CSS Missouri-- Part 1: Dates and Stats

From Wikipedia.

Laid down 14 April 1863 in Shreveport, Louisiana, commissioned 12 September 1863.  Surrendered 3 June 1865.  Sold 19 November 1865.

Casemate ironclad, 183 feet long with a 53.8 foot beam.  Could make 5.3 knots.

Mounted one 11-inch Dahlgren smoothbore, one 9-inch Dahlgrean smoothbore and one 32-pounder smoothbore.

The iron casemate was made of railroad tracks and extended 130 feet so part of its paddlewheels were exposed.

--Old B-Runner

"Beat the Heat" Lecture at Fort Fisher July 14: Yellow Fever

JULY 14

"AT THE MERCY OF THE ANGEL OF DEATH: THE 1862 WILMINGTON YELLOW FEVER EPIDEMIC"

During the Civil War, the mosquito carried a dark and deadly secret.  Learn how this little bug and its pathological comrades waged their own biological warfare upon unsuspecting soldiers and citizens.

Shannon Walker, interpreter at Brunswick Town Fort Anderson State Historic Site will discuss this insect and the deadly Civil War medical issues it brought.

Not to mention the blockade runners carrying the disease into Wilmington.

--Old B-Runner

July 10, 1863: Fox Congratulates Farragut for Vicksburg and Port Hudson

JULY 10TH, 1863:  Assistant secretary Fox wrote Rear Admiral Farragut, congratulating him upon "the final opening of the Mississippi" through the Union victories at Vicksburg and Port Hudson.

"You smashed in the door [at New Orleans] in an unsurpassed movement and the success above became a certainty....  Your last move past Port Hudson has hastened the downfall of the Rebs."

--Old B-Runner

CSS Missouri and Other Ships By That Name

From the June 18, 2018, News Tribune  "Perspective:  A history of the Missouri Navy" by Sam Bushman.

This was a list and short summary of all the ships in the U.S. (and Confederate) Navy by the name Missouri.

The first USS Missouri was a paddleboat frigate built in 1841 that soon caught fire and exploded.

The second Missouri was the Confederate CSS Missouri built on the Red River at Shreveport, Louisiana.  It never saw action and surrendered at the end of the war.  It was found to be badly built and was towed to Mound City, Illinois, and scrapped.

It was never officially commissioned into the U.S. Navy, but many historians count her as a Navy ship.

The third ship was the battleship USS Missouri (BB-11) commissioned in 1903

The 4th was the most famous of all, the battleship USS Missouri (BB-13) where Japan surrendered at the end of WW II and now a museum ship in Pearl Harbor.

The 5th is the submarine USS Missouri (SSN-780), a Virginia-class fast attack submarine.

I'll write about these other Missouris in my Cooter's History Thing blog.

--Old B-R'er

Rear Admiral Foote's Death-- Part 2: Buried in New Haven, Connecticut

The wound he received at Fort Donelson eventually killed him a little over a year later.

He was on his way to take command of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron and in New York City when he took ill.  He spent ten days at the Astor House Hotel there in great agony and suffering.

Admiral Foote died June 26, 1863 and his body lay in state at the State House in New Haven, Connecticut before burial.

--Old B-Runner

Rear Admiral Foote's Death-- Part 1: Wounded at Fort Donelson

I essentially had to believe that Andrew Hull Foote had died from the wound he received at Fort Donelson, just awhile after the fact.  This clarified his death.

From John White As Foote.

After his wounding, Admiral Foote's health continued to decline.  He had been wounded by pieces of iron shrapnel from an exploding cannonball and pieces of wood while on his flagship.

He was on crutches at the Battle of Island No. 10.

With his health continuing to digress, he stepped down from command.  In June 1862, he moved to Washington, D.C. where he was promoted to rear admiral.  Then he became Chief of the Navy's Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting.

--Old B-Runner

Always Something Going On at Fort Fisher

From the June 17, 2018, WECT NBC  Wilmington, N.C.  "Fort Fisher offers 'Living History' program.

Sunday kids and their parents can learn about the Confederate Navy and Confederate Marine Corps at the Fort Fisher Historic Site at Kure Beach.

There will be uniformed interpreters, tours, firings of the 12-pounder Napoleon cannon.

Kids will be able to paint toy soldiers and learn about military uniforms and equipment.

Okay, we missed that, but remember, Saturday Fort Fisher offers its weekly summer "Beat the Heat" lecture series inside.  This Saturday's presentation "The Silent Sentinels" by John Winecoff.   It is about military memorials in N.C..

--Old B-Runner

Action in North Carolina, July 1863-- Part 2: Expedition to Tarboro and Rocky Mount

JULY 8--  Skirmish at Warsaw   23rd NY Cav

JULY 12--  Blockade Runner Kate driven ashore

JULY 13-16--  Expedition from Newport Barracks to Cedar Point and White Oak River  23rd Mass; 12th NY Cav; 3rd Lt. Art.; 9th NJ

JULY 17-20--  Expedition from New Bern to Swift Creek Village    25th, 27th Mass; 3rd Lt.Art;158th Inf.

JULY 18-24--  Expedition from New Bern to Tarboro and Rocky Mount  3rd , 12th NY and 23rd NY Cav.; 1st Mounted NC  Union Losses:  60 killed, wounded and missing

JULY  20--   Skirmish at Tarboro  The above units

JULY 20--  Skirmish at Sparta  The above units with exception of the 1st NC

JULY 21--  Skirmish at Rocky Mount  3rd NY Cav.

--Old B-R'er

Action in North Carolina, July 1863-- Part 1: Raid on the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad

From the North Carolina Civil War Centennial Site Timeline and North Carolina Research Online.

Most all of these are along the coastal region of the state.  Union forces on the actions were not always full regiment  but sometimes detachments or battalions or batteries.

JULY 3-7--  Raid on the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad   3rd NY Inf, 23rd NY Cav, 3rd Light Art., 1st Mounted N.C.

JULY 4-8--  Expedition to Trenton   17th, 23rd, 27th Mass; 9th NJ,, 3rd Lt. Art,81st and 158th Infantry; 1st Lt. Art.

JULY 5--  Skirmishes at Warsaw and Kenansville   3rd NY, 23 NY Cav;; 3rd Lt.Art; 1st Mounted N.C.

JULY 5-7--  Expedition from Plymouth to Gardner's Bridge and Williamston   85th, 96th NY;  101st, 103 Pa

JULY 6--  Action at Freedom Bridge   1st LtArt

JULY 6--  Action at Quaker Bridge   17th, 23rd 27th Mass;3rd Lt Art;  81st, 103rd NJ;  9th RI; 1st Lt. Art

JULY 6--  Action at Trenton   23rd Mass; 9th NJ; 1st Lt Art

--Old B-Runner

Rear Admiral Andrew Hull Foote-- Part 5: Death

After repairing his ships, Foote joined General John Pope in operations against Confederate Island No. 10 in the Mississippi River.

In July 1862, Foote was promoted to the rank of rear admiral.

In 1863 he was on his way to take command of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron when he died of his wounds received at Fort Donelson.

He was buried at Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven.

--Old B-Runner

July 4, 1863: The Fall of Vicksburg-- Part 2: Port Hudson Next

Observing that he must continue to push on to finish the operations in the west by seizing Port Hudson, Sherman added:  "It does seem to me that Port Hudson, without facilities for supplies or interior communication must soon follow the fate of Vicksburg and to leave the river free, and to you the task of  preventing any more Vicksburgs or Port Hudsons on the banks of the great inland sea.

"Though farther apart, the Navy and Army will still act in concert, and I assure you I shall never reach the banks of the river or see a gunboat but I will think of Admiral Porter, Captain Breese, and the many elegant and accomplished gentlemen it has been my good fortune to meet on armed and unarmed decks of the Mississippi squadron."

--Old B-R'er

July 4, 1863: Fall of Vicksburg-- Part 1

JULY 4, 1863:  Vicksburg, Mississippi, long under assault and siege by water and land, capitulated to General Grant.

W.T. Sherman congratulated Rear Admiral Porter for the decisive role played by the Navy in effecting the surrender:  "No event in life could have given me more personal pride or pleasure than to have met you to-day on the wharf at Vicksburg --  a Fourth of July so eloquent in events as to need no words or stimulants to elevate its importance....

"In so magnificent a result I stop not to count who did it; it is done, and the day of our nation's birth is consecrated and baptized anew in a victory won by the United Navy and Army of our country."

Well, A Great Victory for the Union, But Not So Good a Day for My Side.  --Old B-Runner

Death of Industrialist Horace Ware This Date in 1890

From the July 2, 2018, Alabama News Center "On This Day in Alabama History:  Industrialist Horace Ware Dies."

In the 1850s-1860s Horace Ware established the Shelby Ironworks, the first rolling mill in Alabama.

During the Civil War is supplied iron to the Confederate Naval Arsenal at Selma.  Its machinery was destroyed by Union forces in the waning days of the war.

Ware was able to get northern investors to commit money to his company to rebuild but now he focused on making rail car wheels.

He retired to Birmingham where he died July 2, 1890.

Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven, Connecticut

In the last post, I mentioned that Andrew Hull Foote was buried in Grove Street Cemetery.  This is also known as the Westminster of Yale.  It is surrounded by Yale University.

There is a long list of notables buried there, including:

Charles Goodyear-- tires

Roger Sherman--  Declaration of Independence signer

Alfred Howe Terry--  Commanded Union forces at the Second Battle of Fort Fisher and Custer at the Little Big Horn.

Noah Webster Jr--  dictionary

Eli Whitney--  cotton gin

--Old B-Runner

Rear Admiral Andrew Hull Foote-- Part 4: His Death

Despite the wound, and after repairs to his ships, Foote joined with General John Pope in operations against Island No. 10 in the Mississippi River.

Later in 1862, Foote was promoted to the rank of rear admiral.

In 1863, while on his way to take command of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, he died suddenly in New York City on June 26.

He is buried at Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven, Connecticut.

--Old B-Runner