Some More on Charles K. Mallory: A Benjamin Butler Connection?

Midshipman Charles Mallory was the son and namesake of Charles K. Mallory, a lawyer, plantation owner and militia colonel of Hampton, Virginia.  In May 1861, three of the senior Mallory slaves, Frank Baker, Sheppard Mallory and James Townsend, escaped to Union lines.

Their return was demanded of the Union commander in the area, General Benjamin Butler, under the terms of the Fugitive Slave Act.

Butler refused stating that since Virginia had claimed independence the Act did not apply.  And, because Virginia was at war with the United States, the runaway slaves, legally being "chattel property" were now "contraband of war."

So, that's where all that comes from.

--Old B-R'er

John Collins, Jr., Acting Master, USN

John Collins commanded the USS George Mangham when it was commissioned.  

From the Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers for 1863.

I found a list of USN officers and for the Mangham, it had him in command and Acting Master's Mates Erick Gabrielson and James McDonald.

From the Official Records Navy, John Collins reported to Rear Admiral Dahlgren on December 30, 1863, that at 4 am that morning, they had picked up a boat with 13 contrabands on it at Murrill's Inlet (his spelling), S.C..  They gave important information  about the local area and saltworks.

They also said that there was a schooner in the inlet loaded with turpentine waiting to run out.  And, there are four companes of soldiers, principally cavalry, engaged  in protecting the saltworks and patrolling the beach.

--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

USS Marblehead-- Part 1: Robert Blake's Ship Was a 'Ninety-Day Gunboat'

I have been writing about Medal of Honor recipient Robert Blake, a former slave, contraband and then Union Navy seaman.  He was on the USS Marblehead when his deeds warranted the honor.  His captain was Lt. Cmdr. Richard Worsam Meade III at that time.

From Wikipedia.

The USS Marblehead was a  Unadilla-class  gunboat built for the U.S. Navy during the Civil War.  The Unadilla-class are often called "Ninety-Day Gunboats" for the speed with which they were built.  There were 23 of them built and they participated in most coastal operations during the war, capturing at least 146 blockade runners.  An effective cost outlay for the Union.

Stats:

691 tons

158 feet long, 28-foot beam

9.6 feet draft

screw steamship with sails

10 knot speed

114 crew

Armament:

One 11-inch Dahlgren smoothbore

 two 24-pdr. smoothbore

two  20-pdr. Parrott rifle

--Old B-Runner

Donaldsonville, La.-- Part 4: Fort Butler

Many escaping slaves entered Union lines to gain their freedom.  General Benjamin Butler declared them to be contraband and would not return them to their owners.  They stayed and worked for the Union and helped build the star-shaped Fort Butler in Donaldsonville.

It was a work of earth and wood, one 381 feet long facing the Mississippi River.  The other sides were protected by Bayou Lafourche and the land side had a deep moat.  A stockade surrounded the fort which contained a high and thick earth parapet.

It was built to accommodate 600 men, but in 1863, only manned by a small force of about 180.  Their commander was Major Joseph Bullen of the 28th Maine.

--Old B-Runner

Black Sailors Receiving the Medal of Honor-- Part 1

From Wikipedia  "African American Medal of Honor recipients."

AARON ANDERSON--  Landsman--  USS Wyandank--  March 17, 1865--  Mattox Creek, Va.

ROBERT BLAKE--  contraband--  USS Marblehead--  Dec. 25, 1863--  Stono River, S.C.

WILLIAM H. BROWN--  Landsman--  USS Brooklyn--  Aug. 5, 1864--  Mobile Bay

--Old B-R'er

Ann Bradford Stokes-- Part 3: Born a Slave, Served As Nurse in U.S. Navy

From BlackPast.org.

Ann Bradford was born a slave in Rutherford County, Tennessee, in 1830.  Few other details are known of her young life.  She was taken aboard a Union ship in January 1863 as "contraband" (an escaped slave).  She volunteered to serve as a nurse that month.

The United States Navy enlisted several young black women into their service and gave the rank of "first class boy" and paid them accordingly.  She stayed on active duty on the USS Red Rover until October 1864 when she became totally exhausted and resigned her position.

--Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago, September 25, 1861: Welles Decides On What to Do With the "Contrabands"

SEPTEMBER 25TH, 1861:  Secretary of Navy Welles instructed Flag Officer Du Pont, commanding the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron:  "The Department finds it necessary to adopt a regulation with respect to the large and increasing number of persons of color, commonly known as 'contrabands,' now subsisted at the navy yards on on board ships-of-war.

"These can neither be expelled from the service, to which they have resorted, nor can they be maintained unemployed, and it is not proper that they should be compelled to render necessary and regular service without compensation.

"You are therefore authorized, when their services can be made useful. to enlist them for the naval service, under the same forms and regulations as apply to other enlistments.

"They will be allowed, however, no higher rating than 'boys,' at a compensation of ten dollars per month and one ration per day."

Dealing With the Black Question.  --Old B-R'er