Notable Wilmington Anniversaries This Year: 1862 Yellow Fever Epidemic

From the December31, 2021, Wilmington (N.C.) Star-News  "The year ahead:  11 Wilmington anniversaries we'll be marking in 2022" by John Staton.

YELLOW FEVER EPIDEMIC : 160 YEARS

Back in 1862,  hundreds of Wilmington residents died and thousands more, about half the  Port City's population, fled the city when there was an outbreak of yellow fever spread by mosquitoes. 

Kind of reminds you of our present-day troubles with COVID-19.

There is a marker in Wilmington's Oakdale Cemetery showing where some 400 of those deaths are buried in a communal grave.

It reads:

1862 Burial Site of Yellow Fever Victims.

Communal burial site of approximately  400 people who died of yellow fever during Wilmington's epidemic between September and the frosts of November 1862.  Few yellow fever  victims' burials are marked with headstones.

In 1862, Wilmington's population, black and white, was approximately 10,000.  About half the population fled the city to avoid the epidemic.

Of the reported 1,505 cases , 654 (43%) died of yellow fever.

--Old B-Runner

David E. Wemple, USN-- Part 3: '...But Rejoice That I Died In a Glorious Cause'

From Find-A-Grave.

David was the son of  Peter Douw Wemple and Eliza (Davis) Wemple.  The Wemples had four sons who served during the Civil War.

David was killed aboard the USS Juanita when a 100 pound Parrott rifle he was standing behind burst at the breech, wounding him severely.  The gun was being fired against Fort Fisher.

The following is a portion of a letter he wrote to his parents on December 14, 1854:

"Dear  Father and Mother, We are on our way to Wilmington where we will most likely have a fight and perhaps a bad one. Of course, all of us must stand our chances in the fight, of being killed or wounded, and consequently I will.

"Should the fortunes of war deprive me of my life I would simply say that I will go willingly for the dear, dear old flag that protects me. I should prefer living to see this rebellion put down and our dear country once more enjoying peace and quiet, but if it is necessary I am willing to go now, and beg you all to give me up willing for our country and mourn not my loss, but rejoice that I died in a glorious cause-

"Our Country!  Let not my loss decrease your patriotism but let it increase it and willingly  sacrifice our all for our country and flag."

I'd say that Lt. Wemple had a premonition about his upcoming fight.

Lieut. Wemple is buried next to his brother, Capt. Adam Z. Wemple (who also died while serving the Union cause during the war).

--Old B-Runner

Richard E. Cole, Doolittle Raider (1915 - 2019)

From Wikipedia.

Richard Eugene Cole (September 7, 1915 - April 9, 2019)

A career officer in the United States Air Force.  He was one of the airmen who took part in the Doolittle Raid, April 18, 1942, serving as the co-pilot to Jimmy Doolittle in the lead airplane on the raid.  He eventually reached the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Cole remained in China after the raid until June 1943, and served again in the China Burma India Theater from  October 1943 until June 1944.  He later served as Operations Advisor to the Venezuelan Air Force from 1959-1962.  He retired from the Air Force in 1916 and became the last surviving Doolittle Raider in 2016.

June 26, 1863: Death of Rear Admiral Andrew Hull Foote

JUNE 26, 1863:  Rear Admiral Andrew Hull Foote died in New York City of the wound he received while brilliantly leading naval forces on the Western rivers.

The next day the Navy Department announced:  "A gallant and distinguished naval officer is lost to the country.  The hero of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, the daring and inimitable spirit that created and led to successive victories the Mississippi Flotilla, the heroic Christian sailor, who in the China Seas and on the coast of Africa, as well as the great interior rivers of our country, sustained with unfaltering fidelity and devotion the honor of our flag and the cause of the Union -- Rear Admiral Andrew Hull Foote -- is no more....

"Appreciating his virtues and his services, a grateful country had rendered him while living its willing honors, and will mourn his death."

--Old B-Runner

Death of Rear Admiral Samuel F. DuPont

JUNE 23RD, 1865:  Rear Admiral Samuel F. DuPont died unexpectedly at age 61 while on a visit to Philadelphia.  he had commanded the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron during the first two years of the war and had led the naval forces in the important capture of Port Royal by an amphibious assault on 7 November 1861.

The author J.T. Headley wrote of DuPont:  "A gentleman of the old school...whose bearing was that of dignified courtesy to all.  Chivalrous in his own feelings, he was incapable of wounding those of others.  --Insensible to fear, he never shrank from encouraging any danger, while he was absolutely incapable of thrusting himself forward to obtain notoriety."

Unlike Admiral Porter.  --Old B-Runner

Death of Underwater Archaeologist Charles Peery II

From the October 10, 2012, Wilmington Star News "Surgeon and underwater archaeologist Charles Vance Peery II dies at 71" by Ben Steelman.

Died October 6th in South Carolina.  Born June 22, 1941, in Kinston, NC.  As a teenager, he recovered artifacts from the CSS Neuse which started his great interest in underwater archaeology that he was involved with his whole life.  He was very active in various state diving groups and was one of the young divers who aided in the recovery of items from the blockade-runner Modern Greece in the early 1960s.  He later dove on the blockade-runners Ranger and Condor (the one that carried Rose O'Neal Greenhow).

Later, with friends, he founded the maritime archaeology firm MARS to explore and excavate the blockade-runner Ella sunk off Bald Head Island in December 1864.

He was also on the board of the Friends of the Hunley (Confederate submarine) and left much of his big Civil War collection with them.

A Man After My Own Heart.  --Old B-Runner