As I already mentioned in the most recent Naval Happenings 150 Years Ago, the USS Adirondack sank this date. Part of the reason it sank had to do with what I wrote about on August 24th, and that was the commissioning of the CSS Alabama. The Adirondack was hurrying back to Nassau to look for the Confederate ship.
I had never heard of the USS Adirondack before this. I had to do some research. Thanks to good old Wikipedia and ShipwreckExpo.com for the information.
The Adirondack was an Ossipee-Class wooden screw steamer built in 1861 at the New York Navy Yard and launched Feb. 22, 1862 and commissioned in June so it had a very short navy career. It was 203 feet long, had a 38-foot beam, weighed 1240 tons, mounting 2X11-inch smoothbore, 4X32-pdr smoothbores, 2X24-pdr. smoothbores and 1X12-pdr smoothbore cannons. A crew of 160 manned the ship.
While assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading squadron, it had been looking for the CSS Florida and had been recalled to Port Royal only to be immediately ordered back to Nassau with the coming of the CSS Alabama.
En route, the ship ran aground on Little Bahama Bank in the Abaco Islands of the Bahamas. Efforts to break loose failed and the ship began to break up. The crew was rescued by the Canadaiguia.
The scattered remains of the ship are in between ten and thirty feet of water and it has become a favorite dive spot. Divers can see the two huge 10,000 pound 11-inch bore cannons and twelve smaller ones scattered about. Seaworms have eaten most of the wood.
So, That's the Story of the Adirondack. --Old B-Runner
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
My Great Summer at Fort Fisher-- Part 2: Beauregard Almost In Reach
Taken from my 1982 journal.
It cost $275 a week to rent Aunt Anna Mae's cottage at Carolina Beach. She no longer owns it, but we continue to calll it that..
JULY 24, !982
Stopped at Paul's Hot Dogs on the way down to the beach, a family tradition. Nephew Andy and I went swimming in the ocean and discovered that the Army Corps of Engineers had done beach nourishment and it was about four times wider than it had been.
"A person can get mighty tired just walking across the huge beach. The Beauregard (Civil War blockade-runner) was so close I could have hit it with a rock. It is too bad I am too scared to go out to it and get a piece.
If Mama Gert and Daddy Graham (my grandparents) still had their cottage they'd definitely have some property as their deed read from the road to the shoreline."
The blockade-runner Beauregard (also known as the Havelock and General Beauregard) was rumored to have been carrying gold when it was forced ashore in 1863. The upper portion can still be easily seen at low tide. I've always considered it as my blockade-runner.
I would really love to have a piece of it and it would be a prized possession.
It cost $275 a week to rent Aunt Anna Mae's cottage at Carolina Beach. She no longer owns it, but we continue to calll it that..
JULY 24, !982
Stopped at Paul's Hot Dogs on the way down to the beach, a family tradition. Nephew Andy and I went swimming in the ocean and discovered that the Army Corps of Engineers had done beach nourishment and it was about four times wider than it had been.
"A person can get mighty tired just walking across the huge beach. The Beauregard (Civil War blockade-runner) was so close I could have hit it with a rock. It is too bad I am too scared to go out to it and get a piece.
If Mama Gert and Daddy Graham (my grandparents) still had their cottage they'd definitely have some property as their deed read from the road to the shoreline."
The blockade-runner Beauregard (also known as the Havelock and General Beauregard) was rumored to have been carrying gold when it was forced ashore in 1863. The upper portion can still be easily seen at low tide. I've always considered it as my blockade-runner.
I would really love to have a piece of it and it would be a prized possession.
Naval Happenings 150 Years Ago: August 22nd to 24th , 1862-- Roll! Alabama!
AUGUST 22ND
Welles orders NABS (North Atlantic Blockading Squadron) to assist Army in withdrawing from Fortress Monroe as the Peninsular campaign winds down.
AUGUST 23RD
USS Adirondack hit a reef off Man of War Cay, Little Bahamas and was abandoned after efforts to save the ship failed. The blockade was not without its dangers.
The USS James S. Chambers seized schooner Corelia off the coast of Cuba. The blockade was not only off the coast of the Confederacy.
AUGUST 24TH
Raphael Semmes took command of the CSS Alabama at sea off the island of Teceira, Azores. The Confederate flag replaced the English one and a gun was fired. "The air was rent by a deafening cheer from the officers and men. The band, at the same time, playing Dixie."
Thus, the Alabama was christened and began her famous career.
Welles orders NABS (North Atlantic Blockading Squadron) to assist Army in withdrawing from Fortress Monroe as the Peninsular campaign winds down.
AUGUST 23RD
USS Adirondack hit a reef off Man of War Cay, Little Bahamas and was abandoned after efforts to save the ship failed. The blockade was not without its dangers.
The USS James S. Chambers seized schooner Corelia off the coast of Cuba. The blockade was not only off the coast of the Confederacy.
AUGUST 24TH
Raphael Semmes took command of the CSS Alabama at sea off the island of Teceira, Azores. The Confederate flag replaced the English one and a gun was fired. "The air was rent by a deafening cheer from the officers and men. The band, at the same time, playing Dixie."
Thus, the Alabama was christened and began her famous career.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
My Great Summer at Fort Fisher-- Part 1
I am reading my journal from 1982, thirty years ago, and found that was when I spent a fantastic two whole weeks at Carolina Beach, spending my time jogging, swimming, sitting out on the beach, doing research at Fort Fisher and visiting the Blockade Runner Museum and enjoying the nightlife. (I started my journal back in the summer of 1978 and sure wish I'd been keeping it before that. It is amazing what I forget.)
That was one great way to spend some time.
I was just getting started in my deejay business and teaching school in Round Lake, Illinois. I stayed for two weeks at Aunt Anna Mae's cottage on Carolina Beach's Southern Extension. The first week was with my parents and the second with my brother and sister and their families.
Why, one day I even jogged to Fort Fisher.
I'll Be Going Back Into the Journal and Writing My Fort Fisher-related experiences.
That was one great way to spend some time.
I was just getting started in my deejay business and teaching school in Round Lake, Illinois. I stayed for two weeks at Aunt Anna Mae's cottage on Carolina Beach's Southern Extension. The first week was with my parents and the second with my brother and sister and their families.
Why, one day I even jogged to Fort Fisher.
I'll Be Going Back Into the Journal and Writing My Fort Fisher-related experiences.
Fort Fisher's Caitlin Rifenburg
From the Summer 2012 Powder Magazine newsletter of Fort Fisher.
Caitlin is the 2012 Mary Holloway Seasonal Interpreter at the fort.
Born in Kentucky, but moved to Wilmington as a child. Mary Holloway, who was at Fort Fisher in the early 1980s developed the program for interns in costume to guide people around the fort. Caitlin gives two tours daily Wednesday through Sunday.
Ms. Rifenburg graduated early from Richlands High School near Jacksonville and plans on attending Cape Fear Community College this fall. She says her mother worked at Fort Fisher when she was very young and that she practically grew up on the grounds.
When asked is she could have dinner with anyone from the 19th century, she said she'd have it with Colonel Lamb and his time and family while commanding the fort.
Always Great to See Young People Getting Involved in History, Especially That of Fort Fisher. --Old B-R'er
Caitlin is the 2012 Mary Holloway Seasonal Interpreter at the fort.
Born in Kentucky, but moved to Wilmington as a child. Mary Holloway, who was at Fort Fisher in the early 1980s developed the program for interns in costume to guide people around the fort. Caitlin gives two tours daily Wednesday through Sunday.
Ms. Rifenburg graduated early from Richlands High School near Jacksonville and plans on attending Cape Fear Community College this fall. She says her mother worked at Fort Fisher when she was very young and that she practically grew up on the grounds.
When asked is she could have dinner with anyone from the 19th century, she said she'd have it with Colonel Lamb and his time and family while commanding the fort.
Always Great to See Young People Getting Involved in History, Especially That of Fort Fisher. --Old B-R'er
Major Reilly's Descendants-- Part 3
E. Lawrence Lee, (1912-1996) longtime Citadel University (SC) history professor was the grandson of Major Reilly on his mother's side. He was the author of "The Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days" and "Indian Wars in North Carolina." He did much of the initial survey work on colonial Brunswick Town site (south of Wilmington) which led to the excavations by Dr. Stanley South in the 60s and the creation of the Brunswick Town State Historic Site. Civil War Fort Anderson stretches across the ruins of the town.
Lee's grandchildren no longer live in the Wilmington area, but many other Reilly descendants still do according to Chris Fonvielle, including members of the Newell, Symmes and Bethune families.
Ken Fortier commented on the story that the Lockfaw family of Wilmington is also descendants and that he has some of James Reilly's personal items and pictures.
An Unsung Southern hero. --Old B-Runner
Lee's grandchildren no longer live in the Wilmington area, but many other Reilly descendants still do according to Chris Fonvielle, including members of the Newell, Symmes and Bethune families.
Ken Fortier commented on the story that the Lockfaw family of Wilmington is also descendants and that he has some of James Reilly's personal items and pictures.
An Unsung Southern hero. --Old B-Runner
Monday, August 20, 2012
Major Reilly's Descendants-- Part 2
In April 1861, James Reilly sent in his resignation to the Union War Department and joined the Confederate Army where he served with distinction commanding the Rowan Artillery and eventually rose to the rank of major.
He and his battery were detached from the Army of Northern Virginia and sent to Fort Fisher. In the final battle there, he became the senior officer (after Whiting and Lamb were wounded) and officially surrendered the fort.
In doing that, he may be the only one on either side to surrender a fort at the beginning of the war and end of the war, from one side to the other.
He was held a prisoner of war and later returned to Wilmington where he lived at 111 S. sixth Street. Later in life, he had a small farm in the Maco community in Brunswick County. He died in 1896 and is buried at Wilmington's Oakdale Cemetery. If I recall, Reilly's grave is fairly close to Whiting's.
His Descendants Next. --Old B-Runner
He and his battery were detached from the Army of Northern Virginia and sent to Fort Fisher. In the final battle there, he became the senior officer (after Whiting and Lamb were wounded) and officially surrendered the fort.
In doing that, he may be the only one on either side to surrender a fort at the beginning of the war and end of the war, from one side to the other.
He was held a prisoner of war and later returned to Wilmington where he lived at 111 S. sixth Street. Later in life, he had a small farm in the Maco community in Brunswick County. He died in 1896 and is buried at Wilmington's Oakdale Cemetery. If I recall, Reilly's grave is fairly close to Whiting's.
His Descendants Next. --Old B-Runner
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Naval Happenings 150 Years Ago: August 18th to 21st,1862: Farragut Says to Bring 'Em On!!!
AUGUST 18TH
Sec. of Navy Welles wrote Commodore Wilkes of the James River Squadron that since Army movements in the area had ceased that future orders will "be controlled by developments elsewhere."
Welles also instructed squadron and cruiser commanders to restate their duties as far as stopping and searching suspicious ships upon the seas as a result of "some recent occurrences." They were to "manifest to the world that it is the intention of our Government, while asserting and maintaining our own rights, to respect and scrupulously regard the right of others...You are specifically informed that the fact that a suspicious vessel has been indicated to you...does not in any way authorize you to depart from the practice of the rules of visitation, search and capture prescribed by the law of nations."
I'm not sure what the occurrences were, perhaps some commanders were overstepping the law of nations in regards to a blockade.
AUGUST 21ST
Admiral Farragut must have been responding to newspaper fears of foreign intervention in the conflict and wrote, "...if it does come, you will find the United States not so easy of a nut to crack...We have no dread of 'rams' or 'he-goats'..." I'm not really sure what a "he-goat" is?
USS Bienville captured British blockade-runner Eliza, bound from Nassau off Shallotte Inlet, NC.
Go Get 'Em, David!! --Old B-R'er
Sec. of Navy Welles wrote Commodore Wilkes of the James River Squadron that since Army movements in the area had ceased that future orders will "be controlled by developments elsewhere."
Welles also instructed squadron and cruiser commanders to restate their duties as far as stopping and searching suspicious ships upon the seas as a result of "some recent occurrences." They were to "manifest to the world that it is the intention of our Government, while asserting and maintaining our own rights, to respect and scrupulously regard the right of others...You are specifically informed that the fact that a suspicious vessel has been indicated to you...does not in any way authorize you to depart from the practice of the rules of visitation, search and capture prescribed by the law of nations."
I'm not sure what the occurrences were, perhaps some commanders were overstepping the law of nations in regards to a blockade.
AUGUST 21ST
Admiral Farragut must have been responding to newspaper fears of foreign intervention in the conflict and wrote, "...if it does come, you will find the United States not so easy of a nut to crack...We have no dread of 'rams' or 'he-goats'..." I'm not really sure what a "he-goat" is?
USS Bienville captured British blockade-runner Eliza, bound from Nassau off Shallotte Inlet, NC.
Go Get 'Em, David!! --Old B-R'er
Major Reilly's Descendants-- Part 1
I came across this article after returning home from this latest trip to North Carolina since I heard that fine talk on Reilly's life by Col. Jack Travis. The Wilmington Star-News has an excellent column that appears every so often where readers send in a question and reporters do research on it. Now, that's real interactive reporting right there. Usually, Ben Steelman does the researching as he did on this one.
May 10, 2010 "Mr Reporter: Do any descendants of Major James Reilly still live in the area?"
Quite a few still in the Wilmington area. James Reilly (1822-1896) was born in Ballydonaugh, Ireland, and moved at an early age to the United States and later joined the Army's artillery, serving under General Winfield Scott in the Mexican War where he was in most every engagement up to the occupation of Mexico City.
After the war, he was strongly recommended for a commission in the Regular U.S. Army (he was an enlisted man who had not attended West Point. According to tradition, one W.H.C. Whiting (later Confederate general) was a particular champion. But, Reilly was passed over.
January 1861 found Reilly as an ordnance sergeant and only occupant of Fort Johnson in Smithville (now Southport), North Carolina, when state militia came and demanded his surrender, which he did. However, since the state had not seceded, the governor made them return the fort.
Jumping the Gun a Bit, That Militia. --Old B-Runner
May 10, 2010 "Mr Reporter: Do any descendants of Major James Reilly still live in the area?"
Quite a few still in the Wilmington area. James Reilly (1822-1896) was born in Ballydonaugh, Ireland, and moved at an early age to the United States and later joined the Army's artillery, serving under General Winfield Scott in the Mexican War where he was in most every engagement up to the occupation of Mexico City.
After the war, he was strongly recommended for a commission in the Regular U.S. Army (he was an enlisted man who had not attended West Point. According to tradition, one W.H.C. Whiting (later Confederate general) was a particular champion. But, Reilly was passed over.
January 1861 found Reilly as an ordnance sergeant and only occupant of Fort Johnson in Smithville (now Southport), North Carolina, when state militia came and demanded his surrender, which he did. However, since the state had not seceded, the governor made them return the fort.
Jumping the Gun a Bit, That Militia. --Old B-Runner
Friday, August 17, 2012
New Method for Conserving Artifacts Found?-- Part 2
Currently, in order to stabilize iron objects from the sea, they have to be placed in a chemical bath or electrolysis used to leach out salt. A lot of this technology came out back in 1962, starting with the recovery of the cargo from the blockade-runner Modern Greece off Fort Fisher, North Carolina. Right now, this process is also being used on the turret of the USS Monitor.
The new processes experimented on metal shavings and bolts from the Hunley. It took 18 months using traditional methods to conserve other blocks, but just ten days under subcritical treatment. The newest reactor holds 40 liters and is now being used to conserve a shell from the Fort Sumter National Monument.
Two years ago, it took six years to conserve two cannons from the CSS Alabama. Using the subcritical process would have taken just six months. The next step in the new technology might be to make a chamber big enough to hold the eight-ton cannons from the USS Monitor which are currently being conserved in the traditional way in Virginia.
Quite a Scientific Breakthrough. --Old B-Runner
The new processes experimented on metal shavings and bolts from the Hunley. It took 18 months using traditional methods to conserve other blocks, but just ten days under subcritical treatment. The newest reactor holds 40 liters and is now being used to conserve a shell from the Fort Sumter National Monument.
Two years ago, it took six years to conserve two cannons from the CSS Alabama. Using the subcritical process would have taken just six months. The next step in the new technology might be to make a chamber big enough to hold the eight-ton cannons from the USS Monitor which are currently being conserved in the traditional way in Virginia.
Quite a Scientific Breakthrough. --Old B-Runner
New Method for Conserving Artifacts Found? -- Part 1
From the August 11th Charleston West Virginia Gazette-Mail "South Carolina scientists trim years in conserving artifacts" by Bruce Smith, AP.
Clemson University scientists have succeeded in conserving Civil War shot and a ballast block from the Confederate submarine Hunley using a subcritical and supercritical treatment that could revolutionize the way historic artifacts are conserved. This was just a theory a decade ago.
In the subcritical process, water is put under intense heat and pressure which has unique dissolving characteristics. The item is put into a reactor vessel and salts that can cause deterioration are quickly removed.
A small supercritical reactor is at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston, where the Hunley is being saved. In the supercritical process, carbon dioxide is subjected to intense heat and pressure to remove moisture and preserve cork from shipwrecks.
I'm not sure what all this is about, but to speed up conservation would be a great thing. Once we get it, I'm always clamoring to see it right away.
More to Come. --Old B-R'er
Clemson University scientists have succeeded in conserving Civil War shot and a ballast block from the Confederate submarine Hunley using a subcritical and supercritical treatment that could revolutionize the way historic artifacts are conserved. This was just a theory a decade ago.
In the subcritical process, water is put under intense heat and pressure which has unique dissolving characteristics. The item is put into a reactor vessel and salts that can cause deterioration are quickly removed.
A small supercritical reactor is at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston, where the Hunley is being saved. In the supercritical process, carbon dioxide is subjected to intense heat and pressure to remove moisture and preserve cork from shipwrecks.
I'm not sure what all this is about, but to speed up conservation would be a great thing. Once we get it, I'm always clamoring to see it right away.
More to Come. --Old B-R'er
USS Alligator: The Union's Submarine-- Part 2
MID-JULY 1862--
After assuming command of the submarine, Lt. Thomas O. Selfridge traveled to the New York Navy Yard to recruit volunteers from the receiving ship USS North Carolina (the old ship-of-the-line). Expecting no success, he is surprised when so many volunteer and has to choose from among them.
AUGUST 6, 1862
Selfridge and crew take the Alligator on its first voyage. The results of this and others are included in Selfridge's critical report, which ends his association with the Alligator. He is given command of the uSS Cairo of the Mississippi River Squadron. His fourteen hand-picked crewmen accompany him.
The Alligator's biggest problem according to Selfridge was its oar propulsion system. De Villerei's adoption of oars was odd, since the original submarine he sailed down the Delaware River used a screw propeller.
Most Folk Don't Know the US Navy Had Its Own Submarine. --Old B-Runner
After assuming command of the submarine, Lt. Thomas O. Selfridge traveled to the New York Navy Yard to recruit volunteers from the receiving ship USS North Carolina (the old ship-of-the-line). Expecting no success, he is surprised when so many volunteer and has to choose from among them.
AUGUST 6, 1862
Selfridge and crew take the Alligator on its first voyage. The results of this and others are included in Selfridge's critical report, which ends his association with the Alligator. He is given command of the uSS Cairo of the Mississippi River Squadron. His fourteen hand-picked crewmen accompany him.
The Alligator's biggest problem according to Selfridge was its oar propulsion system. De Villerei's adoption of oars was odd, since the original submarine he sailed down the Delaware River used a screw propeller.
Most Folk Don't Know the US Navy Had Its Own Submarine. --Old B-Runner
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Naval Happenings 150 Years Ago: August 16th to 17th, 1862
AUGUST 16TH
A joint Army-Navu expedition up the Mississippi River as far as Helena as far as the Yazoo River. Landed at various points en route. Captured a steamer above Vicksburg, dispersed Confederate troop encampments and destroyed a newly erected battery 20 miles up the Yazoo River.
One of the ships on the expedition was the USS General Bragg. Kind of strange that they would have aship named after a Confederate general.
Confederate Sec. of Navy wrote about the South's desperate need of iron for its ironclads. He wants the Congress to increase supply. Scrap iron being collected and "rolling railroad iron into plates."
AUGUST 16TH-18TH
Union naval force bombard Corpus Christi, Texas and attempted to land and seize a Confederate battery, but driven off. Lack of troops to occupy Corpus Christi, Sabine City and Galveston kept Farragut's ships holding these ports, but they kept them under blockade.
AUGUST 17TH
A joint landing party from the USS Ellis, under command of Master Benjamin H. Porter and Army boats destroyed Confederate salt works, a battery and barracks near Swansboro, NC.
Old B-Runner
A joint Army-Navu expedition up the Mississippi River as far as Helena as far as the Yazoo River. Landed at various points en route. Captured a steamer above Vicksburg, dispersed Confederate troop encampments and destroyed a newly erected battery 20 miles up the Yazoo River.
One of the ships on the expedition was the USS General Bragg. Kind of strange that they would have aship named after a Confederate general.
Confederate Sec. of Navy wrote about the South's desperate need of iron for its ironclads. He wants the Congress to increase supply. Scrap iron being collected and "rolling railroad iron into plates."
AUGUST 16TH-18TH
Union naval force bombard Corpus Christi, Texas and attempted to land and seize a Confederate battery, but driven off. Lack of troops to occupy Corpus Christi, Sabine City and Galveston kept Farragut's ships holding these ports, but they kept them under blockade.
AUGUST 17TH
A joint landing party from the USS Ellis, under command of Master Benjamin H. Porter and Army boats destroyed Confederate salt works, a battery and barracks near Swansboro, NC.
Old B-Runner
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
USS Alligator: The Union's Submarine-- Part 1
From the Civil War Submarine/Naval Chronology. A really handy site listing events in both services in different colors so it makes it real easy to distinguish from them. Quite a bit was going on with the USS Alligator around this time, 150 years ago.
JULY 4, 1862-- The tug Fred Kopp leaves the James River, Virginia, and tows the Alligator to the Philadelphia Navy Yard. On the same day, the USS Maratanzas captures the CSS Teaser and found on board detailed plans for the new CSS Virginia II, which is nearing completion. The Alligator is immediately recalled Washington Navy Yard, but its civilian crew declines the mission.
MID-JULY-- The Alligator is at the Wsahington Navy Yard (you have to wonder if President Lincoln came down to look at it as he was always interested in new technology and this was definitely something new. After all, he was looking at the Rafael gun in August 1862.
Lt. Thomas O. Selfridge, the hero of the USS Cumberland--CSS Virginia battle (and, later, sinker of ships), has been appointed to command the submarine.
Selfridge Was Especially Hard on Ships Beginning With the Letter "C." --Old B-Runner
JULY 4, 1862-- The tug Fred Kopp leaves the James River, Virginia, and tows the Alligator to the Philadelphia Navy Yard. On the same day, the USS Maratanzas captures the CSS Teaser and found on board detailed plans for the new CSS Virginia II, which is nearing completion. The Alligator is immediately recalled Washington Navy Yard, but its civilian crew declines the mission.
MID-JULY-- The Alligator is at the Wsahington Navy Yard (you have to wonder if President Lincoln came down to look at it as he was always interested in new technology and this was definitely something new. After all, he was looking at the Rafael gun in August 1862.
Lt. Thomas O. Selfridge, the hero of the USS Cumberland--CSS Virginia battle (and, later, sinker of ships), has been appointed to command the submarine.
Selfridge Was Especially Hard on Ships Beginning With the Letter "C." --Old B-Runner
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Naval Happenings 150 Years Ago: August 13th to 15th,1862-- Confederate Ironclads
AUGUST 13TH
Admiral Du Pont reporting on Confederate rams and ironclads at Charleston and Savannah wrote that the CSS Savannah was more of a floating battery with eight ten-inch guns. Has list, leaks and not enough power to go against the stream. It definitely wasn't the Fingal. (Probably referring to the CSS Georgia.
The Charleston vessels weren't ready yet and he was hoping would move along slowly.
The success of the CSS Virginia caused the Confederacy to make every effort to launch ironclads, but lack of critical material and industrial facilities prevented their rapid deployment. And lack of power was a huge problem.
AUGUST 15TH
Commander Wilkes, commanding the James River Flotilla to cover McClellan's left wind withdrawing from Harrison's Landing.
Old B-Runner
Admiral Du Pont reporting on Confederate rams and ironclads at Charleston and Savannah wrote that the CSS Savannah was more of a floating battery with eight ten-inch guns. Has list, leaks and not enough power to go against the stream. It definitely wasn't the Fingal. (Probably referring to the CSS Georgia.
The Charleston vessels weren't ready yet and he was hoping would move along slowly.
The success of the CSS Virginia caused the Confederacy to make every effort to launch ironclads, but lack of critical material and industrial facilities prevented their rapid deployment. And lack of power was a huge problem.
AUGUST 15TH
Commander Wilkes, commanding the James River Flotilla to cover McClellan's left wind withdrawing from Harrison's Landing.
Old B-Runner
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