Tag Archives: ironclads

12 March 1864: “The report is to day that Kinston and Goldsboro are taken by our troops.”

Item description: Letter, dated 12 March 1864, from James “Jim” Gifford to his parents.  Gifford, a U.S. Naval officer, writes of his life in the navy while stationed near Beaufort, including ship movements and fighting near Kinston and Goldsboro, N.C. … Continue reading

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27 February 1864: “…for the old light-boats now at Plymouth, to obstruct the Neuse and Roanoke rivers, in order to prevent the rebel ironclads said to be building up those rivers coming down to assist…”

Item description: “Letter from Acting Rear-Admiral Lee, U. S. Navy, to the chairman of the Light-House Board, regarding channel buoys in Beaufort Harbor, and the use of old light-boats as obstructions.” To read more from the Official Records of the … Continue reading

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15 October 1863: “Yankee Views of Charleston”

Item description: Newspaper article, “Yankee Views of Charleston,” as published in the Hillsborough Recorder on 4 November 1863 . The Recorder‘s article is a reprint of a report from Washington, D.C., that appeared in the [New York?] Herald on 15 … Continue reading

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17 September 1863: “Our force of wooden vessels in the sounds, necessarily of light draft and lightly armed, will by no means be adequate to contend against the rebel ram and battery…”

Item description: “Letter of the Secretary of the Navy to the Secretary of War requesting that army forces be employed to destroy the Confederate ram building on the Roanoke River.” In this letter, the Secretary of the Navy (U.S.), Gideon … Continue reading

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9 September 1863: “Nobody here thinks Charleston will fall…”

Item description: Letter, dated 9 September 1863, from D. H. Hamilton Jr. to his wife, Frances “Fannie” Roulhac Hamilton.  He writes news about his own military assignments, the cost and procurement of household supplies, and military developments around Charleston, S.C., … Continue reading

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8 June 1863: “I enclose you a plan of the ironclad battery above here, on the Roanoke.”

Item description: Report, dated 8 June 1863, from Lieutenant-Commander C.W. Flusser of the U.S. Navy to Acting Rear-Admiral S.P. Lee of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. The letter includes plans acquired by Flusser for a Confederate ironclad ship being built … Continue reading

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19 February 1863: “…you can, cooperating with General Foster’s land force, destroy the rebel ironclads building on the rivers…”

Item description: “Order of Acting Rear-Admiral Lee, U. S. Navy, to Commander Murray, U. S. Navy, to cooperate with land force for the destruction of Confederate ironclads under construction.” To read more from the Official Records of the Union and … Continue reading

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5 October 1862: “Colonel Shaw’s body servant says the troops have left, and are in the vicinity of Wilmington, on account of yellow fever. The conscripts are from 14 to 50 years old. Many of them ran away.”

Item description: “Report of Acting Rear-Admiral Lee, U. S. Navy, regarding affairs in and about Wilmington, N. C., and the inefficiency of the blockade.” The report discusses naval actions near Wilmington, North Carolina, including reports of contraband, blockade activities, a … Continue reading

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12 September 1862: “The time of ironclad being ready is very indefinite. It is questionable if she will be finished for some time to come…”

Item description: Report, dated 12 September 1862, from Charles Wilkes, commanding officer of the James River Flotilla, to Gideon Welles, United States Secretary of the Navy. Item citation: Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion.. … Continue reading

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2 April 1862: “These boats may not be heavily plated, but if fitted as rams they would be very formidable against my slight little craft.”

Item description: Report of Commander Rowan, U. S. Navy, regarding the construction by the enemy of three ironclad gunboats. To read more from the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, click here. … Continue reading

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