Tag Archives: USS Westfield

North by Key West

I missed this as I was combing through the Seneca County, New York newspaper clippings from 1863: We are rejoiced to learn of the safety of our young friend John Arnett, who was known to have been on board the … Continue reading

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Fireworks for the New Year

Why it’s good to keep your pilot on board ship. In the very early hours of 1863 a combined Confederate force under John Bankhead Magruder attacked the Union occupiers of Galveston, Texas. During the Battle of Galveston (or the Second … Continue reading

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Digging Past Vicksburg?

150 years ago this week Federal troops began digging a canal that was intended to cut between two sections of the Mississippi River so that Union ships could avoid passing by Vicksburg and its effective cannon defenses. From A Seneca … Continue reading

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Big Tow Operation

150 years ago this fortnight a native son of Seneca Falls, New York wrote some letters home from far, far away at the mouth of the Mississippi River. JOHN was a mate in the Union navy that was preparing for … Continue reading

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