Tag Archives: ships

17 March 1865: “I have sent her to New Orleans for adjudication, together with papers found on board and the proper witnesses required.”

Item description: Report of Commander William Spicer, of the U.S.S. Quaker City, United States Navy, to Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, regarding the capture of the blockade-running schooner the George Burkhardt. Item citation: Official records of the Union and … Continue reading

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27 September 1864: “A ball passed three inches above my head”

Item Description: Excerpt of a letter from Mrs. Louis H.deRosset regarding a dangerous journey, as her ship was attacked by Union blockaders. Citation: From Folder 62, in the DeRosset Family Papers #214, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel … Continue reading

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27 March 1864: “They went for the purpose of burning the town of Swansboro…”

Item description: Letter, dated 27 March 1864, from James Gifford, a United States Navy paymaster steward, to his parents.  He write from aboard the U.S. Release while stationed off Beaufort, N.C., and describes a failed attempt to burn the town of Swansboro … Continue reading

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14 December 1863: “I regret exceedingly the unfortunate necessity for throwing our guns overboard, but I am confident that nothing else could have kept the vessel from foundering.”

Item description: Report, dated 14 December 1863, from Lieutenant R.H. Lamson, United States Navy, regarding a fateful trip aboard the ship U.S.S. Nansemond. To read more from the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the … Continue reading

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14 June 1863: “The captain, without hesitation, acknowledged her to be a Confederate vessel and stated his cargo to consist of liquors, medicines, drugs, and provisions, with probably some articles for the rebel Government.”

Item description: “Capture of Confederate steamer Calypso, June 11, 1863. Report of Commander Bankhead, U. S. Navy, commanding U. S. S. Florida.” The report discusses the capture of the Confederate steamer Calypso off the North Carolina coast. The ship was … Continue reading

Posted in North Carolina Collection | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 14 June 1863: “The captain, without hesitation, acknowledged her to be a Confederate vessel and stated his cargo to consist of liquors, medicines, drugs, and provisions, with probably some articles for the rebel Government.”

30 May 1863: “The ‘Chattahoochee’ is no more! and I am truly thankful that I was not present to witness the horrible scene on board. But I am anticipating the ship exploded her boiler on the 27th, inst., 7 miles below Alum Bluff, causing the death of 16 persons instantly, and two more will not recover.”

Item description: Letter, 30 May 1863, from George Washington Gift to his fiancee Ellen Augusta Shackelford, concerning the explosion that destroyed the gunboat C.S.S. Chattahoochee on 27 May 1863. George Washington Gift (b. 1833) was raised in Tennessee, and went to California some … Continue reading

Posted in Southern Historical Collection | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 30 May 1863: “The ‘Chattahoochee’ is no more! and I am truly thankful that I was not present to witness the horrible scene on board. But I am anticipating the ship exploded her boiler on the 27th, inst., 7 miles below Alum Bluff, causing the death of 16 persons instantly, and two more will not recover.”

18 April 1863: “…the vessels of the volunteer navy are authorized to seize, capture and destroy upon the sea, or within the ebb and flow of the tide, all vessels and property of the United States, and of the citizens thereof…”

Item description: “An Act To Establish A Volunteer Navy,” Congress of the Confederate States of America, dated 28 February 1863. Item citation: “An Act to Establish a Volunteer Navy,” Confederate States of America, 18 April 1863. 57 Conf., Rare Book … Continue reading

Posted in Rare Book Collection | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 18 April 1863: “…the vessels of the volunteer navy are authorized to seize, capture and destroy upon the sea, or within the ebb and flow of the tide, all vessels and property of the United States, and of the citizens thereof…”

27 December 1862: “It looks to me as if the persons named intended that they should be captured by the rebels.”

Item description: “Report of Commander Murray, U. S. Navy, regarding the reported capture of parties transporting goods from Norfolk [Virginia] to Elizabeth City [North Carolina].” To read more from the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the … Continue reading

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20 November 1862: “…she was partially burned and waterlogged, loaded with rosin. No clue could be found by which to identify her. I did everything possible to destroy and render her useless.”

Item description: Report of Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Trathen, U. S. Navy, of the capture of an unknown schooner, November 5, 1862. The schooner was captured off the coast of North Carolina, near New Inlet. To read more from the Official … Continue reading

Posted in North Carolina Collection | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 20 November 1862: “…she was partially burned and waterlogged, loaded with rosin. No clue could be found by which to identify her. I did everything possible to destroy and render her useless.”

26 October 1862: “Most all of us came to the conclusion that North Carolina was a tough place, barren and desolate, and hardly worth the cost of fighting for it.”

Item description: Portions of Leaves from a Diary Written While Serving in Co. E, 44 Mass., Dep’t of No. Carolina, an account, written by John Jasper Wyeth of Co. E, of the experiences of the 44th Masachusetts Infantry Regiment. The book, … Continue reading

Posted in North Carolina Collection | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 26 October 1862: “Most all of us came to the conclusion that North Carolina was a tough place, barren and desolate, and hardly worth the cost of fighting for it.”