155 Years Ago, January 17 and 18, 1862: The CSS Sumter Captures Two More Union Ships

JANUARY 17TH, 1862:  The USS Connecticut, Commander Woodhull, captured blockade running British schooner Emma off the Florida Keys.

JANUARY 18TH 1862:  The CSS Sumter, Commander Semmes, captured and burned the bark Neapolitan, with cargo of fruit and sulphur, in the Straits of Gibraltar, and captured and bonded the bark Investigator with cargo of iron.

The USS Kearsarge was ordered to Cadiz, Spain, in an effort to track the Sumter down.  This ship would later become a real big problem for Semmes.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, January 17, 1862: Blockade Running Into Florida

JANUARY 17TH, 1862:  General Robert E, Lee's orders to Brigadier General James H. Trapier, commanding in Florida, illustrated the growing impact of the Union blockade:  "Arrangements have been made for running into Mosquito Inlet, on the east coast of Florida, arms and ammunition, by means of small fast steamers.

"The department considers it necessary that at least two moderate sized guns be placed at New Smyrna, to protect the landing in the event of our steamers being chased by the enemy's gunboats ....  The cargoes of the steamers are so valuable and vitally important, that no precaution should be omitted."

Lee Knows.  he Always Knows..  --Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, January 17, 1862-- Part 2: More Reconnoitering

Lieutenant Phelps reported the results of a 5 October reconnaissance:  "I examined the fort [Henry] carefully at a distance of from 2 to 2 1/2 miles....  The fortification is quite an extensive work and armed with heavy guns, mounted en barbette, and garrisoned by a considerable force.

"It is situated about 1 1/2 miles above the head of Panther Creek Island....  There is no channel upon one side of the island, and a narrow and somewhat crooked one upon the other, which continues so till within a mile of the fort, where the water becomes of a good depth from bank to bank, some 600 yards."

Detailed knowledge and careful preparations in large measure provided for the ultimate success of the February offensive operations against both Forts Henry and Donelson with the objective of driving the Confederates out of Kentucky where they held a line across the southern part of the state.

--Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago, January 17, 1862-- Part 1: Reconnoitering Fort Henry

JANUARY 17TH, 1862:  The USS Conestoga, Lt. S.L. Phelps, and USS Lexington, Lt. Shirk, reconnoitered the Tennessee River below Fort Henry, attempting to determine the location of a reported "masked battery" at the foot of Panther Creek Island.

Having become convinced that the battery had been removed, Phelps fired "a few shells" at the fort, but the range was too great for his guns to reach "...our batteries," reported General Albert S, Johnston, CSA, "though ready, did not reply."

As early as October 1861, the Navy had initiated a careful examination of the Confederate works in the area in preparation for the Army-Navy assault on Fort Henry.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, January 16, 1862: Eads Gunboats Commissioned

JANUARY 16TH, 1862:  Flag officer Foote reported:  "The seven gunboats built by contract were put into commission today."

The Eads gunboats augmented Foote's wooden ships and would turn the tide in the Union's effort to split the Confederacy.

**  The USS Albatross, Comamnder Prentiss, destroyed the British blockade runner York near Bogue Inlet, North Carolina, where the York had run aground.

--Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago, January 16, 1862: Union Attack on Cedar Keys, Florida

JANUARY 16TH, 1862:  Gunfire and boat crews, including Marines, from the USS Hatteras, Commander Emmons, destroyed a Confederate battery, seven small vessels loaded with cotton and turpentine ready to run the blockade, a railroad depot and wharf, and the telegraph office at Cedar Keys, Florida.

A small detachment of Confederate troops were taken prisoner.

Such unceasing attacks from the sea at any point of her long coast and inland waterways cost the South sorely in losses, economic disruption and dispersion of strength in defense.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, January 15, 1862: Outfitting the Rams at New Orleans-- Part 2

Secretary of War Benjamin wrote:  "Each Captain will ship his own crew, fit up his own vessel, and get ready within the shortest possible delay.  It is not proposed to rely on cannons, which these men are not skilled in using, nor on firearms.  The men will be armed with cutlasses.

"On each boat, however, there will be one heavy gun, to be used in case the stern of any of the [Union] gunboats should be exposed to fire, for they are entirely unprotected behind, and if attempting to escape by flight would be very vulnerable by shot from a pursuing vessel."

If Not the Ram, Then the Cannon.  --Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago, January 15, 1862: Outfitting the Rams at New Orleans-- Part 1

JANUARY 15TH, 1862:  Major General Mansfield Lovell, CSA, at the request of Confederate Secretary of War Benjamin, with the assistance of Lieutenant Thomas B. Huger, CSN, took over 14 steamers at New Orleans to be armed and used to bolster defenses in the area.

The plan which came from the War Department, was to outfit the steamships with iron rams to attack the Union river gunboats.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, January 15, 1862-- Part 2: Overcoming the Challenges on Western Waters

Foote was constantly beset with the problem of having too much to do with too little material, even to the point of being unable to train his crews in gunnery.

That he met these difficulties successfully, however, was demonstrated in the Union Navy's steady sweep down the western rivers.

--Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago, January 15, 1862-- Part 1: Wasting Ammunition at Columbus

JANUARY 15TH, 1861:  Flag officer Foote advised Lt. Paulding of the USS St. Louis, "I must enjoin you to save your ammunition.  No gun must be fired without your order....  You will be particular in noting the range of the first shot, its heighth and distance.

"I was surprised yesterday, at Columbus, to see three or four of your shells bursting at such an elevation.... I am aware of your difficulties in a new and undisciplined crew and officers, but make these criticisms as indicative of correcting things in the future.  Save your ammunition and let the first gun show you how to aim for the second."

In Other Words, Do Better!!  Quit Wasting Ammunition.  --Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, January 13, 1862: Demonstrations on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers

JANUARY 13, 1862:  Flag Officer Foote ordered three gunboats up the Cumberland and two up the Tennessee River on demonstrations.

--Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago, January 13, 1862: Worden Ordered to Command USS Moitor

JANUARY 13TH, 1862:  Lieutenant Worden ordered to command the USS Monitor.

Three days later Worden wrote Secretary of Navy Welles from New York:  "...I have this day reported for duty for the command of the U.S. Steamer building by Captain Ericsson."

Within two months, the Monitor, Worden and Ericsson were to have their names written indelibly in the annals of naval warfare.

--Old B-Runer

155 Years Ago, January 10, 1862: Union Gunboats in S.C.

JANUARY 10TH, 1862:  Brigadier General John C. Pemberton, CSA, reported on the effectiveness of the Union gunboats at Port Royal Ferry, South Carolina, and on the Coosaw River (31 December-1 Jan.1862):  "Although the enemy did not land in force at Page's Point or Cunningham's Bluff, it was entirely practicable for him to have done so under cover of his gunboats ...

"At no time during his occupation of the river bank did he leave their [the gunboats'] protection, and, finally, when withdrawing to the island, did so under a fire from his vessels almost as heavy as that under which he had landed... by far the larger portion of the [Confederate] casualties being from the shells of the fleet."

Darn Union Gunboats.  --Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, January 12, 1862: USS Pensacola Runs the Potomac River Confederate Blockade

JANUARY 12TH, 1862:  The USS Pensacola, Captain Henry W. Morris, successfully ran down the Potomac past Confederate batteries at Cockpit and Shipping Points.  The Pensacola reached Hampton Roads on 13 January, demonstrating that the restriction of travel on the river, imposed by the Confederate batteries, was being steadily lessened.

The Confederates Blockading Washington, D.C..  --Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago, January 12, 1862: Roanoke Expedition Gets Underway

JANUARY 12TH, 1862:  The Union amphibious expedition to Roanoke Island, North Carolina, departed Fort Monroe under Flag Officer L.M. Goldsborough and General Burnside.  Seizure of Hatteras Inlet by the Navy the previous August allowed Federal control of Pamlico Sound, but heavily fortified Roanoke Island dominated the narrow connection between Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds, the latter of which Confederates used for active blockade running.

Capture of strategic Roanoke Island, which one Confederate general termed "that post which I regard as the very key of the rear defenses of Norfolk and the navy yard," would give the Union control of Albemarle Sound and the waters penetrating deeply into North Carolina, over which passed important railroad bridges south of Norfolk.

--Old B-Runner