Tag Archives: Wilmington North Carolina

bored of war

150 years ago today Richmond’s Dispatch was full of Northern accounts of the the fall of Fort Fisher. The editors spun the resultant closing of the port of Wilmington as economically advantageous: The fall of Fort Fisher, and the subsequent … Continue reading

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“The Rebels fought like fiends”

John Arnett, a young man from Seneca Falls, New York serving in the U.S. Navy during the Civil War, has already had some notable experiences. His ship the Westfield was blown up on New Year’s Day 1863 during the Battle … Continue reading

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the Butler did it

Apparently, even Union Secretary of War Stanton had to rely on Confederate newspapers for his first report to General Dix regarding the failed attack on Fort Fisher. From The New-York Times December 29, 1864: WILMINGTON.; THE ATTACK ON FORT FISHER. … Continue reading

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blockade: tweaking and evading

150 years ago today President Lincoln lifted the blockade of Norfolk, Fernandina and Pensacola because those ports had “for some time past been in the military possession of the United States, [and] it is deeemd advisable that they should be … Continue reading

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spy drowned

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch October 4, 1864: Drowned. —Mrs. Rose Greenhow, well known in the Confederacy for her sufferings in its cause, –having been for months confined in the political prison at Washington,–was drowned on Saturday last near Wilmington, … Continue reading

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Battling the Blockade … and Yellow Fever

It’s month old news but a fresh source of Confederate pride for the Dispatch editors. From the Richmond Daily Dispatch October 8, 1862: Brilliant Naval exploit. We doubt whether the late exploit of the Confederate shipsteamer Florida, in running the … Continue reading

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