Big Civil War Naval Cannon Destroyed in Michigan-- Part 2: At the First Battle of the Ironclads and Both Battles of Fort Fisher

This cannon was on board the Union steam frigate USS Minnesota and had been used to defend the wooden ship against the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia in 1862 and the following day was used at the battle between the USS Monitor and CSS Virginia, the world's first battle between ironclads.  This battle spelled the end of wooden sailing navies.

According to a local newspaper, it also fired the last shot at the Virginia prior to the arrival of the USS Monitor.

Later in the war, the USS Minnesota performed blockade duties and was at both battles of Fort Fisher, North Carolina, which up until then and for many years afterwards, was the largest assemblage of warships and largest bombardment ever by the U.S. Navy up to that time.

So, this cannon had some history to it.

--Old B-Runner

Big Civil War Naval Cannon Destroyed in Michigan-- Part 1

From the  July 22, 2020,  K102.5 FM, Kalamazoo, Michigan  "Civil War treasure  destroyed at Battle Creek....100 years ago" by Tim Collins.

And this was not destroyed by BLM rioters running amok.

It was a reminder of the past, revered each Decoration Day that it was around.  And it was destroyed by the city of Battle Creek, Michigan, and the federal government.  It was not a monument, but a huge cannon that was at the city's Oak Hill Cemetery from 1896 until the next big war when it became part of a scrap drive.

Frank J. Kellogg (no relation to  the Kellogg's of cereal fame), was a patent medicine inventor and salesman in Battle Creek and a Civil War veteran.  He was known as a rich man as well as a bit of a scalawag.  It was through his efforts that the cannon came to Battle Creek in 1896.

According to the Daily Journal of the city, on July 22, 1896, he received a letter from  the Inspector of Ordnance at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, saying the cannon had been shipped to Battle Creek's GAR Post.

And, it wasn't just ANY surplus cannon.  It had a a history including participation in the first-ever battle of ironclads and the largest bombardment ever up until the end of the Civil War.

It had been on the USS Minnesota.

--Old B-Runner

Two Confederate Cannons Now At Fort Fisher-- Part 2

The Confederate monument on the North Carolina State Capitol grounds in Raleigh had been there since since May 20, 1895.  That day, it was unveiled by Julia Jackson Christian, the daughter of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson.

The cannons will now remain at Fort Fisher (hopefully emplaced on the fort's parapet).  Fort Fisher is currently undergoing a $23 million renovation to its visitors center and grounds as it is one of the state's most-visited historic places.

Michele Walker of the N.C.  Dept. of Natural and Cultural Resources says the cannons will remain there since they are of the same era as a cannon and artifacts at the site.

The removal of the Confederate monument in Raleigh is just one of many similar  actions being taken across the state and country as the nation grapples with its  history of honoring the Confederacy with monuments in public places.  There have been riots and much damage done to these monuments.

The arrival of the cannons at Fort Fisher is one of the first, if not the first, instances of recently removed Confederate monuments being relocated.

Here's hoping that sites like Fort Fisher will be recipients of many or most of the removed monuments.  I just hope some way can be found to keep certain groups from further damaging the artifacts.

--Old B-Runner

Two Confederate Cannons That Once Were At Raleigh Now At Fort Fisher-- Part 1

From June 30, 2020, WUNC 91.5 NPR  "Confederate cannons removed from Raleigh now at Fort Fisher"  by Mitch Northam and AP.

Two Civil War cannons that were at a Confederate monument in Raleigh are now at Fort Fisher.  They arrived Friday after being removed from the state Capitol grounds by the N.C. governor  The two 32-pounder naval cannons were stationed at the base of the monument had been "vandalized" along with the rest of the 75-foot tall monument accompanied by two statues of a Confederate infantryman and cavalryman.

These two statues were pulled down June 19 (and one was even LYNCHED).  The next day, the governor ordered all three monuments removed.

According to  the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, a plaque on the cannons says  they were captured by Confederates when they took the U.S. Navy Yard at Norfolk, Virginia and were then used at Fort Caswell at the mouth of the Cape Fear River's Old Inlet.

They were dismounted when Confederates evacuated the fort and blew it up in 1865 after the fall of Fort Fisher.

Raleigh's Loss Is Fort Fisher's Gain.  At Least One Good Thing Happening in All This Sad Mess.   --Old B-Runner

July 7, 1865: Welles Ordered Reductions in Atlantic and Gulf Squadrons

JULY 7TH, 1865:  Secretary Welles ordered Rear Admiral Radford of the Atlantic Squadron to reduce his command to a total of ten vessels.

Welles also ordered the Gulf Squadron reduced to a total of 12 vessels.

Reducing the Navy After the War. ("War's Over, Man.  Wormer Dropped the Big One.") --Old B-Runner

Raphael Semmes Statue in Mobile-- Part 3: City Fined for Unlawful Removal of It

The statue was commissioned in the late 1890s by the Ann T. Hunter Chapter Auxiliary of the Raphael Semmes  Camp 11 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV).  According to the city, among the funds raised by the SCV for the erection of the monument were donations of dimes by the children of the city.

Also, according to  a 1991 Mobile Bay Monthly article, the SCV camp also oversaw fundraising for  renovation projects to it.

Mobile City Councilwoman Bess Rich said for the statue to return for public display in the city "was not achievable" but she wanted them to have a say in what happens to it next.

The mayor said the statue was removed to prevent it from being destroyed in a future demonstration, in other words, it was removed for "public safety."

The city was fined $25,000 by the state as the removal went against the Confederate Monument Protection Law.  The city has thirty days now to pay the fine.

The pedestal on which the statue stood was damaged by "vandalism" during a June 1st demonstration in Mobile.  Three days later, in the deep of the night, the statue was removed by the mayor's order.

--Old B-R'er

Raphael Semmes Statue in Mobile-- Part 2: Who Owns It?

Because of this article, Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson is sure the city owns the statue.    But, in the aftermath of the June 4th removal of the eight foot tall statue from Royal and Government streets where it has stood for almost 120 years, people claiming to be descendants of the original ownership group have come forward and want it returned to them.

Camp 11 Sons of Confederate Veterans says they are the rightful owners.  A meeting will be held June 23 between the Camp and the city.

The city claims it owns the statue, but are willing to turn it over to the camp if the statue is no longer needed.  They also need to know the current value of the statue.

According to the newspapers in 1900, the statue cost $6,000 which means it would be worth  an estimated $180,000 in 2020.

--Old B-Runner

Raphael Semmes Statue in Mobile-- Part 1: Dedicated in June 1900

From June 17, 2020, AL.com  "Mobile mayor, Confederate descendants battle over monument's fate" by John Sharp.

Electra Semmes Colston unveiled the statue of her late father during a 5 p.m. ceremony 120 years ago this June 27 and then the Excelsior band launched into the song "Dixie" and an artillery squad stationed at the foot of Government Street began firing an admiral's salute.

Moments later, then-Mayor J.C. Bush stepped onto the platform and accepted the statue of Confederate Navy Admiral Raphael Semmes on behalf of the city.

This was on the front page of the Mobile Daily Register

That acceptance of the statue has played out in recent days as ownership of that statue has come into question.

--Old B-Runner

July 1-3, 1865-- Part 2: CSS Shenandoah's Trials and Tribulations Out in the Cold

"When the Shenandoah reached the Island of St. Lawrence, there was a fine northwest wind.  Sail was made, and the propeller triced up.  While to the westward of that island, the ship was making six knots per hour. a dense fog came on...."

Trying to beat out of the ice the ship ran into a large floe and damaged her rudder when, with sails aback to avoid sudden collision with thick ice, "she gathered sternboard."  The crew placed heavy rope mats around the prow.

"Steam was gently applied and with a large block of ice resting against her cutwater she pushed it along to open a passage, and in this way we worked the Shenandoah for hours until she gained open water."

To avoid being trapped by Federal cruisers, if not the ice, Waddell decided to run for "more open seas."  On 3 July "a black fog closed upon us and shut out from our view the heavens and all things terrestrial."  It clung about them thick and ominous for the next two days as the raider steamed south depending on dead reckoning."

Want Some Ice With That Water?  --Old B-Runner

July 1-3, 1865-- Part 1: CSS Shenandoah Digging Icebergs and Watching the Sun

JULY 1ST TO 3RD, 1865:  After destroying a large fleet of Arctic whalers on June 26 and 28,  the CSS Shenendoah, Lt. James Waddell,  stood south "amid snow and icebergs" looking for more victims.

There he wrote, in "the immensity of the ice and floes", threatened with "danger of being shut up in the Arctic Ocean for several months. I was obliged to turn her prow southward and reached East Cape just in time to slip by the Diomedes when a vast field of floe ice was closing the strait....

"The sun was in his highest northern declination, and it was perpetual daylight, when he sank below the northern horizon, a golden fringe marked his course until his pale and cheerless face came again, frosted from icebergs and snow."

Lt. James Waddell Waxing Poetic.  --Old BRunBerg

CSS/USS Diana-- Part 5: Retaken By Confederates and At the Battle of Fort Bisland, Louisiana

The Diana was then towed up the Teche, the Diana was repaired and taken into the Confederate  River Fleet on April 5, 1863, to support the troops at Camp Bisland in Louisiana.  On April 11, under Lieutenant  Nettles of the Velverde Battery (who showed great skill in commanding his gunboat), the Diana's guns helped drive Union troops back on Bayou Teche and away from the vulnerable Camp Bisland.

Nettles' command of the Diana, however, proved to be very short.  Taken suddenly ill with  fever, he was relieved  on 13 April 1863 by Captain Oliver Semmes (Hmmmn, Semmes, I wonder) of the Artillery Unit.

The day he took command, thousands of Union troops moved in with their own gunboat support and launched a violent attack on Bayou Teche and Camp Bisland (also called Fort Bisland).  This engagement lasted until sundown.

I'd never heard of this Semmes fellow or Fort/Camp Bisland.  Perhaps some more research will be necessary.

--Old B-Runner

CSS/USS Diana-- Part 4: Captured By Union at New Orleans and Recaptured a Year Later

The Diana was reported to have escaped when the Union Navy under Admiral Farragut ran past forts Jackson and St. Philip on April 24, 1862, but was captured by the USS Cayuga on April 27th.

It was then used by Union forces at New Orleans on May 5 as a troop transport.  Then the Diana was assigned  to assist Federal ships at Berwick Bay before being sent to Grand Lake around March 28, 1863 to make a reconnaissance down the Atchafalaya River with two companies of infantry aboard
to Bayou Teche near Pattersonville.

Confederate shore batteries weer lying in ambush, however, and laid down a murderous fire from both artillery and sharpshooters.  The Diana had her tiller ropes shot away and her engine disabled.  This major damage caused the Diana to drift ashore where she was surrendered.

Also captured by the jubilant Confederates were 58 men from the 12th Connecticut and 20 from the 160th New York Infantry.

The Diana's commander, Acting Master T.L.  Peterson along with five other men were killed, and three  others were wounded in the two-hour action.

--Old B-Runner

CSS/USS Diana-- Part 3: Built in Pennsylvania, Ended Up In Texas

From the 290 Foundation  "CSS Diana"

The Diana was initially built  as a side-wheel steamer at Brownsville, Pennsylvania, on the Monongahela River in 1858.  Subsequently, along with steamers Bayou City and Neptune No. 2, she was offered for charter or sale at Galveston, Texas, in September 1861 by the Houston Navigation Company.

She remained listed as  a steamer of that company on 19 December 1861 when taking the seized Federal life boat Francis in tow for San Jacinto, Texas.  Under Captain Blakmen, she was tasked to carry the crew of the CSS General Rusk from Houston to Galveston on 20th January 1862.

Both the Diana and Bayou City were eventually fitted out as semi ironclads, increasing their displacements from 239 tons to 245 tons respectively before being used as gunboats by the Texas Marine Department for the defense of Galveston Bay.

One-inch of iron protected the Diana's bow and much of her deck was protected by tightly-packed cotton bales  She was fitted with five Parrott guns, also mounted on the forward deck.

The one picture I saw of the Diana with cannons, showed one aft and one forward.

--Old B-Runner

CSS/USS Diana-- Part 2: Captured at New Orleans, Then Recaptured in Louisiana

The Diana, a sidewheel merchant steamer was captured by the U.S. Navy  17 April 1862 at New Orleans, Louisiana, and turned over  on 7 May  to General Benjamin Butler, the Union Army commander in New Orleans.  She was used by the Union Army as a transport until November 1862, then returned to naval service, Acting Master Weeks in command.

During her short career in the U.S. Navy, the Diana assisted in the capture of two vessels with sugar and molasses on board on 6 December 1862.  Later, it took part in an attack on Confederate forces  in Bayou Teche, Louisiana, and the destruction of  the CSS J.A. Cotton 14 January 1863.

For the remainder of her Union service,the Diana assisted other Union gunboats and Army detachments in Berwick Bay, Louisiana,, until 28 March 1863, when she was recaptured by the Confederates while on a reconnaissance of Grand Lake and Atchafalaya River in Louisiana.

I know that it was at Galveston when it helped John N. Maffitt and his CSS Owl escape.

--Old B-Runner

ESPN Man's Ancestors Captured at Fort Fisher

From the June 10, 2020, ESPN  by Ryan McGee.

In a very hateful column about the Confederate flag and NASCAR, he had some interesting stuff to say nonetheless.

In the process of defending his anti-flag stance, he related some of his family's history.  And, of course, as soon as I saw the words Fort Fisher, well, he had my interest.

His family owned slaves and two of his ancestors were captured defending Fort Fisher on January 15, 1865.  His great-great-great grandfather and uncle were sent to  the Elmira Prison Camp, aka "Hell-Mira." in New York.

They were fortunate enough to survive and when the war ended walked 600 miles home to Rockingham, North Carolina.

His family still owns the former plantation house where his ancestors had slaves.

--Old B-Runner