Category Archives: Naval Matters

hero warship

Posted on January 7, 2015 by SUMPTER

150 years ago this month the French-built CSS Stonewall took to the seas. It’s goal was to make its way to the New World to attack the Yankee navy and Yankee commerce. 150 years ago this week a Southern newspaper … Continue reading →

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the Butler did it

Posted on December 31, 2014 by SUMPTER

Apparently, even Union Secretary of War Stanton had to rely on Confederate newspapers for his first report to General Dix regarding the failed attack on Fort Fisher. From The New-York Times December 29, 1864: WILMINGTON.; THE ATTACK ON FORT FISHER. … Continue reading →

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dinner plans changed

Posted on December 25, 2014 by SUMPTER

Two big war events 150 years ago this week were the capture of Savannah and the attempt to capture Fort Fisher. It took a while for the news to make its way up to upstate New York. Here’s an article … Continue reading →

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blockade: tweaking and evading

Posted on November 19, 2014 by SUMPTER

150 years ago today President Lincoln lifted the blockade of Norfolk, Fernandina and Pensacola because those ports had “for some time past been in the military possession of the United States, [and] it is deeemd advisable that they should be … Continue reading →

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still in the navy

Posted on October 2, 2014 by SUMPTER

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in October 1864: AGAIN PROMOTED. – We are pleased to learn that Ensign John P. Arnett, son of Wm. Arnett, Esq., of this village, has been promoted to be Third Lieutenant in the … Continue reading →

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a productive, destructive August

Posted on August 14, 2014 by SUMPTER

150 years ago this month the CSS Tallahassee, commanded by Zachary Taylor’s grandson John Taylor Wood, was disrupting Yankee commerce off the northern coast. Here’s a summary from the Navy: After she was commissioned and prepared for sea Tallahassee was … Continue reading →

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war lesson

Posted on June 23, 2014 by SUMPTER

Newspapers in Seneca Falls 150 years ago were not big fans of the Lincoln administration and its war policy, but even the following editorial finds it hard to believe that Petersburg can hold out much longer against the Union army. … Continue reading →

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sunk in the channel

Posted on June 19, 2014 by SUMPTER

On July 4, 1864 the Richmond Daily Dispatch published an editorial ridiculing the United States Navy: The United States Navy. The Navy of the United States has had an inglorious part to play in this war. It was once the … Continue reading →

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guano gone

Posted on April 25, 2014 by SUMPTER

The CSS Alabama is still at work disrupting commerce on the high seas. Here’s how Raphael Semmes, the ship’s commander, remembered the pursuit and capture of a boat full of fertilizer 150 years ago this week. From Memoirs of Service … Continue reading →

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pacific theater

Posted on March 18, 2014 by SUMPTER

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in March 1864: PROMOTED. – The friends of Lieut. HENRY B. SEELY, of the U.S. Navy, will be pleased to learn that he has been promoted to Lieutenant Commander. An 1857 graduate of … Continue reading →

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