John J. Guthrie's Resignation and Dismissal from U.S. Navy

From Naval History and Heritage Command "Officers List."  Those who resigned from U.S. Navy in 1861.  

Name and Rank:  JOHN J. GUTHRIE, Lieutenant

Date of Tender of Resignation:  ? July 1861

Date of Letter of Dismissal:  July 15, 1861

Some of the lieutenant names that I recognized for  their Confederate service:

George J. Sinclair

Isaac N. Brown

James J. Waddell

John Wilkinson

--Old B-R'er

February 12, 1865: Five Blockade Runners Plan to Run Into Charleston-- Part 1

FEBRUARY 12TH, 1865:  The blockade runners Carolina, Dream, Chicora, Chameleon and Owl, heavily laden with supplies desperately needed by General Lee's army, lay at anchor in Nassau harbor.    They had intended to run into Wilmington, but now knew that port was effectively closed.

During the day, the five captains, including Lieutenant John Wilkinson and Commander John Maffitt, held a conference and formulated plans for running the blockade in Charleston.  They figured that despite the long odds of success on this mission, that if all five attempted at about the same time, some might be able to get through.

After putting to sea that night,the five ships separated and stood on different courses for the South Carolina coast.

A Last Ditch Effort to Get Into the Confederacy.  --Old B-Runner

February 5, 1865-- Part 2: Last Attempt Into Confederacy for the Chameleon "Was About to Perish at Last"

'As this was the last night during that moon, when the bar could be crossed during the dark hours, Wilkinson later wrote, "the course of the Chameleon was again, and for the last time, shaped for Nassau.

"As we turned away fro the land, our hearts sank within us, while the conviction  forced itself upon us, that the cause for which so much blood had been shed, so many miseries bravely endured, and so many sacrifices cheerfully made, was about to perish at last."

So Sad.  --Old B-R'er

February 5, 1865: The Chameleon Tries to Run the Blockade at Charleston, But Fails-- Part 1

FEBRUARY 5TH, 1865:  Blockade runner Chameleon (formerly CSS Tallahassee and CSS Olustee), Lieutenant Wilkinson, attempted to run through the blockade of Charleston (after its near capture running into the Cape Fear River in January) to deliver desperately needed by General Lee's troops, but was unsuccessful.

After his near capture at Wilmington on January 19, Wilkinson had returned to Nassau and had learned on January 30, that Charleston was still in Confederate hands.  He departed Nassau on February 1 and evaded the USS Vanderbilt after a lengthy chase.

But he found that Charleston's blockade had been augmented by so many ships from the Wilmington station that he could not get into the harbor while the tide was high.

--Old B-Runner

October 29, 1864: CSS Olustee (Former CSS Tallahassee) Goes on a Commerce Destroying Cruise From Wilmington

OCTOBER 29TH, 1864:  The CSS Olustee, formerly the CSS Tallahassee, Lieutenant William H.Ward, eluded the blockaders off Wilmington, North Carolina.

He returned to Wilmington on November 7 after a brief, but successful cruise, having destroyed the bark Empress Theresa,schooners  A.J. Bird, E.F. Lewis, and Vapor, ship  Arcole and brig T.D. Wagner, during the first three days of November.

The day before the Olustee slipped out of Wilmington, October 28, the CSS Chickamauga, Lt.  John Wilkinson, also eluded blockaders off Wilmington and set out to sea as  a commerce raider

That same day, the USS Calypso and USS Eolus captured British blockade running steamer Lady Sterling at sea off Wilmington with a cargo of cotton and tobacco.

--Old B-Runner

J.J. Ingraham CSN-- Part 2: Service Aboard CSS Chickamauga.

From "British Ships in the Confederate Navy" by Joseph McKenna.

Officers on the CSS Chickamauga 26 September-15 December 1864.  This was when Lt. John Wilkinson took the ship on a raid from Wilmington up the U.S. east coast and captured several prizes.

John Wilkinson, lt. commanding
W,G. Dozier, lst lt and Executive Officer
F.M. Roby, lt.
Clarence L. Stanton, lt.
Clarence Cary, passed midshipman
D.M. Lee, passed midshipman
I.M. Barien, passed midshipman
J.J. Ingraham, boatswain

The cruise left Wilmington on October 28, 1864, and returned to Wilmington on Nov. 19, 1864.

--Old B-R'er

Blockade Runner Chameleon Puts Into Liverpool

APRIL 9TH, 1865:  Blockade runner Chameleon (formerly CSS Tallahassee), Lt. Wilkinson, puts into Liverpool, England.

With the fall of both Fort Fisher and Charleston in January and February respectively, Wilkinson had been unable to deliver his cargo of provisions destined for General Lee's destitute army defending Richmond (see 19 Januaqry and 5 February).

Sealed off from the Confederacy, Wilkinson off-loaded his cargo in Nassau, took on board extra coal, and set a course for Liverpool with the intention of turning over his ship to Commander Bulloch.  However, the news of the fall of Richmond reached England on the 15th, followed a week later of General Lee's surrender at Appomattox.

Thus, the ship was was seized by the British government and her officers and men, reported Wilkinson, "were turned adrift with the wide world before them where to chose."  Wilkinson established his residence in Nova Scotia where he lived for a number of years before eventually returning to his native Virginia.

The ex-Confederate ship was subsequently sold by the English government and was being prepared for service in the merchant marine under the name Amelia when the American government initiated court action to gain possession of the vessel.  The court awarded the ship to the United States and she was turned over to the American consul in Liverpool on 26 April 1866.

--Old B-Runner

The Capture of Charleston-- Part 4: Dahlgren Gets Dig at Porter

The capture of the blockade runners in the previous post underscored Dahlgren's letter to Porter:  "You see by the date [Feb. 18th] that the Navy's occupation has given the pride of rebeldom to the Union flag, and thus the rebellion is shut out from the ocean and foreign sympathy."  This was a bit of bragging as Porter had not yet taken Wilmington which was generally regarded as the closing of the Confederacy.

To Secretary Welles, Dahlgren added:  "To me the fall of Charleston seems scarcely less important than that of Richmond.  It is the last seaport by which it can be made sure that a bale of cotton can go abroad.  Hence the rebel loan and credit are at an end."

Learning of the fall of Charleston a week later in Nassau, Lt. Wilkinson, CSN, the daring Confederate sea captain, agreed:  "This sad intelligence put an end to all our hopes...."

At last the city that had symbolized the South's spirit was in Northern hands.

--Old B-Runner

Five Blockade-Runners Plan Attempt to Run Into Charleston

FEBRUARY 12TH, 1865:  The blockade runners Carolina, Dream, Chicora, Chameleon and Owl, heavily laden with supplies desperately needed by Lee's army, lay at anchor in Nassau Harbor.  During the day, the five captains, including Lt. John Wilkinson and Commander John Maffitt, held a conference and formulated plans for running the blockade into Charleston.

After putting to sea that night, the five ships separated and stood on different courses for the South Carolina port.  Only the Chicora got through and became the last blockade runner to enter or leave  Charleston prior to its evacuation during the night of February 17-18.

Two and a half months later the Owl, Commander Maffitt, slipped past 16 Federal cruisers and entered the harbor at Galveston.  After off-loading his cargo, Maffitt again evaded the blockaders and safely eached Havana on May 9th, where after coaling his ship he continued to give Union warships the slip on his return voyage to Nassau and ultimately to Liverpool, where he arrived 14 July.

--Old B-Runner

Chameleon Unsuccessfully Attempts to Run Into Charleston: "Our Hearts Sank Within Us"

FEBRUARY 5TH, 1865:  The blockade-runner Chameleon, Lt. Wilkinson, attempted to run through the blockade into Charleston Harbor, S.C., with desperately needed supplies for General Lee's Army at Petersburg, but was unsuccessful.

Having run into the Cape Fear river the previous month only to find Fort fisher in Union hands on January 19, the bold Wilkinson had returned to Nassau and learned on January 30th that Charleston was still in Confederate hands.

On February 1st, he departed Nassau and evaded the USS Vanderbilt after a long chase, but found that the blockade of Charleston had been augmented by so many ships from off the Wilmington station that he could not get into the  harbor while the tide was high.

Wilkinson later wrote, "the course of the Chameleon was gain, and for the last time, shaped for Nassau.  As we turned away from the land, our hearts sank within us, that the cause for which so much blood had been shed, so many miseries bravely endured, and so many sacrifices cheerfully made, was about to perish at last!"

--Old B-Rer

Blockade-Runner Chameleon Runs Into Cape Fear and Then Out Again

JANUARY 19TH, 1865:  The blockade-runner Chameleon (formerly the raider CSS Tallahassee) under Lt. John Wilkinson, from Bermuda ran into the Cape Fear River loaded to the rails with commissary stores and provisions for General Lee's Army.

The ship had departed on this special  mission on December 24, 1864, during the First Battle of Fort Fisher.

Upon his return, Wilkinson successfully ran the blockade again (as he had done on 21 separate occasions during 1863 in the blockade-runner Robert E. Lee) and had entered the harbor before learning that Union forces had captured Fort Fisher during his absence.

The Chameleon reversed course and rushed safely back out to the sea.

He gave credit to his escape only because the ship had twin screws, which "enabled our steamer to turn as if on pivot in the narrow channel between the bar and the rip."

After an unsuccessful attempt to enter Charleston and in the absence of orders from Secretary Mallory, Wilkinson took the Chameleon to Liverpool and turned the ship over to Commander Bulloch, the Confederate naval agent.  Ironically, he arrived on 9 April, the same day Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox.

Quite An Escapade.  --Old B-R'er

Blockade-Runner Chameleon Slips Out of Wilmington

DECEMBER 26TH, 1864:  Blockade-runner Chameleon, formerly the dread raiser CSS Tallahassee, under the command of Lt. Wilkinson, slipped out of Wilmington amid the confusion of the aftermath of the first attack on Fort Fisher.

In Bermuda, the Chameleon loaded badly needed foodstuffs for the Confederate armies, but by the time Wilkinson could get back to Wilmington in January, the port had already fallen.

--Old B-Runner

Not a Blockade-Runner, Per Se: The CSS Chickamauga Returns to Wilmington

NOVEMBER 19TH, 1864:  The CSS Chickamauga, Lt. Wilkinson, ran the blockade into Wilmington under cover of a heavy fog.  He had miscalculated his position the day before and successfully run through the blockade to Masonboro Inlet instead of New Inlet.

Wilkinson dropped down the coast and early in the morning of the 19th anchored under the guns of Fort Fisher to await high tide when the Chickamauga could cross the bar and stand up the Cape Fear River to Wilmington.

As the fog lifted blockaders USS Kansas, Wilderness, Cherokee and Clematis opened on what they thought at first was a grounded blockade runner.  The Chickamauga broke out its Confederate flag and returned the fire, joined by the heavy guns of Fort Fisher.

Fog and the range of the fort's guns thwarted efforts to destroy the cruiser and by mid-morning, the Chickamauga was safely up the river and nearing Wilmington.

Nearly an Oops.  --Old B-R'er

CSS Chickamauga Still At It

NOVEMBER 1ST, 1864:The Chickamauga, now rid of Mrs. Drinkwater,  captured and scuttled the schooners Godspeed, in ballast, and Otter Rock, cargo of potatoes, off the northeast coast of the United States.

NOVEMBER 2ND, 1864:  The CSS Chickamauga captured bark Speedwell off the New Jersey coast and bonded her for $18,000.

--Old B-Runner

CSS Chickamauga Captures Two Union Ships and Has to Deal With Mrs. Drinkwater

OCTOBER 31ST, 1864:  The CSS Chickamauga, Lt. Wilkinson, captured and burned the ship Emma L. Hall, with cargo of molasses and sugar, and the ship Shooting Star, with cargo of coal, off the northeast coast of the United States.  The Chickamauga had slipped through the Union blockade off Wilmington, N.C., on the 28th.

Wilkinson transferred the passengers of the Shooting Star to a passing vessel, Albion Lincoln, which headed directly for New York to spread the word that the Chickamauga was out again.

Wilkinson later wrote of the transfer of prisoners: "In truth, I was relieved from an awkward dilemma by the opportune capture of the Albion Lincoln for there was absolutely no place for a female aboard the Chickamauga.  I do not doubt, however, that the redoubtable Mrs. Drinkwater [wife of Shooting Star's Master] would have accommodated herself to the circumstances by turning me out of my own cabin.

"Heavens! what a tongue she wielded.  The young officers of the Chickamauga relieved each other in boat duty to and fro and she routed every one of them ignominiously."

A Lady You Don't Want to Mess With.

--Old B-Runner

CSS Chickamauga and CSS Olustee Put Out to Sea from Wilmington

I have more to write about concerning Lt. Cushing and his sinking of the CSS Albemarle, but to catch up on other things going on as far as navies were concerned.

OCTOBER 28TH, 1864:  The CSS Chickamauga, Lt. John Wilkinson, CSN, sortied from Wilmington, N.C., eluded blockaders off the bar, and put to sea as a commerce raider

The USS Calypso and Eolus captured the blockade-running British steamer Lady Sterling off Wilmington with cargo of cotton and tobacco.

OCTOBER 29TH, 1864: The CSS Olustee, formerly the CSS Tallahassee, Lt. William H. Ward, eluded blockaders off Wilmington.  Ward returned to Wilmington November 7th after a brief but successful cruise, having destroyed bark Empress Theresa, schooners A.J. Bird, E.F. Lewis and Vapor, ship Arcole and brig T.D. Wagner during the first three days of November.

The War Goes On.  --Old B-Runner

Blockade-Runner Edith Became the CSS Chickamauga

The blockade-runner Edith became the Confederate raider CSS Chickamauga, which the Union was fearing in September 1864, would make a run along the North's Atlantic Coast and wreak havoc and destruction as the CSS Tallahassee had done earlier.

It was specially commissioned and built in London and purchased by the Confederate government in 1864.

The 585-ton cruiser was constructed as the blockade-runner Edith in London in 1863 and ran the blockade into Wilmington, N.C., where it was purchased and refitted as a warship and commissioned as the CSS Chickamauga under the command of Lt. John Wilkinson, CSN.

It operated as a raider in the Atlantic during October and November 1864, capturing several Union merchant ships before returning to Wilmington where it remained until it was burned to prevent capture 25 February 1865.

--Old B-R'er

This Date 150 Years Ago: November 9, 1863-- The Robert E. Lee Captured.

Quite a bit of stuff happening 150 years ago today.

 NOVEMBER 9TH:

The USS James Adger along with the USS Niphon had captured the blockade-runner Cornubia the day before. But today, the ship captured a real plum, the famed blockade-runner Robert E. Lee off Cape Lookout Shoals, North Carolina. The steamer had left Bermuda two days earlier with a cargo including shoes, blankets, rifles, saltpeter and lead.

She had been one of the most famous and successful blockade-runners. Her former Captain, Lt. John Wilkinson, CSN, later wrote: "She had run the blockade twenty-one times while under my command, and had carried between six thousand and seven thousand bales of cotton, worth at that time about two millions of dollars in gold, and had carried into the Confederacy equally valuable cargoes."

One of the Best and Lots of Prize Money These Two Days for the James Adger. --Old B-Runner

Confederate Cruiser CSS Chickamauga-- Part 1

From J. Gregory MacKenzie's Ahoy- Mac's Web Log.

The CSS Chicamauga was originally the blockade-runner Edith, a sister ship to the CSS Tallahassee which had also been a former blockade-runner.  The ship upon entering Confederate service was placed under the command of Lt. John Wilkinson.

On Pctpber 26, 1864, the Chicakamauga ran out to open sea from Wilmington, NC, but grounded on the bar, backed itself free and was successful thes second try.

The USS Dunbarton and two other blockaders gave chase but were soon outdistanced.

In a brief cruise, the Chickamauga captured six prizes off New York.  Four of them were the Mark L. Potter, Emily L. Hall, Albion Lincoln and Shooting Star.

Alarm was quick to spread up and down the coast.  Admiral Porter was informed by Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, of the new raider:  "It is reported that four privateers are out of Wilmington. Three have actually committed depredations, namely Tallahassee, Chickamauga, and Olustee."  The Olustee was actually the Tallahassee  Porter dispatched nine ships to locate them.

More to Come.  --Old B-R'er