Cobblestone articles from January 2004

Cobblestone archives from January 2004

Editor's note.(Editorial)
January 1, 2004... Before the Civil War began in 1861, the U.S. Navy had approximately ninety ships--but more than half were not even in active service. Although the Navy had experimented with new technologies, such as steam propulsion (rather than using sails to...

A grand strategy.
January 1, 2004... In 1861, Major General Winfield Scott, veteran of the War of 1812 and the U.S.-Mexican War, devised a grand strategy for the Union. Scott's plan did not call for crushing the enemy. Instead, it sought to bring the South to the realization that...

All hands on deck: daily life in the navy.
January 1, 2004... Whether they served the Union or the Confederacy, Civil War sailors worked long, hard days. Three-year enlistments were common at the beginning of the war. Later, terms were shortened to attract new sailors or extended to address manpower...

Turtles, rams & stinkpots.
January 1, 2004... The Civil War forced the Union and the Confederacy to look closely at their navies. The Confederate coastline extended thirty-five hundred miles from Virginia to Texas. The problems for both sides were how to control the coastline and how to...

Leading the way.
January 1, 2004... Both Union and Confederate naval leaders tried to win control of America water-ways. Following is a look at some of the famous individuals who serve on (or around) the seas. GIDEON WELLES, SECRETARY OF THE NAVY, AND GUSTAVUS FOX, ASSISTANT...

The Atlantic blockade.(Cover Story)
January 1, 2004... As one of his first acts of war, President Abraham Lincoln declared a blockade of all Confederate ports on April 27, 1861. The blockade was to cover thirty-five hundred miles of coastline and be enforced by four squadrons--two for the Atlantic...

Battle for the Gulf.
January 1, 2004... The blockade of the Gulf of Mexico was never as effective as the Atlantic Coast blockade. The Gulf Coast squadrons were able to use Fort Pickens at Pensacola Bay, Florida, as a base, but they had fewer ships than the Atlantic Squadron. And...

Did you know?
January 1, 2004... In the Union navy, it was common practice during the Civil War for men to be rationed one gallon of water per day. Horses being transported, however, were allotted 3 gallons per day. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In 1861, David Dixon Porter,...

The inland rivers.
January 1, 2004... Many of the most important naval battles of the Civil War were fought far from any ocean. These battles were waged along the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi rivers. The conflicts along these inland rivers helped shape the war--and...

On the high seas.
January 1, 2004... When the Civil War began in 1861, the South had no formal navy and no real means of building warships. But that did not prevent it from making the North feel its naval sting. When the Union's navy moved into place to begin a blockade of the...

African American sailors.
January 1, 2004... Although African americans has served in the U.S. Navy since the founding of the country, they were limited to five percent of monthly enlistments. At the start of the Civil War, however, the Union navy needed more men for its warships and so...

High seas signals.(Quote of the Month)
January 1, 2004... Since its founding in 1845, more than sixty thousand men and women first admitted to the academy in 1976) have graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy's (USNA) four-year, college-level program. They have gone on to become officers in U.S. Navy...

The recovery of the Monitor.
January 1, 2004... On the night of December 30, 1862, USS Monitor was being towed from Virginia to South Carolina by USS Rhode Island when the Monitor was caught in a violent storm. The raging sea ran over its deck, and water poured inside, extinguishing the...

The battle.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... At about 8:30 A.M. on March 9, 1862, small iron clad steamboat, USS Monitor, crept out from behind USS Minnesota. With only two eleven-inch Dahlgren guns in a revolving turret, this "cheese box on a raft" as it was referred to, looked puny...

Brain ticklers.
January 1, 2004... Give your brain a little tickle to see how well you read and understood this issue on the role of the navies in the Civil War. If you believe the answer to be false, give yourself the ultimate test and see whether you can explain why it is...

A final word.
January 1, 2004... Imagine you were one of the spectators at the battle between CSS Alabama and USS Kearsarge in 1864. Which ship would you have sided with and cheered for, and why? Picture Credits: National Archives: 2, 5 (top), 12 (top), 14, 15 (all), 17...

The Frozen Land.(Letters)(Illustration)
January 1, 2004... The Frozen Land The ice, the snow, the cold wind blows across the rugged tundra. Mountain towers stand; foxes, reindeer, birds, and seals run wild over the land. Eddas tell stories of the Old...

The Boy.(Letters)(Illustration)
January 1, 2004... The Boy Is my hair okay? How about my clothes? My hands are shaking, but nobody knows. Why do I act this way every time I'm around you? It never really changes-- how I feel about you. Why...

Blue.(Letters)(Illustration)
January 1, 2004... Blue I am the color of sadness, all to and fro. The color of the sky when it's bright and sunny. The color of the ocean that is crystal clear. The color of the tail of the mermaid who is smiling back ...

God's Mirror.(Letters)
January 1, 2004... God's Mirror When you look at the lake in the morning, you can see God's mirror. It is smooth with a reflection. The glass shatters occasionally, when a fish jumps here and there. But since it is...

If.(Letters)(Illustration)
January 1, 2004... If If my mother were a flower, she would be a sunflower. If my teacher were an animal, she would be a lion. If my pet were a piece of candy, it would be a lollipop. If my brother were a color, he...

To an Unnamed Marine.(Letters)
January 1, 2004... To an Unnamed Marine I'm writing just to tell you to never give up hope. And throughout whatever comes, always try to cope. I know not who you are nor do I know your name, but from your valiant efforts...

The War Between the States.(Letters)
January 1, 2004... The Civil War Is Sometimes Called The War Between The States

Dear Cobblestonians.
January 1, 2004... Philadelphia was an important city in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Founded in 1682 by William Penn, it was nicknamed "the City of Brotherly Love" for its reputation of welcoming settlers. Philadelphia quickly became a major center...

Books to read.(Digging Deeper)
January 1, 2004... David Farragut: Union Naval Hero by Bruce Adelson (Broomall, Pennsylvania: Chelsea House Publishers, 2002), part of the Famous Figures of the Civil War Era series, is a biography of that prominent Navy personality from the North. The book...

Embry's review.(Digging Deeper)(Book Review)
January 1, 2004... Eben Tyne: Powdermonkey y Patricia Beatty and Phillip Robbins (New York: Morrow Junior Books, 1990) describes the fictional life of a thirteen-year-old boy who is serving the South aboard CSS Virginia. Besides fighting Union sailors in...

On the Web.(Digging Deeper)
January 1, 2004... The Web site for the Index of Civil War Naval Forces: Confederate and Union Ships can be found at www.tarleton.edu/~kjones/navy.html. It gives general information on both navies and their personnel, as well as the types of vessels each...

Places to visit.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... U.S. Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, Maryland. Collections include ship models, naval uniforms, navigational instruments, personal memorabilia of officers, and more than six thousand battle and ship prints from the sixteenth century to today....

From the archives.
January 1, 2004... For information on specific battles and the period following the Civil War, check out Cavalry in the Civil War (COB0212), The Battle of Antietam: September 17, 1862 (COB9710}, The Battle of Gettysburg (COB8807), Highlights of the Civil War,...

Navy fashions that took a dive.(Cartoon Connection)
January 1, 2004... COULD YOU TAKE IT IN LITTLE AROUND THE WAIST? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]