155 Years Ago, September 24, 1861: Action Off Louisiana

SEPTEMBER 24TH, 1861:  The USS Dart, Acting Master William M. Wheeler, captured Confederate schooner Cecilia off Louisiana, thereafter fitted out as a Union cruiser by the USS Huntsville, Commander Cicero Price.

Could be an interesting story here.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, September 23, 1861: Goldsborough Assumes Command of NABS

SEPTEMBER 23RD, 1861:  Flag Officer L.M. Goldsborough assumed command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, including operations in the Chesapeake.

Organizing the blockade more effectively.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, September 22, 1861: Action Off Federal Point, N.C.

SEPTEMBER 22, 1861:  USS Gemsbock, Acting Master Cavendy, captured schooner Mary E. Pindar off Federal Point, North Carolina, attempting to run the blockade with cargo of lime.

Federal Point was renamed Confederate Point by the Southerners and was where Fort Fisher would be built guarding New Inlet of the Cape Fear River and Wilmington.

**  Flag Officer William McKean assumed command of the Gulf Blockading Squadron.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, September 21, 1861: Another Capture on the Potomac River

SEPTEMBER 21, 1861:  Boat under Midshipman Edward A. Walker from USS Seminole, Commander Gillis, captured sloop Maryland on the Potomac River.

--Old B-Runner

Formation of New Blockading Squadrons

Evidently, with Du Pont's appointment as well as Goldsborough's and McKean's, the Navy Department was dividing up the former Gulf Coast and Atlantic blockading squadrons because of war operations.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, September 18-19, 1861: More Confederate Ships Captured

SEPTEMBER 18TH, 1861:  The USS Rescue, Master Edward L. Haines, captured Confederate schooner Harford with cargo of wheat and tobacco on the Potomac River.

SEPTEMBER 19TH, 1861:  The USS Gemsbock, Acting Master Cavendy, captured blockade running schooner Harmony en route Nova Scotia to Ocracoke, N.C..

--Old B-Runer

155 Years Ago, September 17, 1861: Goldsborough to Command NABS

SEPTEMBER 17TH, 1861:  Secretary of Navy Welles wrote Flag officer Goldsborough, appointed to command the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron:  "It is essentially necessary that the Navy should at this point put forth all of its strength and demonstrate to the country and to foreign powers its usefulness and capability in protecting and supporting the Government and the Union.

"There must be no commercial intercourse with the ports that are in insurrection, and our Navy must, by its power, energy, and activity, enforce the views of the President and the Government on this subject.

"Privateers to depredate on our commerce and rob our countrymen pursuing their peaceful avocations must not be permitted...."

In other words, close those ports and get those privateers.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, September 18, 1861: Du Pont Appointed Commander of South Atlantic Blockading Squadron

SEPTEMBER 18TH, 1861:  Flag Officer Du Pont was appointed Commander of the South Atlantic Blockading squadron.  Du Pont wrote:  "My appointment as a flag officer will be dated today....  Things have taken an active turn and this day is an epoch in naval history-- seniority and rotation have seen their last day.

"Selection with as much regard to seniority as the good of the service will admit, is now the order of the day."

Evidently promotion before the war was based strictly on seniority, not ability.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, September 17, 1861: Confederates Evacuate Ship Island, Mississippi

SEPTEMBER 17TH, 1861:  Confederates evacuate Ship Island, Mississippi; landing party from the USS Massachusetts took possession.  Ship Island eventually became the staging area for General Butler's troops in the amphibious operations below New Orleans.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, September 29, 1861: Susquehanna Captures Another Runner

SEPTEMBER 29TH, 1861:  The USS Susquehanna, Captain Chauncey, captured the schooner Baltimore off Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, September 16-17, 1861: Ocracoke Inlet Closed

SEPTEMBER 16-17TH, 1861:  Landing party from the USS Pawnee, Commander Rowan, destroyed guns and fortifications on Beacon Island, closing Ocracoke Inlet, North Carolina.

Admiral D.D. Porter later wrote: "The closing of these inlets [Hatteras and Ocracoke] to the Sounds of North Carolina sent the blockade runners elsewhere to find entrance to Southern markets, but as channel after channel was closed the smugglers' chance diminished...."

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, September 23, 1861:

SEPTEMBER 23RD, 1861:  USS Cambridge, Commander W.A. Parker, captured British schooner Julia, bound for Beaufort, North Carolina.

**  Flag Officer I.M. Goldsborough assumed command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, including operations in the Chesapeake.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, September 23, 1861: River Operations

SEPTEMBER 23RD, 1861:  The USS Lexington, Commander Stembel, proceeded to Owensboro, Kentucky, "for the purpose of keeping the Ohio River open" and in order to protect Union interests in the area.

Such expeditions deep into territory with Confederate sympathies were fundamental in containing Southern advance into the border states.

--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, September 16, 1861: Ironclad Board Recommends Construction of Three Ironclads

SEPTEMBER 16TH, 1861:  The Ironclad Board reported to Secretary of the Navy Welles:  "For river and harbor service we consider iron-clad vessels of light draught, of floating batteries thus shielded, as very important... Armored ships or batteries may be employed advantageously to pass fortifications on land for ulterior objects of attack, to run a blockade, or to reduce temporary batteries on the shores of the rivers and the approaches to our harbors."

The Board recommended construction of three ironclads (Monitor, Galena and New Ironsides).  These ships (especially the Monitor), and those that followed, revolutionized naval warfare.

So Came the Monitor--Old B-Runner

155 Years Ago, September 16, 1861: The Conestoga Captures Steamers on Cumberland River

SEPTEMBER 16TH, 1861:  The USS Conestoga, Lt. S.L. Phelps, captured Confederate steamers V.R. Stephenson and Gazelle on the Cumberland River, Kentucky.

Old B-R'er