Even Old News is Good News

Here is a few interesting events and tidbits on the Civil War navies around the interwebs this past week:

Photo Credit: Kate Taylor

There was a really interesting article from the New Haven, CT Working Waterman. Freelance writer Kate Taylor wrote a fantastic piece on the towns' plans to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. She included this picture of a baby next to her great, great, great, great grandfather Ulmer A. Brown, a New Haven resident who served in the U.S. Navy during the Civil War.

According to New Haven resident Samuel H. Beverage, “My guess is that the larger number [of the island’s Civil War veterans] were in the Navy which outnumbered the South Navy and served more as a Blockade Enforcement than they did in pitched battles.” She also included an interesting quote from Maine-based author Peter Scott. Scott apparently agrees with the previous quote, stating that the “North Haven men survived in such numbers because they were blockading at sea.” Does this detract from the rigorous reality of blockade duty? Or is this merely a mimicked reaction to the public memory of the navies' involvement during the war itself? You can read the full article HERE.

This was a week of conferences. Everything from the annual Naval History Symposium (Annapolis, MD), the Historic Naval Ships Association Conferences (Honolulu, HI), and the American Association of State and Local History (Richmond, VA). If you have any interesting information relevent to the Civil War navies from these events, comment here, on facebook, or tweet them @civilwarnavy. If you haven't already, make sure you are following the Civil War Navy Sesquicentennial on Twitter (@civilwarnavy), on Facebook, and LinkedIn. Posts are occasionally included on the Naval History blog as well.

There is also more interesting news. The Naval History and Heritage Command was accepted to create an iTunes U page. Please check back for updates. Civil War Navy Sesquicentennial-related items will be "tagged," as it is an official U.S. Navy commemoration within the command. Keep posted, the podcasting has already begun to formulate! You will need iTunes in order to view and download all content from the iTunes U site.

Historic Dates and Events:

• 14 September 1861: The USS Colorado sank the Confederate private schooner Judah off Pensacola, Fla.
• 16 September 1854: This date marks a historic day for the future Admiral David Glasgow Farragut. Although he was a decade away from remarking those famous words at Mobile Bay, the younger CDR took possession of Mare Island in 1854. This was the first U.S. Navy Yard in the Pacific.
• 17 September 1861: Union landing party from USS Massachusetts takes possession of Ship Island south of New Orleans, LA. This was the headquarters for ADM David Farragut's Gulf Coast Blockading Squadron.