Posted inUS Civil War

April 11, 1861 – Affairs in Florida

The Pensacola correspondent of the N. Y. Tribune writes from the U. S. steamer Brooklyn, off Pensacola bar, April 2d :

I can assure you our condition has been deplorable enough for some time past. At one period, we were almost reduced to the point of starvation, so successfully had the edict of Gen. Braxton Bragg, forbidding all communication with United States vessels, been carried out. As we were thus necessitated to procure the necessities of life elsewhere, we “up anchor” on the 22d ult , and steamed direct to Key West, at which place we arrived in excellent time, Here, everything was perfectly quiet, but as we run into the harbor, the hotheaded rebels that observed us busied themselves in hoisting secession flags, and as they were tauntingly flung to the breeze, accompanied the act with shouts of derision.

Posted inDaily News

Sampson on Cevera

Spanish battleship Cristobal Colon
Spanish Battleship Cristobal Colon

Orleans County Monitor, Barton, VT, April 10, 1899

Not the least interesting part of Admiral Sampson’s paper on “The Atlantic Fleet in the Spanish War,” in the April Century, is that in which he critises the Spanish Commander’s strategy.

When we come to consider the strategy of Admiral Cevera in leaving the harbor, it must be said first of all that it would have been much better, if he could have done so to leave at ‘ night. That he could not do so, is the testimony of officers of his fleet. We know from what they said subsequently, while they were prisoners that this plan had been considered by the admiral and his officers. Two advocated going out by night; the others were all in favor of the sortie by day. The great difficulty in a night attempt was our dazzling search-light. A search-light shining direct in one’s eyes prevents him absolutely from seeing anything else; it is as though he were looking at the sun; and it was that effect upon them taken in connection with the necessity of seeing their way out of the channel, that made them hesitate. This feeling was in itself a compliment to the efficiency of the blockade, but we did not attach so much importance to the dazzling of the enemy as to the illumination of the channel so that we could see everything that was going on. It was a continual wonder to us why they did not fire at our search-light, which was always within range. To be sure, it would have required pretty good marksmanship to knock it out, but it would have made the man who was manipulating it quite uneasy to know that he was the center of the enemy’s fire.

Posted inMaritime & Naval History

Sailors Needed

To Man the New Battleships Being Completed

USS Castine
USS Castine (PG-6)

Washington, D. C, April 9.—The difficulty in securing a sufficient number of sailors to man the new battleships and other naval craft which are being turned out by our ship-builders has led to the renewal in some quarters of the suggestion that some of the larger vessels of Admiral Watson’s squadron be withdrawn from the Philippines to make up the complements of the new ships at home. It is stated at the Navy Department, however, that no action in that direction has been determined upon, and in view of the expected arrival on the Asiatic station within a fortnight of Admirals Romey and Kempff, and the ensuing division of the naval force on the station into two squadrons, it is not contemplated that any change will be made.