Editor’s Note: This letter to the Sunday Mercury appears here due to Bill Styple’s fantastic book Writing and Fighting the Civil War, which is where I first learned about these amazing soldier letters. You can purchase a copy of Writing and Fighting the Civil War at Belle Grove Publishing.
United States Steamer Hydrangea.
[Special Correspondence of the N. Y. Sunday Mercury.]
A Little Brush—Mails—Daring Expedition—How it Began and Ended.
NEAR TRENT’S REACH, JAMES RIVER, July 1. [1864]
We had a brush with the Rebel iron-clads last week [on June 21, 1864 at Howlett’s Bluff]. It did not amount to much. The Canonicus had five holes put in her smoke-stack, but no other damage was done. 1 The Monitor Tecumseh has left here for some other place—they say Mobile; also the tug Hare2. The United States steamer Wilderness arrived the day before yesterday [June 29, 1864], bringing our mails and papers. The SUNDAY MERCURY was the first sought for. The boys offered ten cents a copy for it. An expedition left here on the 29th of June [1864]. It has returned, having accomplished its object. They went within two miles of Petersburg, and captured six men and two officers. As they were shoving off they were fired into by a Rebel artillery company, and one of the launches sunk. They got they [sic] men in the other launch, and made off safe with the exception of the following killed and wounded:—George White, coxswain, killed; Thomas Norton, leg badly; Peter Moore, breast; Theodore W. Weaver, first class boy, arm seriously. He jumped overboard and saved the body of George White, coxswain. The rest all got back safe. Great praise is due the officer in charge of the expedition, for the way he brought the wounded off.3 Have no more news.
Yours, CONGRESS.4
SOPO Editor’s Note: This article was transcribed by Roy Gustrowsky.
If you are interested in helping us transcribe newspaper articles like the one above, please CONTACT US.
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Soldier Letters from the New York Sunday Mercury:
- NP: July 10, 1864 Sunday Mercury (New York): 12th NY Folded Into 5th NY Veteran
- NP: July 10, 1864 Sunday Mercury (New York): 12th U. S. Infantry at the Siege of Petersburg, Early July 1864
- NP: July 10, 1864 Sunday Mercury (New York): 25th NY Cavalry at the Siege of Petersburg, Early July 1864
- NP: July 10, 1864 Sunday Mercury (New York): 48th NY Guards the 18th Corps Trains, June 1864
- NP: July 17, 1864 Sunday Mercury (New York): 146th NY from the Wilderness to Petersburg
- NP: July 17, 1864 Sunday Mercury (New York): 95th NY at the Second Battle of Petersburg, June 18, 1864
- NP: July 24, 1864 Sunday Mercury (New York): 16th NYHA at Fort Magruder
- NP: July 24, 1864 Sunday Mercury (New York): 170th NY from Spotsylvania to Jersualem Plank Road
- NP: July 24, 1864 Sunday Mercury (New York): 5th NY Veteran Remains Separated at the Siege of Petersburg
- NP: July 31, 1864 Sunday Mercury (New York): 57th NY Receives a Boost In Strength, July 1864
- NP: August 7, 1864 Sunday Mercury (New York): The 146th New York, Black Troops, Back Pay, and 500,000 More at Petersburg, August 1864
- NP: August 7, 1864 Sunday Mercury (New York): The 170th New York at First Deep Bottom, July 1864
- NP: August 7, 1864 Sunday Mercury (New York): The 3rd New York, Secesh, and Sutlers at Petersburg, June-July 1864
- NP: August 7, 1864 Sunday Mercury (New York): An “Old Soldier” Visits the 5th NY July-August 1864
- NP: August 14, 1864 Sunday Mercury (New York): The 48th NY at the Battle of the Crater, July 30, 1864
- NP: August 14, 1864 Sunday Mercury (New York): The Fearful Explosion at City Point, August 9, 1864
- NP: August 21, 1864 Sunday Mercury (New York): The 95th NY Witnesses the Battle of the Crater, July 30, 1864
- NP: August 21, 1864 Sunday Mercury (New York): The Fearful Explosion at City Point, August 9, 1864
- NP: August 28, 1864 Sunday Mercury (New York): The 6th New York Cavalry at First Deep Bottom, July 27-29, 1864
Source:
- SOPO Editor’s Note: This particular Action at Howlett’s Bluff between Union and Confederate ironclads occurred on June 21, 1864. The USS Hydrangea, the ship of this letter writer, was sent off by Lieutenant-Commander Jonathan Barnes, the commander on the scene, to get his ironclads additional heavy artillery ammunition for his big guns, specifically XV-inch and 150 pounder ammo. As the author noted, the single turreted monitor Canonicus suffered some damage to her smokestack, with the official report noting four holes rather than the five listed here, but other than that no major results occurred. ↩
- SOPO Editor’s Note: I’m not aware of a tug by that name serving on the James River. Per the Naval Official Records, Series 1, Volume 10, p. 197, the following tugs accompanied Tecumseh downriver on June 23, 1864 to Hampton Roads, with the eventual goal of reaching Admiral Farragut in the Gulf of Mexico: Tritonia, Pink, Rose, and Althea. More research is needed. Perhaps one of those four was named Hare prior to serving in the US Navy and may have had that name stenciled on her hull. ↩
- SOPO Editor’s Note: I cannot find reference to this little expedition in either the Army or Navy Official Records. More research is needed here. If you know which expedition “CONGRESS” is referring to, please CONTACT US. ↩
- “United States Steamer Hydrangea.” Sunday Mercury (New York, New York). July 10, 1864, p. 7 col. 3 ↩