The Attack on the Mailboat Fawn-- Part 2: Too Soon

"My plan was to go to the draw-bridge on the road leading to Windsor, in Bertie County, capture the draw-bridge keeper, force him to respond to the signal of the 'Fawn' as she approached, and when, within a short distance to close the bridge.

"Orders were given to the men that at a given signal, which was to be the firing of a pistol, the men who were concealed in the bushes on both sides of the canal were to rush forward and board the vessel.

"This was easily done, as in many places along the bank a man could step from he shore to the boat.

"Everything was carried out until the opening of the bridge.  Engineer Disher [Henry Discher]was detailed from the 'Albemarle' to take charge of the prize when captured.  His orders were to run her from the canal into Pasquotant River, thence to the Sound, across the Roanoke River, thence to Plymouth.

"Engineer Disher [Discher], becoming greatly excited, discharged his pistol too soon.  This gave the alarm and precipitated the attack.

--Old B-R'er

About Wilmington, N.C.'s Eagles Island-- Part 1: Rice Plantations

I came across an article in the March 28, 2021, Wilmington Port City Daily (NC) "Conservationists aim to turn Eagles Island  into 'Central Park' for the region" by Mark Darrough."

I got to wondering exactly where it was and what role it might have played in the Civil War?  Turns out that I have been there on several occasions thanks to this little old World War II battleship located there.

From the Wilmington (NC) Star-News  "My Reporter:  What is Eagles Island?" by Ben Steelman.

It is right across from downtown Wilmington and is  a group of closely spaced  swampy islands roughly  2 miles wide and 7 miles long between the Cape Fear River and the Brunswick River.  It has had several names, but its present one comes from brothers Joseph and Richard Eagles who settled in the area in 1725 with land grants.  (I would have guessed it came from the eagle birds who might have been there.)

Parts of Eagles Island were used for rice  planting and there were even two rice plantations there as late as 1900.

By the 1800s, Eagles Island  seems to have functioned  as an industrial district for Wilmington with saw mills, turpentine distilleries and similar operations.  Various ferries operated between Wilmington and the island from the 1760s until the completion of the completion of the Twin Bridges in 1929. 

--Old B-Runner

Joseph Ryder Lewis Jr. Civil War Park-- Part 3: The Sugar Loaf Line

Much of the Confederate Sugar Loaf Line of earthwork defenses-- a mile-long, man-made defensive structure begun in 1864 that stretched from the Sugar Loaf sand dune in Carolina Beach State Park along the Cape Fear River, has been flattened by progress over the years since then.

Ensuring that this did not happen to his part of the defensive line was always in Mr. Lewis' plans.

"He loved Federal Point (the name of the peninsula stretching southward from the Snow's Cut Bridge), he loved out historical society and he loved the area's history'" said Elaine Henson, president of the society.  "He knew the earthworks were there and he wouldn't disturb them for anything.  He gave it to the town to protect because he knew  they could make a park of historical significance out of it."

That process, however, has been fraught with delays and more recently, the national reckoning with the very history that gives the park its importance.

--Old B-R'er

Booth's Escape from D.C. to Maryland

From Wikipedia "Assassination of Abraham Lincoln."

Within a half hour of fleeing Ford's Theatre, John Wilkes Booth crossed the Navy Yard Bridge into Maryland.  An army sentry questioned him about his late-night travel;  Booth said he was going home to the nearby town of Charles.

Even though it was illegal for civilians to cross the bridge after 9 p.m., the guard let him cross.

David Herold made it to the same bridge  less than an hour later and rendezvoused with Booth.

After retrieving weapons and supplies they had previously stashed at Surrattsville, they  went to the home of Samuel A. Mudd, a local  doctor, who splinted  the leg Booth had  broken when jumping from the presidential box at Ford's Theatre.  He later made a pair of crutches for Booth.

And, who was the sentry at the bridge who let Booth and Herold cross?

Why, it was Sgt. Silas T. Cobb.

More On Him Later.  --Old B-Runner

December 3, 1864: Defending Savannah

DECEMBER 3RD, 1864:  As Union pressure on Savannah increased, the Confederate squadron under Captain W.W. Hunter, CSN, played an increasing role in the defense of the city and the important railway above it.

This date, Hunter wrote Lieutenant Joel S. Kennard, CSS Macon:  "The Charleston and Savannah Railway bridge at Savannah River is a very important point to defend, and, should it become necessary, endeavor to be in position there to defend it.

"In order to do so, and also to patrol the Savannah River, watch carefully the state of the river, and to not be caught aground or be cut off from the position at the bridge."

--Old B-Runner

USS Prairie Bird-- Part 3: Rescuing R.M. Runyan Survivors and Other Operations

The Prairie Bird was assigned to the 6th District of the Mississippi Squadron for most of the remainder of the war and operated between Vicksburg and the Arkansas River.

On July 21 she seized the steamer Union for violation of revenue laws and "giving aid and comfort to the enemy."

On July 23, she rescued 350 of 500 passengers aboard the R.M. Runyan which sank off Skipwith's Landing, and on August  11 she engaged an enemy battery at Gaines Landing, Arkansas, in support of operations there.  In December, the Prairie Bird joined other Union vessels and army units to cut Confederate communications in Mississippi and on the 31st  assisted in the blowing up of a railroad bridge over the Big Black River.

Remaining with the 6th District until March 1865 then it was to Mound City until decommissioned in July.  On 17 August, the Prairie Bird was sold at public auction to Henry Morton.

--Old B-Runner

Action in North Carolina, July 1863-- Part 1: Raid on the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad

From the North Carolina Civil War Centennial Site Timeline and North Carolina Research Online.

Most all of these are along the coastal region of the state.  Union forces on the actions were not always full regiment  but sometimes detachments or battalions or batteries.

JULY 3-7--  Raid on the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad   3rd NY Inf, 23rd NY Cav, 3rd Light Art., 1st Mounted N.C.

JULY 4-8--  Expedition to Trenton   17th, 23rd, 27th Mass; 9th NJ,, 3rd Lt. Art,81st and 158th Infantry; 1st Lt. Art.

JULY 5--  Skirmishes at Warsaw and Kenansville   3rd NY, 23 NY Cav;; 3rd Lt.Art; 1st Mounted N.C.

JULY 5-7--  Expedition from Plymouth to Gardner's Bridge and Williamston   85th, 96th NY;  101st, 103 Pa

JULY 6--  Action at Freedom Bridge   1st LtArt

JULY 6--  Action at Quaker Bridge   17th, 23rd 27th Mass;3rd Lt Art;  81st, 103rd NJ;  9th RI; 1st Lt. Art

JULY 6--  Action at Trenton   23rd Mass; 9th NJ; 1st Lt Art

--Old B-Runner