USS SASSACUS vs. Nutfield

                                             4-5 FEBRUARY 1864                                       USS SASSACUS vs. NUTFIELD Blockade running was a complicated pursuit even for the most skilled of seamen.  European goods were shipped to staging points in Bermuda, the Bahamas, or the Caribbean.  Here, smaller, sleek, fast ships would load Read More

Ft. Fisher Falls (cont. from DEC 25)

                                            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

Intercepting the Mega-Guns

                                                26 AUGUST 1863                                  INTERCEPTING THE MEGA-GUNS When South Carolinians fired on Fort Sumter to start the Civil War, all but one of the foundries in the United States were in the North.  Only the Tredeger Iron Works in Richmond could bore Read More