Giant Great White Shark Off Fort Fisher, Wild Stallion Danger on the Outer Banks

From the April 11, 2022, Raleigh(NC) News & Observer "Massive  great white shark was lurking off North Carolina coast, tracking data show" by Madeline List.

Within the last week, three large tagged great white sharks have pinged off the coast of North Carolina.  The two smaller ones are the 990 pound Ulysses at 12 feet long and Tancook at 715 pounds and 10 feet.

But the largest, Mahone, pinged directly off Fort Fisher, North Carolina, at 8:50 pm Saturday, April 9.  This bog boy is the largest ever tagged, weighing in at 1,701 pounds and 13 feet, 7 inches long.

So, if you're planning on diving on one of the blockade runner wrecks, keep an eye out.

Danger, Danger.  --Old B-ScaredofSharks

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And, I just came across a warning to folks out on the state's Outer Banks islands to be aware of wild stallions battling over top horse dominance with mares.  You could get caught in the middle and that would not be a good place to be.

So, there is danger in the water and danger on the land in North Carolina right now.

Lincoln's 1864 Trip to City Point-- Part 7: Travel Plans Abound

The President at lunch at City Point which was described as "plain and simple" but plentiful.  Young Tad Lincoln, who had accompanied his father, was resplendent in his custom military uniform and was the center of attention.  His father told stories much of the time and shook a lot of hands.

About 3 pm, the group departed from City Point with the president riding one of Grant's favorite horses named Cincinnatus, while Tad rode a black pony named Jeff Davis.  They rode about an hour to reach the VI Corps headquarters where most of the generals of the Army of the Potomac were gathered.

The president never asked and said he did not want to know Grant's plans.  Lincoln then visited an observation point where he could see the steeples of Petersburg in the distance.

Grant alerted Benjamin Butler that the president would visit on June 22 and that he would accompany him, but fighting at the front kept him from doing so.

On June 22, Butler and his staff rode their horses to the Point of Rocks where they took Butler's steamer, the Greyhound, to meet Lincoln.  Admiral Lee left his flagship, the Malvern, anchored near Trent's Reach on the James River and transferred to the smaller gunboat USS Agawam.  They steamed slowly to the president's vessel, the USS Baltimore.

--Old B-Runner

Lincoln Visits With Gen. Grant and an Army-Navy Problem With Horses and Boats

MARCH 24TH, 1865:  President Lincoln visited General Grant at City Point, Virginia, arriving at this all-important water-supported supply base at 9 p.m. on board the steamer River Queen.  Accompanied by Mrs. Lincoln and his son Tad, he was escorted up the James River by the USS Bat, Lt.Cmdr.  John S. Barnes.

Two days later Barnes accompanied Lincoln and Grant on a review of part of the Army of the James.  General Horace Porter, serving on the general's staff, later recalled:  "Captain Barnes, who commanded the vessel which had escorted the President's steamer, was to be part of the party, and I loaned him my horse.

"This was a favor which was usually accorded with some reluctance to naval officers when they came ashore; for these men of the ocean at times tried to board the animal on the starboard side, and often rolled in the saddle as if there was a heavy sea on; and if the horse, in his anxiety to rid himself of the sea-monster, tried to scrape his rider off by rubbing against a tree, the officer attributed the unseaman-like conduct of the animal entirely to the fact that his steering-gear had become unshipped....

"Navy officers were about as reluctant to lend their boats to to army people, for fear they would knock holes in te bottom when jumping in, break the oars in catching crabs, and stave in the bows through an excess of modesty which manifested itself in a reluctance to give the command 'Way enough!' in time when approaching a wharf."

Wondering How Lr. Cmdr. Barnes Did On That Horse?  --Old B-Runner