Confederate Ram CSS Webb

From Wikipedia.

Also referred to as the CSS William H. Webb.

A 655-ton sidewheel steamship originally built in New York City in 1856 as he William H. Webb.

At the onset of the Civil War, she was seized by the Confederates and received a privateer's commission in May 1861 but instead was used as a military transport until January 1862.  Then she was converted into a cotton clad ram by the Confederate Army after which she served on the Red and Mississippi rivers.

On February 24, 1863, under the command of Captain Charles Pierce, she participated in the sinking of the Union ironclad USS Indianola.

--Old B-R'er

The Privateer Judah-- Part 1

From the 290 Foundation "USS Colorado / Judah.

The William H. Judah was a 250-foot, two-masted schooner built c. 1859.  In early September 1861, Confederacy contacted with the Judah & LeBaron Co. for use  over an indefinite period of time to carry essential cargo.  The company evidently was sympathetic to the cause and  and didn't require guarantees as to its use.

Under command of Confederate officers, the Judah sailed from St. John, New Brunswick inn Canada, to Pensacola, Florida. with a mixed load of mercury, tin and lead ingots valued at some $40,000.  It ran the Union blockade and entered Pensacola Harbor with no problems.

Union spies reported the Judah's arrival and learned that the Confederates were intending to turn the ship into an armed privateer and urged the Union Navy to do something about it before that happened.

The 40-gun USS Colorado steam frigate got the call to do the job.

--Old B-Runner

John Henry Russell, USN: Sinking the Privateer Judah

From the Civil War Almanac.

SEPTEMBER 14, 1861

Lt. John H. Russell fights the first pitched naval engagement at Pensacola, Florida,  by sailing the USS Colorado past Confederate batteries at night and then leading  100 sailors and marines in a cutting-out expedition.  (The Colorado was under the command of Captain Theodorus Bailey.)

Russell's men storm and capture the privateer Judah after hand-to-hand fighting, burn it to the waterline, and withdraw unimpeded.

Several enemy artillery pieces are also taken and spiked while ashore.

Russell subsequently receives personal thanks from Abraham Lincoln and is feted by the War Department.

Confederate General Braxton Bragg, however, begins a planned Retaliation.

--Old B-Runner

Southport/Smithville, North Carolina: The History-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

The area where Southport is located, at the mouth of the Cape Fear River in North Carolina was  explored as early as the 1500s by Spanish explorers.  During the 18th century, British settlements along the Carolina coast lacked  fortifications to protect against pirates and privateers and there were numerous Spanish incursions as well.

In response to these attacks, Royal Governor Gabriel Johnston, in 1744, appointed a committee to best select the site for a fort to protect the Cape Fear River region.  It was determined that the site would be near the mouth of the river where the fort was eventually constructed.

During that same year, France declared war on Britain, later known as King George's War, increasing the need for a fort.  At the same time, Spanish privateer raids increased on the American colonies. As a result, the North Carolina General Assembly authorized the construction of "Johnston's Fort" in April 1745, which would become known as Fort Johnston, the name it carried into the Civil War.

The governor of South Carolina agreed to lend ten small cannons to the fort and the legislature in , in the spring of 1748, appropriated 2,000 pounds for construction costs, and the fort finally became a reality.

The town of Smithville, later Southport, developed around the fort.

It was Smithville during the Civil War.

--Old B-Runner

Feb. 3, 1865-- Part 3: Protecting Schofield's Troops on the Way to the Wilmington Attack

FEBRUARY 3RD, 1865:  From City Point, Virginia, General Grant requested the Navy to keep two or three vessels patrolling between Cape Henry and the Cape Fear River during the transit of General Schofield's XXIII Army Corps.

The Corps was embarking from Annapolis, Maryland, and Alexandria, Virginia, for North Carolina participate in the attack on Wilmington.

"It is barely possible,"  Grant wrote, "for one of the enemy;'s privateers to be met on that route and do us great injury."

Two steamers were stationed as requested to protect the troops transports.

--Old B-Runner

Andrew Duppstadt on "North Carolina's Naval Raiders 1700-1865

As I said, i would have liked  to have been there to hear his talk and talk with him.  We have a lot in common.

He will talk about Ottway Burns, a privateer, and Johnston Blakely, USN, both in the War of 1812.  And then there were all  those blockade runners during the Civil War.  Hood topic.

And, Mr. Duppstadt knows what he is talking about and has been fortunate enough to get a job/jobs where he gets to work with his interests.

He is the Program Development and Training Officer, and Historic Weapons Coordinator for the North Carolina Division of State Historic Sites, North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.  he has a BA and MA in history from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.  Also, he is the Assistant Curator of Education for the N.C. Division of State Historic Sites.

At one time he had a very interesting and informative blog called Civil War Navy, the History Profession and Other Historical Musings.  Sadly, he does not keep it going anymore.

--Old B-Runner

New York Times Reports Capture of Privateer Neva in San Francisco

From the November 16, 1861, New York Times.

"A dispatch from San Francisco fated the 14th inst., states that the privateer schooner Neva, from China, had been seized there by Captain Pease of the revenue utter Mary."

--Old B-Runner

The New York Times Updates Blockade-Runner Movements Jan. 19, 1865

Even as the war was winding down and the Confederacy in its death throes, the business of blockade-running was busy as ever.

January 19, 1865, New York Times.  News from Nassau and Bermuda.

"The blockade-runner Princess Royal, which was on her way from Bermuda to Nassau, has been lost.  On the 2nd inst., the steamers Confederate States and Chicora are reported to have arrived from Charleston, and that the Agnes E. Fry and the Julia were entirely lost while trying to get from Charleston.

"On the 8th inst., the rebel steamer Col. Lamb arrived from Nassau, of 616 tons, and it is reported she is intended for a privateer; and in the 9th inst., arrived the steamer Lark, 267 tons, from Liverpool and Madeira, consigned to Charles J. Helen, the rebel agent in Havana; on the 12th inst., the Neva, which sailed on the 10th, returned in distress, but the general opinion was that she was chased by a United States gunboat."

A lot of action still going on despite the loss of Charleston and Wilmington by this date.  The Agnes E. Fry actually sank off the Cape Fear River, near Wilmington.

I am wondering if this ship called the Neva is the same one captured in San Francisco in 1861 which I have been writing about.  If so, she found her way back into Confederate service.  As of yet I haven't been able to find out is she was.

I Wonder.  --Old B-Runner

A Confederate Privateer Fitting Out At Shanghai, China-- Part 1

From the November 3, 1861, New York Times.  Continued from November 14, 2016.

Even before the supposed Confederate privateer Neva sailed to San Francisco and was captured by the Revenue Cutter Mary on November 14, 1861, there was knowledge about it.

Taken directly from the newspaper:

The Hong Kong Press of the 10th of Aug. says:  The United States storekeeper at Shanghai was a politician named 'Judge' Cleary.  We believe he earned the title from having been a magistrate in California.  It seems from the last advices from Shaghai that this man, in connection with Col. WARD, (the celebrated fillibuster), Capt. ALLEN, (who brought the steamship Surprise from California,) and Capt. LYNCH, (for some years in command of the steamer Antelope, and lately of the Contest,) purchased the schooner Neva, equipped her from the United States naval stores, and intend to cruise off the coast as a privateer.

"The steamer Saginaw hurried up yesterday, on the intelligence being made known, and, we make small doubt, will capture her."

So, it would seem that the schooner Neva was purchased by a group of Confederate sympathizers named Ward, Allen and Lynch with the goal of turning her into a privateer to cruise the Chinese waters and prey on U.S. shipping.

Even worse, they were able to arm and equip the Neva with U.S. naval stores supplied them by another Confederate sympathizer named Cleary who was in charge of them in Shanghai.

--Old B-Runner

Capture of the Privateer Neva Reported

From the Daily Dispatch, November 21, 1861.

"Our news from San Francisco also mentions the arrest of a supposed privateer -- the schr. Neca -- at that port, by the Captain of the revenue cutter Mary.  It appears that the Neva was fitted out at Shanghai, China, and that information of this fact preceded her arrival at San Francisco."

--Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago, November 14, 1861: Confederate Privateer Seized in San Francisco

NOVEMBER 14TH, 1861:  The U.S. cutter Mary, Captain Pease, seized the Confederate privateer Neva, in San Francisco, California.

--Old V-Runner

155 Years Ago, November 12, 1861: The Fingal Runs the Blockade

NOVEMBER 12TH, 1861:  The Fingal (later CSS Atlanta), purchased in England, entered Savannah laden with military supplies -- the first ship to run the blockade solely on Confederate government account.

**  The USS  W.G. Anderson, Acting Lt. William C. Rogers, captured the Confederate privateer Beauregard near Abaco.

--Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago, October 30, 1861: Privateer Sallie Captures Another American Ship

OCTOBER 30TH, 1861:  The Confederate privateer Sallie captured American brig B.K. Eaton.

**  Confederate forces sank stone-filled barges to obstruct the Cumberland River near Fort Donelson, Tennessee, against the advance of Union gunboats.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, October 23, 1861: Privateer Savannah's Crew Tried As Pirates

OCTOBER 23RD, 1861:  Officers and men of the Confederate privateer Savannah went on trial in New York charged with "Piracy."

--Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago, October 17, 1861: Privateer Sallie Captures Another One

OCTOBER 17TH, 1861:  Confederate privateer Sallie, Master Henry S. Lebby, captured American brig Betsey Ames opposite the Bahama Banks with cargo including machinery.

--Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago, October 5, 1861: Fighting the Confederates

OCTOBER 5TH, 1861:  Two boats from the USS Louisiana, Lieutenant A. Murray, destroyed a Confederate schooner being fitted out as a privateer at Chincoteague Inlet, Virginia.  The Louisiana was later used as the powder ship blown up at Fort Fisher in 1864.

**  The USS Monticello, Lt. Daniel L. Braine, drove off Confederate troops and steamers attacking Union soldiers in the vicinity of Hatteras Inlet.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, October 1, 1861: Welles Opposes Issuing Letters of Marque

OCTOBER 1ST, 1861:  Secretary Welles, in a letter to Secretary Seward, opposed issuing letters of marque because it would be "a recognition of the assumption of the insurgents that they are a distinct and independent nationality."

--Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago, September 17, 1861: Goldsborough to Command NABS

SEPTEMBER 17TH, 1861:  Secretary of Navy Welles wrote Flag officer Goldsborough, appointed to command the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron:  "It is essentially necessary that the Navy should at this point put forth all of its strength and demonstrate to the country and to foreign powers its usefulness and capability in protecting and supporting the Government and the Union.

"There must be no commercial intercourse with the ports that are in insurrection, and our Navy must, by its power, energy, and activity, enforce the views of the President and the Government on this subject.

"Privateers to depredate on our commerce and rob our countrymen pursuing their peaceful avocations must not be permitted...."

In other words, close those ports and get those privateers.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, September 14, 1861: Daring Attack at Pensacola

SEPTEMBER 14TH, 1861:  In the early morning darkness, sailors and Marines from the USS Colorado, towing into Pensacola Harbor, boarded and burned Confederate privateering schooner Judah and spiked guns at Pensacola Navy Yard.

The group of US sailors and Marines was led by Lt. John Henry Russell.

**  The USS Albatross, Commander Prentis, captured schooner Alabama near mouth of the Potomac River.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago: Squadron Departs Hampton Roads to Attack Confederate Forts at Hatteras Inlet, N.C.

AUGUST 26TH, 1861:  Union squadron under Flag officer Stringham: USS Minnesota, Wabash, Monticello, Pawnee, revenue Cutter Harriet Lane, U.S. tug Fanny and two transports carrying about 900 troops under Major General Butler, departed Hampton Roads (later joined by the USS Susquehanna and Cumberland) for Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina, for the first combined action of the war.

Hatteras Inlet was the main channel into Pamlico Sound and the most convenient entrance for blockade runners bringing supplies to the Confederate Army in Virginia.

The Navy early recognized the strategic importance of the inlet and invited the Army to cooperate in its capture.  The operation was designed to check Confederate privateering and to begin the relentless assault from the sea that would divert a large portion of Confederate manpower from the main armies

--Old B-Runner