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Author Archives: Dwight Hughes
Fallen Leaders: Admiral Andrew H. Foote – Another Farragut?
February 6, 1862, midday: Advance cavalry elements of Brig. Gen. U. S. Grant’s 17,000-man force broke from the woods fronting the Confederate fort they intended to attack and were startled to observe the Stars and Stripes flying from the flagpole. … Continue reading
Posted in Leadership--Federal, Navies, Western Theater
Tagged Admiral David G. Farragut, Andrew H. Foote, Battle of Fort Donelson, Battle of Fort Henry, Battle of Island Number 10, David D. Porter, Fallen Leaders, Fallen-Leaders-21, Gideon Welles, ironclads, John Pope, Mississippi River Squadron, Mortars, Samuel F. DuPont, Ulysses Grant, USS Carondelet, USS Essex, Western Gunboat Flotilla
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Recruiting the Crew: Iron Men for Iron Ships
Both Civil War navies faced severe recruiting shortages in that first war year and indeed throughout the conflict. The U. S. Navy expanded tenfold, competing for enlistees not only against the army but also alongside the burgeoning, more lucrative, and … Continue reading
On a Hot Stove in the Old Ironclad
Illustrating Civil War history can be challenging. Maps, photos, drawings, paintings, prints–period and modern–are tools of the trade. But addressing the complex and esoteric technology of naval vessels calls for another method: the digital graphic drawing. Historical illustrator Jim Caiella … Continue reading
On The Eve Of War: An Englishman in Washington
William Howard Russell, an influential reporter for The Times of London, toured America north and south in 1861-62 leaving a picturesque portrait of places, people, and issues. He is considered one of the first modern war correspondents for dramatic coverage … Continue reading
First Battle of Ironclads: Myths, Facts, What Ifs
Today is the 159th anniversary of the battle and my new Emerging Civil War Series book, Unlike Anything That Ever Floated: The Monitor and Virginia and the Battle Hampton Roads, March 8-9, 1862 is just hitting the shelves. Time for … Continue reading
Town Between the Rivers: Cairo, Illinois
A blue-coated rider appeared atop the riverbank above the steamer Belle Memphis. Rebels massed in the cornfield behind him fired volleys that whistled by the horseman, whanged through the tall smokestacks, and thudded into the vessel’s superstructure. Hundreds of Iowa … Continue reading
What We’ve Learned: “A Lot of History Every Month”
What have we learned since the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War? As it happens, those years correspond with my tenure as a contributing author to the Emerging Civil War blog starting in December 2014. Looking back over the posts, … Continue reading
“Praise the Lord and Admiral Porter”: Running the Vicksburg Batteries
“We still live,” wrote Lieutenant Elias Smith of the USS Lafayette. “The whole gunboat fleet passed the Vicksburg batteries on Thursday night [April 16, 1863], without receiving material damage. All praise to the Lord and Admiral Porter.” As far as … Continue reading
Home Libraries: A Salty Civil War Library
Back in the 90’s, Judi and I loved cruising beautiful Virginia country byways and rural towns always seeking that musty little used-book store. She headed for the garden section and I, of course, made a beeline for the Civil War … Continue reading
What Doomed the Crew of the HL Hunley?
On February 17, 1864, the Confederate submarine H L Hunley became the first combat submarine to sink a warship when she snuck up on and rammed her spar torpedo into the hull of the screw sloop-of-war USS Housatonic outside Charleston … Continue reading
