Confederate Iron Clads

 

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Civil War Harper's Weekly, February 11, 1865

You are viewing a page from the original February 11, 1865 edition of Harper's Weekly. These old newspapers allow you to read the news of the war, and learn new insights from these first edition reports. The papers are full of interesting news articles, and wood cut illustrations. This material is from our private collection, which we are posting to the internet.

(Scroll Down to See Entire Page, or Newspaper Thumbnails below will take you to the page of interest)

 

Confederate Ironclads

Confederate Ironclads

Black Laws

Abolish Slavery

Congress Votes to Abolish Slavery

General Garrard

General Kenner Garrard

General Hazen

General Hazen

Fire

Smithsonian Fire

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Oil Speculation

 

Smithsonian Institure Fire

Fire at the Smithsonian Institute

Sherman in Savannah

General Sherman in Savannah Georgia

Scout

Civil War Scout

 

 

 

 

VOL. IX.—No. 424.]

NEW YORK, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1865.

SINGLE COPIES TEN CENTS. $4,00 PER YEAR IN ADVANCE.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the Year 1865, by Harper & Brothers, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York.


ARMSTRONG GUN.

IN Fort Fisher our army found a splendid 150-pound Armstrong Gun, weighing 15,739 pounds. Upon it was this inscription: "Sir W. C. Armstrong & ,Co., Newcastle-upon-Tyne. No. 19." This was quite evidently a present to the rebels from some prominent British gentleman, if not from the inventor himself. Great care had been taken of it, and General WHITING gave especial orders that it was not to be fired except under the pressure of necessity. It had the appearance of having been recently mounted. The gun is bronzed, and mounted on a mahogany carriage highly varnished. The whole piece is finished in the finest style. It was fired a very few times during the action. During the confusion attending the occupation of the works by the Union troops some mischievous person stole the

sights. The Armstrong guns are manufactured exclusively under the auspices of the British Government, and Admiral PORTER, in his official report, states this fact as if it were a conclusive proof that the British Government, or some one high in authority, had presented the gun to the Confederate Government.

BEFORE PETERSBURG.

THE great military event of the week was the attempt made by the rebel iron-clads on the James to descend the river past our obstructions on the night of January 23. Hints had been given out that General LEE was about to do something that

would astonish the world. The design of this iron-clad raid was as bold against us as it was perilous to the vessels engaged. The blow was mainly directed against the army on the north side of the James. The rebel fleet, after passing our obstructions, was to recapture Fort Harrison; and it is likely that a raid on City Point was also in

contemplation. The object is thus stated by the Richmond Whig of January 25 :

" The expedition of our iron-clads down the river had been designed to break the enemy's pontoon bridges, and thus destroy his communications, and to take advantage of the ascertained fact that he had withdrawn most of his naval force from the river, probably to Wilmington, leaving but one ironclad and some wooden vessels in the channel above Varina. There was also reason to suppose that the recent freshet had washed out a portion of his line of obstructions." At least three iron-clads — the Richmond, Virginia, and Fredericksburg engaged in the raid. These were accompanied by the Drewry, a small wooden gunboat, mounting one gun. This boat got aground, and was blown up, either by the enemy or by a shell from our batteries.

The Fredericksburg is said to have passed the obstructions successfully, but this is uncertain. At least it is doubtful whether, even if they succeeded in passing their own obstructions, they found it so easy to pass ours. The rebels only claims that one iron-clad, the Fredericksburg, succeeded in getting through. The Virginia and the Richmond got (Next Page)

150-POUND ARMSTRONG GUN CAPTURED AT FORT FISHER.-.-[SKETCHED BY CHARLES F. ELLMORE.]

THE REBEL IRON-CLAD FLEET FORCING THE OBSTRUCTIONS IN JAMES RIVER.–[SKETCHED BY A. R. WAUD.]

Picture
Armstrong Civil War Gun
Rebel Ironclads

We acquired this leaf for the purpose of digitally preserving it for your research and enjoyment.  If you would like to acquire the original 140+ year old Harper's Weekly leaf we used to create this page, it is available for a price of $165.  Your purchase allows us to continue to archive more original material. For more information, contact paul@sonofthesouth.net


 

 

  

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