CAMP # 1722
SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS
FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA
~ CONFEDERATE NAVY & MARINE CORPS ~
"CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA NAVAL ACADEMY"
After Authorizing An Eduational Program For Midshipmen Late In 1861, The Confederate Congres Began Filling Appointments To A New Naval Academy In April Of 1862. Commander John M. Brooke And Lieutenant William H. Parker Organized The Academy, And Lieutenant William H. Parker Became Its Superintendent. The Facility Was Unique: A Vessle At Drewry's Bluff On The James River Was Converted Into The School Ship, C.S.S. Patrick Henry. Although 106 Young Men, Ages 14 To 18 Were Initally Appointed Acting Misdhipmen, The C.S.S. Patrick Henry Could only Accommodate 52 Of Them, Along With 20 Officers, Professors And Crew. Classes Began Officialy In October Of 1863 And Continued Until The End Of The War Between The States. In December Of 1864, 29 Former U.S. Midshipmen And 30 Others Passed Their Promotion Curriculum And Discipline Was Similar To That Of Its Counterpart, The U.S. Naval Academy, (Which Matthew Fontaine Maury Was Instrumental In Establishing At Annapolis Maryland), And The C.S.S. Patrick Henry Also Offered Firsthand Experience In Practical Seamanship. Midshipmen Were Frequently Required To Respond To Enemy Fire Directed At Their Ship. As Active Naval Personnel, They Received $500.00 Annually, In Addition To Room, Board And Uniforms.
In April Of 1865, Following The Evacuation Of Richmond, Virginia, Lieutenant William H. Parker And About 50 Of His Midshipment Were Specialy Chosen To Escort Confederate States Of America President Jefferson Finis Davis South, Along With The Confederate Archives, Specie And Bullion. The C.S.S. Partick Henry Was Set Afire To Prevent Its Capture, And Lieutenant William H. Parker Was Directed By Confederate States Navy Secretary Stephen R. Mallory To Reestablich The Confederate States Of America Naval Academy In Either North Carolina Or Georgia, An Order The End Of The War Between The States Made Impossible To Carry Out.
"CONFEDERATE STATES MARINE COPRS"
The Confederate States Marine Corps (C.S.M.C.) Was Established By An Act Of The Confederate States Congress On 16 March 1861. The Corps Strength Was Authorized At 46 Officers And 944 Enlisted Men, But The Actual Enrollment Never Came Close To That Number. A Figure For 30 October 1864 Lists Only 539 Officers And Men. Though The Officers Were Mostly Former U.S. Marine Officers, The Head Of The Confederate States Marine Corps Was Commandant Colonel Lloyd James Beall, Who Was A Former U.S. Army Paymaster With No Marine Experience.
The Confederate States Marine Corps Was Modeled After The U.S. Marine Corps, But There Were Some Differences. The Confederate Marine Corps Organized Themselves Into Permanent Companies, Replaced The Fife With The Light Infantry Bugle, And Wore Uniforms Similar To those Worn By The British Marines. Ashore They Provided Guard Detachments For The Confederate Naval Stations At Mobile, Savannah, Charleston, Charlotte, Richmond And Wilmington And Manned Naval Shore Batteries At Penascola, Hilton Head, Fort Fisher And Drewry's Bluff. Seagoing Detachments Served Aboard The Various War Ships And Even On commerce Destroyers.
Confederate Marines Saw Their First Naval Action Aboard The C.S.S. Virginia Off Hampton Roads, Virginia On The 8th And 9th Of March In 1862, And Near The War's End Were Part Of The Naval Brigade That Fought At Sayler's Creek, Virginia.
Despite Desertions And Even Near Mutinies, Most Confederate Marines Served Well And Deserved The Confederate Naval Secretary Stephen R. Mallory's Praise For Their "Promptness And Efficience." The Confederate States Marine Corps Weakness Was Due Largely To Internal Squabbles Over Rank, Shore Duty And Administrative Assignments. And With No Funds For Bounties, The Confederate Marine Corps Could Not Easily Enlist Recruits. Until 1864, The Monthly Pay Of Enlisted Confederate States Marine Was $3.00 Less Than That Of The Equivalent Confederate Army Grade Soldier. Only Late In The War Were The Confederate Marines Allowed To Draw From Army Conscripts To Augment Their Own Ranks.
"U.S.S. MERRIMACK TO C.S.S. VIRGINIA"
It Was At The Hand Of Lieutenant H. A. Wise, U.S.N., Who Actually Applied The Torch To The U.S.S. Merrimack, (Which Had Been First Commissioned On 20 February 1856), Who Had An Interesting Statement To Make After The Act Had Been Carried Out. He Wrote In A Letter To Governor Everett On 19 June 1861:
"The Reports Relative To The Raising Of The U.S.S. Merrimack Are And Have To BE All 'Bosh', For I Had Hardly Time To Push Off From Her Side, As I Touched A Match To The Train Of Turpentine Wast Hanging From A Port, When Flames Sprouted Out In Volume. Flames Were Belching From Her Lower Decks, With Her Upper Works, Masts And Rigging Burning At The Same Time. I Have No Doubt That She Was consumed To A Mere Hull And That Only Below The Water Line, And Even To Raise What May Be Left Of Her Would Cost More Time And Money Then Were Taken To Build Her."
He Would Be Proven To Be Quite Incorrect In His Assessment Of The Situation...
Within Three Weeks The Wreck Had Been Raised By Baker Brothers Of Norfolk, Virginia And Placed In Dry-Dock At The Now Confederate Norfolk Navy Yards. Work To Convert The Ship Into An Ironclad Vessel Was Begun On 11 July 1861, And There Seems To Be Some Question As To Whether John Porter Or Lieutenant John Mercer Brooke, C.S.N. Was The First To Submit The Conversion Plans. John Porter Had Been Formerly A Construction Manager In The U.S. Navy, However The Plans Were Approved By The Secretary Of The Confederacy, Stephen S. Mallory. During The Reconstruction, Chief Engineer Williamson, C.S.A., Attended To The Machinery And Lieutenant John M. Brooke To The Ordinance And Armor.
Work To Convert The U.S.S. Merrimack Into An Ironclad Vessel Began In Earnes On 11 July 1861. Towards Completion, It Was Reported That The Georgia Militia And Other Troops Were Used In The Undertaking And That Two Shifts Were Used To Speed The Completion Of The Ironclad Ship. In Tis Refitting, An Armored Structure 170 Feet Long Mounted On The Hull Of The Ship With A 35 Degree Slanting. The Final Decision Was To Place 24 Inches Of Wood On The Sides And Ends, To Be Covered With Four Inches Of Iron Strips. The Side Wooden Armor Was Made Of Four Inches Of Oak Laid Horizontally, Eight Inches Of Pine Laid Vertically And 12 Inches Of Pine Laid Horizontally With The Mass Bolted Together With 1 3/4 Inch Bolts. Both Sides, Roof And Fore And Aft Casemates Were Sheathed With Two-By-Six Inch Iron Bars Laid Vertically With Another Layer Laid Horizontally. The Iron Bars Were Originally Railroad Rails That Had Been Forged And Rolled Into Bars Two Inches Thick And Six Inches Wide. Forward And Aft Of The Armored Structure, The Deck Planks Were Sheathed With Iron One Inch Thick, Then Covered With Pig Iron To Submerge The Decks Below The Water. The Total Weight Of The Armor Was Said To Be 800 Tons, with 300 Tons Of Ballast Used To Submerge Her Decks.
To Complete Her Structure A Two Foot Cast Iron Ram Bolted Two Feet Underwater At Her Bow, An Eight Foot Diameter Smokestack And A Large Cast Iron Piolt House Were Constructed On The Forward End On Top Of The Armored Housing. The Pilot House Was Never Used, As The Commander With His Pilot Preferred To Stand On A Platform In A Hatch Situated Over The Steering System. The C.S.S. Virginia Mounted Three Smooth Bore, Nine Inch Muzzle Loading Dahlgren Cast Iron Cannons On Each Side, Port And Starboard. The Canons Weighed 9,200 Pounds Each And Were Able To Fire A 70 Pound Explosive Shell. On Each Side There Was Also Mounted One 6.4 Inch Muzzle Loading Rifled Brooke Cannon. At The Bow And At The Stern There Were Placed Seven Inch Brooke Rifled Cannons ounted On Pivots That Could Be Used At Either Of Three Gun Ports. These Brooke Cannons Could Fire A Heavy Explosive Conical Projectile Accurately At A Range Of Several Miles.
The C.S.S. Virginia Was Recommissioned Fro The U.S.S. Merrimack on 17 February 1862. In March Of 1862, Not Wishing To Take The C.S.S. Virginia, "The Pride Of The Confederate States Navy" Into Battle Without The Blessing Of The Lord - A Request For A Special Midnight Holy Communion Service Was Made To The Trinity Episcopal Church Of Portsmouth, Virginia By Some Of The Officers And Men Stationed On The Vessel. The Reverend John Henry Duchacet Wingfield, Assistant Rector Of The Trinity Church Was On Active Duty As A Private In The Virginia Militia Serving Various Units As Chaplain. He Celebrated Holy Communion After Midnight on 8 March 1862. The C.S.S. Virginia Was Prepared For Battle For The First Time, Which Included The Following Persons: Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan, Commanding; Executive And Ordance Officer Lieutenant Catesby ap R. Jones; Flag Officer Lieutenant R. D. Minor; Chief Engineer H. Ashton Ramsay And Thomas Kevill, Captain Of The Norfilk United Artillery Who Was In Charge Of A Fielf Artillery unit Of Whom 31 Members Manned Some Of The Cannons On The C.S.S. Virginia. In All, About 350 Men Were In Attandance And The Crew Of The C.S.S. Virginia.
Among Other Rating And Officers Partaking Of The Communion Were The Five Pilots Of The C.S.S. Virginia, William Parish, George Wright, Hezekiah Williams, William Clarke And Thomas Cunnigham. With The Patriotic Fever Engendered By The Confederate Cause And The Request Made For The Blessing Of God, It Was Time For The Battle To Begin. During The C.S.S. Virginia's Encounters, She Sank Or Disabled U.S. Naval Ships, Cumberland; Congress; Minnesota; Zouave And Dragon, Before Circumstances Dictated The Decision To Abandon The Vessel And Set Her On Fire. The C.S.S. Virginia Was Driven Ashore Aroond Midnight on 11 May 1862 And At Approximately 4:30 a.m. Her Magazine Was Exploded Containing Some 18 Tons Of Powder And To This Was Applied A Slow Match By Executive Officer Catesby ap Roger Jones, And The Mighty And Historic "Pride Of The South," The C.S.S. Virginia Was Entered Into History And Existed No More... But The Venerable C.S.S. Virginia's Exploits And Victories Shall Forever Live On.
"CONFEDERATE TORPEDOES"
Teh Torpeod, Today Called A Mine, Was The "Infernal Machine" Of The War Between The States. Torpedoes Were Developed In A Variety Of Sized For A Multitude Of Uses, Mostly By The Confederate States.
One Of The First Instances Of The Confederates Use Of A Torpedo Was During The Withdrawl Of General Joseph Eggleston Johnston's Forces From Yorktown, Virginia In May of 1862. Artillery Shells Were Left Buried In the Raods, Set To Burst When Stepped On. At The Time, Such A Device Was Considered Outside The Bounds Of civilized Warfare, And Brigadier General Gabriel Jmes Rains, Who Had Been Experimenting With The Use Of Such Explosives, Was Told To Stop Planting Them.
However, The Confederates Were Soon Using Torpedoes Widley, Primarily As Water Defenses. Some Built From Scratch, Others Improvised Unsing Barrels As Casings, The Mines Were Floated In Southern Harbors And Rivers To Protect Them From Union Naval Incursions. Many Mines Were Designed To Be Set Off By The Pressure Of A ship Moving Over Them; Others Were Wired To Batteries ANd Set Off By An Observer On The Shore. A Number Of Union Vessels Were Lost To Torpedoes, Including The Ironclad Cairo, Sunk In The Yazoo River In Mississippi in 1863.
Torpeodes Were Also Used As Offensive Weapons. Many Of The Confederate Semi-Submersible "Davids" Had Torpedoes Attached To A Spar Mounted On The Bow Of The Vessel. hese Were Intended For Ramming Union Vessels, Upon Which They Would Exlpode. While The "Davids" Never Scored A Hit, The Confederate Submarine H. L. Hunley (Recently Raised After 136 Years, Now In South Carolina) Itself Sank After Successfully Sinking The U.S.S. Housatonic In February Of 1864.
A Number Of The Confederacy's Best Minds Were Involved In The Design And The Perfection Of Torpedoes, Among Them - First And Foremost, Matthew Fontaine Maury, "Pathfider Of The Seas" And "America's Most Decorated Man." Many Experiments Were Carreied Out By Matthew Fontaine Maury In The Bathtub In His Resdence, Only A Block Away From The Confederate White House Of President Jefferson Finis Davis In Richmond, Virginia.
There Were A Few Torpedoes Used On The Union Side During The War, Including The One That Sank The Confederate Ironclad, C.S.S. Albermarle.
Deo Vindice... God Is Our Vindicator
Sic Semper Tyrannis... Thus Unto Tyrants
RAMSr - 2001 2002
Fredericksburg, Virginia