The Confederate Navy Yard: Saffold, Georgia

From the January 2, 2024, Early County (Georgia) News  "The History of the Confederate Naval Yard" by Leah Taylor.

Confederate naval officers and John H. Warner selected this site because of its remote location and abundance of timber around it.  Another reason was that the landowner, David S. Johnson, was an avid Confederate.  He was chosen to run the shipyard.  This proved to be a poor choice because despite all the timber and a large work force of slaves, he had no experience with shipbuilding at all.

The deadline for building his warship, 120 days, came and went with no ship.  He gave in and began placing ads in local papers for experienced shipbuilders.  Eventually the ship was built and delivered ten months late, December 8, 1862.

That ship was the CSS Chattahoochee, taking its name from the river on which it was built.

--Old B-Runner

Robert Smalls & the Planter-- Part 4: The Crew of the Planter and the Beginning of a Plan

Smalls was just one member, albeit very important, of the Planter's crew.  The ship was captained by  Charles J. Relyea.  The other white officers were first mate Samuel Hancock and engineer Samuel Pitcher.  None of the three were from the South, nor were the Confederate Navy officers.  They were merchant sailors hired on as  contractors and reported to Ferguson, the ship's owner.

Six other enslaved  black men, two engineers and four deckhands made up the rest of the Planter's crew.  Three of the six were owned by Ferguson, while the other three and Smalls were emplyed by their owners.

For defense, the Planter was armed with a 32-pounder pivot gun on the bow and a 24-pounder howitzer astern.  Smalls and the other black crewmembers would have been trained  to use those guns if needed.

As Smalls watched the Confederates closely, events would convince him to make a bold move.  

On November 7, 1861, the Union Navy captured Beaufort and the sea islands around the harbor of Port Royal.  Although the town was damaged and most of its white residents fled, Smalls was thankful to learn that his mother was safe among the now ownerless 10,000 former slaves.

--Old B-Runner

Nelson Tift of Georgia-- Part 2: A Varied Career Before the War

From Wikipedia.

NELSON TIFT

(July 23, 1810-November 21, 1891) 

Born in Groton, Connecticut and moved with his family to Key West in the 1820s, where he assisted his father in the mercantile business.  He moved to Augusta, Georgia in 1830 and went into business.  During his travels, he opened many side businesses and ventures.  he arrived  in what would later become Albany, Georgia,  and set up a small trading post.

One of his children, Frances, married  to Captain Thomas N.  Nelson of the Confederate Army, who was killed at Tupelo, Mississippi.  (I will write about him tomorrow in my Saw the Elephant blog.)

In 1840, he was elected  as colonel of the local militia unit.  In 1841, he was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives and was reelected to the one-year position in 1847, 1851 and 1852.  While a state legislator, he supported reopening of the international slave trade.  Although not an advocate of immediate secession, he accepted the final decision and  and lent his services to his new nation.

He founded and  published the Albany Patriot from 1845 to 1858.    In 1850, he owned  eight slaves, in  1860, he owned nine in Albany and another nineteen spread out over two locations  in Dougherty County.

--Old B-Runner

Bellamy Mansion in Wilmington, NC

From the February 23, 2022, WECT TV Wilmington, NC.

The Bellamy Mansion was built between 1859 and 1861 by both free and enslaved  Blacks.

One of those workers was  William B. Gould.  He later escaped during the war and joined the Union Navy.

The slave quarters served as home for the enslaved people who were house servants of the Bellamy family.

Federal troops took over  the home as their headquarters in February 1865.

After it was abandoned,  the house sat vacant for many years and was in need of repairs.

Eventually a non-profit corporation was formed to restore the house  and open it as a museum.

--Old B-Runner

The Long and Varied Saga of the USS Nightingale-- Part 4:

AS A SLAVER

In the fall of 1860, the Nightingale arrived in England from New York.  Word soon got around the docks that she was  going to become a slaver.  A cover was devised where she supposedly was loading with  cargo of guns, powder and cotton cloth with the intention of going to St. Thomas.

She sailed several times from Cabinda, Angola.  During that time, some 2,000 Africans were transported in irons on their way to become slaves.

SEIZURE

About midnight on 20-21 April 1861, two boats from the  sloop of war USS Saratoga pulled silently  toward a darkened ship anchored near the mouth of the Congo River at Cabinda, Angola.  After clambering aboard the Nightingale, a suspected slaver from Boston, Massachusetts, the American sailors and Marines found 961 men, women and children chained between the decks.

Of those, some 160 died while the ship was en route to Liberia where they were to be released.   When the ship was taken, it was in the process of loading even more slaves to go to America.

--Old Secesh

Capture of Slaver Nightingale-- Part 4

The health of the squadron was generally good, that of the Saratoga being unusually so.  Most of the squadron are anxiously looking for orders home.  The third night  after sailing from Kabenda was boarded by H.B.M. steamer  Wrangler, the steamer Clive being under our lee, who were quite chagrined at finding the bird was caged.

Lieuts. J.J. GUTHRIE and CHAS. W. HAYS were sent home on the Nightingale.  Lieut. TYLER, whose health had been bad during the entire cruise of the Saratoga, also returned in the same vessel.

The three mates of the Nightingale, Messrs. HINDS, WINSLOW and WESTERVILT, were sent home on the ship, to be delivered up to the authorities.

--Old B-Runner

Capture of the Slaver Nightingale-- Part 2: Cargo of Slaves

The Nightingale is a clippership, of 1,100 tons burden, built at Portsmouth, N.H., and intended for the Baltic and Australian trade, but as the builders did not fulfill the contract, she passed into other hands.  She sailed hence Sept. 13,  with a load of grain for Liverpool, and arrived  there Oct. 6, where she discharged cargo and was up for the East Indies.

Sailed from Liverpool Dec. 2, and was on the 14th January anchored at the island of St. Thomas, W.C.A. (probably West Coast of Africa)  "So states her log."

On the 22nd January, she was boarded off the Congo by the English steamer Archer, and the United States steamer Mystic, when she proceeded up the Congo River  and remained there until the first day of April, where she was fallen in with the Saratoga and boarded.  

Her papers being found  all right, she was allowed  to proceed, but on the 22nd April was captured as  above.

--Old B-Runner

Capture of the Slaver Nightingale-- Part 1

Back in my March 3rd post, I wrote about North Carolinian John Guthrie being in the U.S. Navy before the war and his part in the capture of what is believed to be the last slave ship (slaver), the Nightingale, captured before the war started.  Here is the story as it appeared in the New York Times back then.

From the June 16, 1861, New York Times  "Capture of a Slaver.; The Ship Nightingale seized  by the United States  Sloop-of-War Saratoga, with Nine Hundred and Fifty Negroes  on Board."

The ship Nightingale, J.J. GUTHRIE, United States Navy, Commanding,  arrived at this port, yesterday morning, from Monrovia, West Coast of Africa, which port she left May 13, and anchored at Quarantine.

The Nightingale was captured, April 23, off Kabenda, West Coast of Africa, by the United States Sloop-of-War Saratoga, having on board 950 Negroes.  She was taken into Monrovia, where the cargo was put  on shore, and 272 men, 97 women, 340 boys and 93 girls, making a total of 801,  -- 160 having died on the passage from Kabenda.

A prize crew of 26 men was put  on board the Nightingale from the Saratoga, and brought her to this port.  There has been considerable sickness among the crew on board the Nightingale since leaving Monrovia.

The following men belonging to the Saratoga have died:

HENRY NAGLE, ordinary seaman

JOHN EDWARDS, landsman

MICHAEL REDMOND, marine

--Old B-Runner

Enslaved Workers Left Marks on Fort Pulaski-- Part 1

From the Feb. 9, 2021, Kansas City Star "Enslaved workers left their marks in the bricks of Civil War-era fort, Georgia photos show" by Tanasia Kenney

Nearly 25 million brocks were used to construct Savannah, Georgia's Fort Pulaski which was mostly built by black enslaved workers.

Photos shared  by the Fort Pulaski National Monument on Monday show bricks with fingerprints and handprints still embedded in them all these years later (and, after that bombardment back during the war).

It took 18 years to complete Fort Pulaski and none other than Robert E. Lee touted it was impregnable.  However, the stories of those enslaved workers have never been told.  However, there is a part of that story in Casemate 16.

--Old B-Runner

Legareville in the Civil War and Johns Island-- Part 2

In August 1864, , Major John Jenkins, commander of Confederate forces on Johns Island, decided to burn the village to prevent further plunder and use by Union forces.

He reported to higher authorities that when he announced he was going to do this, the Stono Scouts, a military group made up of property owners of Legareville, announced that they would help.  This, Johns Islanders destroyed their own summer homes to prevent their use by Union forces.

JOHNS ISLAND

Legaraeville is on Johns Island, the largest island in the State of South Carolina.  It is the fourth largest island on the U.S. east coast, surpassed in size only by Long Island, Mount Desert Island and Martha's Vineyard.

It is 84 square miles.

The Stono Slave Rebellion took place on Johns Island in 1739 and during the American Revolution, British forces occupied it on their way to capturing Charleston.

--Old B-R'er

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

Robert Blake, Black Medal of Honor Recipient-- Part 4: Sadly, Not Much is Known on the Rest of His Life

Blake was later promoted to seaman and re-enlisted in the Navy for another term.    During his second  enlistment, he served  again on the USS Vermont.

Sadly, nothing more is known about his life.

I looked him up on the Find A Grave site and they have an entry on him which says that his birth date, date of death and place of burial are all unknown.

****************************

His Medal of Honor citation reads:  "On board the U.S. Steam Gunboat Marblehead off Legareville, Stono River, 25 December 1863, in an engagement with  the enemy on John's Island.  Serving the rifle gun, Blake, an escaped slave, carried out his duties bravely throughout the whole engagement which resulted in the enemy's  abandonment of positions, leaving  a caisson and one gun behind."

**************************

--Old B-Runner

ESPN Man's Ancestors Captured at Fort Fisher

From the June 10, 2020, ESPN  by Ryan McGee.

In a very hateful column about the Confederate flag and NASCAR, he had some interesting stuff to say nonetheless.

In the process of defending his anti-flag stance, he related some of his family's history.  And, of course, as soon as I saw the words Fort Fisher, well, he had my interest.

His family owned slaves and two of his ancestors were captured defending Fort Fisher on January 15, 1865.  His great-great-great grandfather and uncle were sent to  the Elmira Prison Camp, aka "Hell-Mira." in New York.

They were fortunate enough to survive and when the war ended walked 600 miles home to Rockingham, North Carolina.

His family still owns the former plantation house where his ancestors had slaves.

--Old B-Runner

Learn About the Impressment of Slaves and Native Americans in the Construction of Fort Fisher Tonight

The Federal Point Historic Preservation  Society will hold ts monthly meeting Monday, January 20, at 7:30 PM, at the History Center next to the Carolina Beach, N.C. Town Hall off US Highway 421.

Dr. Jamie Martinez will speak about the impressment of privately owned slaves and Native Americans (the Lumbee Indians) which were used to help build Fort Fisher.  Under policies instituted by the Confederacy, white Virginians and North Carolinians surrendered their control over portions of slave populations to state authorities, military officials and the national government to defend their new nation.

State and local officials cooperated with the Confederate War department and Engineer Bureau, as well as individual generals, to ensure a supply of slave labor for fortifications.

Dr. Martinez is an Associate Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke where she teaches classes on the U.S. Civil War, Antebellum America, African American history, Historical methods and general U.S. history.

--Old B-R'er

Big To Do at the Fort This Weekend-- Part 5: Sunday, Jan. 19

1:00 PM--  Dr. Angela Zombek  "Military Prisons & POWs During the Civil War"  at the Masonboro Parlor at the E. Gehrig Spencer Theater.

**  Infantry demonstration at Shepherd's Battery.

1:30  PM--  Free guided tour of the fort.

2:00 PM--  Artillery demonstration at Shepherd's Battery.

**  Above the Scenes tour, tickets required; limited to 25 persons.

**  Junior Reserves  "Cyphers" in the Living History Area.

2:30 PM--  Dr. Jamie Martinez, "Confederate Slave Impressment in North Carolina."

**  Torpedo demonstration in Living History Area.

**  Infantry demonstration at Shepherd's Battery.

**  Free guided tour.

3:30 PM--  Infantry demonstration at Shepherd's Battery.

4:00 PM--  Artillery demonstration at Shepherd's Battery.

5:00 PM--  Visitors Center closes.

It's Over Now.  --Old B-Runner

Bridge Jumping Confederates Capture Vessel

 From the HMdb site Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal Military Supply Route.

I have been writing about the capture of U.S. Representative George Washington Julian near Coinjack, N.C.,  and while researching found this item of interest.

On May 16, 1863,  thirty Confederate partisans  from Pasquotank County jumped from the nearby Coinjack Bridge onto the side-wheel steamer Arrow and captured the crew then steered the vessel alongside the steamer Emily as if nothing had happened.

The partisans took both ships, flying the Stars and Stripes, up Albemarle Sound, Chowan River, and the Blackwater River to Franklin, Virginia,

En route,  they picked up five African Americans who hailed  them not knowing the crews were Confederates.  Now, that was embarrassing.

The exploit made headlines in the North Carolina newspapers.

--Old B-Runner

Confederate Soldier and Sailors Are American Military

I was on the road as it were these past five days and not doing blog entries as I was at the largest Memorial Day commemoration, the one in Indianapolis involving a famous race.  This is why there were no posts the last five days.

I know there are many today who seek to besmear the good reputation of the Confederate soldier, but I am sure if you asked the rank and file what they were fighting for, the answer would be defending their homes and families and Southern Rights.  Very few of the rank and file owned slaves, probably no more than 85-90% as they were the poorer Southerners.  Officers were the ones most likely to have slaves as they were richer.

Those who say the war was fought only for the right to keep slaves by the South overlook Lincoln's promise to the South before the war that slavery would be allowed to continue where ever  it already existed.  Meaning that all they had to do to keep their slaves was to remain in the Union.  Surely, that would be easier than fighting a war with a much more populous and richer part of the country and risking invasion.

Yet, They Went Ahead and Seceded.  There Just Had To be Something More To It.  --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

The Huntress, Last Slave Ship to Leave the Congo in 1865

From Wikipedia.

The Huntress was out of New York and was a hermaphrodite schooner that transported slaves.  It is the last slave ship to leave the Congo of Africa after buying slaves from the Africans.

In March 1865, the Huntress left with a capacity of 200  slaves headed for Louisiana.  When the slave trade ended in 1808, slave readers turned to fast ships, largely topsail schooners and brigs, to outrun the vessels of Britain's West Africa Squadron and the American Navy's African Slave Trade Patrol.

"Negro Island" in the Mermentau River is thought to be the location where the Huntress' cargo died under horrible conditions.  However, records show a Huntress-type vessel landed a cargo of slaves in Cuba in 1864.

--Old B-Runner

Remains of Clotilda Might Have Been Found-- Part 5

Sylvianne Diouf wrote a book on the Clotilda and her slaves "Dreams of Africa in Alabama" in 2007.

Timothy Meaher bought the Clotilda, a two-masted schooner, for $35,000 and hired William Foster to captain the ship to Africa with instructions to purchase 100 slaves for $9,000 in gold.  Once in Dahomey, he met with black African slave traders and made his purchases.

On the way back to the United States, the Clotilda survived a collision with a Portuguese warship that had given chase and a storm that destroyed a mast.

It Would Be Quite a Discovery If the Shipwreck Is the Clotilda.  --Old B-Runner