15 JANUARY 1865 USS PATAPSCO The Rebel-controlled guns of Forts Sumter, Moultrie, and Johnson straddling the entrance to Charleston harbor anchored the Confederate defenses in the late Civil War. The mouth of the harbor and the entrance channel were obstructed with Read More
14 SEPTEMBER 1861 THE FIRING OF JUDAH Had other theaters of the early Civil War not been in the limelight, the tension at Pensacola might have been keener. The Confederates held the Pensacola Navy Yard and Forts Barrancas and McRee guarding Read More
22 AUGUST 1863 NOT ABOVE MAKING A BUCK! Blockade running during our Civil War was a profitable enterprise for those who were successful. The running of war materials brought a handsome price, but even higher profit margins accompanied “luxury” items, such Read More
6-23 AUGUST 1864 CRUISE OF CSS TALLAHASSEE One of the more successful efforts of the Confederacy during the Civil War was their campaign against Union commercial shipping. CSS TALLAHASSEE was one such raider, a sleek and fast cruiser built in England Read More
5 AUGUST 1864 CDR TUNIS CRAVEN, HERO OF MOBILE BAY To a boy from Portsmouth, NH, the life of the sea seemed natural, thus, when Tunis Augustus MacDonough Craven was appointed a Midshipman on 2 February 1829, no one was surprised. Read More
22 APRIL 1864 THE LOSS OF PETREL To bolster Union naval forces patrolling the Mississippi in the Civil War, our Navy purchased a total of 63 existing sternwheel and sidewheel riverboats. Protection was added to their upper works in the form Read More
15 APRIL 1862 RADM CHARLES HENRY DAVIS Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote, commander of the Civil War Western Gunboat Flotilla supporting US Army operations in the upper Mississippi River, was in poor health. He had been struck in this foot with shrapnel Read More
12-14 MARCH 1864 EASTPORT BEFORE FORT DE RUSSY The year 1863 had seen a turn in the Civil War in favor of the Union. A Confederate foray into the north had been reversed at Gettysburg and the last Rebel stronghold on Read More
6 FEBRUARY 1908 RED ROVER AND SINCE… When early American naval forces fought in distant locales our Navy often had to supply her own hospital facilities. In our earliest days this was accomplished by designating certain of the expeditionary warships as Read More
13-15 JANUARY 1865 FT. FISHER FALLS (cont. from Dec 25) After MGEN Benjamin Butler’s Christmas assault was rebuffed, RADM David Dixon Porter returned off Fort Fisher on the 12th of January. Two lessons had been learned in the failed attempt–the naval Read More