2,000 yards.  --Old B-Runner

February 7, 8, 1862: More Confederate Ships Lost on the Tennessee River

FEBRUARY 7TH, 1862:  The USS Bohio, Acting Master William D. Gregory, captured schooner Eugenie Smith, en route from Havana to Matamoras.

FEBRUARY 8TH, 1862:  Captain Buchanan ordered the CSS Patrick Henry, Commander Tucker, and CSS Jamestown, Lieutenant Joseph N. Barney, to be kept in constant state of readiness "to cooperate with the Merrimack when that ship is ready for service."

**  The USS Conestoga, Lt. S.L. Phelps, seized steamers Sallie Wood and Muscle at Chickasaw, Alabama.  The Confederates destroyed three other vessels to prevent their capture, bringing the total loss of ships since the fall of Fort Henry to nine.

Lt. Phelps Doing a Number on Confederate Ships in the Tennessee River.  --Old B-Runner

Capture of Fort Henry-- Part 4: A Serious Loss for the Confederacy

Though the Confederates in the fort had fought well, Confederate General Albert S. Johnston noted the results of the action:  "The capture of that Fort [Henry] by the enemy gives them the control of the navigation of the Tennessee River, and their gunboats are now ascending the river to Florence....  Should Fort Donelson be taken, it will open  the route to the enemy to Nashville, giving them the means of breaking the bridges and destroying the ferry-boats on the river as far as navigable."

In Other Words, a Serious Loss.  --Old B-R'er

Capture of Fort Henry-- Part 2: Sweeping the Tennessee River

In continuing operations the three days following the capture of Fort Henry, the USS Tyler, Conestoga and Lexington, under Lt. S.L. Phelps, swept the Tennessee for Confederate transports, seized the unfinished steamer Eastport and destroyed a railroad bridge spanning the Tennessee River.

Leaving the Carondlet on station as guardship, Foote  proceeded the evening of the 6th with the three other ironclads, all damaged, to Cairo to direct preparation for the assault on Fort Donelson.  He saw the vast possibilities in breaching the Confederate defenses in the center of its western line.

from far up in Kentucky, south and west to the Mississippi at Columbus, all hung in the balance.  Fort Donelson would open the second door to the flood of Union power to sweep into the South.  With the center broken, collapse of the line would follow.

--Old B-R'er

February 6, 1862-- Part 1: Fort Henry Captured

FEBRUARY 6TH, 1862:  Naval forces under Flag Officer Foote, comprising the partially ironclad gunboats USS Essex, Carondelet, Cincinnati, St. Louis and the wooden gunboats USS Tyler, Conestoga and Lexington, captured strategic Fort Henry on the Tennessee River.

Originally planned as a joint expedition under Foote and General Grant, heavy rains the two days before the attack delayed the troop movements, and the gunboats attacked alone.  Accurate gunfire from the gunboats pounded the fort and forced Brigadier General Tilgham, CSA, with all but four of his guns useless, to strike his flag and surrender to Foote

February 4, 1862: Grant Beats Foote to Top of the Ladder

FEBRUARY 4TH, 1862:  Torpedoes, planted in the river but torn loose by the flooding waters, floated by.  Foote had some fished out for inspection.

He and Grant went aft to watch the disassembling of one.  According to a reminiscence, suddenly a strange hiss came from it and the deck cleared very rapidly.

Grant beat Foote up to the top of the ladder.  When Foote asked Grant about his hurry, grant replied that "the Army did not believe in letting the Navy get ahead of it."

--Old B-R'er

February 4, 1862: Troops Disembark below Fort Henry, Shots Exchanged

FEBRUARY 4TH, 1862:  Brigadier General Lloyd Tilgham, gallant defender of Fort Henry, informed General John B. Floyd:  "Gunboats and transports in Tennessee River.  Enemy landing in force five miles below Fort Henry."

After initiating the debarkation of troops below Fort Henry, Flag Officer Foote, in the USS Cincinnati, with General Grant on board, took the four ironclad gunboats that he had been able to man up the Tennessee for reconnoitering, and exchanged shots with the fort.

--Old B-Runner

February 3, 1862: Foote On His Way to Fort Henry-- Part 1

FEBRUARY 3RD, 1862:  Having left his headquarters at Cairo, Illinois,  on 2 February en route to Fort Henry, Flag Officer Foote ordered the USS Essex and St. Louis to proceed from Paducah to Pine Bluff, 65 miles up the Tennessee River, "for the purpose of protecting the landing of the troops on their arrival at that point."

The Army commanders had recognized for some time that the mobility and firepower of the gunboats was vital in support of land forces operating along the rivers.

--Old B-Runner

January 30, 1862: Tennessee River Operations Begin, Mason and Slidell Arrive

JANUARY 30, 1862:  Major General Halleck ordered the combined operation to move up the Tennessee River, warned General Grant that the roads were quagmires, and directed that the movement of troops, munitions and supplies be convoyed by gunboats.

**  The USS Kingfisher, Acting Lt. Joseph P. Couthouy, captured blockade runner Teresita, bound from Havana to Matamoras.

**  Confederate Commissioners Mason and Slidell arrived at Southampton, England.

--Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago, January 28, 1862-- Part 1: Movement Against Fort Henry

JANUARY 28TH, 1862:  Flag Officer Foote wrote Major General Halleck:  "General Grant and myself are of the opinion that Fort Henry on the Tennessee River, can be carried with four gunboats and troops and be permanently occupied."

Halleck replied the next day that he was waiting only for a report on the condition of the road from Smithland to the fort, and would then give the order for the attack.

Seeking to push forward, Foote hurried an answer the same day, noting"  Lieutenant Phelps has been with me [at Cairo] for a day or two, and in consultation with general Grant we have come to the conclusion that, as the Tennessee will soon fall (water depth lowered), the movement up that river  is desirable early next week (Monday). or, in fact, as soon as possible."

--Old B-Runner