Civil War

With the Colors at Georgia Landing

On November 10, 1862, from a camp in the vicinity of Thibodaux, Louisiana, Capt. Henry Huse sat…

“The Terror of the Rebels Along the Coast”

One evening in the spring of 1863, a detachment of Union sailors moved stealthily…

Loyal Fireman, Loyal Soldier

Loyal and true firemen “were always on hand at the first tap of the alarm bell,” announced one Northern…

Crazy Drunk

Lieutenant Sylvanus Backus was crazy drunk. Stumbling around the quarterdeck of the Mohongo after midnight with a drawn sword, his…

Burying the Dead at Antietam’s Cornfield

Heavy cannon fire erupted at daylight on September 17, 1862, and soon after Capt. William…

The Smell of Warship Smoke

Navy secretary Gideon Welles fretted about the safety of California after the outbreak of war in 1861. The…

Crisis in Pensacola

By early January 1861, mechanic W. Thomas Morrill and other employees of the Pensacola Navy Yard in Florida were caught in a…

A Fateful Shore Leave Leads to a Trip to Andersonville