Posts fromJohn V. Quarstein

John is director emeritus of the USS Monitor Center. He presents Civil War tours and lectures across the country and is the author of 18 books with three more on the way. He leads the Museum’s Civil War and Hampton Roads Lecture Series and is now writing blogs and presenting online content via YouTube Live. John’s deep interest in all things related to the Civil War stems from his youth living on Fort Monroe, walking where heroes like Abraham Lincoln and R. E. Lee once stood. An avid collector of decoys, waterfowl/maritime art, and oriental rugs, John lives among them in his home, the 1757 Herbert House on Sunset Creek in Hampton, Virginia. On the National Register of Historic Places, this is the only house to have survived the August 7, 1861, burning of Hampton.
Civil War 汉普顿路历史

汉普顿道路的海军情报：1861-1862

Posted on
CSS Virginia.
The Mariners’ Museum.

There was no formal naval intelligence system established during the American Civil War. While a few examples exist of Northern sympathizers, free Blacks, like Mary Louvestre of Portsmouth, sent messages to various Union commanders about the Confederate ironclad construction effort. These links were unofficial and were generally between one Union officer and an individual. The Union nor the Confederacy needed to rely on such clandestine methods since Northern and Southern newspapers provided ample information, usually in a boastful manner. Each antagonist simply needed to obtain a copy ofThe New York Times或者Mobile Registerto gather all they needed to know about ironclad development.

Union intelligence was able to receive valuable knowledge about theconstruction and impending attack of CSSVirginia. The information appeared to flow back and forth across Hampton Roads. On October 6, 1861, Major General John Ellis Wool, stationed at Fort Monroe as commander of the Union Department of Virginia, wrote to Lieutenant General Winfield Scott:Read more

Civil War

USS Cumberland – Sink Before Surrender

Posted on
U.S. Frigate Cumberland. Lithograph. Published by Currier & Ives,
ca. 1843-1848. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

USSCumberland,flagship of the US Navy’s Home Squadron, was dispatched to Gosport Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, upon the sloop’s return from a brief cruise to Veracruz, Mexico. It was hoped that the warship’s presence would deter any effort to capture the yard during the secession crisis. Gosport was the largest and most advanced navy yard in the United States. Besides its granite dry dock and other ship repair/construction facilities, Gosport housed 14 warships, including the steam screw frigate USS Merrimack等待维修和其他像US一样的其他人Raritan. TheCumberland, then commanded by Captain Garrett J. Pendergrast, was anchored just off Gosport so its firepower could be utilized to defend the yard or cover the release of ships.

Three days afterVirginialeft the Union on April 17, the Union abandoned the yard.Cumberland’screw helped to destroy the facility and various ships. By 4:20 a.m. on April 21,Cumberland，充满了水手和海军陆战队，被USS拖出院子Pawneesupported by the tug USS Yankee.Cumberlandslowly passed the burningMerrimack,not realizing that what seemed to be a burning hulk would become the sloop’s death knell less than one year later.Read more

Civil War

The Capture of Hatteras Inlet

Posted on
哈特拉斯角的地图。由Weather.com提供

The first combined operation of the Civil War was the capture of Hatteras Inlet. This inlet was used by Confederate gunboats and privateer merchantmen sailing around Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. These Southern commerce raiders’ depreciation was lucrative for the Carolinians; however, Northern losses became so significant that several major maritime insurance brokers demanded something be done about this situation. This prompted the development of the Union’s Hatteras Inlet operation. [1]

北卡罗来纳州的外银行

北卡罗来纳州的声音从弗吉尼亚边境到达北卡罗来纳州东部边界的Cape Lookout到达。可以使用四个主要入口来从声音中到达大西洋：哈特拉斯，俄勒冈州，奥克拉科克和博福特（旧入口）。Hatteras Inlet最适合商业突袭。哈特拉斯角（Cape Hatteras）是同盟国中最东端，俯瞰海湾流。这种电流在纽约，加勒比海和南美等北部港口之间的商船交易中非常受欢迎。使用哈特拉斯角（Cape Hatteras Lighthouse），同盟国可以向等待袭击者表示诱惑商人目标。北卡罗来纳州州长约翰·埃利斯（John Ellis）于1861年4月27日写道：“敌人的商业可能会被卡罗来纳州海岸的私人切断。”[2]Read more

Civil War

CSS ARKANSAS: THE YAZOO CITY IRONCLAD

Posted on
CSS Arkansas. Sepia wash drawing, R.G. Skerrett, 1904. Courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, DC.

Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Russell Mallory immediately recognized the need to construct ironclads to defend the South’s harbors and the Mississippi River watershed. By October 1861, there were five ironclads under construction in New Orleans, Cerro Gordo, Tennessee, and Memphis. It would be an extreme challenge to place these ironclads in the water as effective warships with limited industrial infrastructure. It was all about the questions of time, iron, workers, and engines!

合同确保

Mallory knew that it was imperative to block the Union gunboats’ ascent down the Mississippi River. As Mallory grappled with starting ironclad construction projects, prominent Memphis riverboat constructor and businessman John T. Shirley traveled to Richmond to meet with Mallory to obtain a contract to build two ironclads at Memphis. These boats were to support Confederate fortifications defending the river. Shirley’s contract entailed building the CSSArkansas和Tennesseeat the cost of $76,920 each. Before leaving Richmond, Shirley consulted with Chief Naval Constructor John Luke Porter to gain knowledge of casemate design. [1]Read more

Civil War

ROLL, ALABAMA, ROLL! – SINKING OF CSS ALABAMA

Posted on
CSS Alabama, ca. 1961. Rear Admiral J. W. Schmidt, artist. Courtesy of the Naval History and Heritage Command # NH 85593-KN.
Larry Beldt, “Roll, Alabama, Roll!” June 22, 2012. Educational video, 2:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ydhI1G9rYk.

The CSSAlabama, commanded by Captain Raphael Semmes, had spent nearly two years capturing and destroying 65 Northern merchant ships and whalers. There were seven different expeditionary raids from the Eastern Atlantic to the Java Sea and back near where the vessel had been built. The commerce raider had become legendary and captured the imagination of most of the world. Many, however, considered Semmes and his ship piratical and it had to be destroyed.

GOD HELPS THOSE THAT HELP THEMSELVES

TheAlabama1863年7月下旬以戏剧性的方式抵达南非开普敦。巡洋舰捕获了树皮Sea Bridewithin sight of Cape Town. Semmes sold that merchantman and it’s cargo to a South African citizen. By September 24, 1863, Semmes set a course across the Indian Ocean, sinking several ships, reaching Singapore on December 21, 1863. There he viewed more than 20 Northern merchant ships rotting unemployed at anchor. He knew that his ship and the other Confederate commerce raiders had been very successful in disrupting US shipping.[1]Read more