Posted inUS Civil War

May 24, 1861 – The War Begun in Earnest

Death of Col. Ellsworth after hauling down the rebel flag, at the taking of Alexandria, Va., May 24th 1861

Death of Col. Ellsworth after hauling down the rebel flag, at the taking of Alexandria, Va., May 24th 1861

A Midnight March

Movement Upon Alexandria and the Virginia Heights  

Brutal Assassination of Col. Ellsworth In Alexandria.

A Swift and Terrible Retribution

Last night was a stirring one indeed. Through the day and evening the reports of contemplated military movements kept the populace on the qui vive to which excitement fresh fuel was added on its being whispered that various Regiments had been ordered to prepare for immediate service; the words dropped also by Gen. Thomas at the Seventh Regiment camp that the storm was about to burst, indicated that a decisive move was to be taken. The general idea among the troops was that an advance was to be made into Virginia, but nobody seemed to be posted as to the exact purposes entertained at headquarters.

Posted inMaritime & Naval History US Civil War

First Prize for a New Orleans Privateer

Steamer Calhoun

Says the N. O. Delta:

The swift low pressure steamer Calhoun, Jack Wilson, fitted out here as a privateer, sailed from this port last evening, and outside the bar captured a prize. A bark, the “Ocean Eagle,” Capt. Luce, from Rockland, Maine. Cargo 3144 bbs. lime.

The Calhoun is admirably equipped for her peculiar service, having 100 of the bravest experienced men on board, and carrying large guns and an ample supply of small arms.

Posted inUS Civil War

May 23, 1861 – Letter from Camp Anderson

Soldiers in camp (Matthew Brady)

Correspondence of the Belmont Chronicle.  

CAMP ANDERSON.  

LANCASTER, Ohio, May 20, 1861.  

Dear Chronicle: I presume your readers are all aware that Capt. Tallman’s company of Belmont boys are in the 17th Regiment, at Camp Anderson, Lancaster, Ohio; and, according to promise, I will try to give you some account of their situation, &c.  

We are in a most beautiful camp — occupying the fair grounds of the Fairfield County Agricultural Society — a beautiful, level piece of ground, about one mile North of the city of Lancaster, well supplied with good water and covered with a nice green sod.  

Posted inUS Civil War

May 22, 1861 – The Baltimore Steam-Gun

illustration of the Baltimore steam-gun

A gentleman direct from Baltimore, and who has seen the steam-gun (about which considerable has been said) operate, has furnished us with the following description of it:  

It is on four wheels; the boiler is like that of an ordinary steam fire engine, the cylinder being upright. There is but one barrel, which is of steel, on a pivot, and otherwise is like an ordinary musket barrel. It is fed or loaded through a hopper entering the barrel directly over the pivot. The barrel has a rotary motion, and performs the circumference, by machinery attached, at the rate of about sixteen hundred times a minute. The balls are let into the barrel through a valve at will, and every time the barrel comes round to a certain point, another valve, self-operated, lets out a ball, which is propelled solely by the velocity of the barrel in revolving.  

Posted inMaritime & Naval History US Civil War

May 20, 1861 – Capture of a Submarine Boat

Brutus de Villeroi's first submarine boat seized by the government at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 16, 1861.

Brutus de Villeroi’s first submarine boat seized by the government at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 16, 1861.

Quite an excitement was created in Philadelphia on Friday morning by the seizure of a submarine boat, the invention of De Villeroi, a Frenchman. It was going down the river and struck on an island. Four men were found on board. Villeroi says he was about taking it to the Navy Yard to test ; but the others of the yard disclaim any knowledge of him. The boat was constructed some time since for raising wrecks and other submarine work, but was never put in active use. It is segar-shaped and made of iron, thirty feet long. It supplies its own air, and will be useful in running under a fleet.