Some More Naval Medal of Honor Recipients Buried in Moriah Cemetery, Philadelphia-- Part 2

There sure are a lot of Navy Medal of Honor recipients buried at this cemetery.  I wonder if it has anything to do with the Philadelphia Navy Yard being there.

John Lafferty, USS Wyalusing, versus CSS Albemarle.  Also received a second medal of Honor in Peru.

Nicholas Lear, USS New Ironsides, Fort Fisher

Thomas G. Lyons, USS Pensacola, Battle of New Orleans

James Martin II, USMC, USS Richmond, Battle of Mobile Bay

Matthew McClelland, USS Richmond, Battle of Port Hudson

John Smith, USS Richmond, Battle of Mobile Bay

William Thompson, USS Mohican, Battle of Port Royal

Alexander Truett, USS Richmond, Battle of Mobile Bay

John Williams, USS Pawnee, Mathias Point, Va.

William Williams, USS Lehigh, Charleston, S.C.

Sure a lot of Navy, Marine Medals of Honor buried in this cemetery.

--Ol B-R'er

Battle of Legareville-- Part 4: A Confederate Withdrawal

After the attack on the USS Marblehead, other Confederate cannons opened fire on Union forces in Legareville.  The Confederates had an advantage at this time, their commander refused to advance his troops until the Marblehead was disabled.

Instead, he tried to get the small force to surrender.  But, by this time, the other two Union ships in the area, the USS Pawnee and USS C.P. Williams, were moving into action.  By 6:35, the C.P. Williams was enfilading the Confederate positions.  And when the Pawnee joined the fray, the Confederates  stopped firing as the tide had shifted.

Colonel Powhatan Robertson Page soon ordered the withdrawal of Confederate forces.  Two eight-inch howitzers were left on the scene of the battle.  A planned attempt to retake the guns failed under fire from the C.P. Williams.

--Old B-Runner

The Battle of Legareville-- Part 2: The Union Navy at the Battle

The USS Marblehead was under the command of  Lieutenant Commander Richard Worsam Meade, the nephew of Major General George Gordon Meade of Gettysburg fame.

The Marblehead mounted an 11-inch Dahlgren gun, two 24-pound smoothbore guns and one 20-pounder rifle.  Further down the Stono River, which ran along Johns Island past Legareville and into the Atlantic Ocean, two other gunboats were posted at the inlet.

They were the USS Pawnee, commanded by George Balch and had the firepower of  eight IX-inch Dahlgren guns, one 100-pounder Parrott rifle, one 50-pounder  Dahlgren rifle and two 12-pounder boat howitzers.  The other ship was the USS C.P. Williams, a mortar schooner that mounted a couple   8-inch mortars under the command of Acting Master F.N. Freeman.

--Old B-Runner

USS Marblehead-- Part 4: Actions on the Stono River and Four Medals of Honor.

Back on the Stono River with the USS Pawnee by November, the Marblehead provided cover as U.S. Army troops sank piles as obstructions in the river above Legareville, South Carolina, on November 24.  

The next month, on Christmas Day, Confederate batteries, in an attempt to chase the Marblehead and Pawnee away, opened fire.  The Marblehead suffered some twenty hits but was able to capture two of the enemy's eight-inch  seacoast howitzers

Four of her sailors were awarded the Medal of Honor for action in the last action on the Stono River.  They were contraband Robert  Blake, Boatswain's Mate William Farley, Quartermaster  James Miller and Landsman Charles Moore.

On June 2, 1964, the Marblehead became a practice ship for midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy located in Newport, Rhode Island.  After just a month, she resumed her blockading duties for five months before returning to the Academy as a practice ship.

After this, she  went to the Washington Navy Yard where the Marblehead was decommissioned  19 September  1866.  Recommissioned  the following month, she was assigned to the North Atlantic Squadron where she operated in the Caribbean for the next two years.

On 18 August 1868, the Marblehead went to New York Navy Yard, was decommissioned  4 September and sold  30 September.

--Old B-Runner

An Honor Accorded to Black Medal of Honor Recipient Robert Blake-- Part 1

From the November 20, 2013,  Orangeburg (S.C.) Times & Democrat "Ex-slave, Medal of Honor Recipient, remembered  with naming of DMV" by Richard Walker.

When a Confederate shell during the Civil War hit his ship, Robert Blake helped man a gun and return fire even though he didn't have to do so.

The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) dedicated its Orangeburg field office to this South Carolinian.  Blake was the first Black to be recognized with the Medal of Honor (out of just 26) and receive it during the war.  William Carney of the 54th Massachusetts received his at the attack on Fort Wagner in South Carolina on July 18, 1863, but didn't get his medal until the 1890s.

I have already covered Mr. Blake's previous life which led him to be in the Navy in the last four posts (December 2020).

On Christmas Day, 1863, Blake's ship, the USS Marblehead and the USS Pawnee came under attack by a hidden Confederate battery on John's Island in the Stono River.  A shell exploded on the Marblehead's deck bear where Blake was, knocking him to the deck and killing a nearby powder boy.

Without a supply of gunpowder, one of the ship's five guns would be out of action.  Without orders, Blake jumped into action and began retrieving powder from the ship's magazine over and over.

The Marblehead sustained twenty hits in the action, but silenced the battery.

--Old B-Runner

Major John Johnson's (CSA) Corrections to His Book: A Naval Connection

For much of April I have been writing about the Confederate Defenders of Charleston monument and Major John Johnson  who was the Confederate engineer in charge of rebuilding Fort Sumter after the horrendous Union bombardments 1863-1865.  This was in my Saw the Elephant: Civil War blog.  This information could also have been in this blog.

Major Johnson wrote a book about the defense of Charleston from 1863-1865, titled "The Defense of Charleston Harbor, Including Fort Sumter and Adjacent Islands"  in 1890.  It is regarded, even today, as one of the best, least biased, works on that period of time.

In today's post to that blog, I wrote about corrections he had made to the book when the second printing took place, and these were much of a naval character.

Including:

**  The sinking of the Confederate transport Marion

**   "Fish" torpedo boats

**  Attack on USS Pawnee and Marblehead

**  Range of Union guns at Fort Pulaski

Go to the My Blogs section to the right of this and click on Saw the Elephant.

--Old B-Runner

March 12, 1864: Union Expedition Up the St. John's River in Florida

MARCH 12, 1864:  The USS Columbia, Acting Ensign Francis W. Sanborn, supporting an Army movement up the St. John's River, Florida, captured the Confederate river steamer General Sumter.

Acting Master John C. Champion, commanding a launch from the USS Pawnee which was in company with tug Columbine, took command of the prize, and the two vessels pushed up the St. John's River, reaching Lake Monroe on the 14th.

That afternoon the naval force captured steamer Hattie at Deep Creek.  The expedition continued for the next few days, destroying a Southern sugar refinery and proceeding to Palatka, where the Army was taking up a fortified position,

--Old B-Runner

The Naval Forces At the Battle of Tuliffiny

In my other Civil War blog, Saw the Elephant, I am writing about the Battle of Tuliffiny in South Carolina in December 1864.  It was a part of Sherman's March to the Sea.  Of interest, it featured the cadets of Charleston's Citadel playing a big role in the battle.

From the Civil War Times 1864-12-6 Tuliffiny.

This was a Union amphibious assault of the Navy, Marines and Army.

Navy ships involved in it from the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron under Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren:

USS St. Louis  (the only ship of this name in the Civil War I could find was an ironclad on the Mississippi River)
USS Pawnee
USS Canandaigua

USS Flag
USS New Hampshire
USS Sonoma

USS Mingoe
USS Pontiac
USS Saratoga

USS James Adger
USS Cimarron
USS Donegal

Not all of these ships were at the actual battle.  This appears to be a list of ships of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron based at Hilton Head, S.C..

Commander George H. Preble commanded the Naval Support Brigade ashore.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, November 5, 1861: Engagement at Port Royal

NOVEMBER 5TH, 1861:  The USS Ottawa, Pembina, Seneca and Pawnee engaged and dispersed  a small Confederate squadron under Commodore Tatnall in Port Royal Sound and fired on Fort Beauregard and Fort Walker.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago: Action in Missouri and North Carolina

SEPTEMBER 10, 1861:  USS Conestoga, Lt. S.L. Phelps, and USS Lexington, Commander Stembel, covering a troop advance, silenced the guns of a Confederate battery and damaged gunboat CSS Yankee at Lucas Bend, Missouri.

**  USS Pawnee, Commander Rowan, captured schooner Susan Jane in Hatteras Inlet.  Other blockade runners, unaware that the Union Navy now controlled the inlet, were also taken as prizes.

**  USS Cambridge, Commander W.A. Parker, captured British blockade running schooner Revere off Beaufort, North Carolina, with cargo of salt and herring.

CSS Yankee.  Quite a Name for a Confederate Ship, Like the CSS United States.  --Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago: Squadron Departs Hampton Roads to Attack Confederate Forts at Hatteras Inlet, N.C.

AUGUST 26TH, 1861:  Union squadron under Flag officer Stringham: USS Minnesota, Wabash, Monticello, Pawnee, revenue Cutter Harriet Lane, U.S. tug Fanny and two transports carrying about 900 troops under Major General Butler, departed Hampton Roads (later joined by the USS Susquehanna and Cumberland) for Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina, for the first combined action of the war.

Hatteras Inlet was the main channel into Pamlico Sound and the most convenient entrance for blockade runners bringing supplies to the Confederate Army in Virginia.

The Navy early recognized the strategic importance of the inlet and invited the Army to cooperate in its capture.  The operation was designed to check Confederate privateering and to begin the relentless assault from the sea that would divert a large portion of Confederate manpower from the main armies

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago: Northern Steamer St. Nicholas Seized in Undercover Operation

JUNE 28TH-29TH, 1861:  The side-wheel steamer St. Nicholas, making a scheduled run between Baltimore and Georgetown, D.C., was captured by Confederates who had boarded her posing as passengers at the steamer's various stopping points on the Potomac River.

The Confederates were led by Captain George N. Hollins, CSN, who took command of the St. Nicholas, and Colonel Richard Thomas, CSA, who boarded disguised as a woman.  The St. Nicholas then began a search for the USS Pawnee, but, not finding her, put into the Chesapeake Bay where she seized the schooners Margaret and May Pierce and the brig Monticello the following day, June 29..

A Bit of Undercover Work.  --Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago: Action on the Potomac River

JUNE 27, 1861:  The USS Thomas Freeborn, Commander Ward,  USS Reliance, Acting Lt. Jared P.K. Mygatt, with two boats from the USS Pawnee, Commander Rowan, attacked Confederate forces at Mathias Point, Virginia.  Commander Ward was killed in the action.

Naval actions at Mathias Point, Aquia Creek, and elsewhere caused Admiral D.D. Porter to later observe of these early operations on the Potomac and Chesapeake:  "... the country was too busy watching the black clouds gathering in the South and West to note the ordinary events that were taking place on the Potomac, yet they formed the small links in the chain, which in the end, shackled the arms of the great rebellion."

**  The USS Resolute, Acting Master W. Budd, burned a Confederate supply depot on Virginia shore of the Potomac River.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago: Confederates Building "Infernal Submarine Vessel" at New Orleans

JUNE 24TH, 1861:  USS Pawnee, Commander Rowan, and the USS Tomas Freeborn, Commander Ward, shelled Confederate batteries at Matthias Point, Virginia.

JUNE 25TH, 1861:  Secretary of Navy Welles received a report that "the rebels in New Orleans are constructing an infernal submarine vessel to destroy the USS Brooklyn, or any vessel blockading the mouth of the Mississippi ... a projectile with a sharp iron or steel pointed prow to perforate the bottom of the vessel and then to explode."

It was also reported that "a formidable  floating battery [is] being built at Mobile, to be mounted with large guns of immense size and range to drive away or capture the ships, by engaging them at long range."

JUNE 26TH, 1861:  The USS Minnesota, Flag Officer Stringham, captured bark Sally Magee off Hampton Roads.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago: Potomac Flotilla Engages Confederate Batteries at Aquia Creek, Virginia.

MAY 29TH-JUNE 1ST, 1861:  The Potomac Flotilla, consisting of the USS Thomas Freeborn, Commander Ward, USS Anacostia, Lt. Napoleon Collins, USS Resolute, Acting Master William Budd, engaged Confederate batteries at Aquia Creek, Virginia.

The flotilla was joined by the USS Pawnee, Commander Rowan, on the evening of May 31st.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago: Blockades Set at New Orleans and Mobile

MAY 25TH, 1861:  Commander Dahlgren, Commandant Washington Navy Yard, reported the capture of steamer Thomas Colyer by USS Pawnee, Commander Rowan, in Alexandria.

**  USS Minnesota, Flag Officer Stringham, seized bark Winfred near Hampton Roads.


MAY 26TH, 1861:  USS Brooklyn, Commander Charles H. Poor, set blockade of New Orleans and mouth of the Mississippi River.

**  USS Powhatan, Lt. D.D. Porter, set blockade at Mobile.

Setting a blockade required notifying the port and then giving a certain amount of time for ships to leave and for word to get around of the blockade to incoming vessels.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago: USS Pawnee Ordered to Alexandria, Va.

MAY 11TH, 1861:  The USS Pawnee, Commander Rowan, ordered by Commander Dahlgren to proceed from Washington Navy Yard to Alexandria, Virginia. to protect vessels in the vicinity from attack by Confederate forces.

MAY 12TH, 1861:  USS Niagara, Captain McKean, captured blockade-runner General Parkhill, en route from Liverpool to Charleston.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago: US Navy Academy Moves from Annapolis to Newport, Rhode Island for Duration

APRIL 23RD, 1861:  USS Pawnee reached Washington where Commodore Paulding reported to the Navy Department on the loss of the Norfolk Navy Yard.  Pawnee's arrival strengthened the Capital's defenses at a very critical juncture.

APRIL 24TH, 1861:  USS Cumberland, Flag Officer Garrett Pendergrast, captured Confederate tug Young America and schooner George M. Smith with cargo of arms and ammunition at Hampton Roads.

**  USS Constitution, Lt. G.W. Rodgers, departed with midshipmen on board for New York and Newport, Rhode Island, under tow of USS R.R. Cuyler with Harriet Lane in company, to transfer the U.S. naval Academy.  It remained at Newport for the duration of the war for safety.

--Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago: Norfolk Navy Yard Abandoned and Ships Mostly Destroyed

APRIL 20TH, 1861:  Norfolk Navy Yard partially destroyed ti prevent facilities from falling into Confederate hands.  USS Pennsylvania, Germantown, Raritan, Columbia and Dolphin burned to water's edge.

The USS Delaware, Columbia, Plymouth and Merrimack (later CSS Virginia) were burned and sunk.  Old frigate United States was abandoned.

The USS Pawnee, and tugboat Yankee, towing the USS Cumberland, escaped; Pawnee went to Washington to augment the small defenses at the Capital.

This major Yard was of prime importance to the South.  The Confederacy had limited industrial capacity, and possession of the Norfolk Yard provided her with guns and other ordnance materiel, and, equally as important, gave her a drydock and an industrial plant in which to manufacture critically needed items.

In large measure, guns for batteries and fortifications erected by the Confederates on the Atlantic coast and rivers during 1861 came from Norfolk.

--Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago: Davis Wants Privateers and Obstacles Placed at Norfolk

APRIL 17TH, 1861:  Jefferson Davis' proclamation invited all interested in "service in private armed vessels on the high seas" to apply for Letters of Marque and Reprisal.  In other words, privateers.

**  Confederates placed obstacles in the channel at Norfolk, attempting to prevent the sailing of U.S. Naval vessels.  The subsequent passage of the obstructions by the Pawnee and Cumberland proved the effort ineffective.

--Old B-Runner