THE C ONFEDERATE NAVALHISTORICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

Issue Number Six - February 1991

U.S. COURT IN NEW JERSEY SEIZES Alabama CommissionBELL FROM THE C.S.S. ALABAMA To Meet French; Dives

Planned For Spring

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At the request of the U.S. Navy,the Department of Justice recentlybrought suit in New Jersey to re-cover what is claimed to be theship's bell of the C.S.S, Alabama.The bell was put up for auction bya New York firm on behalf of col-lector Richard Steinmetz of Ft.Lee, N.J., who claims to havebought it for $12,000 in 1979 inHastings, England. The Navyclaims it is government propertyof great historical interest to thepeople and improperly in privatehands. The 12" tall brass bell,hand-inscribed with the ship'sname, has been taken into custodyby the Federal District Court atNewark, N.J., pending the out-come of the case.

The history of the bell to date,as Steinmetz relates it, is this:

In 1936, the bell was taken offthe wreck by Guernsey salvagediver William Lawson, who subse-quently traded it for drinks at a lo-cal Guernsey pub. There it re-mained until the pub sufferedbomb destruction during WorldWar II, after which it was taken toanother pub in Hastings, where itwas used to ring the pub closing

for many years. It was later se-cured by a London auction firm,from which Steinmetz purchasedit for $12,000 plus the trade ofvarious other historical artifacts.

Subsequently, Steinmetz of-fered to sell it to the U.S. NavalAcademy but was refused. Final-ly he put it up for auction late lastyear for a price of $15,000,though there may have been lateroffers for as much as $30,000.

After word of the auctionreached William Dudley at theU.S. Naval Historical Center, theNavy asked the Federal JusticeDepartment to halt the auctionand seize the bell, based on the as-sertion that it, and all other CivilWar naval vessels and their arti-facts on both sides of the conflict,was U.S. Government property.

This follows in the wake of theF.B.I, seizures of artifacts of theU.S.S. Cumberland and C.S..S.Florida instigated by the CNHSand supported by the U.S. NavalInvestigative Service and hopeful-ly indicates a new policy on thepart of the Navy to lay claim tosunken vessels of the period andgrant them its protection.

On January 23rd, the Secretaryof the Navy signed a letter authoriz-ing the C.S.S. Alabama Commis-sion and its board of expert advis-ors as outlined in the letter ofaccord between the U.S. andFrench governments of over a yearago.

The two U.S. representatives willbe Dean Allard of the U.S. NavalHistorical Center and Ed Bearss ofthe U.S. Department of Interior,who will have two French counter-parts on the Commission.

The board of expert advisors tothe Commission will include Dr.Paul Johnston, Director of Mari-time History at the Smithsonian In-stitution, NOAA representative Er-van Garrison, National ParkService Maritime Historian JamesDelgado, NPS underwater archaeol-ogist Dan Lenihan, and Naval His-torical Center Senior Historian Wil-liam Dudley.

The Commission expects to meetwith its French counterparts some-time late in March, and it is project-ed that diving on the wreck of theAlabama will resume in May, thistime as a joint measure between thetwo countries.

This marks a major step forwardin what has been a long, complex,and often disputatious affair, in-volving interested governments andprivate parties in France, England,and the U.S., and hopefully willturn out to be a positive precedentfor the cooperation of governmentsin determining ownership and juris-diction of historical shipwrecks inforeign waters. As far as recoveryand preservation of the ship itself,however, this is just the beginning.

lip year sees what we hopeMM t« a major new trend affect-ing Confederate naval ships and

femaiiis, arid a lot of otherimportant historical naval treas-ures. It began last year when theF.BX declared the willingness toseize artifacts token from historicshipwrecks (the (7.5.5. Cumber-land and the C5.5, Florida ) andpresent the case to the NorfolkFederal Prosecutor, The casf isstill pending at this time, subjectto a final F.B.L wrapup. It hascontinued by the Naval HistoricalCenter asking the Federal JusticeDepartment to reclaim the bell ofthe G5.5. Alabama recently put onprivate auction* This case is alsopending.

The trend, of cour se^ has beenfor the Federal government to ac-tively step in and take responsibili-ty for protecting treasures of thenational heritage that He on thebottomjbofh known and as yet un-di scovered. Thi s has been furtherforwarded by the creation of theAmerican Battlefield ProtectionProgram last August which seeksto intercede where dtes are threat-ened and work out compromiseswhere all can benefit and there is aminimum of ..r<t>ingement uponprivate enterprise and individualrights.

It may seem a simple and obvi-ous thing to do that should havebeen done long ago, but it is not.The laws and customs surroundingunderwater wrecks and private sal-vage rights concerning historicalsites on land and sea have beenlong-entrenched in favor of thecareless interloper who wants (andfeels he has a right to) a piece ofthe action, whatever the conse-quence. Private lobby groups,from treasure hunters, to collec-tors, to divers, to salvors, and evento watermen are hard for govern-ment bureaucracies to buck, andwe feel that it has been courageous

indeed of both the Navy and theDepartment of Interior to entertheses shark-infestedi vvaters, OurCongratulations and support go outespecially to Naval HistoricalCenter Senior Historian WilliamDudley and Secretary of the Interi-or Manuel Lujan for being willingto boldly go where others in theirplace have never gone before. Itwill be a long road yet, with a lotof court actions, to define whatreally belongs to the people as awhole in these areas as opposed tothose individuals who would per-sonally profit from the people'sloss. The officers., associates, andadvisors of the CNHS are proud tohave been in at the beginning ofall this and to have helped start theball rolling. We hope to remain inclose support in the coming years,

We relay the wonderful story ofthe "Confederate rocket" on thenext page not only as an intriguingfeature item, but also to point up amoral: there is a great deal re-maining to be found out aboutAmerica's greatest armed conflict,not the least of it technological.How were these ships built? Whatnew inventions were necessaryalong the way? If mines, subma-rines, and ironclads, as well a hostof other more or less successful in-fernal machines were spawned bythe War, why not rockets? Orsomething even more strange,though perhaps less sensational?

It is the record of human inge*nuity in the face of adversity thatneeds to be preserved, both as alesson and inspiration to ourselvesand our children. It can only bepreserved by our taking responsi-bility for it in an organized and au-thoritative fashion,, which we hopethe government is now attemptingto do. Otherwise the sometimesdarkly entropic influence of oursacred personal freedoms may re-duce our national treasures intoforgettable marketplace trinkets,

SHA Features WBTSPapers, Special Forum

The Society for Historical Ar-chaeology and the Advisory Councilfor Underwater Archaeology heldtheir annual conference in Rich-mond, Va., on January 9-13. Over300 papers were presented, with aspecial emphasis on Civil War ar-chaeology and naval archaeology ofthe Civil War.

The list of presenters was aWho's Who of reknowned archaeol-ogists, historians, museum profes-sionals, and preservationists manyof whose specialties impact directlyon Confederate naval history. Pa-pers ranged from archaeologicalsurveys and site descriptions to con-siderations of the economic and po-litical aspects of the managing ofshipwrecks, their sites, and their ar-tifacts.

The final day featured a special"Mini-plenary" devoted to CivilWar subjects covering a wide-ranging variety of topics before acapacity audience at the RichmondMarriot Hotel.

The presentations were too di-verse to even touch on here, but theCivil War material will be publishedby University of Tennessee Presslater this year, and we will let youknow when it is available and howto get a copy when it comes out.

This newsletter is published quarterly byThe Confederate Naval Historical Society;Inc., the non-profit corporation for the presfervation of the maritime history of the Con!federaejv for distribution to its Associates;All material ©copyright 1991 by The Con-:federate Naval Historical Society, Inc. Backissues are $3 ppd to Associates only. Asso-ciate membership in the CNHS is availableat the following ranks: Lieutenant ($20},Captain ($50), Commodore ($1000+), andRear Admiral {$ 10,000+). AH associates re^eeive a 15"xl8" CSN Commission for theirranks, Capt. and above receive special pres-entations commensurate with their stations:All contributions are tax deductible.CNHS, 710 Ocrati Road, White Stane|||||22578, U,S,A. Phone; (804) 435-0014,

John Towmley.

The Confederate Naval Historical Society ~ 2 -- Newsletter Number Six, February 1991

Now It can Be Told!

THE CURIOUS CASE OF THECONFEDERATE NAVAL MISSILE

The following seemingly unlikelystory came to our attention a fewmonths ago. It originally appearedin the Spartanburg, S.C. Herald-Journal, in 1989 and is here repro-duced by permission of its writer,Jerry Williams:

A two-stage rocket during the Civil War?Yes, it's true.

As a last ditch effort to turn the outcome of thewar from defeat to victory, the Confederate gov-ernment hired the world's best physicist and sci-entist to design such a weapon.

This story is woven around a secret which onlyrecently came to light.

In 1864, Matthew Fontaine Maury, an Ameri-can scientist noted for his invention of the electri-cal torpedo and guidance system, was sent toEngland as a special envoy. Maury, under thecover of his government status, visited the bestscientists and physicists of Europe. Time was ofthe essence. The war was almost lost. These sci-entist would have to drop everything they wereworking on and turn their efforts to this project.

Lord William Kelvin of England, an electricalengineer, was given the task of liquefying oxy-gen. He invented a process so that the liquid ox-ygen, under pressure, would bum fuel hotter andfaster, giving more thrust to the rocket's powerplant. But it would take months to produceenough liquid oxygen for the rocket.

Maury then went to Vienna, Austria to meetDr. Ernest Mach, a noted physicist. Mach likedthe idea. He put every man he had into the pro-ject.

Maury, having overcome all obstacles in com-pleting his mission, began the task of the guid-ance system. Such a system had never been at-tempted before; the odds were great for itsfailure.

While the best physicists and engineers werehard at work in Europe, the best engineers inAmerica were working equally hard in a shed onthe bank of the James River in Virginia.

In March 1865, the rocket, bound for thelaunch pad on the James River, was pulledthrough the streets of Richmond. The launch padhad been prepared months earlier. Men from theTorpedo Bureau had dug a deep hole in theground at the launch site. The hole was fittedwith barrels from naval guns. A powder chargewas placed in the bottom of the barrels. Every-thing was ready and waiting for the steel rocket.

The fuel and turbine arrived on time. The shipwhich carried them had to slip into the James

River at night to evade the federal ships whichblocked the ports.

After a few minor difficulties, the rocket wasready. The day of the launching came.

President Jefferson Davis and other Confederategovernment officials signed their names on the nosecone. The cone was also engraved with the initialsC.S.A.

Before the firing of the rocket, scouts were placed100 miles alongside a line from the launch pad to

Washington, D.C. — the first rocket-tracking stationson record. Each scout was equipped with a tele-scope, compass, and map.

The moment of truth came when the switch wasthrown. After the initial blast, from powder deep inthe ground, the rocket rose. The turbine, fed withfuel and liquid oxygen, ignited. At about 500 feetthe first stage broke loose and fell toward earth. Therocket soon disappeared in a northwesterly direction.

It had worked.The first stage was returned to the launch site. It

would be used to send another rocket into the heav-ens, if the war continued long enough.

The engineers waited for the scouts to report. Allthat day no word was heard. The next morning oneof the scouts came to inquire about the rocket. "Has

it been fired?" he asked.Over the next three days scouts came to the

launch site. No one had seen the rocket pass,and it had not reached its target.

What happened? No on really knows. Therocket was never found. Wherever it is, itwould be quite valuable.

It would, indeed. If this soundslike a blend of Jules Verne and theNational Enquirer, it probably is.Yet, as often with embellished un-likely stories, there may be a kernalof truth.

One is immediately put off by avariety of gross impossibilities,which may have been introducedby the author to make a good storyout of sparse information. Oxygen,for instance, was not liquified until1877, and then in only minisculeamounts. Torpedoes (in the CivilWar sense) didn't have guidancesystems, since they were floatingmines, nor did the CSN have any-thing called a "Torpedo Bureau."Gas turbines, oddly enough, hadbeen around as an experiment since1791, though not developed enoughfor use until the 1870's. And, ofcourse, not even Wilkinson or Maf-fit could have run the solid block-ade of Union ships (not to mentionConfederate obstructions) in theJames River in 1865.

Nevertheless, Maury was in Eu-rope at the time, and Kelvin andMach would have been the rightfolks to speak to about the project.Perhaps a project akin to this reallywas attempted. Williams says hegot the story through a letter fromGermany by a descendant of one ofMach's assistants on the project.Further inquiry at Tredegar IronWorks, where the device was as-sembled, revealed that such a storyhad been common among the ar-chive people there, but there was noway to confirm it, as the relevantrecords had been lost in a fire in the1930's. Williams says the U.S. JetPropulsion Laboratory showed in-terest in the story and is investigat-ing it. We would like to hear more— stranger things were known tohappen during the recent misunder-s t a n d i n g . . .

The Confederate Naval Historical Society — 3 — Newsletter Number Six, February 1991

Where They Lie:

C.S.S. TallahasseeBy Kevin Foster

The middle of the 19th centurywas a time of tremendous advance-ment in science and technology.Some of the greatest advances weremade in marine propulsion. Themost innovative propulsion systemof the 1860's utilized independenttwin-screw propellers. The leadersof twin-screw technology wereJohn and William Dudgeon. Theyestablished the SunIron Works, a ma-rine engineering firmat Millwall, London,in the 1850's. TheDudgeon brothersestablished a reputa-tion for constructingadvanced engines,and in 1862 theyconstructed a ship-yard to build hulls aswell. The yard wason the Isle of Dogsacross from thepresent NationalMaritime Museum atGreenwich. Theirfirst ship was the150-foot long, inde-pendent twin-screw Flora, de-signed as a China Sea opium clip-per-steamer. While she was beingbuilt, a more lucrative trade ap-peared. Flora's owners sent her torun the American blockade ratherthan to the China coast. Thus Flo-ra became the first twin-screwsteamer to cross the AtlanticOcean.

Flora ran the blockade at leasteight times and received a greatdeal of attention following her suc-cesses in running the blockade.She was 150 feet long in keel andforerake, 161.3 feet "aloft" or over-all, 22.5 feet in beam, 12.4 feet in

depth of hold, and had a 9 footdraft. A Royal Navy admiral saidFlora "laughed at her adversaries;all the craft that have chased her onthe American coast have been leftbehind." The Dudgeons quickly re-ceived orders for seven more sistersto Flora. They were faster, moremaneuverable, and more economi-cal than similarly-sized sidewheelblockade runners. For instance,Kate, the second Dudgeon twin-

screw, burned only eleven tons ofcoal in 24 hours, much less thanmost sidewheelers which requiredthirty tons a day.

The Dudgeons followed Floraand her sisters with larger twin-screws. The largest of the earlytwin screw blockade runners wasnamed Atalanta after the fleet-footed princess of Greek mytholo-gy. She was similar to the Floraclass, but longer, with more power-ful engines and a plain verticalstem. Her powerful boilers re-quired two funnels rather than thesingle funnel of earlier Dudgeonvessels.

Like her legendary namesake,Atalanta was able to outrun anypursuer. By July 1864 she had runthe American blockade eight times.The Confederate Navy department

purchased Atalanta after sheproved herself in commercial ser-vice. The Navy then converted herinto the 2nd class gunboat C.S.S.Tallahassee. She was armed with a100-pounder rifle, a 32-pounder ri-fle, a 30-pounder Parrot rifle, and a

brass howitzer.Tallahassee's com-

mander was Lt. JohnTaylor Wood, CSN.He led her on a verysuccessful raid oncoastal shipping alongthe New Englandcoast. On her firstcruise in August1864, she capturedand destroyed 26 ves-sels ranging from apilot schooner to afull-rigged down-easter. Wood also al-lowed five prizes togo free on bond, car-rying the officers andcrew of sunken ves-

sels.The cruise took Tallahassee the

length of the United States Atlanticcoast and thoroughly panickedNorthern shipowners and coastalresidents. A large fleet of hastilychartered vessels was unable to lo-cate the troublesome raider. Shelingered briefly on the doorsteps ofNew York and Boston before head-ing to Halifax, Nova Scotia forcoal. Wood was forced to returndirectly because the ship had onlyenough coal to reach Wilmington.

When Tallahassee returned toWilmington her name was changedto C.S.S. Olustee and her first lieu-

The Confederate Naval Historical Society ~ 4 - Newsletter Number Six, February 1991

C.S.S. Tallahassee at Halifax, Nova Scotia ~ photo taken August 18,1864.

tenant, William H. Ward, succeed-ed to command. Ward captured sixmore large vessels on a cruise inearly November 1864. He attempt-ed to attack transports at the mouthof the Chesapeake but was spottedby U.S.S. Sassacus, a double-endedgunboat. Olustee managed to loseSassacus, only to be spotted byMargaret and Jessie, Lilian, andBanshee, three swift Union cruisers

made from captured blockade run-ners. The chase lasted until Olusteewas safe under the guns of FortFisher at the entrance to Wilming-ton.

After the coastal raids, Olusaeewas kept bottled up at Wilmington.The presence of Olustee in the riverat Wilmington attracted so manyadditional blockading vessels thatraiding was discontinued. C.5.S.

The Tallahassee burns a prize — from a contemporary newspaper.

Olustee was converted back to"peaceful" blockade running toease the pressure on the otherblockade runners created by the in-creased blockade fleet. Her paperswere "whitewashed" to allow thevessel to sail as a merchant ship.As a born-again blockade runnerher name was changed again, aptlyto Chameleon.

The Dudgeons closely followednews of the career of Atalanta.They described her constructionand career in 1867:

"The Atalanta was designed for ablockade runner. She was 546 tonsand 200 horsepower, a very longvessel, and had very fine lines. Onher trial trip she made 15 knots, theengines indicating 1,220 horsepow-er (attained by four cylinders 34-inch diameter by 21-inch stroke;steam 29 Ibs.; vacuum 25 1/2 inch-es; revolutions 120). The midshipsection was 160 square feet, thedisplacement 510 tons, and the con-sumption 26 cst. per hour. Laterthere was a race between her andthe Queen, one of the Dover Rail-way Company's boats, and she beather adversary by half an hour onthe short run from Calais to Dover,taking only 77 minutes, while theQueen took 107 minutes. She run

The Confederate Naval Historical Society - 5 - Newsletter Number Six, February 1991

A painting of the Tallahassee under full steam.

[sic] the blockade a great manytimes, but was taken possession ofby the Confederate Governmentand transformed into the cruiserTallahassee, and did good serviceas such. She is still in existence."

Chameleon attempted the block-ade twice under Captain John Wil-kinson, CSN, an experienced block-ade runner. Chameleon's lastblockade running voyage began onJanuary 19, 1865, from Bermudawith a load of provisions for the ar-mies in Virginia. When she arrivedwithin the Wilmington bar afterpassing the blockade fleet, Chame-leon signalled the shore, only todiscover that the fort had been cap-tured by Union forces. Wilkinsonimmediately turned her about andsteamed back out through the Un-ion blockading fleet. Chameleonreached Nassau critically short ofcoal but with desperately neededcargo. Wilkinson immediatelycoaled ship and headed for Charles-ton with his cargo of foodstuffs.

There he found that most of theWilmington blockading fleet hadbeen added to that previouslyguarding Charleston. Once again,Chameleon was prevented fromlanding her cargo and forced to re-turn to Nassau.

The captures of Wilmington andCharleston put a large fleet ofblockade runners out of businessimmediately. Ships under the Con-federate flag, such as Chameleon,would soon be without a country.Some runners at Nassau headed forthe Gulf of Mexico for a last des-perate attempt to run the blockadethere. Others, drawing too muchwater to be useful in the Gulf,steamed for Great Britain. Chame-leon landed her cargo of provisionsat Nassau and sailed for Bermudaon March 22nd, arriving on the24th. She coaled and sailed thesame day for Liverpool.

When she arrived in Britain,Chameleon was seized by the Brit-ish government. She was re-

registered under her original nameAtalanta and sold at auction. Hernew owners renamed her Amelia.The United States Consul sued forpossession and the ship was turnedover to the United States govern-ment as successor to the Confeder-ate government and property. TheUnited States government then auc-tioned her off at Liverpool. In Sep-tember 1866, Prioleau, the Liver-pool agent for Fraser, Trenholmand Co., the ostensible owners,sued to have Tallahassee returnedto the company but lost the case.The sale was allowed.

A Far-Eastern steamship compa-ny bought her and renamed heronce again. She was rerigged as abrig and sent to the Japanese coastin March 1867. As Haya Maru,Japanese for "fast ship," the formerTallahassee sailed along the Japa-nese coast carrying passengers andcargo. On June 17, 1869, HayaMaru wrecked on the coast of Hon-

The Confederate Naval Historical Society — 6 ~ Newsletter Number Six, February 1991

shu while on passage between Yo-kahama and Hioga. She tore outher bottom on a steep underwaterpinnacle ironically named PlymouthRock. Twenty-two lives were lostincluding that of the captain. It isnot believed that the wreck has beenlocated and explored. Inquires toseveral Japanese maritime histori-ans have not yet yielded answers.Any further information as to herpresent condition is eagerly soughtfrom CNHS associates.

Atalanta was a successful block-ade runner, passing between Wilm-ington and Bermuda eight times.As Tallahassee her short career asa commerce raider was also verysuccessful. She ranks second onlyto Alabama in number of ships tak-en and fourth in tonnage among theConfederate cruisers. She capturedthirty-four vessels and bonded five.

THREE NEW BOARDMEMBERS JOIN CNHS;

TWO FOUNDERSAWARDED LIFETIME

STATUS

The Board of Directors of theCNHS hasacquired three new mem-bers as of its meeting February 24,1991. All three were already closeassociates on its Board of Advisors.They are Dr. Paul F. Johnston, Cura-tor of Maritime History at the Smith-sonian Institution, William S. Dud-ley, Senior Historian at the U.S.Naval Historical Center, and Dr.William N. Still, Jr., Director of theProgram in Maritime History andUnderwater Research at East Caroli-na University. All will serve asVice-presidents, along with currentmembers John Townley (Pres.), Ke-vin Foster (VP) and Christine Town-ley (Sec-Treas).

Leaving the Board were foundingmembers Michael Higgins and Rog-er DeMik, who were made LifetimeAssociates for their invaluable con-tributions to the Society and theirtireless work on behalf of the C.S.S.Alabama and its international posi-tion as a U.S. historical treasure.

Research, Requests, & Comments...Dear Sirs:

You are absolutely right whenyou say that the Civil War was notfought solely to free the slave.However, it was fought because ofthe slave, [see last issue's editorial]

The schism between North andSouth began to open in 1819, whenNew York Congressman JamesTallmadge attached an anti-slaveryamendment to a Missouri statehoodbill. "You have kindled a firewhich all the waters of the oceancannot put out," Howell Cobb ofGeorgia told Tallmadge, "whichonly seas of blood can extinguish."The amendment was defeated in theSouthern-controlled Senate, and theMissouri Compromise was born.But the fire did not go out.

During the Mexican War, a warfought by a Southern president toobtain Southern (slave) territory,North and South became more es-tranged. Pennsylvania Congress-man David Wilmot attached anamendment to an appropriations billthat would have excluded slaveryfrom any territory acquired as a re-sult of the war with Mexico. Thisamendment was also defeated, butthe Wilmot Proviso would becomethe basis for the formation of theRepublican Party.

By 1853, over 300,000 copies ofUncle Tom's Cabin had been sold.This book, whose author Lincolncalled, "the little lady who made thisbig war," vitalized Northern aboli-tionism. By the end of the decade,Northerners generally found slaveryto be repulsive and completely un-acceptable — anywhere.

In 1854, the Kansas-NebraskaAct nullified the Missouri Compro-mise and brought popular sove-reignty to Kansas. Blood began toflow as pro- and anti-slavery forcesrushed to Kansas and clashed. Theentire nation was horrified, whileeach side blamed the other. Themurders of five pro-slavery men atPottawatomie Creek marked theemergence of John Brown.

In 1859, John Brown lead an at-tack on Harper's Ferry, Virginia, inhopes of starting a slave rebellion.Brown's capture and executionpleased the South, but the Northernresponse was different. ManyNortherners considered Brown amartyr. The South was appalledthat such a bloody killer could becanonized so.

By Lincoln's election in 1860, thefire of which Howell Cobb hadspoken more that forty years earlierwas a full-fledged conflagration.

Slavery was the cause of each ofthese crises and it was the cause ofthe Civil War. The war was notfought for reasons of unequal politi-cal power between North andSouth. The South had always hadtremendous political power evenwhen it did not control the housesof Congress. For decades beforethe War the South used the threat ofsecession in order to obtain what itwanted.

The Civil War produced manygreat Southern men and women. Itis not necessary to deny secession'sbasis in slavery in order to admirethe South's history of courage, valorand devotion to cause.

—Stephen M. MaloneyCaptain, CNHS

Your points are well-taken, but Iwould phrase it perhaps a little dif-ferently: slavery was perhaps moreexcuse than cause of a war betweentwo cultures that had been in con-flict in society and on the battlefieldfor many hundreds of years previ-ous in Britain. The similarity of theBattle of Gettysburg to the Battle ofCulloden (and many more before it)mayrun more than tactics deep. Ihighly recommend Professor Ge-rald McWhiney's Cracker Culturefor excellent and rigorous elucida-tion on the background of thesematters.

The issues over which wars arefought are often not their true caus-es, which is what makes them so

The Confederate Naval Historical Society — 7 ~ Newsletter Number Six, February 1991

Research, Requests, &Comments(cont'd)...hard to avoid. It is very likely thatslavery, as in the rest of the world,would have died out within a gener-ation in the South -- so if that wasthe true cause of the War, then theWar was indeed fought in vain, asits aftermath condemned formerslaves and their descendents to theworst social and political situationof any country that abolished slav-ery by any means.

I believe that the conflict had fardeeper roots, and but for the over-whelming of our original culturalpolarity by the subsequent immi-gration of a wide variety of othercultures, we might still be fightingthat sad stand-off today... - J. T.

DearCNHS,Would you consider placing the

following in the newsletter, whenspace is available:

"LOUISIANA STATE NAVY --require information for upcomingstudy of this service — LaSN uni-form, organization, documents,sources, etc. Also the service ca-reer of Beverly Kennon, L.S.N.,and a photo/sketch and service ofLt. Alexander H. Warley, CSN(Manassas, New Orleans, 1862.

—Trevor J. Vaughan-Williams,

Lieutenant, CNHS15 County St., HILLCREST, SouthAustralia 5086, Australia, (08) 261-4331.

Gentlemen,I'm seeking information on a

Norwegian by the name of Steeson,who served aboard the C.S.S. Ala-bama and fought at Cherbourg. Heis alleged to have been amongthose picked up by the Deerhoundand probably joined from a cap-tured prize crew. Can you (or anyof your members) confirm this, andpossibly furnish additional detailsabout this Steeson?

Also, if you happen to comeacross references to a Norwegian inthe Confederate Navy (some are re-ported to have served aboard theC.S.S. Morgan, for instance), Iwould appreciate any informationyou can provide.

—Lars GjertveitN-4692 Rysstad, Norway

Sinclair, in his crew list in"TwoYears Aboard the Alabama" doesnot list a Steeson, though there is aCharles Stetson that came aboardin November 1862, nor does theORN^s crew list of the Morgan offerany immediately Norwegian-sounding names. Hope someonewrites you with more helpful infor-mation...

Dear Folks,Here's my membership renewal -

-1 find the newsletter very educa-tion and interesting but dislike thebarbs continually thrown at ama-teur archaeologists and/or collec-tors. Yes, there are many cases ofdestruction of valuable sites, etc. bythem, but with the slow speed withwhich professional archaeologistsmove and the general lack of fundsto support their work I'm not sosure the amateurs haven't addedmore to our knowledge of the peri-od.

There's no question that the edu-cational literature that serious col-lectors have generated far outnum-bers the output of the professionals.The point I'm trying to make isthere is a place for all of us in thestudy and preservation of historyand the artifacts generated by itsparticipants, so let's all try to putaside our prejudice and communi-cate together and the end productwill be the better for it as eachgroup had a lot to offer to the oth-ers if they will just open theirminds and accept it.

— Lewis Leigh, Jr.

Communication is the keyword,as was expressed so well in archae-ologist Lynn Harris's excellentpiece in newsletter #4...

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