EASTPORT Before Fort de Russy

                                              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

“The Sand Pebbles”

                                              21 FEBRUARY 1900                                            “THE SAND PEBBLES” Factional turmoil in 1920s China surrounding the emergence of the Nationalist Chinese movement led multiple western nations to protect their citizens and commercial shipping on China’s rivers with naval forces.  Richard McKenna’s novel The Sand Read More

The Loss of MONITOR

                                             31 DECEMBER 1862                                           THE LOSS OF MONITOR Our Navy first entertained the new technology of armor plating in 1842 when Congress authorized inventor Robert L. Stevens to construct an ironclad steamship for coastal defense.  However, delays in construction, funding, and the Read More

The Yazoo City Shipyard

                                                 18-20 MAY 1863                                      THE YAZOO CITY SHIPYARD After the failure of the Yazoo Pass expedition before Confederate Fort Pemberton in March 1863, MGEN Ulysses Grant adopted a new strategy against Vicksburg, the last and most menacing Rebel city preventing Union control Read More

Stafford vs. Manchen

                                                29-30 APRIL 1945                                         STAFFORD vs. MANCHEN Convoy KN-382 coursed its way slowly north from Key West to New York, this night reaching a position 98 miles east of Cape Henry.  The long war looked to be winding down, at least in Read More

Skirmish at Fort Lowry

                                                 13 MARCH 1865                                       SKIRMISH AT FORT LOWRY We are familiar with inspiring stories of epic battles and heroic sailors, but the day-to-day operations of Civil War gunboats were often less dramatic. The Potomac Flotilla, tasked with protecting Washington, DC, and the Read More

Battle of Elizabeth City (cont. from 8 FEB)

                                           10-11 FEBRUARY 1862                       BATTLE OF ELIZABETH CITY (cont. from 8 FEB) Union forces from the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron had driven a Confederate “mosquito fleet” from Roanoke Island, and at 1430 on the afternoon of February 9th, CDR Stephen C. Rowan Read More

Capture of Roanoke Island

                                             7-8 FEBRUARY 1862                                   CAPTURE OF ROANOKE ISLAND Fortress Monroe, situated at the entrance to Hampton Roads, was one of three forts south of the Mason-Dixon Line that remained in Union hands throughout the Civil War.  Confederate lines of communication were thus Read More