David Bass's Brother Alpheus Bass of the 32nd New York

The Find a Grave for David Bass listed him as having one brother, Alpheus Bass who was a Union soldier.

BIRTH:  1 June 1839, New York 

DEATH:  15 August 1862, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

BURIAL:  Philadelphia National Cemetery, Pennsylvania.

Enlisted  at age 22.

Mustered into Company C, 32nd New York Infantry.

Died of disease at Satterlee Hospital, West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Admitted to the hospital from Harrison's Landing, Virginia. 

Originally buried Woodlawn, Pennsylvania.

--Old B-Runner

After Fort Fisher, the Prisoners-- Part 4: 518 of 1,121 Fort Fisher Prisoners Died at Elmira in Five Months

When the first shipment of men from Fort Fisher arrived in Elmira on Monday, 30 January 1865, the weather was bitterly cold and the snow was deep.  Private Thaddeus C. Davis, from  Morehead City, NC 3rd,  Co. G, 40th Regiment, 3rd N.C., recalled after the war, "We arrived  (at Elmira) about  eight o'clock in the evening, in four feet of snow,  and many prisoners had neither blankets nor coats."

The Union Army inspecting officer at the prison, Lt. James R. Reid, wrote in February 1865, "The Fort Fisher prisoners arrived in cold weather very depressed, poorly clad, and great numbers were soon taken sick with pneumonia and diarrhea, rapidly assuming a typhoid character."

In February 1865, there was a prisoner exchange and most of the sick at Elmira Prison were sent to the James River in Virginia for exchange. 

Of the 1,121 Fort Fisher men sent to Elmira, 518 would die in five months of which 372 were North Carolinians.  Of that number, 319 did at Elmira and were buried in the Confederate section of the Woodlawn National Cemetery in Elmira.

Fifty-three of the sick Tar Heel soldiers who were paroled either died in transit or died very soon  in various hospitals in Richmond, Virginia, Raleigh, Greensboro, Weldon and Charlotte, North Carolina.

--Old B-Runner

After Fort Fisher, the Prisoners-- Part 3: How Elmira Became 'Helmira'

Steamer DeMolay arrived in New York on January 27 with850 rebel prisoners from Fort Fisher.

The steam frigate USS Colorado also arrived in  New York.

According to  the book "Fort Fisher to Elmira" by Richard Triebe there were 1,121 Confederate soldiers sent to Elmira from Fort Fisher.  

Of those, 761, or 68% of the men were native North Carolinians.  There were 357 men from South Carolina and four were Confederate Marines.  Out of the 1,121, 518, or 48% would die within five months.

The major causes of death at Elmira were  pneumonia, diarrhea and  small pox.

--Old B-Runner

Notable Wilmington Anniversaries This Year-- Part 2

WILMINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

Land for this stately cemetery at 20th and Market streets was acquired acquired in 1867.

The Wilmington National Cemetery, which is closed to future internments, was initially populated by remains recovered from the old Wilmington City Cemetery, Fort Fisher (including soldiers who died  there in the 1865 battle) and elsewhere.

Many are former Union soldiers who died  during the Civil War.

Among the approximately  6,000 people buried there are  557 U.S. Colored Troops (more than 500 of their identities are unknown), whose grave markers have the inscriptions "U.S.C.T." and "U.S. Col. Inf."

Also buried at the Wilmington National Cemetery  are 28 Puerto Ricans who died during the 1918  influenza pandemic.  They were bound to help with the construction of the Fort Bragg base near Fayetteville and were among the 300 Puerto Ricans who fell ill on the journey to North Carolina aboard the ship City of Savannah, which landed at the  port of Wilmington.  The headstones of those who died from the flu read "Employee USA."

--Old Secesh

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

USCSS Robert J. Walker-- Part 2: Work Surveying Mobile Bay and the Gulf Coast

The Walker's first  operations involved surveying the waters of Mobile Bay in 1848.  Her first commanding officer, Carlile P. Patterson, reported that year on her performance and capabilities  with those of sailing ships.

The 1850s were spent charting the waters of the United States Gulf Coast.  

Two men died in 1852 because of disease along the coast.

On the night of 20 January  1858, the Robert J. Walker was at Pensacola, Florida, when a major fire broke out at the Army's Fort Pickens.  Her men and boats, along with  the hydrographic party of the Coast Survey ship USCS Varina, promptly assisted in fighting the fire.

The next day, communication came from Pensacola's commander, Army Captain John Newton of the Army Corps of Engineers, acknowledging the important role the Walker had provided in fighting the fire. 

--Old B-Runner

September 25, 1863: An Epidemic Breaks Out in New Orleans

SEPTEMBER 26TH, 1863:  Epidemic sickness was one of the persistent hazards of extended blockade duty in warm climates.

This date, to illustrate, Commodore H.H. Bell reported to Secretary Welles from New Orleans:  "I regret to inform the Department that a pernicious fever has appeared on board the United States steamers repairing at this port from which some deaths have ensued.

"Some of the cases have been well-defined yellow fever, and others are recognized here by the names of pernicious and congestive fever."

A Dangerous Duty.  --Old B-R'er

7th Connecticut Infantry-- Part 2: Became "Boat Infantry"

Continued from Thursday.

October-November 1863, they were reclassified as "Boat Infantry" for the night assault on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.  They trained for it at Folly Island, which I am writing about in my Saw the Elephant blog in relation to the cannonballs found there after Hurricane Matthew.

However the project was eventually dropped as it was deemed impractical.

The regiment numbered 1000 men.  During the course of the war it lost 11 officers and 157 enlisted killed or mortally wounded.  Another 4 officers and 192 enlisted died of disease.

--Old B-Runner

Sickness a problem on Confederate Ships on the James River-- Part 2

The conclusion reached in the subsequent report illustrated the hazards of duty on the river:  "We consider the causes of the  great amount of sickness on board said vessels to be, first, and chiefly, that the exposure to malaria, the necessary consequence of a residence on the waters of  James River; as a secondary cause to this, but in our opinion highly conducive to the hurtful influence, we would enumerate the  heated exposure of the ironclads, especially when at quarters and during action, the want of proper exercise on shore, and of  a deficient supply of vegetables and fruits for the ships' companies...."

Difficult living conditions and sickness were common, especially in the summer, for both navies on the James River as well as elsewhere throughout the tidewaters of the South.

--Old B-Runner

Sickness a Problem for the Confederate Ships on the James River-- Part 1

AUGUST 10, 1864:  One of the additional difficulties of naval operations in the lowlands surrounding the James River, was the high rate of sickness.

This date, Flag Officer Mitchell, commanding the Confederate James River Squadron, wired Major General George E. Pickett:  "Our crews are so much reduced in numbers from sickness that we shall have to discontinue our picket guard at at Osborne's on the James River to enable us to man our batteries, in order that we may act against the enemy.  About one-third of the men are sick."

Later in the month, a board of surgeons inspected the ships of the squadron with a view toward reducing the prevalence of malaria and other disabling diseases.

--Old B-R'er

Pernicious and Congestive Fever?

In an earlier blog entry today, I wrote about Commodore Bell reporting to Secretary of Navy Welles from New Orleans that there had been a yellow fever breakout and, at the same time, one of pernicious and congestive fever.

I was not sure exactly what pernicious and congestive fevers were so had to look them up.

Both terms refer to malaria.

I often have problems with Civil War diseases as different names were used back then in many cases. While looking for these two fevers, I came across an excellent site which might be of use for others in connection to this. It is The Yesterday of..... Hamilton County, Illinois: Old Diseases Defined.

--Old B-Runner

150 Years Ago: September 25, 1863: Epidemic Sickness a Blockade Problem

SEPTEMBER 25TH:

Epidemic sickness was a persistent hazard of extended duty in warm climates.

To illustrate, this date, Commodore H.H. Bell in New Orleans reported to Welles, "I regret to inform the Department that a pernicious fever has appeared on board the United States steamers repairing at this port from which some deaths have ensued. Some of the cases have been well-defined yellow fever, and others are recognized here by the names of pernicious and congestive fever."

I am sure the recruiters didn't mention disease when getting new enlistees.

--Old B-Runner