Big Confederate Gun Goes Home

 
By Brian Hicks
The Post and Courier
Charleston, South Carolina

MOBILE, ALABAMA - The Confederate sloop of war Alabama traveled the world during the Civil War, making life miserable for many mariners, but the feared raider never actually made it to the state from which it took its name.

But now, thanks to the efforts of Hunley project conservators, Mobile has one of the Alabama's big guns.

Scientists at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center this week sent one of the ship's cannons to the Alabama port city after a six-year restoration project. The 1862 gun, made in Liverpool, has been restored to look almost new, which was no easy feat.

Paul Mardikian, senior conservator on the Clemson-sponsored project, found human remains and 19th-century paint on the cannon as his crew worked to rehabilitate the weapon, which was pulled off the Alabama wreck in the English Channel.

"This is a beautiful gun with an incredible history. We are lucky it survived," Mardikian said. "When you look at this, and find the inscription that says, 'Liverpool, 1862,' and realize this gun was responsible for sinking battleships, it's what really makes this job incredible."

The ship was built in 1862 in England under an assumed name -- the British did not particularly want their alliance with the Confederacy known. Shortly after it was launched with Capt. Raphael Semmes at the helm, the Alabama became the most fearsome ship on the high seas. In two years, it claimed 60 ships worth more than $6 million combined.

Then it was caught by the American sloop of war Kearsarge coming out of Cherbourg, France, where it had stopped for repairs. The Union vessel sank the famous ship in about an hour. A French Navy mine hunter found the wreck in 1984.

See the complete story here: http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/feb/06/big-gun-goes-home/

New York Times Reports Rebel Negro Soliders

Here is a very interesting article from the archives of The New York Times, dated May, 12, 1863, Page 3, column 4. It concerns the Battle of Grand Gulf which was fought in Mississippi on April 29, 1863. Below, I quote the article verbatim and in full:

REBEL NEGRO SOLDIERS - The naval attack on the Rebel batteries at Grand Gulf, on the 28th ult. of which our correspondent yesterday furnished an account, seems to have been a very hard-fought affair. Our killed and wounded amount to seventy-six, and the damage to the gunboats was considerable. The Tuscumbia, a turreted iron-clad, was completely riddled in every portion not protected by plating. Her chimneys were perforated until they resembled huge graders, and her woodwork torn to splinters in every conceivable shape. Her turrets alone, in their thickest parts, were able to resist the projectiles hurled against her. She was finally disabled by a shot that cut one of her log chains, by which, in river phrase, she was "broken in two". The Lafayette proved herself the most formidable as well as invulnerable vessel of the fleet, for though struck a number of times, she was shot in the slightest degree injured.

The entire number of rebel batteries in the works was ten, each of which mounted from three to five guns. The point we wish specially to signalize, however, in connection with this affair, is one mentioned by our correspondent, that the guns in this formidable series of rebel works, which caused such casualties to our sailors, and such damage to our iron-clads, "were in the main worked by negro troops." Is it not horrible that the rebels should thus arm their slaves to slaughter white men and destroy the Union?

Here is a link to the story in the New York Times archives: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9D01EEDE163EEE34BC4A52DFB3668388679FDE

Cannons from Confederate Raider CSS Alabama Preserved

Associated Press
From the Ledger-Enquirer.com

CHARLESTON, S.C. --After more than eight years of work, scientists say two cannons from the Confederate raider CSS Alabama have been preserved at the same lab conserving another Civil War artifact, the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley.

Workers scraped away hardened sediment on the 32-pound, smooth bore cannons each weighing about 5 tons. The cannons were also soaked in chemicals to leech out sea salts.
In appreciation for the work, the Navy, which owns the cannons, may allow one to be displayed at a museum which will one day display the hand-cranked Hunley, The Post and Courier of Charleston reported Friday.

"It will be a great addition to the Hunley museum because we want it to be a full Southern Maritime museum," said Randy Burbage, a member of the South Carolina Hunley Commission.
The Alabama was built in Liverpool, England, for the Confederacy.

During the 22 months it sailed, its crew boarded 447 vessels including 65 Union merchant vessels and took 2,000 prisoners, according to the CSS Alabama Association.

The Alabama was finally caught by the USS Kearsage and sank on June 11, 1864, following a battle in the English Channel off Cherbourg, France, where the Alabama was awaiting repairs.

The wreck of the Alabama was found in 1984 and the two cannons were raised in 2000. On one cannon scientists found fragments of human jawbone, thought to be from a crewman.

There's more. For the full story go to: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/251/story/564566.html

Confederate Submarine Hunley Continues to Fascinate

By Mark Whitington

Associated Content

Over eight years after she was raised from her watery grave, the Civil War submarine, CSS Hunley, is still preserving a mystery. Researchers are still not certain why she never returned from her mission against a blockading Union fleet.

The Hunley was an iron cylinder about forty feet in length with ballast tanks that could be filled or emptied with a hand pump to allow the vessel to submerge or surface. The Hunley was propelled by a hand cranked propeller by seven crew men seated inside with an eighth crewman to steer the vessel. There were two hatches, fore and aft, atop two conning towers with small portholes. The Hunley's armament consisted of a ninety pound black powder explosive charge attached to a twenty two foot spar attached to the Hunley's bow. The idea was that the Hunley would ram a sailing vessel, thus pushing the explosive to her hull, and then detonated as the Hunley backed away, likely with an electrical current.

For the full story go here:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1363183/confederate_submarine_hunley_continues.html?cat=37