Cruising With the USS Montgomery-- Part 3: The Lincoln Highway and National Road

Beside Route 66, Illinois is fortunate to have two other major old roads going through it.

One is the first paved transcontinental highway across the United States, the Lincoln Highway.  It ran from New York City to San Francisco.

And, a part of it went down DeKalb, Illinois' Main Street, called, get this, Lincoln Highway.  My wife and I often did something called the Lincoln Crawl back when we were students at Northern Illinois University.  That is where you went to as many bars along the road as you could.  NIU is located along this great road, but we sure didn't know the history of this road as students.

Plus, Illinois also has the western extremity of the old National Road.   This was the first major improved road built in the country by the federal government.  It was built between 1811 and 1837 heading westward out of Cumberland, Maryland, and eventually to Vandalia, then capital of Illinois.  This road was a major path for Americans moving into the Old Northwest Territory (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin).

I have driven long segments of both these roads as well as all of Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Old B-Runner

Death of Noted Civil War Navy Author William N. Still, Jr.-- Part 1

From the Daily Reflector mewspaper, Greenville, North Carolina.

One of the best Civil War Navy authors died January 8, 2023.  I have his "Iron Afloat" book and enjoyed reading it.  Plus, he taught at East Carolina University, a school near and dear to me as both my parents graduated from there and have a scholarship.  Also, two of my cousins are ECU graduates.

DR. WILLIAM NORWOOD "BILL" STILL JR.

(1932-2023)

Passed away peacefully  surrounded by family on January 8.

He was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and got his bachelors degree from Mississippi College and doctorate from the University of Alabama.  He spent two years in the U.S. Navy aboard the aircraft carrier USS Lake Champlain.

He began his teaching career at the Mississippi State College for Women and moved to Greenville, North Carolina,  in 1968 to be a history professor at East Carolina College (now University).

--Old B-Runner

Charles V. Gridley-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

CHARLES VERNON GRIDLEY

(24 November  1844 - 5 June 1898) 

Officer in the U.S. Navy in the Civil War and Spanish-American War.

He was born to  Frank and Ann Eliza (Stokes)  Gridley in Logansport, Indiana, and his parents moved to Hillside, Michigan, when he was three months old.

After attending  Hillside College, he was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1860.  He reported for duty with his class in 1863, joining the crew of the sloop-of-war USS Oneida with the West Gulf Blockading Squadron.  

He distinguished himself at the Battle of Mobile Bay on 5 August 1864.

After the war, he stayed in the Navy and was promoted to lieutenant in 1867 and then to lieutenant commander on March 12, 1868.

--Old B-Runner

Col. Charles F. Fisher-- Part 1: Early Life

From Wikipedia.

CHARLES FREDERICK FISHER

(December 26, 1816 to July 21, 1861)

Namesake of Fort Fisher.

American attorney, legislator, engineer and soldier from Salisbury.  he served as the president of the North Carolina  Railroad and died at the Battle of Bull Run while leading his 6th North Carolina Infantry Regiment.

He was born in Salisbury, N.C., to plantation owner Charles Fisher and his wife Christine Beard Fisher.    His paternal father, Frederick Fisher had come from the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia and was an officer in the American militia during the Revolutionary War.    His maternal great grandfather had been an ardent Tory (Loyalist) during the war.

He had a private education and entered  Yale in  1835, but failed to finish freshman year.  Back home, he married  Ruth Caldwell and became a miner, farmer and journalist.  he supported his father who was a politician  through his Western Carolinian publication.

In 1854, he became a state senator and the next year became the president of the North Carolina Railroad.

--Old B-Runner

Veterans Day 2020: 101-Year-Old Navy Veteran Remembers Survival from USS Princeton

From the November 10, 2020, Coloradan '101-year-old Fort Collins veteran remembers  escape from ill-fated World War II aircraft carrier' by Kevin Dugan.

Al Oesterle left the U.S. Navy in 1965 after a long career.  He is extremely proud of his service, as is his family.  But they did not know about one particular harrowing experience Al had until 40 years after it happened.

It was during a 1984 reunion of crew members who served on the USS Princeton (CL-23), a light aircraft carrier that was lost during the Battle of Leyte Gulf that his wife learned that he may have been the last man to leave the ship before it went down.

Al Oesterle grew up in Joliet, Illinois, and joined the Navy in 1939 at age 20 and also  attended the University of Illinois Dental School.  He graduated in 1942 and joined the U.S. Navy Dental Corps.  After further training, he joined the crew of the USS Princeton.

The Princeton was sent to the Pacific Theater.  On October  24, 1944,  east of the island of Luzon, a lone Japanese kamikaze emerged from overcast skies and dropped a bomb on the Princeton that penetrated the flight deck and exploded in a  hanger bay where planes were being armed with bombs and refueled.

The Worst Time and Worst Place for an Aircraft Carrier to Get Hit.  --Old B-Runner

Butler's Powder Ship, the USS Louisiana- Part 6: Explosion Was a Failure, But Fort Fisher Later Captured

In the last post on Dec. 6, we saw that the explosion of the gun powder-laden USS Louisiana did not have the hoped for result of literally knocking the huge Confederate Fort Fisher down.  No damage was done, other than at least some of the garrison being awakened.

Later that day, the huge Union fleet, the largest collection of American warships ever assembled up until that time, opened the largest-ever bombardment on the fort which continued for two days before the attack on the fort was aborted.

Three weeks later, the fleet returned and another huge three-day bombardment ensued before Union army troops captured the fort.

In 1994, state underwater archaeologists and students from East Carolina University conducted a survey off  Fort Fisher .  Many Civil War wrecks were mapped, but none of those remains could be associated with the Louisiana.

--Old B-Runner

It's A Wilmington Book Thing, Dram Tree Books

Wilmington, North Carolina publisher Dram Tree Books, named after the famous nautical tree on the Cape Fear River, which published many books of local interest, closed shop in 2010, but now will be reopening in 2019.

Jack Fryar ran it then, but now he will be reopening it with Chris Fonvielle Jr, recently retired from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.  He has written numerous books on items of Wilmington interest, especially the Civil War and Fort Fisher.  I doubt that anyone knows more about Fort Fisher.

Perhaps Dram Tree Books will be publishing some more of his books.

--Old B-Runner

The USS Weehawken's "Devil"-- Part 1: To Sweep Torpedoes (Mines)

Of interest, I found mention of this device that was attached at one time to the bow of the USS Weehawken.

From Historic Ships:  Extant Monitors.

The Weehawken was fitted with a large raft that was intended to sweep mines (called torpedoes) in Charleston Harbor.  The raft had a large notch that fit to the bow of the monitor, but it was very unwieldy.  As such the raft was eventually cut loose and drifted to a backwater area of Morris Island.

Confederates found it and called it "The Devil."

This anti-torpedo raft, "The Devil" was reported by Clive Cussler as being in a marsh somewhere around or on Morris Island.  The University of South Carolina also investigated the raft and Dr. Lee Newsom, of Penn State, reported taking wood samples for further analysis.

The results of the analysis are not known.

The Devil You Say.  --Old B-Runner

Hurricane Florence Recovery at UNC-Wilmington and Fort Fisher

From the December 20, 2018, Chronicle of Higher Education "How professors used hurricane-recovery grants to further their teaching"  by Cailin Crowe.

The University of North Carolina - Wilmington was badly hit by this past fall's Hurricane Florence.  School was closed for its 17,000 students for four weeks.

But, $21,000 in grants was shared by 42 professors.

The Earth and Ocean Department took students to Fort Fisher with its grant money.  While there, they assessed storm damage, coastal conservation and environmental preservation.

--Old B-Runner

Bennett W. Green-- Part 11: The Ghost and the Books

According to library records, his ghost once haunted the University  of Virginia's Rotunda, which also served as the school's library until 1938.  When the books were moved to the new Alderman Library, Green's ghost  evidently followed.

Students and staff still report   unexplained footsteps and a sense that someone is watching them, particularly after midnight.  (A good time for ghosts.)

One of the Rotunda alleys is named after Green.

Like, Boo!!  --Old B-Runner

Bennett W. Green, CSN-- Part 10: Ghost?

From the UVA magazine (University of Virginia)  "Ghoulish Grounds" by Robert Viccellio.

The University of Virginia has a large collection of books and manuscripts with 5.1 million and 19.1 million archives.

The library, however, reportedly has two reports of ghosts.

And, one of them is Bennett W. Green.

As we know, Mr. Green was a surgeon in the Confederate Navy and quite a collector of books (and author as well).  His collection of books was donated to the UVA library after his death in Charlottesville.

Figuring He Is Ghosting Because of the School's Rejection of Its Confederate Heritage.  --Old B-Runner

Charles William MacCord, Engineer on USS Monitor Construction

From the October 27, 2017, The Stute (Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey).

Robert Thurston was the first professor of Engineering at the school.  And Charles William MacCord was another early one.  He was one of the engineers on the USS Monitor, a ship that had a huge impact on naval architecture.

--Old B-Runner