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Volume 23, No. 1 – January 2010
Upcoming Program: Wednesday, January 13, 2010 Marsha Sonnenblick will be our January 2010 speaker. The topic will be “Foreigners in the Civil War: Why They came to America and why they decided to fight for the North or the South. Marsha can be counted on to put an interesting “spin” on any topic! President’s Message The Holiday Party was a great success – 43 members
and guests helped devour tables groaning with homemade goodies.
Thanks to all who contributed. We need a speakers’ committee.
Those interested in helping on this please contact me. Bob Schenkel, a long-time member who has donated
many books to the raffle, is now in assisted living. We all wish him
well. Finally, DUES ARE DUE.
Please pay them at the January meeting or by mail as soon as
possible. December 8, 2009 Program “The Widow Clark” (aka Kathy Clark), reminded us that a Civil War reenactment of a battle would take place over the coming weekend at the Savannas Recreation Area, 1400 Midway Road, Fort Pierce, Florida. She then recounted this story: At an earlier reenactment, a guide was explaining what was going on. A little boy piped up: “What is that cannon for?” The guide, not wanting to mention that its purpose was to kill people, replied, “We use it to blow things up.” The boy responded, “My Daddy uses a pump!”
Macomber is the author of the acclaimed Honor
Series of naval novels, and is proud to have readers in ten countries.
He also has written many magazine articles. His awards include the
Florida Genealogy Society’s Outstanding Achievement Award for his
non-fiction work on Florida’s maritime history, the Patrick Smith
Literary Award for Best Historical Novel of Florida
(At the Edge of Honor), and
the John Esten Cooke Literary Award for Best Work in Southern Fiction
(Point of Honor). He is the
guest author at regional and international book festivals, and was named
by Florida Monthly Magazine as
one of the 22 Most Intriguing Floridians of 2006. His sixth novel,
A Different Kind of Honor, recently won the highest national honor
in his genre—the American Library Association’s 2008 W. Y. Boyd Literary
Award for Excellence in Military Fiction. It was awarded, along with the
$5,000 in prize money, on July 1, 2008, at the ALA’s annual convention
in Anaheim, California. Each year Macomber travels approximately 15,000 sea
miles around the globe giving lectures and researching his novels,
including an annual lecture tour across the Pacific. In January 2009, he
was guest author and lecturer aboard the
Silver Whisper, steaming from
Australia to Guadalcanal, New Guinea, Indonesia, the Philippines, and
culminating at Hong Kong.
Later in the year Macomber will be on a lecture tour of the
Mediterranean aboard Queen
Victoria, returning later to the United States as guest author
aboard Queen Mary 2. He is well known for detailed research, even going
to the point of making the voyages, visiting the lands, and meeting the
peoples he writes about. After the 2007 Pacific lecture tour, he
embarked upon treks on the Mekong and Perfume rivers in Vietnam and
Cambodia to research and begin writing
The Honored Dead, which came
out in March 2009. Macomber lives a simple life in a small bungalow by
Serenity Bay at Matlacha Island. The island is an old Florida fishing
village on the same southwest coast where he grew up as a sailor. It is
his writing refuge when not on lecture, research, or book tour journeys.
For more information about Macomber’s fascinating life and work, visit
his website at www.robertmacomber.com. He enjoys interacting with his
readers and welcomes email at macomber@robertmacomber.com. The Amazing True Story of the Confederate Navy’s Raid on New York and New England Robert began his talk with a little background:
Until the Civil War, the United States Navy practiced “guerrilla”
war at sea and was very good at it.
Since it could not go “toe to toe” with European navies, it used
Ocean Raiders to prey on ocean commerce around the world.
The War of 1812 was a “world war” that extended into the Pacific
Ocean. It was the unenviable
task of the British to attempt, unsuccessfully, to blockade the 1000's
of miles of U. S. coastline. At the outset of the Civil War, however, the roles
of the Northern and Southern navies were reversed.
In 1861, the U. S. Navy had 45 seaworthy ships, only 12 in home
waters. President Lincoln,
without consulting with Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, declared a
blockade of the Confederate coastline.
The only naval station that was never taken over by the South was
Key West, which became responsible for blockade duty from the Rio Grande
to Georgia, and included Cuba, Mexico and the Bahamas!
By 1865, the commandant at Key West was in charge of 632 ships of
all kinds. The Confederate
Secretary of the Navy was Stephen M. Mallory, who had been a U. S.
Senator from Florida and had chaired the Naval Appropriations Committee.
Mallory lived in Key West and owned a steamship line.
In view of the paucity of ships at its command, the Confederacy
adopted guerrilla tactics at sea, at which it was very good.
It also attempted, with much less success, to conduct “riverine”
warfare and coastal defense. Since it could not build ironclads at home, the
South had them built in England, despite the profession of “neutrality”
by England, France and Spain in 1861.
The CSN Alabama was the
most successful ocean raider in history, with 86 ships to its credit
taken in every ocean. It and
its sister raiders siphoned off Northern ships from blockade duty.
The Caribbean Sea was a Confederate “lake” for the first two
years of the war.
When Moffit captured the
Clarence, carrying fruit and
coffee, Reed persuaded him not to sell the prize but to put him in
command so he could raid the US Navy’s anchorage at Norfolk, Virginia!
Imagine, a 23-year old ensign commanding 16 sailors and armed
with one 6 pound boat howitzer and 2 “Quaker” fake guns, planning to
sail into the biggest naval base in the US!
Sailing North from Brazilian waters, Moffit makes his target New
York City. Outside the
harbor, he destroys two merchant ships. Meanwhile, by sheer coincidence,
Reed in the Clarence is
sailing along the north coast of Long Island.
Their efforts were not planned but were brilliantly successful,
causing pandemonium among shipping circles with consequences with us
today. In Boston, the port’s commandant ordered to sea the only two ships capable of taking on the CSS Florida: the Shenandoah and the Ethan Allen. They cannot find the Florida. Insurance rates are skyrocketing and the merchant fleet is staying in port. By June 1863, the Clarence has destroyed two merchant ships. Now Reed decides to burn the Clarence and shift his “command” to a third captured ship, which he christened the CSS Tacony, and sails unscathed through the US Navy! Meanwhile the Florida has sailed to Bermuda to refit and refuel. The rest of the infamous raid is carried on by Reed alone. He even enlists six sailors from captured merchant ships! Over the next six days, he destroys six ships. Cleverly, he puts the crews of these ships in life boats, while he burns their ships (he has no harbor to put in to and sell them). The sailors will inadvertently help him by spreading panic once ashore. On June 17, 1863, Secretary of the Navy Gideon
Welles is besieged by complaints from insurance companies, shipping line
owners, the fishing industry and chambers of commerce, all saying, “Do
something!” In his diary,
Welles comments, “shore defense is for the Army!
The communities affected should bear part of the cost.”
According to the New York Chamber of Commerce, by
mid-1863, 150 vessels and 60,000 tons worth $12 million, have been
captured by CSS raiders worldwide.
Rather than remaining idle, merchant ships are being registered
under foreign flags. Before
the Civil War, the American merchant marine had been the largest in the
world. That ended
permanently. By the end of June 1863, 38 US naval ships,
diverted from blockade duty and European waters, are converging to
capture the Confederate raiders, who are no longer there!
Moffit is in Bermuda, while Reed has sailed for Maine!
On June 25, 1863, Reed captures the fishing schooner,
Archer, and transfers his gun
and crew to it. The next
night he reaches Portland, Maine, where two ships are at anchor at
Federal Wharf. He plans to capture the steamer,
Chesapeake.
He takes over this ship only to discover that its boilers are
cold. It will take hours to
be able to steam away, so he goes to the other side of the wharf and
takes the Revenue (now Coast Guard) Cutter,
Caleb Cushing, whose boiler
has steam up. He christens
it as a CSS and sets out to sea, towing the
Archer. The militia unit at Fort Preble is aroused, as are
men from the town, who go aboard the unarmed
Forest City.
The men manhandle a gun onto the foredeck.
They also get the Chesapeake’s boilers going.
Reed is in trouble – the wind is against him, the gun on the
Cushing cannot bear aft where
his pursuers are, and in any event he cannot find the powder charges for
the gun! It turns out that
the charges are kept in a secret locker in the captain’s cabin.
The Forest City is now
shooting at him. Reed’s only
option was to surrender, but before doing so, he torched both of his
ships. That’s when he
discovered where the powder was hidden! In the eyes of the residents of Portland, Maine,
Reed and his men are pirates and the militia had to hold the crowd,
which wanted to lynch them, at bay.
Reed was taken to Fort Warren where Confederate naval officers
were kept. In the hulk of
the Archer, the US Navy found prize money consisting of $100,000 in
Confederate bonds payable after the war.
On October 18, 1864, Reed was exchanged for a US Naval officer. Under the command of First Lieutenant Charles M.
Morris, Florida took another
eleven prizes between August 1863 and October 1864, when she arrived at
Bahia, Brazil. Union and
Confederate captains had promised never to violate Brazilian neutrality.
In reliance on that, the Morris and half of his crew were given
shore leave. At 4 A. M.,
October 7, 1864, Florida was
attacked, captured and towed to sea by USS
Wachusett, in violation of
Brazilian neutrality. After being taken to the U.S., her return to
Brazil was ordered by the courts. However, before this could be done, on
November 28, 1864 Florida was
accidently sunk off Newport News, Virginia.
In June 1864, CSS Alabama
was captured in Cherbourg, France. Reed returns to his home in Mississippi, where he
is feted as a hero and awarded the Confederate Medal of Honor.
Reed is given command of the CSS
Webb in Louisiana.
On April 22, 1865, while attempting to run the blockade, he again
is captured. After the war,
he fights with Cuban revolutionaries and is captured by the US Navy for
the third and last time. He
lives until 1890. Reed’s contribution to history far exceeds any
possible expectation. Union
commerce was completely disrupted even after his capture since the North
believed other Confederate raiders were at large.
Insurance rates continued to escalate.
The US merchant marine lost 22 ships, but shrank by 40%, because
many merchant ships were sold to England, and has never recovered. At the end of his talk, Macomber was given a
rousing round of applause. A
round of questions followed. Your editor thought you might enjoy the differing
viewpoints of the capture of the CSS Florida: SIR: At 3 o'clock on the morning of the 7th day of
October instant we slipped our cable and steered for the
Florida, about five-eighths of a mile distant. An unforseen
circumstance prevented us from striking her as intended. We, however,
struck her on the starboard quarter, cutting down her bulwarks and
carrying away her mizzenmast and main yard. This ship was not injured.
In contemplating the attack on the
Florida
in the bay I thought it probable the Brazilian authorities would forbear
to interfere, as they had done at Fernando de Noronha when the rebel
steamer Alabama was permitted
to take into the anchorage three American ships, and to take coal from
the Cora [Louisa]
Hatch within musket shot of
the fort, and afterwards, within easy range of their guns, to set on
fire those unarmed vessels.
I regret, however, to state that they fired three shotted guns at
us while we were towing the
Florida
out. Fortunately, we
received no damage. After daylight a Brazilian sloop of war, in tow of a
paddle gunboat, was discovered following us. With the aid of sail on
both vessels we gradually increased our distance from them.
We had three men slightly wounded; one only of the three is now
on the sick report. I enclose the list of the prisoners. Those who have
a star opposite their names were formerly in the U.S. Navy.
This vessel is ready for service. The Florida will require
repairs of machinery, a new mizzenmast, etc.
The officers and crew manifested the best spirit. They have my
thanks for their hearty cooperation, in which I beg to include Thomas F.
Wilson, Esq., U.S. consul at Bahia, who volunteered for any duty. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient
servant,
N.
Collins, Hon. GIDEON WELLES,
Secretary of the Navy. Bahia,
October 13, 1864 SIR:
We were visited on the morning of the 5th by a
Brazilian officer, to whom I stated my wants, and was informed by him
that he would report the same to the president, and that until his
answer was received we could hold no communication with the shore. At
noon I received a communication (which was left on board the
Florida) from the president,
stating that he was ready to receive me. At my interview he informed me
that forty-eight hours would be allowed me to refit and repair, but that
should his chief engineer, whom he would send on board to examine the
machinery, deem the time too short, he would grant the necessary
extension. He was most urgent in his request that I would strictly
observe the laws of neutrality (implying by his manner, and, in fact,
almost as many words, that he had no fears on account of the United
States steamer, but that I was the cause of uneasiness to him, lest I
should attack the Wachusett in port), at the same time stating to me that he had
received most solemn assurances from the U. S. consul that the United
States steamer would do nothing while in port contrary to the laws of
nations of or Brazil, and that he desired the same from me, which I
unhesitatingly gave. The Brazilian admiral, who was present at the
interview, suggested that I had better move my vessel between his ship
and the shore, as our proximity to the
Wachusett might cause some
difficulty. My assurances to the president seemed to set his mind at
rest on the score of any collision between the two vessels, and upon
leaving him I immediately repaired on board and moved the
Florida closer inshore to the
position suggested by the admiral.
I found the Brazilian engineer on board, and was
informed by him that it would take four days to repair the pipe of the
condenser. Feeling now no apprehension of any difficulty occurring while
in port, and wishing to gratify the crew with a short liberty, not only
on the score of good conduct, but also of health, I determined to permit
one watch at a time to go ashore for twelve hours, and sent the port
watch off that afternoon. About 7:30 p. m. a boat came alongside stating
that she was from the U. S. S. Wachusett, with the U. S. consul, who had an official communication
for the commander of the Florida.
The letter with the card of the consul was handed to First Lieutenant
Porter, who, after examining it and finding it directed to Captain
Morris, sloop Florida,
returned it unopened to the consul, stating that it was improperly
addressed; that the vessel was the C. S. S.
Florida, and that when the
letter was so directed it would be received.
The next day (6th) a Mr. de Videky came on board,
having received a letter from the U. S. consul enclosing one for me. He
requested me, before receiving my letter, to permit him to read the one
sent to him. It was a request to Mr. de V. to carry a challenge to the
commander of the Florida and
in case of its acceptance to offer his (the consul's) influence in
having the repairs of the Florida
speedily finished. I informed Mr. de V. that I had heard quite enough,
and finding the letter for me still improperly addressed, declined
receiving it, but at the same time said to him that I had come to Bahia
for a special purpose, which being accomplished I should leave; that I
would neither seek nor avoid a contest with the
Wachusett, but should I
encounter her outside of Brazilian waters, would use my utmost endeavors
to destroy her. I enclosed a letter, marked 1, since received from Mr.
de Videky.
That afternoon, the port watch having returned, I
sent the starboard watch ashore on liberty, going also myself, in
company with several of the officers. At 3:30 a. m. on the 7th I was
awakened by the proprietor of the hotel at which I was staying and told
that there was some trouble on board the
Florida, as he had heard
firing and cheering in the direction of the vessel, but on account of
the darkness was unable to discern anything. I immediately hastened to
the landing, and was informed by a Brazilian officer that the U. S. S.
Wachusett had rammed and captured the
Florida and was then towing her out of the harbor. I hurried off to
the admiral's vessel and was told by him that he was at once going in
pursuit. He returned in the afternoon with all his vessels, having been
unable to overtake the Wachusett.
Upon mustering the officers and crew left on shore,
I found there were four officers, viz. Lieutenant Barron, Paymaster
Taylor, Midshipman Dyke, and Master's Mate King, and seventy-one men, of
whom six had escaped by swimming from the
Florida after her capture. Of
the actual occurrences and loss of life on board the
Florida I have been able to
find out very little. The substance of what I have gathered from the six
men who escaped is as follows: That at 3:15 a. m. on the 7th, Acting
Master T. T. Hunter, jr., being in charge of the deck, the
Wachusett left her anchorage,
and taking advantage of the darkness steamed for the
Florida, from which she was
not seen until close aboard; that she was hailed by Mr. Hunter, who,
receiving no answer, called all hands to quarters. Before the officers
and crew were all on deck the
Wachusett struck the Florida
on her starboard quarter, cutting her rail down to the deck and carrying
away her mizzenmast, at the same time pouring a volume of musketry and a
charge of cannister from her forecastle pivot gun upon our decks. The
Wachusett then backed off and
demanded our surrender, to which demand First Lieutenant Porter declined
to accede. The enemy then fired again and again into us, which was
returned by the officers and crew of the
Florida. Another demand was then made for our surrender, and
Lieutenant Porter answered, "I will surrender conditionally." The enemy
then stopped firing, and the commander called for Captain Morris to come
on board. Lieutenant Morris answered that Captain Morris was on shore,
and that he as commanding officer would come on board as soon as he
could get a boat ready. The enemy then sent a number of armed boats to
take possession of the Florida.
As soon as Lieutenant Porter was heard to surrender
fifteen of our crew jumped overboard to escape capture, of whom only six
succeeded, the remaining nine having been shot in the water by men on
the forecastle and in the boats of the
Wachusett. Mr. Hunter was
wounded and a number of men killed. The enemy made fast a hawser to the
foremast of the Florida, and,
after slipping her cable, towed her out to sea. I called in person upon
the president as soon as possible, but could get no further information
from him.
On the 8th I sent a protest to the president, of
which I send you a copy, marked 2. On the 10th our agent was informed by
the interpreter that the president did not intend to answer my protest,
as the Confederate Government had not been recognized by Brazil, and
that I would find all the official correspondence in the newspaper. I
then wrote the letter marked 3, in which reference is made to a letter
from the president, marked 4. Just before leaving Bahia, having received
no answer, I sent our agent, Mr. James Dwyer, to the president. The
result of his visit is contained in his letter, marked 5.
My next thought was for the care of my officers and
crew then ashore. Finding that it would be impossible to negotiate a
bill for an amount sufficient to pay off the crew, all of whom desired
to remain in the Confederate service, I deemed it best to secure a
passage on some merchant vessel bound to England. Arrangements were made
with Captain Bray, of the English bark
Linda, to take the men at
£10
each and the officers at £20 each, we to pay the expense
of fitting up the berths, etc., which would cost about £80.
The Linda is expected to sail
for London on the 15th, two days after I leave. I have taken passage for
Paymaster Taylor and myself on the English mail steamer, so that on our
arrival such arrangements may be made for the reception and disposal of
the men as you deem best. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
D. MANIGAULT MORRIS, [Source:
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the
Rebellion.
Series 1, vol. 3 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1896):
255-256.] Thanks to the Peace River Civil War Round Table for
the following quiz (answers at the February meeting): 1.
Slavery was abolished in Washington, D. C., in 1862.
Slave owners were paid $___ for each freed slave. 2. What
was the name of Frederick Douglass’ home in Washington, D. C. (now a
National Historic Site)? 3.
Jefferson Davis appointed a succession of unsuccessful generals in the
West to avoid appointing ____. 4. What
three Cabinet positions did Judah P. Benjamin hold? 5. What
famous English relative did Judah P. Benjamin have? 6. The
Gamble Mansion is located in what Florida city?
Last changed: 08/10/10 |
Our
welcome guest speaker, for the seventh year in a row, was Robert N.
Macomber, an internationally recognized award-winning maritime writer,
lecturer, and television commentator. He is a lecturer at the
Distinguished Military Author Series of the Center for Army Analysis in
Washington DC; Caribbean/Latin American lecturer at the U.S. Southern
Command’s Notable Military Author Series; guest author and lecturer
aboard the Queen Mary 2 since
her maiden voyage, as well as the Silver Sea fleet of luxury liners; a
maritime commentator for Florida PBS; and a naval history lecturer for
the American History Forum and the Civil War Education Association. His
lectures span 32 various maritime topics. 
The
CSS Florida, a steam screw
cruiser of about 700 tons, built in Liverpool, England, was commissioned
in August 1862 as the Oreto ,
since England did not allow the ships it built for the South to be
openly commissioned as Confederate Navy ships.
Immediately
upon striking we backed off, believing she would sink from the effects
of the blow.