McHenry County Civil War Round Table (MCCWRT): Forts Discussion

Robert Anderson raised the same flag he lowered in surrender that flew over Fort Sumter on April 14, 1865.

FORT McALLISTER on the Ogeechee River in Georgia.  Built to prevent Union troops from landing on dry land and marching to Savannah.

An earthen fort which was attacked by ironclads several times but no damage to the earthen walls and none to the ironclads.

The Confederate privateer Rattlesnake, formerly CSS Nashville (commerce raider),  ran aground in the Ogeechee River on 5 November 1862 and was destroyed by the monitor USS Montauk.

The discussion topic for the April 23 discussion group will be artillery.

That is, of I can afford the gas to drive there.

--Old Secesh

Some More Naval Activity 150 Years Ago

From the Civil War Naval Chronology.


OCTOBER 22nd-- Report that Confederate batteries commanded the Potomac River below Alexandria. Washington, DC, essentially blockaded, by water, anyway.

OCTOBER 23rd-- The crew of the Confederate privateer Savannah go on trial for "piracy" in New York City. This caused quite a diplomatic situation.

OCTOBER 25th-- John Ericcson began work on his Monitor. Less than five months later, it fought the CSS Virginia. Quite a remarkably fast construction time.

Flag Officer DuPont stresses the importance of training by the Navy for amphibious landings. Says he had landed a brigade of troops in a training exercise.

OCTOBER 26th-- The CSS Nashville escapes the blockade of Charleston, SC. Union intelligence incorrectly had Slidell and Mason on board the ship.

OCTOBER 27-28th-- Boat crews from the USS Louisiana burned three Confederate vessels at Chincoteagwa Inlet, Virginia. The Louisiana later became the powder ship exploded at Fort Fisher Christmas Eve 1864.

And, It Was an Amphibious Assault That Finally Did Fort Fisher In in 1865. --Old B-R'er

Looking for the CSS Nashville

From the Oct. 17th Civil War Daily Gazette

Octiber 17, 1861, Thursday

The US Navy thought the two Confederate envoys, John Slidell and James Mason had boarded the CSS Nashville for their trip out of Charleston Harbor. The USS James Adger and USS Curlew were dispatched to intercept it. The Curlew was short on coal and turned back, but the Adger went all the way to England pursuing the Nashville.

The USS Connecticut was sent to Bermuda to gather any information it could on the Nashville and then to return to the New York Naval Yard if nothing could be found.

Meanwhile, Mason and Slidell were already in Cuba, arriving on the Theodora. Before reaching Havana, however, the coal supply was short and a stop was made in Cardenas, 100 miles to the east. The Theodora was accompanied by a Spanish steamer at this juncture, having helped guide the blockade-runner through the waters around the Bahamas.

There was a delay because the papers of clearance were for Havana and not Cardenas. During the day, Mason and Slidell landed.

By the time the two got to Havana, they found that they had just missed a ship bound for England by a day. The next ship going there was not set to leave for three weeks.

Missed It By [] Much. --Old B-R'er

CSS Nashville

Union authorities believed Confederate commissioners John Slidell and James Mason had left Charleston aboard the CSS Nashville which is why ships were sent to look for her. Mason and Slidell had originally considered taking the Nashville, but had canceled their plans when word got out and taken the Theodora instead.

From Wikipedia.

The CSS Nashvillewas originally the USMS Nashville (US Mail Service Ship), built in Greenpoint, Brooklyn (obviously, a lot of ships built there) in 1853.

During the bombardment of Fort Sumter, the Nashville blundered into Charleston harbor without flying the US flag and was accidentally fired upon by the USRC Harriet Lane, the first shots of the Naval war.

The Nashville was later seized by Confederates and fitted out as a cruiser under Lt. Robert Pegram, CSN. It ran the blockade of Charleston October 21, 1861, and sailed directly to Southampton, England, where it became the first to fly the Confederate flag in English waters.

That did not end its naval career, however.

Perhaps Mason and Slidell Should Have Taken the Nashville Anyway. then There Would Not Have Been the Trent Affair. --Old B-Runner

The CSS Nashville

A few months ago, the good folks at the Historical Marker Database had a spotlight on the life and times of the CSS Nashville, which was sunk near Fort McAllister in Richmond Hill, near Savannah.

It was launched September 22, 1853. The US Mail Steamship Nashville entered Charleston Harbor, SC, April 12, 1861 as the war commenced and was "purchased by the Confederate Navy for $100,000, the first commissioned vessel in Confederate service and the first to fly the flag.

She entered Southampton, England, Nov. 21, 1861, after capturing and burning the Union ship Harvey Birch. After capturing another ship, its name was changed to Thomas A. Wragg, and it became a blockade-runner.

Later, the Nashville was renamed as the Privateer Rattlesnake. On Feb. 28, 1863, the Rattlesnake was trapped in the Ogeechee River by a sandbar at low tide by the USS Montauk, a monitor, and sunk.

The wreck lies 1200 yards from the fort where a marker is located. Salvaged 1960machinery from it is located next to it.

A Life on the High Seas. --B-R