The fields of battle where conflicts of major proportions were fought, at places such as Antietam, Gettysburg and Shiloh are littered with the monuments and memorials dedicated to the soldiers who fell in battle and units which were involved in the strife. The millions of visitors who stand in awe in front of this visual evidence are constantly reminded that something did indeed happen on the very ground they walk on, a long, long time ago.
The part played by the naval forces of North and South may have been dwarfed by that of the military forces on land, but it is beyond doubt that without their participation the war may have ended differently, and may even have been extended indefinitely. Very few monuments and memorials have been erected to commemorate the sailor’s part in this conflict and one way this can be corrected is through the printed word. With the release of each issue of ENSIGN , I hope to be able to do my part to remind others, that, yes, the Navy was involved in the conflict, and admirably so. Editor.

REBELLION WITHIN A REBELLION - by Darrell Middleton

Mention the name J. Thomas Scharf in Delaware and the response will be recognition of the name. It is said that the History of Delaware is one of three books that are required reading for a newcomer to the state. There may be some disagreement about the other two but Scharf is a firm contender for first place at least in the field of reference.
Scharf did not write novels or short stories. He gained fame as a historian. His books also include History of Western Maryland, History of Philadelphia, Chronicles of Baltimore, History of the Confederate Navy and many lesser publications. Authors consciously or unconsciously write their own personality into their work. A story by Cooper, Poe or O’Henry provides the perceptive reader with a look into the mind of the author. Volumes of history do not provide that view quite so well because the subject matter tends to distance the author from the work. And so, reading any of Scharf’s work one is very likely to feel that something vital is missing and that elusive something is identification with the author. His work is informative but ponderous. With the possible exception of The History of the Confederate Navy Scharf, the man, does not comethrough either in the content or between the lines.
It was this feeling that prompted further inquiry about Scharf. There are short biographies about him but these do not fully portray him. Taken along with other sources however, even a capsule biography begins to show an individual who belies the common perception of a historian as one who, with pen in hand, spends his life recording obscure history. Scharf did record history. Not only did he record it, he defined it. In his History of the Confederate Navy, he had lived it and acquired the credentials that enabled him to pass it on to readers, albeit in a version that is generally acknowledged to be seriously biased.
John Thomas Scharf [3]was born in Baltimore, Maryland on May 1, 1843. He attended parochial schools in Baltimore. His father was in the lumber business in Baltimore. The younger Scharf was a rebel twofold. In keeping with a very common scenario he reached the late teens and rebelled against parental authority. There are few families who do not have first hand experience with that phenomena. Male or female, children and parents all too often come to a parting of the ways and it is not unreasonable to suggest that such a recurring course of events is a part of growing up and is perhaps only an extension of nature’s dictate that the young should leave the nest abruptly or completely. Having left the protection of home it is then only natural that the spirit of rebellion should continue to manifest itself and that the fledgling will ally himself with a larger rebellious movement. John Scharf’’s father was a disciplinarian and a strong Union man. John rebelled against the discipline and against the father’s beliefs as well. He left home at the age of 18 and his father caught him going into the door of the car at the Washington depot. He had intended to go to Harpers Ferry. The rift between father and son was not healed but only bandaged. As John says in his Personal Memoirs [4] , When I went home my father threatened me with personal violence but was only restrained from doing so by my friends and he made me promise him I would not leave home again, but as you can see I have not kept my promise faithfully.
Fathers may be stern and unyielding but by this, they betray their deep concern for their offspring. Children may be unreasonably rebellious but often there is a mending of differences and John Thomas returned to his family after the War of the Rebellion and re-entered his father’s business. He then practiced law for about four years, served on the editorial staffs of three Baltimore newspapers[5 ] and was elected in 1877a member of the Maryland House of Delegates. He held the office of commissioner of the land office from 1884 to 1892.[6] He received an appointment as a special inspector of Chinese immigration at the port of New York in 1893 and when the Republican administration came into power he remained there to practice law for four years.
In reading Scharf’s Personal Memoirs it is easy to sense that his juvenile feelings of rebellion against his father reinforced his ill considered allegiance to the secessionist cause. On August 27th of 1861, at the age of 18 years and three months, he left home again and on the 31st boarded the steamer Mary Washington. The boat was searched by soldiers and detectives from Baltimore who arrested his friend, one Clinton James. They had agreed not to show their acquaintance and Scharf was allowed to continue on. He says that about twenty on board were Southmans. At the second stop of the steamer, Scharf disembarked and describes his crossing of the Potomac which when accomplished left him in Virginia and on his way to Richmond.
Once in Richmond he learned that the 1st Company of Maryland Artillery was recruiting and he joined them for three years. His first duty was to drive a pair of horses in the battery wagon. Orders came to leave for Manassas. J. Thomas Scharf was now a Rebel soldier. From that point they went to Acquia Creek, Fredericksburg, and Brooks Station. Then to Evansport[7] where they were detailed to blockade the Potomac river.
Army life was hard even for a teenage boy and Scharf’s descriptions of it do not resemble the factual pages of the books he would later produce. They were lacking necessities and blankets and each new day seemed to be a new adventure. Before they left for Fredericksburg they volunteered to save the heavy guns in the batteries and put two large Dahlgreens (sic) in a large scow which they were forced to sink in the river.[8] Also before evacuating they burned the George Page, a cotton clad steamer with some fine guns, several schooners and flat boats and many commissary stores and helped to sink a tug and cripple several other boats. The recounting of the adventures of a young Rebel may seem to be an adventure story but the reality of the harshness of war can be easily seen when we read where a spy is captured stealing a horse and We all immediately joined in and hung him to a tree nearby. Although Scharf tries to justify this by: they searched him and found he was a spy and had a Yankee uniform on under his clothes...; this amounts to a lynching without even an attempt at a proper trial and not being done in the heat of battle can only be considered to be outright murder.[9]
At this point let’s fast forward to March 5th 1865 when Scharf was sent by the Confederate war department on a mission to Canada. He had just crossed the Potomac into Maryland when he was captured. he was sent to Old Capitol Prison (Carroll Prison annex) in Washington but was not tried as a spy because of the end of the war. In September of 1865 he was pardoned by President Johnson. It is to be wondered whether Scharf ever contrasted his treatment as a spy with that of the un-named spy whose fate he mentions in his memoirs, or whether his political convictions precluded feelings of guilt.
The Seven Days battles on through Mechanicsville, Gaines Farm, Malvern Hill, and on and on with vivid descriptions of battles, plunder and death in it’s most gruesome details all of which is recorded by Scharf in what were his formative years. How it is all recorded and what comes through to the reader as a clue to the manner of man the author was, in direct contrast to the impersonal presentations of the later histories he was to produce.
In May of 1863 Scharf and his battery were at Chancellorsville and he describes the Union attack on Marye’s Heights. He says This has been my last battle with that noble old company, and I was sent to the hospital at Richmond where I was laid up for seven weeks.[10]
Much of the Memoirs up to this point were lucid word pictures that succeeded very well in describing the horrors of war. Here Scharf’s experiences take on an unusual turn. He was still a private of the 1st Maryland Battery but while convalescing had the idea that he would like to get to some other place or position where I may have a chance for promotion. He applied through General Lee to be orderly to General Elzey who had requested him. Lee refused him. Now he thought he might be able to get a Midshipman’s appointment in the Navy and armed with a letter from his Lieutenant he went to see the Confederate Secretary of the Navy himself. Scharf knew a Mr. Sidney Nickols, Paymaster, C.S. Navy and he had him introduced to Colonel Woods on the President’s staff. Colonel Woods arranged for the Secretary of the Navy to interview Scharf and the result was an appointment in the Navy. Scharf received orders for duty at Charleston on board the C.S.S. Chicora, Lt. Commander Hunter.
The remaining pages of the Memoirs consist of an appendix. The appendix begins with a chronology of the Confederate government and changes into Scharf’s impassioned eulogy for the lost cause which he presents three years later in florid style but heartfelt sincerity.

John Thomas Scharf and the Confederate Navy.

John Thomas Scharf was appointed a midshipman on June 20th 1863. After reporting to the C.S.S. Chicora and presumably some basic training he was ordered to the gun-boat Chattahoochee at Columbus, Georgia. Soon thereafter he was transferred to the captured steamer Water Witch at White Bluff near Savannah.
Scharf met and became infatuated with a young southern girl who was just fifteen and one half years of age. He was twenty one years and three months of age. Her name was Anna Wylly Habersham of White Bluff near Savannah. She was the daughter of William Neyle Habersham who was a one time President of the Georgia Society of the Cincinnati and a grandson of Lieut. Colonel Joseph Habersham, a Revolutionary War officer and later Postmaster General of the United States.
Miss Habersham kept a diary that was preserved and published privately by the family. On August 20th 1864 she received a note from John Thomas Scharf that was four pages long. It contained a proposal. The lady having no strong feelings for John but professing friendship rejected it. The reply was delivered by a mutual friend who said that Scharf “took the note, blushed up, and said quietly ‘I wish I had not written that note, thought I would have received a better answer than this’.” There are a total of eleven diary entries and their romance while it did not progress very far, was marked by polite exchanges. The boy politely correct but hopeful and the girl cautious and negatively inclined.
Their last meeting was on October 11th 1864 when they exchanged small gifts and visited. John Thomas gave her some letters including one that was eight pages long and which he asked her to read after he was gone. Her last diary entry concerning Scharf was to the effect that she would not be corresponding with him.

Action Afloat

The U.S.S. Underwriter was the largest ship stationed at Newberne, North Carolina after Currituck and Albemarle sounds were opened to the Union by the attack on Roanoke Island. This attack closed the back door to Norfolk and was one of the most important strategic victories of the Union navy (or army) during the war. The importance of that action is seldom recognized now or even then because it was overshadowed by events elsewhere. As Scharf says: It was the key to all the rear defences of Norfolk: it unlocked two sounds, eight rivers... four canals... and two railroads. That the enemy did not appreciate the value of his capture, and the importance of the waters he had won, is as little to the credit of the military and naval authorities of the United States as the loss of the position was discreditable to the Confederate authorities.
At least one of the biographies of Scharf was written by a historian who was as biased in favor of the north as Scharf was for the south. The biography tends to dismiss the part Scharf played and the engagements he was involved in as of little importance. We dispute that. The engagements during his army service were certainly important ones and his wounds were suffered in major battles. His participation in the guerilla style warfare during his naval career was equally important although not as decisive in the overall picture.
A Confederate party under Col. Wood were to make an attempt to capture one or more of the Union gunboats while Major Gen. G.E. Pickett was to create a diversion by attacking the Union lines around Newberne. John Thomas Scharf, then a Midshipman was a member of the party. The attack on the Underwriter was made in a driving rain. Scharf was in command of the boarders in one boat and was the first to open fire with the howitzer in the bow of his boat. The first hand description of the attack in February of 1864 on the Underwriter is given on four pages beginning on page 398 of tory of the Confederate Navy. That description is a vibrant one that equals the stories of the attack made by the Union’s Lt. Cushing on theC.S.S. Albemarle. The Underwriter was destroyed as was the Albemarle. Small actions such as these were representative of the fighting that makes the Civil War of such interest today.
The successful attack on the Underwriter was the first of two that Scharf was involved in. The second attack was an attempt to capture one or more of the ships blockading Appalachicola, Florida. That attempt was commanded by Lieut. Commander Gift who was one of the party that was successful in the attack on Underwriter. Here Scharf’s first hand account is to be found starting on page 618 of History of the Confederate Navy and again describes in detail the attempt which this time was not to be successful. Encountering a terrible gale the attempt was given up and Scharf and his party with survivors from an overturned boat, unable to return, were driven by the wind and weather to be cast away on St. George Island for two days. They subsisted on oysters, palmetto cabbage and alligator and as we saw in the diary of Miss Habersham, Scharf did manage to bring a souvenir or two off the island to give to her along with other presents calculated to win the heart and hand of his love.
Toward the end of the war, the Confederate navy did not exist as a material force to be reckoned with and Scharf resigned with the intention of rejoining the Confederate army. His experience would have made him of some value; however, he was sent to Canada with dispatches for the Confederate forces then at work there. Confederates were active in Canada and the Official Records show that Union ships were captured and an attempt was planned to release the Confederate prisoners at Fort Johnson.
Although a native of Maryland, Scharf did not get far and was captured in Maryland. He was sent to the Carroll prison where he was paroled after about three weeks. After the war he was pardoned by President Johnson.

Conclusion

J. Thomas Scharf was born 1 May 1843 and died 28 February 1898, having lived fifty four years, nine months and twenty seven days. He worked in his father’s lumber business, was a soldier, a naval officer, lawyer, journalist, editor, historian, lecturer, representative to the Maryland house of delegates, collector of historical memorabilia and inspector of Chinese migrants. His writings identify him in his youth as an idealistic but impetuous young man with a rebellious and stubborn streak; and, during his more mature years as a patient and more than competent recorder of history. He recorded history but did not interpret it except when it came to the secessionist’s cause. He was active in politics although that seems to have been secondary, having been an interest that grew from his loyalties during the war and his occupation as a journalist during the agitated times following the war. His appointment as an inspector of Chinese migrants was certainly a political one. He was a member of a gang that lynched an accused spy; but, later was himself caught and imprisoned as a spy. Scharf was a paradoxical man who, throughout his years, maintained his idealistic loyalty to his lost cause and whose prejudices were reflected in his literary work. Despite his obvious bias his interpretations of some of the policies and men of the Union are generally well stated and very often are accurate enough. It is our hope that these words about J. Thomas Scharf will linger on to provide an insight when next the reader has reason to open the pages of a History of Delaware. Darrell N. Middleton.

Notes

[1] The other two being, The Entailed Hat by George Alfred Townsend and the WPA book about Delaware. Not all will agree with those three choices, but there are few who will not include Scharf.
[2] Dictionary of American Biography, edited by Dumas Malone, Charles Scribner’s, New York; and Encyclopedia of the Confederacy, Richard N. Current, Editor in Chief, Vol. 3, Simon & Schuster, 1993.
[3] The name is pronounced as if it were spelled “Skarf.”
[4] The Personal Memoirs of Jonathan Thomas Scharf of the First Maryland Artillery, edited by Tom Kelley, Butternut and Blue, Baltimore, 1992. This is a limited edition of 500 copies. There is a copy in special collections at the University of Maryland at College Park. (The original manuscript is at the New York State Library in Albany, New York and this edition was published with their permission.)
[5] The Baltimore News, the Sunday Telegram and the Morning Herald.
[6] Dictionary of American Biography.
[7] Now the Marine Corps base at Quantico.
[8] It is to be wondered whether those guns are there yet.
[9] The following paragraphs contain another mention of a hanging. This one of a sutler who guided General Hooker to meet: Generals Longstreet and his noble corps.
[10] He was wounded in three different engagements: Cedar Mountain, Second Battle of Bull Run and Chancellorsville.
[11] The War Romance of John Thomas Scharf, Francis B. Culver, Maryland Historical Magazine, 1926.
[12] After the war Scharf returned to Baltimore and on December 2, 1869 married Mary McDougall, daughter of a merchant of Baltimore who survived him with three children. Miss Habersham also married, her husband the son of an honorable family of Georgia.
[13] War Department Washington, Sept. 20, 1864, Major General Heintzelman, Columbus, Ohio: This Department has just received information of the capture of two steamers by rebels from Canada, at Bass Island, Lake Erie. You will proceed immediately to Johnson’s Island, and call on the Governor of Ohio for such assistance as you may [1]need. Acknowledge the receipt of this order, and report your arrival at Johnson’s Island and Sandusky. Official Records, Series 1, Volume XXXIX: Edwin This extract is given only as representative of many such messages that illustrate the efforts of the Confederacy to wage a war on two fronts. That Scharf was dispatched from Richmond shows that those activities were directly controlled by the Confederate war department.
[14] The War of the Rebellion ended but the cause of secessionists continued in Kentucky and most of all in Maryland where power was appropriated by those late Confederates of whom Scharf was typical. The situation in Kentucky and Maryland was responsible in part for radical reconstruction. In Disfranchisement in Maryland (1861-67) by William A. Russ, Jr., Maryland Historical Magazine, Vol. 28, 1933 the author’s closing paragraph is especially appropriate: They were horrible examples of what secessionism in defeat could accomplish, and they clinched any argument in favor of severity as against leniency towards the South. There must be no more Kentuckies and no more Marylands. Thus the seceeded South suffered for the rebellious acts of the border states.

In the summer of 1862 complaints were received from residents of Alexandria, Virginia, that, on several occasions, suspicious happenings seemed to be going on aboard the Guard Vessel Adolph Hugel, James Van Boskirk commanding. The vessel had been patrolling the Potomac for smugglers, rebels and other unsavoury characters, and was usually stationed off Alexandria, Virginia.
Because of complaints sent to Gustavus V. Fox, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in Washington, D.C., proceedings were launched to investigate these claims and to punish those responsible for allowing such conduct. Fox ordered Commodore Harwood, on November 7th, 1862, to investigate these claims, but, due to the scarcity of investigating officers senior to the accused, the investigation was delayed for some time. On August 14, 1863, Harwood was able to muster an investigating team of only two officers, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Thomas Poynton Ives and Acting Master Joshua H. Eldridge who were advised that ‘complaints have been made against the U.S. Guard vessel “Adolph Hugel” at Alexandria, Va., stating that prostitutes have been allowed to go on board that vessel at all times’ and that they were appointed to investigate these charges. Ives and Eldridge visited Alexandria and interviewed officials and citizens of the town. On September 8, 1863, the Collector of the town, Andrew Jamieson, sent word to Commodore Harwood that: ‘On several occasions women of known disrepute have been seen to come on the pier [at Alexandria], signal the ship, and go aboard in the ship’s boat, which was promptly sent for the purpose. Frequently, at night, women have been seen to visit the Ship, and the fun has been so fast and furious as to attract numbers of persons to the contiguous docks.’ Jamieson then provided the names of half a dozen witnesses to the proceedings on the docks.
On September 29, 1863, a Court of Inquiry was convened at the Washington Navy Yard to investigate the accusations, with Lieutenant Commander M. Patterson Jones as President, Captain J.H. Jones and Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Ives as Members, and Lieutenant M. Lane Tilton of the Marine Corps as Judge Advocate of the Court.
Over a period of a week the Court heard evidence from several witnesses and details of some rather amusing incidents.
On the first day of testimony, September 30th, 1863, Lieutenant James W. Atwell, of the 1st District of Columbia Volunteers, testified that, on several occasions, he had seen women of bad character go on board theAdolph Hugel at Alexandria, accompanied by officers of the vessel, named as Master’s Mates’ Miller and O’Brien. When queried as to how he, Atwell, knew these women were of bad character, he replied that they had been pointed out as such by persons living in Alexandria, and also that he had seen several of these women in public houses, using language uncharacteristic of proper ladies. When questioned about a group of girls, referred to as the Canterberry Girls being seen going aboard the vessel, Atwell replied that he had seen them boarding the vessel himself, and that they were pretty lively on board and drank whiskey. He added that the “Canterberry Girls” were considered as ‘rather loose characters.’
Another witness called to the stand was Samuel Baker, Inspector of Revenue at Alexandria, who testified that he had also seen women being taken aboard the Adolph Hugel on several occasions, and that he had overheard a conversation between the Captain of the Washington [ferry] boat and two women waiting to board the naval vessel. When asked if they were going on board the gunboat to fire a salute, they answered that they were not going to fire a salute, but to handle a gun or words to that effect.
Captain Samuel Gidney, commanding the steamer Thomas Collier was also questioned by the court and stated that he had also been given a joking answer when he had questioned two women who were about to board the Adolph Hugel. He was able to name one of these women as Nelly Peirce, who was known to be of bad character.
Several other witnesses were interviewed by the court, including several who stated that the only women they had seen go aboard the vessel were wives and friends of visiting army and navy officers. Many of the witnesses were also questioned about the character of the commander of the Adolph Hugel, Acting Master James Van Boskirk, and it was noted that, at all times, he conducted himself in the manner of a gentleman.
Henry C. Fuller, Acting Master’s Mate and Executive Officer of the Adolph Hugel, was also called as a witness and when questioned by the Court, stated that he had seen two women, who had been arrested on the Maryland shore, by Captain Van Boskirk, for assisting sailors to desert, who were kept under guard in the Cabin, which was given up by the Captain for this purpose. He also mentioned that another woman was arrested, who had pretended to be a detective, but she was released the next morning with a warning to leave Alexandria.
Captain Van Boskirk, in his own defence mentioned that there were many army officers at Alexandria, who on occasion came aboard the vessel for a visit, and sometimes brought lady friends or wives with them.
Although there were numerous witnesses to the fact that scandalous conduct had indeed occurred aboard the vessel on several occasions, it was not enough to convict the commander or any other person aboard the vessel and the charges remained unproven.
James Van Boskirk continued in the naval service, later commanding the U.S. Bark Pursuit, and was honorably discharged on January 14, 1868. His Executive Officer, Henry C. Fuller, also continued serving in the naval service after the war was over, being honorably discharged on November 23, 1868.
(Details of the Court of Inquiry relating to the allegations against Acting Master James Van Boskirk were obtained from the Records of General Courts Martial and Courts of Inquiry of the Navy Department, Microfilm Publication No. M273, Reel No. 112, Case No. 3335. The transcripts include, when applicable, the name of the sailor charged; his rating, ship or station, and other service information; the alleged offense; place and date of trial; and the sentence. These reels of microfilm are available for sale at the National Archives.)

Raising the Sunken Vessels in Hampton Roads -- Guns and Skeletons Found

A letter from Portsmouth, Va., says the United States Government has made extensive preparations for raising many of the vessels which were sunk in that vicinity at the commencement of the war. We quote:
Last fall the wreckers began operating at the Navy Yard of this place, where the Jamestown, Delaware, Columbus, Pennsylvania, Germantown and United States lay submerged. The two latter have been raised from their sunken positions, and now lie high and dry upon the shore. Opposite Newport News the Cumberland and Congress lie in about eleven fathoms of water. The former is with her starboard side upward, and is greatly exposed to the ebb and flow tides. This makes it more than ordinarily difficult to operate upon her. The submarine divers go down every day, and thus far have placed heavy chains through the portholes, preparatory to raising her. The lifting power will be ready very soon, and when this is attached the ships will come up. Several guns and some iron have already been taken out of the Congress. A number of relics, such as sabres, pistols and knives have been brought up. A number of skeletons are on board the vessels. Some are in an upright condition, whence it is presumed that they, when alive, were endeavoring to make their escape when the ill-fated ship went down. After the remains of these noble men, who lost their lives on board the Cumberland and Congress, while battling the rebel Merrimac, are recovered, they will be placed separately in boxes and conveyed to the Portsmouth naval hospital, and interred with all due honors in the burying ground connected with the institution, if not recognized by their surviving friends. The Merrimac lies in the Elizabeth River, between Sewall’s Point and Norfolk. A little white flag flies over the spot where she was sunk, to designate her. If she were raised she would be of but little value to the Government, as her bottom was blown out. She is an obstruction in the river, and will be undoubtedly removed, and this will be done by blasting her under the water. (The preceding article was copied in full from the New Orleans Daily Picayune, of Saturday, July 11, 1863.)

LIFE UNDER WATER

The Divers and the Monitors. ------------ [Correspondence of the Baltimore American.] Off Morris Island, S.C. Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 1863.
During a recent visit to Port Royal, I witnessed with considerable interest the operations of the divers employed to clean the bottoms of the monitors, and perform other operations under the water. Messrs, Joseph H. Smith and James B. Phelps have a contract with the Government for the performance of this work, and have been of great use here. Their principal diver - appropriately named Waters - is so used to this work that he has become almost amphibious, remaining for five or six hours at a time under water. A man of herculean strength and proportions, when clad in his submarine armor he becomes monstrous in size and appearance. A more singular sight than to see him roll or tumble into the water and disappear from sight, or popping up, blowing, as the air escapes from his helmet, like a young whale, can scarcely be imagined.
Waters has his own ideas of a joke, and when he has a curious audience will wave his scraper about as he “bobs around” on the water, with the air of a veritable river god. One of his best jokes - the better for being a veritable fact - occurred last summer. Whilst he was employed scraping the hull of one of the Monitors, a negro from one of the up-river plantations came alongside with a boatload of water melons. Whilst busy selling his melons the diver came up, and rested on the side of the boat. The negro stared at the extraordinary appearance thus suddenly coming out of the water with alarmed wonder, but when the diver seized one of the best melons in the boat and disappeared under the water, the gurgling of the air from the helmet mixing with his muffled laughter, the fright of the negro reached a climax. Hastily seizing his oars, without waiting to be paid for his melons, he put off at his best speed, and has not been seen in the vicinity of Station Creek since. He cannot be tempted beyond the bounds of his plantation, and believes that the Yankees have brought river devils to aid them in making war.
The diver, when clothed in his armor is weighed with one hundred and eighty-five pounds. Besides this armor he has two leaden pads, fitting to his breast and back. The soles of his shoes are of lead, an inch and a half thick. All this weight is needed to overcome the buoyancy given by the mass of air forced into the armor and dress, the latter of India rubber, worn by the diver. When below the surface he can instantly bring himself up by closing momentarily the aperture in the helmet for the escape of the air. His buoyancy is immediately increased, and he pops up like a cork and floats at will upon the surface.
The work of scraping the bottoms of the Monitors is very arduous. The diver sits upon a spar, lashed athwart the bottom of the vessel, so arranged as to be moved as the work progresses, and with a scrape fixed to a long handle works on both sides of himself as far as he can reach. The mass of oysters that become attached to the iron hulls of one of the Monitors, even during one summer here, is immense. By actual measurement it was estimated that two hundred and fifty bushels of oysters, shells and seagrass were taken from the bottom of the Montauk alone. The captains of the Monitors have sometimes indulged in the novelty of a mess of oysters raised on the hulls of their own vessels.
Besides cleaning the Monitors the divers perform other important services. They have ransacked the interior of the Keokuk, attached buoys to lost anchors, and made under water examinations of the rebel obstructions. Waters recently examined the sunken Weehawken and met an unusual danger for even his perilous calling. The sea was so violent that he was twice thrown from the deck of the Monitor. Finally getting hold of the iron ladder he climbed to the top of the turret, when a heavy sea cast him inside the turret between the guns. Fearing that his air hose would become entangled, he made his way out with all possible speed, and was forced to give up his investigations until calmer weather offered a more favorable opportunity.
The preceding article was copied in full from the Chicago Tribune of Monday, January 4, 1864. The ironclad steamer Keokuk was riddled by Confederate shells during the attack on Forts Moultrie and Sumter on April 7, 1863, and sank off Morris Island the next day. The Union monitor Weehawken, foundered and sank when she took on too much water, on December 6, 1863, off Charleston, South Carolina. Over two dozen sailors were lost in this accident.)

SEEKING INFORMATION ON CONFEDERATE NAVAL OFFICER’S GRAVE IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Ed Milligan of Alexandria, Virginia, mentioned that he had heard a comment from ex-RAF pilot, John Linn, that he (Linn) had seen the grave of Simeon Cummings, a Second Assistant Engineer of the CSS Alabama, who had accidentally shot himself to death on August 3, 1863, while on a hunting expedition with fellow officers of the vessel. Apparently the headstone mentions that this was the only CSN officer buried outside continental America. Technically this would be an incorrect statement, as a couple of other officers of the Alabama, who were killed in the action of June 19, 1864 with the USS Kearsarge, are, of course, buried at sea. As well, there would most certainly be other officers of the Confederate States Navy who would have settled outside of the American continent and would be buried in their adopted countries. If anyone knows of other CSN officers who are buried outside of America, the editor would appreciate further details on these officers.
The editor has been able to contact the aforementioned John Linn, who will be providing information about the grave. Details will be provided in a future issue of the ENSIGN. Finally, I would like to mention a very commendable work, recently released by author William Marvel. This publication is titled The Alabama and the Kearsarge: The Sailor’s Civil War published in 1996 by the University of North Carolina Press. Marvel has been able to use the words of several sailors and officers who served aboard both vessels and has been able to mould a fascinating tale of their journeys on the high seas in search of fame, fortune and the enemy. I highly recommend this work and hope that Marvel will continue releasing further studies of the naval war from the perspective of the common sailor. Such works are few and far between.
Terry Foenander, Editor. tfoenander@hotmail.com