Commander Walke Runs the Gauntlet

The Union Navy was busy during the early months of 1862.  With commanders Andrew Hull Foote and Major General John Pope fresh off recent success, Union forces looked to Island No. 10 as their next step to securing the Mississippi River. 

Flag Officer Foote was against the idea of running past the batteries at Island No. 10, as his gunboats from the flotilla were still wounded from the repulse at Fort Donelson earlier in the year.  Foote himself already revered service on the Western rivers as "anomalous," as he never fully felt comfortable with the Navy under the direction of the War Department (this did not change until later in the year - at the time, all Western theater operations were under the orders of Henry Halleck).  Despite his apprehension, the gunboats sailed downriver from Cairo in the middle of March to make preparations for their attack at New Madrid and Island No. 10, complete with additional mortar rafts for a siege. 

Foote and Pope could not agree on a successfully strategy for the siege.  Foote, always calculated and methodical, laid up the fleet in the river bend just above Island No. 10.  Pope requested that the separated forces join together by running past the batteries at Island No. 10.  Foote, still dealing with the injuries inflicted at Fort Donelson, declared the idea foolish.  He did not feel his gunboats were capable of running the myriad batteries along the low bend in the river.  Thus, the next few weeks saw bombardment, not movement of the fleet downriver.  The mortars were less than satisfactory, however.  Something else had to be done to defy the batteries at Island. No. 10.  Union forces created a canal in haste to allow transports and supplies to flow downriver out of sight from the guns.  It was not deep enough for the gunboats to move past.  Pope demanded gunboat projection, which was communicated to Foote from General Halleck.  Foote would have to go against his own judgement and run past the batteries.

Commander Henry Walke volunteered his ship, the Carondelet, to run past the batteries.  Walke retrofitted the ship with anything available to help it stay together, including rope and chain.  He also went to great lengths to dampen the sound of the ship itself, diverting exhaust steam from the smokestacks to make it as silent as possible. The ship was made dark enough to blend in the water as it sought the opportunity of pitch black night to aid its escape from the batteries. 

On the unusually dark night of April 4, 1862, Walke found that chance to act.  Moving downriver, everything seemed to be going smoothly until it was spotted near the second battery. A fire ignited from the buildup of the diverted smokestacks, giving away her position.  Thankfully, the fire from shore was highly inaccurate and the ship was able to escape without major damage.

The Carondelet, accompanied by the Pittsburg two days later, spent the next few days firing at Confederate shore batteries below New Madrid.  They also took the opportunity to spike the guns on the rebel shore batteries at Watson's Landing.  This allowed Pope's Army of the Mississippi to move up the rear of Confederate forces, cutting them off completely from outside contact.  It was only a matter of time before the surpised troops surrendered. 
 

U.S. GUNBOAT CARONDELET,
April 7, 1862.

Maj. Gen. JOHN POPE, Commanding U. S. Forces, New Madrid.

        SIR: Agreeably to your instructions of the 6th instant, I proceeded down the Mississippi about 6.30 this morning. Attacked, silenced, and spiked all the guns of the rebel batteries opposite your batteries. The lower one made a desperate resistance. It consisted of two 64-pounder howitzers and one 32-pounder gun. Two were dismounted and the other disabled by our shots. I then took and spiked temporarily a 64-pounder howitzer about half a mile above, and a quarter of a mile above that found a 64-pounder spiked. I took on board a man who reported himself to me as a spy, whom I send to you. The rebels had set fire to a house on the shore.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

H. WALKE,Commander, U. S. Navy.

Battle of Hampton Roads Weekend Recap

CWN 150 Bloggers Unite! (Matthew Eng, Sarah Adler, Craig Swain, Seaman Rob)

Although we have already posted several posts on this past weekend's Battle of Hampton Roads festivities, I would be hard pressed if I didn't say a few words to wrap up the fantastic event.

NHHC Director Jay Deloach at Descendant's Breakfast

From start to finish, the Battle of Hampton Roads Weekend (March 8-11) was a success.  Beginning with My Hayley's talk on the Treason of Mary Louvestre and ending with the final talk I had the pleasure to give with Anna Holloway on the Civil War in Public Memory, the event was marvelous.  Everything in between: the descendant's breakfast, the reenactors, the living history day crafts and activities - all of it was fantastic.

Unveiling of Monitor Facial Reconstruction

Above all, I was most impressed with the interest from visitors coming to visit the HRNM booth.  It warms my heart to see the hard work put into this commemoration is paying off - either for this commemoration, museums like HRNM and the Mariners', or for enthusiastic individuals who do amazing work online and in print like Craig Swain and Laura June Davis. 

The talks I attended were great.  To be honest, the Hampton Roads Naval Museum booth was swamped.  The only talks that I went to were Dr. Holzer's great discussion of Civil War art on Friday night and the ones HRNM staff presented at.  Either way, fellow blogger Seaman Rob can fill you in with that information from previous posts.

Laura Orr talks with visitors

I want to personally thank Anna Holloway for all her kind words this weekend.  The Mariners' Museum has been a wonderful ally and friend in getting the word spread that the Civil War Navy matters.  For new individuals we met this weekend - welcome.  It is a pleasure to meet you.

This commemoration, no matter what somebody might tell you otherwise, is yours.  It is up to YOU the readers and followers of Civil War history to pass the torch and keep the conversation going.  Without your help, the information provided here or other sites set up in commemoration of the war will all be for nothing.  We are all here to provide you with the most up to date information on events and activities surrounding the Civil War Navy Sesquicentennial.  We clearly saw this weekend that the message is out there and you are responding - we had over 800 people come up to our booth (Hampton Roads Naval Museum) and take our literature, admire the Monitor and Virginia LEGOs, and just talk and interact with us. 

So, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you for reading this blog and keeping the fire alive.  Let's keep the momentum going.  Tell somebody about the site, talk about Civil War history, visit a maritime/naval museum, or just remember that you were a huge part in the memory of the 150th anniversary just by remaining an active member of the public perception of this country's most trying time.

Full Speed Ahead,

Me, Gideon Welles, and Seaman Rob

Matthew T. Eng
Coordinator
Civil War Navy Sesquicentennial

Battle of Hampton Roads Day 2 - Seaman Rob's Report

The second day of the BOHR event dawned with some frost on the ground, which is totally unheard of in March for a Floridian!! I attended the morning free lecture by Dr. John Quarstein on “The Men of the CSS Virginia”. Dr. Quarstein’s talk was an animated overview of the design and building of the CSS Virginia from the hulk of the USS Merrimack and the effort to find a crew to man her. Along the way he offered history and observations on the officers and men who crewed this revolutionary warship and he made the very interesting point that many of the men who served on the Virginia went on to serve in many important positions in the Confederate Navy, even after the ship was destroyed. I purchased a copy of Dr. Quarstein’s book “The Monitor Boys” and was fortunate to get him to sign it with a hearty “Huzzah” to Seaman Rob!! In addition, I met fellow CWN150 Guest Bloggers Sarah Adler and Andrew Duppstadt and I was “drafted” as an unofficial Hampton Roads Naval Museum volunteer to man the HRNM Booth while staffers Matt Eng, Laura Orr, and Gordon Calhoun were in a panel presentation at the Naval History Conference. Because I was not an attendee at the Conference, I am going to depend upon all of them to give an update on the content of their presentations and assessment of how it went. I enjoyed meeting many CW re-enactors (army, navy and marine) from the Virginia area and found them very friendly, informative, and I learned a lot from them. Thanks guys (and gals)!! All-in-all, this was an incredible weekend and I felt it was worth the drive up from Florida.


Images are from the Naval History and Heritage Command web site. Top photo is Adm. Franklin Buchanan, the first commander of the CSS Virginia, and the bottom photo is Catesby ap Roger Jones, the XO of the Virginia.