Showing results for "Mississippi River Squadron"

Book Review: The Encyclopedia of Confederate Generals

Reviewed by Stephen Davis The first thing that catches your eye about this impressively comprehensive volume is the number 426. Like most of you, I grew up on Ezra J. Warner’s number of 425 Confederate generals. But Mitcham alertly reminds us that at Richmond in the final days of the Confederacy, Admiral Raphael Semmes, his […]

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Symposium Spotlight: Goals of the Confederacy’s European-Built Ironclad Fleet

With less than three months remaining until our symposium, several of our authors will further explore topics relating to their ‘What If’ theme. Today, Neil Chatelain explores why the Confederacy wanted to build ironclads in Europe… A few weeks back the Emerging Civil War question of the week asked what made the US capture of […]

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Blockade, Privateering, and the 1856 Declaration of Paris

In April 1861, the commanders in chief of both the United States and Confederacy issued far ranging proclamations. Abraham Lincoln declared a blockade of Confederate ports while Jefferson Davis issued a call for privateers to make war on US seaborne commerce. Oddly, the 1856 Paris Declaration, a document neither president assented to, influenced these actions […]

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Blasting His Way into the History Books: Assessing the Role of Cdr. Hunter Davidson

ECW welcomes back guest author John M. Coski At 2:00 a.m. on April 9, 1864, the small, steam-driven boat Squib, commanded by Confederate Navy Lieutenant Hunter Davidson, exploded a 53-pound spar torpedo against the hull of the U.S. steam frigate Minnesota. Despite small arms fire at point-blank range and a temporarily stalled engine, the Squib […]

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Forts: Pensacola’s Advanced Redoubt

In 2019, I made my first visit to the Pensacola forts (Pickens and Barrancas). This was long overdue, given my proximity. Another fortification that I visited was the Advanced Redoubt, located a short distance north of Fort Barrancas, built to protect the inland approaches to the nearby Navy Yard. Construction on the fort began in […]

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On Dark Nights: Blockade Runners Supplying The Confederacy

“The Confederate Steamer Lilian, of which I was then Purser, was chased for nearly a hundred miles from Cape Lookout by the U. S. Steamer Shenandoah, which sailed a parallel course within half a mile of her and forced the Lilian at times into the breakers. This was probably the narrowest escape ever made by […]

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Memorials and Memory on a French Quarter Dog Walk

My wife and I, along with our spunky mutt Mouton (named after General Jean-Jacques-Alfred- Alexandre Mouton), spent the week before Christmas 2021 in New Orleans. My younger sister got married that week and we were sure to not miss out. Throughout the festivities, we stayed at my uncle’s house in the Faubourg Marigny, just to […]

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The “Emerging Civil War Series” Series: A Mortal Blow to the Confederacy

by Mark Bielski In studying the Fall of New Orleans, I was looking forward to researching the intricacies of the campaign, the characters on either side, leadership, decision making and what led to the end result. Additionally, geography and topography would come into play. Although a visitor could use the book as an historical guide, […]

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Fallen Leaders: Ulric Dahlgren

ECW welcomes guest author Brian D. Kowell The young amputee was still unaccustomed to his new wooden leg on February 18, 1864, as the train pulled into Brandy Station, a stop on the Orange & Alexandria railroad in Virginia just west of the Rappahannock River. Twenty-year old Colonel Ulric Dahlgren, one of the youngest to attain […]

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