Report of Albert M. Blackman at Fort Fisher-- Part 2: Received the Confederate Surrender

"In marching to the rear, I met Major General Terry who ordered me to proceed to his headquarters, and await further orders.  At a quarter before 10 o'clock I received orders to march to the fort.

"On arriving I was informed that the enemy had evacuated and was ordered to join in the pursuit, which order I promptly obeyed, and  on arriving at this place (Battery Buchanan) was first to receive the surrender of the enemy.

"The losses in my command  were 1 enlisted man killed and 4 wounded.

"After this fort (Battery Buchanan)  was taken, I was placed in command by Major General Terry in person."

(Sounds like there was quite a bit of confusuion among Union forces after they got inside Fort Fisher. So, did the garrison of Fort Fisher surrender to a black regiment?)

--Old B-Runner

27th USCT-- Part 3: Fort Fisher and Operations in North Carolina

The 27th USCT then participated in the Fort Fisher Campaign from December 1864 to January 1865.

Then in subsequent actions between Fort Fisher and Wilmington January to February 1865:

Sugar Loaf Hill

Federal Point

Capture of Wilmington

Northeast Ferry

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

CAROLINAS CAMPAIGN  (March to April 1865)

Kinston

Goldsboro

Cox's Bridge

Raleigh

Present at Johnston's surrender at Bennett's House, North carolina on April 26, 1865.

Remained on duty in Department of North Carolina until mustered out on September 21, 1865.

--Old B-Runner

Fort Jackson Mutiny Facts-- Part 8: Parole or Not to Parole?

**  The Confederates troops drew up on Fort Jackson's grounds the night of the mutiny and demanded to surrender to nearby Union troops.

**  Those troops involved in the mutiny were largely foreign or northern-born and did not have a strong attachment to o love of the Know-Nothing Party or government of New Orleans.

**  They did not have a strong attachment to  to Confederate goals as did they native-born Southerners.

**  The experience of having been working class men in New Orleans and accustomed to organizing to go on strike when not being paid was also a factor.

**  Choosing to mutiny on the first night there were nearby Union troops suggests that they preferred the Union.

**  After the officers surrendered the forts on April 28, 1862,  all were offered a parole.

**  All the officers and enlisted men of the one non-New Orleans unit swore to not fight until am exchange could be arranged, and then  they would fight for the Confederacy again.

**  The other seven units had many men who did not want a parole, for that would eventually mean they would have to return to Confederate service.

--Old B-Runner

Talking About Gen. J.D. Cox, Schofield's Move to Wilmington and Sherman's Carolinas Campaign

Over in my Saw the Elephant:  Civil War blog this past week, I have been writing about Gen. Schofield's 23rd Corps moving from Tennessee to D.C. and Wilmington, a man very involved in the Wilmington Campaign, Gen. John D. Cox.

And also what the move and man had to do with Sherman's Carolina Campaign.

Also, that when Cox's division landed at Fort Fisher several weeks after it fell, it resembled a farmer's pumpkin patch as those shells rusted.

These were all events leading up to Wilmington's fall and Joe Johnston surrendering at Bennett Place near Durham, N.C..

This was a big part of the Fort Fisher/Wilmington Campaigns, but I wrote about them in connection with the McHenry County Civil War Round Table discussion group's meeting in February.

--Old B-Runner

Confederate War Department Orders a 15 Gun Salute To Celebrate Viciory at Fort Sumter

Adjutant and Inspector General Samuel Cooper in General orders No. 3, April 13, 1861, from Montgomery Alabama:  In honor of the occasion, officially announced, that the United States colors have been hauled down at Fort Sumter and replaced by the white flag, a salute of fifteen guns will be fired in front of the Department this day at two o'clock.

"By Command of the Secretary of War."

The invention and use of the telegraph gave places far apart near instant news.

Samuel Cooper had also been the Adjutant and Inspector General of the U.S. Army before secession.

--Old B-R'er

Confederates Report the Battle

APRIL 13, 1861:  Beauregard to L.P. Walker, Confederate Secretary of War:  "Officers' quarters in Sumter burning.  Part of the roof supposed to have fallen in.  Sumter firing at long intervals.  Ours regular and effective.  Six vessels outside in signals with Sumter (referring to Fox's fleet)."

Later, a telegraph to Walker: from Rhett.

"Anderson has hauled down the United States flag on Sumter and run up a white flag.  Fort has been burning for several hours from effect of shells.  two explosions have been produced by shells.  he has ceased firing some time, and fire of all the batteries has been continuous until now-- 3 o'clock.  Aides have been sent by Beauregard to Sumter.

R.B. Rhett, Jr.

--Old B-R'er

The New York Times Reports Early News of Fort Macon's Surrender: A Question of Conditionality

From the May 3, 1862, New York Times "The Surrender of the Fort Macon Garrison."

"[???] The only accounts thus far received from Fort Macon trickle through rebel channels.  There is enough, however, to discredit the statement that the surrender was conditional.  When the rebel rag was hauled down, the Fort, we are told, was wholly [???] and its garrison at the mercy of our forces.

"There was not the slightest ground for negotiation on the part of the National commander.  It will require, therefore, something more than rebel authority to satisfy as the Gen [???] with the enemy entirely in his power, [???] so far from the fixed precedents of the war as to make terms with traitors.

"It will be only a day or two before our own accounts will be at hand, and we can afford to wait for the truth."

Rag?  Really?  --Old B-Runner

North Carolina's Fort Macon-- Part 1

From the February 16, 2016, Coastak review Online "Our Coast:  Fort Macon and Elliott Coues" by Jared Lloyd.

On April 23, 1862, Fort Macon surrendered to Major General Ambrose Burnside after a less-than 24-hour battle, then began a months-long ordeal trying to get the Confederate troops there to vacate the premises.  (I am unaware of the problems getting them to leave and have done a little more research and found no mention of them not leaving.)

Fort Macon guarded Beaufort Inlet which led to the Beaufort, North Carolina's only deep water port.

Four hundred Confederates surrendered and it was in Union hands for the rest of the war  Beaufort became the major coaling and provisioning base for the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron for the war's duration.

Sixty years later, the fort and surrounding land became one of North Carolina's first state parks.

--Old B-Runner

Johnston to Surrender All Confederate Armies?

APRIL 21ST, 1865:  Major General Gilmore wrote Rear Admiral Dahlgren that he had received dispatches from general Sherman that a convention had been entered into with General Johnston, CSA, on the 18th whereby all Confederate armies will be disbanded and a general suspension of hostilities would prevail until terms of surrender were agreed upon in Washington.

ALSO APRIL 21ST, 1865:  USS Cornubia captured blockade running British schooner Chaos off Galveston with cargo of cotton.

--Old B-Runner

Confederate General Kirby Set to Surrender on the Red River

APRIL 19TH, 1865:  The USS Lexington conveyed Col. John T. Sprague, Chief of Staff of General John Pope, from Cairo, up the Red River to meet Confederate General Kirby Smith.

At the ensuing conference, Smith was given the terms under which the surrender of his forces would be accepted.

--Old B-Runner