U.S. Navy officer William B. Cushing is perhaps best known for his daring October 1864 raid that destroyed the Confederate ironclad CSS Albemarle at Plymouth, North Carolina, but he had a number of additional adventures along the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina in the Civil War. Though the terminology didn’t exist at the time of [...]
Continue reading about Lt. William B. Cushing’s Attack on Jacksonville, N.C. November 1862
150 Years Ago in the Civil War After several months of relatively little action, the pace of the fighting picked up in February 1862. Although the Army of the Potomac stayed in winter quarters around Washington, Federal forces in other locations took to the field in several significant offensive operations. Surrender of Fort Henry and Fort [...]
150 Years Ago in the Civil War While the North came to terms with the sobering defeat in July at the Battle of Bull Run, it became clear to both sides that this would not be a quick and easily won war. In August 1861, there was scattered minor skirmishing from Maryland to the New [...]
Continue reading about Battle of Wilson’s Creek, MO; Fighting at Cape Hatteras, NC: August 1861
North Carolina was the last state to secede from the Union, doing so on May 20th 1861. The state contributed about 125,000 soldiers to the Confederacy, and of these, 19,673 were killed in battle and another 20,602 died of disease. This combined total of over 40,000 dead was the largest number of deaths of any [...]
Continue reading about North Carolina’s Civil War Sesquicentennial Commemoration
In an earlier post, I discussed Lt. Alonzo Cushing of the 4th U.S. Artillery, who died at Gettysburg during Pickett’s Charge July 3rd, 1863, and after years of lobbying by supporters, has been awarded the Medal of Honor. Alonzo had two brothers who served during the war. The oldest was Howard B. Cushing, who was [...]
Continue reading about Lt. William B. Cushing and the Destruction of the C.S.S. Albemarle
