The Capture of the Blockade Runner Don-- Part 2

Throughout the night, the Fedeal ships kept up their pursuit.

The next morning, as dawn broke, Cory discovered that one of the newer Union ships, the USS Pequot,  was barely three miles away and steaming fast towards them.  Cory turned to flee, but the chase was soon over.

The Pequot was a much faster vessel than the Don and soon overhauled the hapless blockade runner.

The Pequot's comander, Lieutenant  Stephen P. Quackenbush, now aware of the earlier incident where the Don was able to escape,  went on board the Don to shake hands with Cory and complimented him on his skill and courage.

The Don was confiscated as a prize.  Cory and his crew were questioned and set free to return to Nassau.

Oh Well.  --Old B-Runner

Who Was 'Captain Cory?'

From "British Blockade Runners in the American Civil War" by Joseph McKenna.

Evidently, the Don was originally commanded by Augustus Charles Hobart-Hampden, and had run into Wilmington.  When he returned to  England, command of the Don passed to his chief officer:   Captain Cory."

Who he was is up for speculation.  There is no one on the Navy List who quite fits the time period.  Most likely he was another Royal Navy officer like Hobart-Hampden, who was enjoying the adventure and money to be made running the blockade.

Cory twice successfully ran the blockade into Wilmington.  But on his third attempt, on 4 March 1864, the Don was captured by the USS Pequot.  At the time, the Don had a cargo of Army uniforms from Peter Tait & Company of Limerick, blankets and shoes valued at $200,000.

--Old B-Runner

USS Don-- Part 2: A Short History

From the Naval History and Heritage Command.

DON

(Screw steamer:  390 tons, 162 feet long, 23 foot beam,  12 foot 3 inches depth,  d. 6', complement 43, 10-14 knots)

She was an iron, twin-screw,  two-stacked running mate of  Hansa as a blockade runner.  Operated and partly owned by the State of North Carolina and are generally  considered to have been public vessels for all practical purposes.

A man named Captain  Cory commanded the Don when, as a still new , $115,000 ship carrying  a $200,000 cargo of Army uniforms, blankets and shoes in from Nassau, she fell prey  to the USS Pequot, 4 March 1864, on her third attempt that voyage  to run into Wilmington, North Carolina.

She was  purchased from the Boston prize court the next month and commissioned as the USS Don and assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron.  She was sold to commercial interests 28 August 1868 after being stricken from the Navy Register.

--Old B-Runner

USS Don

Patrick Mullen was on the USS Don when he received his second Medal of Honor.

From Civil War Navies 1855-1883" by Paul H. Silverstone.

Blockade runner Don was built by J&W Dudgeon in London, England in 1863.  Other ships listed built by J&W Dudgeon were the  blockade runners Flora (1862), Hebe (1863) and Vesta (1862).

Tonnage of these ships put at between 353 to 449 GRT.  

Dimensions:175' by 22'6"

Depth: 12'3"

Don owned by State of North Carolina.

Don was captured by USS Pequot off Wilmington, N.C., 4 March 1864.  Commissioned into U.S. Navy as the USS Don.

--Old B-Runner

January 22, 1865: Union Navy Moving Up the Cape Fear River

JANUARY 22ND, 1865:  Rear Admiral Porter ordered Commander John Guest, USS Iosco, to "regulate the movements o vessels in the Cape Fear River above Fort Fisher...."  Porter sought to move the line of ships as near Fort Anderson, the position to which the Confederates had withdrawn following the fall of Fort Fisher and adjacent forts, "as is consistent with safety, and in doing so care must be taken of torpedoes and other obstructions."

The same day USS Pequot, Lieutenant Commander Daniel L. Braine, steamed upriver and opened fire on Fort Anderson to reconnoiter and test its defenses.  The Confederates brought only two "small rifle pieces" in action, but Braine reported:  "I observed 6 guns, evidently smoothbore, pointing down the river, protected by ordinary sand traverses."

Having sealed off Wilmington, the last major port in the South, the Union was now moving to,occupy it.

--Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago, November 18, 1861: Engagement at New Inlet, N.C.

NOVEMBER 18TH, 1861:  The USS Monticello, Lieutenant Daniel Braine, engaged a Confederate battery near New Inlet, North Carolina.  This would be an early fortification, part of which became Fort Fisher.  he later commander the USS Pequot in the attacks on Fort Fisher later in the war.

**  The USS Conestoga, Lt. S.L. Phelps, on an expedition in the Cumberland River, dispersed Confederate forces and silenced a battery at Canton, Kentucky.

--Old B-Runner

Regulating Vessel Movement on the Cape Fear River Above Fort Fisher

JANUARY 22ND, 1865:  Rear Admiral Porter ordered Commander John Guest of the USS Iosco, to "regulated the movements of the vessels in the Cape Fear River above Fort Fisher...."

Porter sought to move the line of ships as near Fort Anderson, the position to which the Confederates had withdrawn following the fall of Fort fisher and adjacent forts, "as is consistent with safety, and in doing so care must be taken of the torpedoes and other obstructions."

The same day, the USS Pequot, Lt.Cmdr. Daniel L. Braine, steamed upriver and opened on Fort Anderson to reconnoiter and test its defenses.  The Confederates brought only two "small rifle pieces" in action, but, Braine reported: "I observed 6 guns, evidently smoothbore, pointing down the river, protected by the ordinary sand traverses."

Having sealed off Wilmington, the last major port of the South, the Union was now moving to occupy it.

Had they done so earlier than they did in late February, they would have captured a whole lot more supplies destined for Lee's Army which was in the process now of being hurriedly evacuated.

--Old B-Runner

150 Years Ago: March 4th, 1864: The Blockade-Runner Don Seized Off Wilmington

MARCH 4TH, 1864: The USS Pequotseized blockade-running steamer Don east of Fort Fisher, North Carolina, with cargo including Army shoes, blankets and clothing. //// The ship's commander, Captain Cory,said that during his career he had tried to run into Wilmington nine times but was only successful four times. //// --Old B-R'er