February 24 In Civil War History

Jim Klag

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On this day in Civil War history
Compiled by Mitchell Werksman and Jim Klag

February 24, 1803 - US Supreme Court's first time ruling a law unconstitutional (Marbury v Madison).

February 24, 1811 - Edward Dickinson Baker, American politician and Major General (Union Army), born in London, England (d. 1861)

February 24, 1824 - John Crawford Vaughn, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Monroe County, Tennessee. (d. 1875)

February 24, 1827 - Charles Davis Jameson, American politician and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Gorham, Maine (d. 1862)

February 24, 1836 - Texian Colonel William Travis sends a desperate plea for help for the besieged defenders of the Alamo, ending the message with the famous last words, “Victory or Death.”

February 24, 1838 - Thomas Benton Smith, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Mechanicsville, TN. (d. 1923)

February 24, 1862 - Skirmish at Mingo Creek, near Saint Francisville, MO.

February 24, 1862 - Skirmish at New Madrid, MO.

February 24, 1862 - Affair at Lewis' Chapel, near Pohick Church, VA, 12 miles south of Alexandria, VA, with Brig. Gen. Samuel P. Heinztelman, USA.

February 24, 1862 - Skirmish at Mason's Neck, Occoquan, VA.

February 24, 1862 - Federal occupation of Harper's Ferry, WV, by Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Prentiss Banks, USA.

February 24, 1863 - Territory of Arizona is organized from the Territory of New Mexico.

February 24, 1863 - The Yazoo Pass Expedition (by Moon Lake, Yazoo Pass, and the Coldwater and Tallahatchee Rivers), including engagements (Mar 11, 13, 16 & Apr 2, 4) at Fort Pemberton, near Greenwood, MS. (Feb 24-Apr 8)

February 24, 1863 - The Confederates capture and sink the Union gunboat, the Indianola, near Mr. Joe Davis' Plantation, below Vicksburg, on the Mississippi River, with the captured Queen of the West.

February 24, 1863 - Skirmish near Strasburg, VA.

February 24, 1863 – Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest makes a raid on Brentwood, Tennessee.

February 24, 1864 - Braxton Bragg becomes Jefferson Davis' chief of staff.

February 24, 1864 - Skirmishes at Tunnel Hill, Buzzard Roost, and Rocky Face Ridge (or Crow's Valley), GA, as Maj. Gen. John McCauley. Palmer's, USA, forces fail to force a retreat by Lieut. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, CSA, effectively ending the Dalton, GA, excursion.

February 24, 1864 - Skirmish at Canton, MS, the Meridian, MS, Expedition.

February 24, 1864 - Skirmish at Tippah River, MS, the Meridian, MS, Expedition.

February 24, 1864 - Federal scout from Camp Mimbres, the New Mexico Territory, where the Federals kill 13 Indians including the chief of the Mangas Indian tribe; the Yankees capture from the Indians a Mexican woman who had been in captivity for 15 years. (Feb 24-29)

February 24, 1865 - The siege of Petersburg is ongoing.

February 24, 1865 - Federal scout with the 60th US Colored Infantry, from Helena, aboard the steamer, Curlew, to Clarke's Store, AR.

February 24, 1865 - Affair at Switzler's Mill, MO, where the guerrilla Poe kills a man and hangs two negroes, besides robbing another citizen. Lawlessness still prevails in some sections of this part of the United States.

February 24, 1865 - Skirmish at Camden, SC, as Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, USA, and Lieut. Gen. Wade Hampton, CSA, argue in writing over the murders of certain Union soldiers who were foraging. Hampton informs Sherman that he has ordered the death of all Federal soldiers caught burning the homes and properties of citizens of the Confederacy.

February 24, 1865 - Captain Henry S. Stellwagen in the U.S.S. Pawnee sent Ensign Allen K. Noyes with the U.S.S. Catalpa and Mingoe up the Peedee River to accept the surrender of the evacuated city of Georgetown, SC.

February 24, 1868 - The U. S. House votes to impeach President Andrew Johnson, 126-47.

February 24, 1914 - Joshua L. Chamberlain, Civil War hero for the Union on Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg dies in Portland, Maine.
 

5fish

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February 24, 1863 - The Confederates capture and sink the Union gunboat, the Indianola, near Mr. Joe Davis' Plantation, below Vicksburg, on the Mississippi River, with the captured Queen of the West.
Feb. 24, 1863 – During the Civil War, Confederates sank the Federal gunboat, Indianola, south of Vicksburg on the Mississippi River. The Queen of the West, former Union ramship on the Mississippi which had been damaged and partly sunk earlier in the month, was raised and put to work by the Confederacy. Her assignment was to abate the nuisance posed by the USS Indianola. One attempt at ramming was fended off by a coal barge. On the second ramming attempt the ram simply bounced off Indianola’s armor plating. But the third shattered her starboard wheelhouse. Taking on water, Indianola limped to shore where her commander, Lt. Cmdr. Brown, surrendered.

Here is the add on...

Before Indianola‘s crew was jailed, the finger pointing began. Still unable to pass Port Hudson, Admiral Farragut blamed his own adoptive brother, Admiral Porter. ‘Porter has allowed his boats to come down one at a time and they have been captured by the enemy, which compels me to go up and recapture the whole or be sunk in the attempt.’ Porter blamed Ellet for grounding Queen ‘under the guns of a battery which she had foolishly engaged. Had Ellet waited patiently he would have been joined in less than 24 hours by Indianola. I can give good orders, but I cannot give officers good judgement.’ As for Indianola, Porter declared,’she had been indifferently fought. She gave up too soon. She would have gained victory if properly managed!’

Unconcerned with who was to blame, Gideon Welles thundered, ‘The Indianola is too formidable to be left at large.’ He demanded that a sufficient squadron be gathered to recapture the ironclad before she was salvaged. Porter, on the other hand, thought that he had too few vessels for a sufficient squadron. Two more Ellet rams, Lancaster and Switzerland, had been sunk or severely damaged by battery fire. None of his remaining vessels could match the speed and maneuverability of Queen or Webb. Not wanting further embarrassment, Porter came up with the idea of using a mock ironclad to frighten away Rebel salvagers.

Before Indianola‘s crew was jailed, the finger pointing began. Still unable to pass Port Hudson, Admiral Farragut blamed his own adoptive brother, Admiral Porter. ‘Porter has allowed his boats to come down one at a time and they have been captured by the enemy, which compels me to go up and recapture the whole or be sunk in the attempt.’ Porter blamed Ellet for grounding Queen ‘under the guns of a battery which she had foolishly engaged. Had Ellet waited patiently he would have been joined in less than 24 hours by Indianola. I can give good orders, but I cannot give officers good judgement.’ As for Indianola, Porter declared,’she had been indifferently fought. She gave up too soon. She would have gained victory if properly managed!’

Unconcerned with who was to blame, Gideon Welles thundered, ‘The Indianola is too formidable to be left at large.’ He demanded that a sufficient squadron be gathered to recapture the ironclad before she was salvaged. Porter, on the other hand, thought that he had too few vessels for a sufficient squadron. Two more Ellet rams, Lancaster and Switzerland, had been sunk or severely damaged by battery fire. None of his remaining vessels could match the speed and maneuverability of Queen or Webb. Not wanting further embarrassment, Porter came up with the idea of using a mock ironclad to frighten away Rebel salvagers.


 

5fish

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I need to correct the second part above somehow I cut and pasted it incorrectly...

https://www.historynet.com/admiral-porters-ironclad-hoax-during-the-american-civil-war.htm

On the evening of February 24, 1863, on the east bank of the Mississippi, just above Palmyra Island, Brown spied the shadowy outlines of four vessels heading straight toward him. He cleverly brought Indianola about to interpose one of the barges between his ship and the Confederate warships.

Major Brent reported: ‘We first discovered the Indianola about 1,000 yards distant, hugging the eastern bank of the Mississippi, with his head quartering across and down the river. Not an indication of life was given as we dashed on toward him — no light, no perceptible motion of his machinery was discernible.’

Queen of the West served her new Confederate cause well. She struck first, slicing through the coal barge on Indianola‘s port side, but doing little damage. Next came Webb. ‘I stood for her at full speed,’ recalled Brown. ‘Both vessels came together bows on, with a tremendous crash, which knocked nearly everyone down aboard both vessels.’ As the rams plowed into Indianola, the transports poured rifle fire into portholes. Webb rammed the starboard side next, splitting that coal barge in two. Queen followed, shearing off the starboard rudder and caving in the wheel housing. Water began to pour into Indianola‘s hull, causing her to list dangerously to one side. The 9-inch Dahlgrens fired wildly into the dark, not scoring a single hit. Major Brent recalled, ‘The moon was partially obscured by a veil of white clouds and permitted just sufficient obscurity to render uncertain the aim of the formidable artillery of the enemy.’ To make matters worse, cotton bales piled around the pilothouse for added protection significantly reduced pilot visibility.

Brown recklessly ran about while trying to coordinate the defense of his ship. ‘Brown exposed himself everywhere,’ recalled assistant surgeon H.M. Mixer. ‘He stood upon the hurricane deck, swept by volleys of musketry, grape and canister shot, looking out for the rams, giving orders to his pilots, and with his revolver firing upon the pilots of the enemy. He stood on his knees on the grating on the main deck to see to it that the engineer correctly understood the orders from the pilots.’ Realizing his command was sinking fast into the Mississippi, Brown decided to keep Indianola in deep water, hoping she could not be salvaged by the Confederates.

The signal books were tossed overboard to keep them from falling into enemy hands. Aboard Dr. Beatty, Colonel Frederick Brand called out to his men, ‘Prepare to board!’ Brown heard the command and called out that he was sinking. ‘For God’s sake don’t shoot anymore, I’ve surrendered!’ he cried. Brown offered his sword to Colonel Brand, who eagerly accepted it. The victorious Confederates took Brown and his men to a Vicksburg jail, and they were later sent to a prison camp in east Texas.

Webb and Dr. Beatty took their prize in tow, only to have her sink over a sandbar off Palmyra Island. Salvage parties worked furiously to patch the hull and raise Indianola. Slaves from Brierfield, the nearby plantation of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, were sent over to assist.

Once again, a significant portion of the Mississippi was still in Confederate hands. Two of Porter’s finest vessels, Queen of the West and Indianola, were gone. Along with the December 1862 repulse of Union forces at Chickasaw Bluffs, Vicksburg had reason to rejoice. ‘Piping and dancing have been the order of the night for every night this week,’ reported Vicksburg Daily Whig publisher Marmaduke Shannon. ‘Victory celebrations and relief from tension could be carried too far, by both citizens and soldiers,’ the newsman warned.

Before Indianola‘s crew was jailed, the finger pointing began. Still unable to pass Port Hudson, Admiral Farragut blamed his own adoptive brother, Admiral Porter. ‘Porter has allowed his boats to come down one at a time and they have been captured by the enemy, which compels me to go up and recapture the whole or be sunk in the attempt.’ Porter blamed Ellet for grounding Queen ‘under the guns of a battery which she had foolishly engaged. Had Ellet waited patiently he would have been joined in less than 24 hours by Indianola. I can give good orders, but I cannot give officers good judgement.’ As for Indianola, Porter declared,’she had been indifferently fought. She gave up too soon. She would have gained victory if properly managed!’

Unconcerned with who was to blame, Gideon Welles thundered, ‘The Indianola is too formidable to be left at large.’ He demanded that a sufficient squadron be gathered to recapture the ironclad before she was salvaged. Porter, on the other hand, thought that he had too few vessels for a sufficient squadron. Two more Ellet rams, Lancaster and Switzerland, had been sunk or severely damaged by battery fire. None of his remaining vessels could match the speed and maneuverability of Queen or Webb. Not wanting further embarrassment, Porter came up with the idea of using a mock ironclad to frighten away Rebel salvagers.

Starting with an abandoned flatboat, Porter put his command to work constructing his ruse. Tapered logs were added to the sides of the flatboat to give it a hull-like appearance. Canvas and wooden planks were used in the center to form a casemate, pilothouse and paddle-wheel housings. Two unusable lifeboats were bolted to fake davits for further realism. Blackened logs served as the vessel’s weaponry. Pork barrel smokestacks were added to either side of the pilothouse. For a dark, sinister appearance, the exterior was blackened with tar. As a final touch, two iron pots filled with tar and oakum were placed at the base of the smokestacks and ignited. Clouds of black smoke curled upward as the ersatz ironclad was set adrift in the Mississippi current. Dubbed Black Terror, she was built in 12 hours for a mere $8.63.

At 11 p.m., on February 25, Black Terror was towed into the Mississippi, cut loose and sent on her journey. After cruising past Vicksburg, the vessel struck the west bank of the Mississippi near Warrenton, but Union soldiers pushed her back into the current, and soon Black Terror was drifting at 5 knots. Confederate crewmen on Queen of the West saw Black Terror approaching and turned about and headed downriver to warn any vessels of the Union’s latest threat. Coming upon the wrecked Indianola, Captain McCloskey of Queen warned the salvage party of the ironclad’s approach. The frightened salvagers decided to scuttle Indianola to prevent her recapture. The guns were spiked or thrown overboard. What was left was set on fire, burning her down to the waterline. Colonel Wirt Adams, commander of a nearby cavalry regiment, remarked, ‘With the exception of the wine and liquor stores of the Indianola, nothing was saved. The valuable armament, the large supplies of powder, shot and shell are all lost.’ Black Terror, her mission completed, drifted on for two more miles, then struck a mudbank. She fired no shots and no crew members appeared on the deck. Curious about the lack of any crew activity, a Confederate party from ashore rowed toward the silent vessel. Upon closer inspection, they realized too late the duplicity.

The Southern press wasted no time in running down the botched Indianola salvage effort. ‘Laugh and hold your sides lest you die of a surfeit of derision,’ stated the Richmond Examiner, ‘blown up because, forsooth, a flat boat or mud scow, with a small house taken from a back garden of a plantation put on top of it, is floated down the river, before the frightened eyes of the Partisan Rangers.’

Not only had Indianola been denied to the Confederate Navy, but Webb and Queen skeedaddled up the Red River, never again to emerge on the Mississippi as a threat. ‘Gunboat panic seized the whole country,’ reported the Examiner, ‘and it became a serious question at the Navy Department whether liberty and the Southern Confederacy could exist in the presence of a cannon floating on a piece of wood in the water.’ The Confederacy would have to rely on the garrisons of Vicksburg and Port Hudson to hold its shrinking portion of the Mississippi. Both key cities would fall the following summer to Union land troops supported by gunboats. Black Terror, however, had also played a small role in clearing the Mississippi of Rebel ships. Porter modestly summed up his piece of naval trickery as ‘a cheap expedient which worked very well.’ It was likely the most effective $8.63 spent by the Union’s military forces during the entire war
 

5fish

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Here some more details... of the story... https://www.wearethemighty.com/history/union-saved-ironclad-nine-dollars?rebelltitem=4#rebelltitem4

So, he looked around for some cash, bought up some scrap wood and iron, and quickly constructed a fake ironside warship built on top of an old flatboat. It had smokestacks complete with thick smoke, fake artillery positions with blackened wood cannons, as well as typical structures like the pilothouse. In all, it cost $8.63, about $170 in 2018 dollars.

As a little cheeky addition, "Deluded People Cave In" was painted on the paddle wheel housings.

On the night of February 25, Porter had the Black Terror, as the ship was dubbed, released into the current with no crew. It was quickly spotted by a Confederate ship that raced downriver ahead of it to warn other rebels of the approach of a Union "ironclad." When it reached the Indianola, the order was given to scuttle and destroy the ship rather than risk its recapture.

The Confederate salvage team spiked the guns and threw them in the river, they burned the hull down to the waterline, and set off all the powder. Almost nothing remained of the Indianola when the Black Terror came down the river. But, of course, the Black Terror just kept drifting, eventually running aground two miles downriver.

The Southerners, already confused by the lack of Union fire, were made even more suspicious when there was no sign of crew activity after the Black Terror ran aground. So, a small team rowed out to the vessel and discovered that they had been tricked.

Despite the fact that the second ironsides attack was a fake and the first was defeated, the bulk of the Confederate fleet still withdrew from the river. The land defenses at Vicksburg, Port Hudson, and a few others, held the line until the following year when land offensives captured them, cementing Union control of the river and choking off what remained of Confederate resupply. After the capture of Vicksburg, the Union recovered the wreck of the Indianola.

And a large contributor to the success was an $8.63 expenditure on scrap wood and iron.
 

5fish

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They have a print.... of the fake ironclad




Here is the USS Indianola...

 
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