North Carolina is Where You Can Get Your Civil War Navy Fix in Early 2014

2014.  A new year for the sesquicentennial.  For the Civil War in 1864, it was the crucial linchpin between Confederate collapse and surrender.  With the Mississippi River closed and much of the South still reeling from the effects of the Vicksburg campaign, final preparations were underway for the Union Army's last "push to victory:"  the Overland Campaign and Sherman's March to the Sea/Petersburg.

It is a landmark year for the Civil War navies.  Legends are made (Farragut at Mobile Bay) and taken down (Raphael Semmes and the Alabama).  Events, activities, and programs will undoubtedly crop out throughout the year.  Yet, if you REALLY want to get your Civil War Navy fix for the new year, the place to do it is North Carolina.  Here is a brief run down of some events going on in the first few months of 2014:

“Always near the front, with instruments and tourniquets:  The Medical Service at Fort Fisher”
January 18, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Fort Fisher State Historic Site, Kure Beach

"The attack during the Second Battle of Fort Fisher was the largest assault by the U.S. Army and Navy until World War II, and followed a smaller attack in December. Union forces had to stop the supply line to Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia that fed through Fort Fisher. Combined Federal casualties are believed to have exceeded 1,500; Confederates are believed to have been greater than 3,800. Care of the injured among the casualties will be examined during the program."

Underwriter Expedition Symposium and Living History

February 1, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
CSS Neuse Civil War Interpretive Center, Kinston

The CSS Neuse Civil War Interpretive Center will host the USS Underwriter Expedition Symposium and Navy Living History on Saturday, February 1, 2014 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  The program will commemorate the 150^th anniversary of the Underwriter Expedition.  It was likely the most exciting thing in which many of the crew of the CSS Neuse were involved.

The Symposium will feature a talk by speaker Jeff Bockert about the larger campaign of which the USS Underwriter Expedition was a part at 10 a.m.  Andrew Duppstadt will speak about the naval attack and involvement of crewmembers from the CSS Neuse at 1 p.m. At 2:30 Matthew Young will address the attack on the USS Water Witch, a similar operation to the Underwriter Expedition that took place in Georgia.  Pre-registration is required for the symposium. A boxed lunch from Our Picnic Basket will be included in the $10 registration fee.  Please call 252-522-2107 or email cssneuse@ncdcr.gov to register by January 24, 2014.

The Carolina Living History Guild will provide Civil War naval displays, living history, and costumed interpretation.  The living history is free and open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

At the CSS Neuse Interpretive Center, learn about the ironclad gunboat and watch as a new museum takes shape.  The Confederate Navy launched the ill-fated CSS Neuse in an attempt to regain control of the lower Neuse River and the city of New Bern.

The CSS Neuse Interpretive Center is located at 100 N. Queen St., Kinston, N.C.  Hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Gov. Caswell Center is located at 2612 W. Vernon Ave., Kinston, N.C., 28504. Hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. 4 p.m. The sites are closed Sunday and Monday, and most major holidays.

For information contact Holly Brown at 252-526-9600 ex. 222 or email cssneuse@ncdcr.gov.  Visit the site on Facebook at “CSS Neuse” or “Gov. Richard Caswell Memorial State Historic Site” pages.  The sites are administered by the Division of State Historic Sites within the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.

"The Navy Way" Program
February 15-16, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site, Winnabow 

"The outmanned and outgunned Confederates first used torpedoes during the Civil War. The first marine torpedoes were fixed water mines, not the self-propelled explosives of today. There will be torpedo demonstrations at the fort, and re-enactors of artillery and cavalry soldiers also will participate in the program. Brunswick Town has one of the most extensive exhibits of Civil War torpedoes in the southeast."

Some program descriptions taken from Beach Carolina Magazine

First Battle of Fort Fisher

147 years ago on this day, Union Admiral David Dixon Porter and Major General Benjamin Butler teamed up against Confederate Major General Robert Hoke in the First Battle of Fort Fisher in New Hanover County, North Carolina, which protected the port of Wilmington. The battle was a Confederate victory, though the fort was taken in the Second Battle of Fort Fisher in January 1865.

From the 7 January 1865 issue of Harper's Weekly:
From Richmond papers we learn that Porter's fleet, estimated by the rebels at fifty vessels, including two Monitors, made a "furious" attack on Fort Fisher about 1 P.M., December 24, and was continued through the day, and repeated the next day at 10 o'clock A.M. The enemy admits a loss of twenty-three wounded the first day. Under cover of a heavy fire Butler had succeeded in landing above the fort with his military division, consisting of portion, of the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Corps. General Butler's command still held its ground, although it had been repulsed in an assault on the fort. From a report which comes from Newborn, dated the 24th, it appears that during the night of the 23d a terrible explosion occurred. This was doubtless the explosion of the Louisiana, which had been laden with 300 tons of gunpowder, and exploded in front of Fort Fisher previous to the near approach of the fleet. The rebel reports, however, make no mention of this fact, though they admit that the situation of the fort is precarious. Fort Fisher is situated on Federal Point, on the north bank, and at the mouth of Cape Fear River, twenty miles below Wilmington. It commands the approach to Wilmington by New Inlet, and its capture will insure a complete blockade of that most important port.

USS Fort Donelson (ex-Robert E. Lee)

This is an 1864 picture of USS Fort Donelson in Norfolk shortly after being repaired. This sleek looking warship was formerly the Scottish-built blockade runner Robert E. Lee. As a blockade runner, the vessel gave the U.S. Navy fits as she was able to evade blockaders and leave them in her wake. Her luck ran out on November 9, 1863 when the blockaders USS Iron Age and James Adger caught and captured her. 

Robert E. Lee/Fort Donelson is an excellent example of a Civil War blockade runner.  Some of the best designed ships of the war were the blockade runners.  Sleek in design, they had to achieve high speed while being able to carry a large amount of cotton (if going outbound) or ordnance and clothing (if coming inbound).  Scottish and English shipbuilders were more than happy to accommodate Confederate and British outfits with ships that fit these needs.  The result was some of the fastest ships in the world. 

The U.S. Navy did work off the theory that the best way to capture a blockade runner was with another blockade runner, particularly one as well designed as Robert E. Lee. Thus, Robert E. Lee was refitted, reflagged, and recommissioned Fort Donelson (after the 1862 battle on the Cumberland River). She served with the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and participated in the second Fort Fisher campaign.